Volunteer groups from civil society organisations on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, urged the Nigerian government to reactivate policies on water to curb water pollution.
They jointly gave the urge at Jabi Lake Park in Abuja during a campaign to mark the World Water Day 2023.
The Climate and Sustainable Development Network (CSDevNet) led a team from the African Activists for Climate on a clean-up of the Jabi Lake Park.
CSDevNet National Network Coordinator, Mr Abu Steve, called on government to use the opportunity of the World Water Day celebration to reinforce the policies on waterways.
Steve said that if Nigeria must conserve biodiversity and manage her water very well, the issue of plastic wastes must be taken seriously.
“Should in case these policies are lying dormant, it is time to reactivate them to make them guide us.
“It is time to sensitise the people on how to reuse, recycle some of these plastics instead of dumping them anyhow.
“We have life under water, that this source of pollution of plastic wastes are dangerous to,” he said.
Steve said the World Water Day 2023 is an important day and called on the government to take action on water related issues in the country.
“We call on these companies that produce plastic to enforce a law on how to take back the wastes from the society.
“We are also calling on the public to change their lifestyles of littering the environment with plastics and other wastes,” he said.
Mr Femi Olubiyo, a volunteer from CSDevNet, said that their main objective at the Jabi Lake Park was to create awareness and sensitise the public on how to keep water clean to be healthy for humans and animals.
“In safeguarding our environment, everyone has a role to play, we can’t just leave it for the government alone.
“When we fail to take care of our water, it threatens sustainable development, biodiversity and peoples’ access to good water and sanitation,” Olubiyo warned.
Ms Bilkisu Aliyu, a volunteer, decried the lack of waste bins around the Abuja metropolis and called on stakeholders in charge of waste collection to introduce them.
Aliyu urged the management of Jabi Lake Park to ensure that there are sanitation security officers within the lake, to checkmate the dumping of plastics and other wastes within the park.
Mr Paul Sambo, who is also a volunteer in the clean-up exercise, decried the level of indiscriminate dumping of plastics in the water bodies.
The World Water Day 2023 is celebrated with the theme: “Accelerating Change”. It is observered annually on March 22, since 1993.
The day celebrates water and raises awareness of the two billion people living without access to safe water.
The World Water Day is about accelerating change to solve the water and sanitation crisis.
By Abigael Joshua
