By Yemi Olakitan
By May 2023, Nigerians will have a new President. This new President has enormous responsibilities in environmental protection. Hence, Nigeria must ensure the new President is one who has the environment in mind. This is because population increase and other human activities have harmed Nigeria’s forests, interior and coastal waters.
This new President will be one who will evaluate the nation’s performance on environmental protection. Nigeria as a nation has signed many environmental treaties. Population growth raises socioeconomic requirements. They include highways, hospitals, schools, and residential buildings. People pollute the environment as they migrate, building new structures or accommodation.
Ignorance is not an excuse. Nigerians’ ignorance of how to protect the environment is its biggest threat. Family environmentalism should start with education, or enlightenment of the populace.
The next president must start and advance natural resource conservation policies in addition to partnering with the media for mass mobilization and education on environmental protections activities.
Threats
Nigeria’s fast urbanization has damaged the environment. These changes have fragmented forests, making many species with a wide range vulnerable to poaching. Lost or fragmented habitats can harm or extinguish animals. The practice of ‘Bush meat’ hunting as it is popularly referred to in Nigeria is a culture that is as old as the Nigerian people. Nigerians in the rural communities continue to hunt animals for food, thereby extinguishing some of the animal species. By 2020, 30% of Nigerians should understand biological variety.
We must advocate for universal environmental education. Government agencies should use electronic and social media to educate the public about ecosystem protection.
Nigeria’s coastal and inland waters are suffering.
The activities of illegal oil refineries must be looked into. Many dump garbage into waterways. Large rivers carry pollution to lagoons and the sea. Nigeria’s waterways are mostly polluted by plastic. The issue has not been resolved. Oil prospecting has polluted several major rivers for decades. Some of the nation’s streams have worrying wastewater levels.
Conservation zones:
With the country’s growing population and environmental degradation, this is crucial. First, conserve undisturbed woods, rivers, and streams, especially those with threatened species. Since conservation areas are generally uninhabited, encroachment will stop.
Handling population increase and infrastructure development: Nigeria’s population exceeds that of Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Angola, which have greater land areas. The new president should prioritize infrastructure development that matches population growth.
Housing policies should restrict indiscriminate building, especially in forests. Housing estates should be eco-friendly. Every home should plant and grow a tree. This might chill, green, and reduce atmospheric carbon.
Funding: The next president must increase environmental education and conservation budgets. Nigeria has several untapped threatened species sites. Protect them before they disappear.
Plastic pollution bill remains unpassed. For swift passage, it must be returned to the National Assembly. All protected areas, parks, and beaches should restrict single-use plastics for tourists.
Nigeria can’t relax.
Some African states have banned plastic pollution and enforce them to varied degrees. Specialists: Professional zoologists, botanists, and environmental scientists in government ministries, departments, and organizations that protect natural ecosystems are needed to further this agenda.
Two factors prevent this. First, many young Nigerians dislike these courses. Second, non-scientists fill some posts, limiting career potential.
Scholarships and professional opportunities should encourage environment-related degree enrollment, especially in fee-paying private universities.
Since humans are only as healthy as their surroundings, four of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals focus on the environment.
Hence, the future Nigerian president should prioritizes environmental conservation alongside the economy and security.