Executive Director, Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev Nigeria), Dr. Leslie Adogame, says Nigeria risks losing the remaining 30% of its wetlands by the year 2035 if no measures is put in place to conserve the wetlands as signed by Ramsar Convention in 2021.
Dr. Adogame made this submission on Monday, February 3, 2025, while speaking during a session marking the 2025 World Wetlands Day in Lagos.
The Executive Director, who attributed the major challenges to weak enforcement on the part of National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), disclosed: “There is a NESREA regulation on wetlands even beyond the EIA Act, but the question is how enforceable is that regulation? If you also look at National Action Plan, one key mandate requirement from NESREA is to work with state governments to effectively document more wetlands in their domain with the aim of effectively managing those wetlands and these are all enshrined in those documents.
“Apart from this, there is a whole lot of neglect on the part of the government, despite Nigeria signing the Ramsar Convention in 2021, we do not see any serious action, even though there is a national strategy document to address biodiversity where the wetland issue sits in.
“There is need for us to revisit where we are on this, and how enforceable is the regulation of 2001 today? What is NESREA doing? What is the action plan and what is the nexus between the Federal and State Governments where the wetlands are? Dr. Adogame queried.
The Executive Director of SRADev Nigeria who also cited the move made by his NGO in relation to the wetland around Opebi Link Bridge and the road construction linking Opebi to Ojota around that axis however promised that “SRADEV will continue to raise awareness and conscientise Nigerians on the issue relating to wetlands. For us as an NGO, our next step is essentially to intervene and interface with government on policies relating to the issue. We will be initiating a meeting with NESREA because NESREA has a regulation to protect the wetlands in Nigeria, so it’s important for us to work with them to understand where things are, particularly with regards to the Regulation of 2009.
“This will be followed by public awareness so that Nigerians will have adequate information relating to wetlands in their domain,” he stressed.
The theme of 2025 World Wetlands Day is “Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future”. World Wetland Day is observed on February 2 of every year worldwide to commemorate the signing of the Ramsar Convention on wetlands of international importance in 1971.
By Ajibola Adedoye