The Minister of State for Environment, Mrs Sharon Ikeazor, on Saturday, November 23, 2019 called for the establishment of an environment conservation centre in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF).
The minister made the call while speaking as guest at a two-day conference organised by the NCF in Lagos.
Ikeazor said that establishing an environment conservation centre, a replica of the one in Lagos, would help to sensitise Abuja residents on the urgent need to be nature-friendly and work toward a better environment.
The minister enjoined the NCF management to look around the FCT environs and site the centre in one of the nature’s alluring sites of the FCT to encourage nature conservation in the nation’s capital.
The theme of the event, which began on Friday, is: “The Nigerian Businesses for Nature Forum”.
The event was aimed at enlisting the support of corporate organisations in the fight against climate change.
The minister said: “Abuja has beautiful nature sites that can be preserved to keep reminding people how alluring it is to maintain natural environment even within the cosmopolitan centres.
“The natural atmosphere in the Lagos NCF centre is inviting and can serve as a place of recreation for someone longing for a better environment devoid of the bustling, hustling and polluted city setting.
“We need to bring nature closer to the people for them to appreciate the crusade against attitude that promotes climate change.’’
Ikeazor charged the corporate world to be environment-friendly in their business drive and promised NCF every support to ensure that the FCT conservation centre becomes a reality soon.
In his response, the Director-General of NCF, Dr Muhtari Aminu-Kano, said that the foundation was inclined to a good environment.
Aminu-Kano said that the invitation to establish a conservation centre was a welcome one that widened the scope of better ecosystem in the country.
The NCF boss thanked the minister for the good gesture, saying that corporate organisations had a major role to play in changing the narrative.
“The organisations through their production processes and products are daily involved in environment violation; so, this forum aims to solicit their change in manufacturing processes and packaging,” he said.
According to him, there is a solution to worsening climate change, but the solution must begin from within.
By Uchenna Eletuo
