An ecologist, Mr Abdullahi Aremu, has called on the government and other stakeholders to sensitise Nigerians to the dangers of bush burning, just as the harmattan season sets in.
Aremu, who is the Director-General, Advocacy for Environmental and Sanitation Integrity, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), gave the advice in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday, November 27, 2017.
He described bush burning as an abuse of environment, saying that it had negative consequences on soil fertility and by extension, crop growing.
He urged the residents of the rural areas, particularly hunters, to refrain from setting bushes on fire in their efforts to hunt down animals.
Aremu underscored the need for state and local governments as well as other relevant stakeholders to embark on public sensitisation campaigns on bush burning, particularly in the rural areas.
“There is need to educate Nigerians on the abuse of the environment and the importance of forests in efforts to tackle environmental challenges such as erosion and flooding,’’ he said.
He said that state and local governments should strictly enforce extant environmental laws so as to check illegal bush burning and the abuse of the ecosystem in their domains.
By Deji Abdulwahab
