Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Health of Mother Earth Foundation, HOMEF, has called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on the Niger Delta environment, citing the urgent need for environmental restoration and protection.
HOMEF, an ecology-focused advocacy group, noted that the Niger Delta environment has been plagued by destructive activities, including resource extraction and poor land-use changes, leading to environmental degradation, water stress, and drought.
Executive Director of HOMEF, Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, emphasized the need for immediate action, including a comprehensive environmental restoration plan, proper clean-up of polluted lands, restoration, and payment of compensation for damage suffered.
Bassey urged the government to prioritize environmental protection, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable living in harmony with nature, recognizing the finite resources of the planet.
The group stressed that communities must be fully informed, consulted, and their consent received before projects that impact the environment are implemented.
“The declaration of a state of emergency on the Niger Delta environment would demonstrate the government’s commitment to addressing the ecological crisis and ensuring a safe future for generations to come.
“As we celebrate World Environment Day, we remind ourselves that our environment has been plagued with destructive activities especially through resource extraction and poor land-use changes.
“Nigeria needs an emergency environmental restoration plan across board as the only way to build resilience and ensure a safe future.
“This is our duty to ourselves and to future generations and immediate steps should be taken by the Nigerian government to ensure the proper clean-up of polluted lands, restoration of same and payment of
compensation for damage suffered,” Bassey stated.
He warned that: “We must wake up from the futile dream that the earth can be recklessly exploited without dire consequences. We need to understand that the generous gifts of nature must be handled with gratitude and care.
“We are living witnesses to the crimes committed in mining communities, oil fields and conflict zones. We must protect our biodiversity, reject species-eroding genetic modifications of all sorts, and support
harmonious relationships with Nature.”
HOMEF maintained that it must never be forgotten that communities continuously tackle the impacts of the multidimensional ecological crisis in their unsupported and vulnerable state and deserve to be protected.
“We should transformatively change our policies and choices to live sustainably in harmony with nature, with the complete understanding that the planet is our only home and that her resources are finite,” HOMEF
stated.
