HOW TO IMPROVE ENVIRONMENT IN NIGERIA - U.D.OKECHUKWU

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While new laws that address specific environmental issues may be needed, the existing ones must be enforced.



“I think that while the laws may not be very adequate, even the existing laws lack implementation owing so many factors, chief of which are paucity of finance and politics.

“The government at either the states or federal appears to define ecological emergency in relation to the social status of the group affected. No wonder that they can hardly protect the very vulnerable people. 
Such laws are as relevant as we wish to make them relevant. The critical issue is the intention and capacity coupled with the political will
”

On whether the extant laws are still relevant or need further amendment, the major issue remains the political will to protect the environment.

We all have to get people to get involved in environmental activism to compel the government to protect the most vulnerable areas that have been neglected.

“Environmental rights activism in Nigeria cannot be compared with more advanced societies in terms of effectiveness. Except for agitation to remedy certain wrongs usually by the communities directly affected, there are no sustained campaigns of national magnitude to raise awareness and consciousness”

It is believed that areas prone to ocean surges deserve special compensation to victims where no preventive measures had been taken.

“Coastal areas prone ocean surge like the riverrine areas in Lagos, Nigeria need to be rescued and protected but this is hardly done now. The usual excuse is lack of fund. Even the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other agencies involved are poorly funded and trained”

“Urgent efforts must be made to arrest the current coastal erosion; continuous depletion of what is left of our mangrove forests should also be halted. 
effort should be made towards protecting the environment, such as by planting more trees so that the environment can be healthy for all of us to live in.”

Communities which bear the brunt of development through constant displacements and loss of land must be protected from the existential threat that is the bye product of the process.”

“Nigeria the giant of Africa needs to be a leading voice in Africa for protecting the environment and particularly for cutting back on carbon emission. We should protect our low lying areas – shorelines – by developing groins and sea walls. The Federal Government must become involved, because it is an expensive project. We must stop beach sand mining and sea shell removal. We should be part of the solution, not the problem”

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