Prof. Albert Olayemi, a Microbiologist and former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin (Unilorin), has called for the perpetuation of “environmental stewardship” to preserve the environment for incoming generations.
Olayemi stated this on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of a Colloquium organised by the Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development (RCE), Ilorin, held at the university.
He stated that the environment in which we live now does not really belong to the present generation alone, but also to generations yet unborn.
The don, who is the Focal Person of the RCE-Ilorin, said that his outfit, is a multi stakeholders network coordinated by the United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan.
He explained that it exists to work towards building a sustainable environment not only for the university but also for the society at large.
According to him, the centre belongs to Unilorin; Kwara State University, Malete; Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin; and the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin.
Olayemi said the colloquium was organised to aggregate informed ideas with a view to enriching the proposal.
He said the RCE was working on for onward submission to the university management towards having an environmentally sustainable.
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He warned that the environment the present generation inhabits does not belong to the present occupants but to incoming generations, who would bear the brunt of what we are doing to the physical environment we are utilising at present.
He implored stakeholders to ensure that we handover a good and habitable environment to the future generations.
The don said that there is the need for concerted efforts for the sustainability of the environment, adding that everybody must be involved in the interests of the present and future generations of our people.
He decried the removal of several indigenous trees on the campus of the university either for physical development or replacement with non-indigenous ones that are not friendly to the weather.
Olayemi insisted that we must change our attitude to our environment and motivate the younger ones to follow the same trend for the environment to be habitable and sustainable.
He said that our attitude to the environment is very important to what the earth would become.
He explained that Unilorin has the responsibility to insist and work for greener environment to inculcate the habit in the leaders of tomorrow that are being turned out every year by the institution.
Also speaking, Dr Tajudeen Amusa, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Forest Resources Management, Unilorin, in his paper, entitled: “Transformation towards a green and sustainable campus”, warned against the pollution of the environment.
He canvassed adequate punishment for whoever does anything that threatens the environment to serve as a deterrent to others.
He also encouraged the university administration to prioritise management culture of the institution’s buildings and vegetation, saying that everything must be done to ensure that our green vegetation is maintained.
Amusa also charged members of the university community to cultivate the habit of adopting trekking or cycling on campus to reduce the magnitude of carbon dioxide vehicles release to the campus.
He also advised people to ensure a better and sustainable landscaping and to reduce energy consumption not only to safe hard earned resources but to also conserve the environment.
The environmentalist also canvassed the preservation of trees to protect the environment as he called for the constitution of a Tree Management Committee by the university.
This, he said, would work towards preserving such resources, which have a lot of positive impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of members of the university community. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)