20th September, 2010
The Lagos state Commissioner for the Environment, Muiz Banire, has charged Nigerians to desist from carrying out actions that would result in reprisals from nature.
The Commissioner gave this warning at this year’s Walk For Nature held in Marina, Lagos.
The event, with the theme: ‘Sustaining a Greener Lagos’, saw the participants walking the entire Marina led by Banire, the state Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Rotimi Agunsoye and the Chairman of the Nigerian Conservative Foundation, Philip Asiodu.
According to the Commissioner, the myriad of natural disasters being witnessed around the world is as a result of the way people treat nature and its resources.
“We are products of nature; we cannot continue to live at variance with her dictates and wishes.
“Our culture, both traditional and developing ones must take cognisance of nature’s well-being.
“Sadly, we have erred nature. Nature seems to be in rage, current happenings around the world substantially indicate that we are not in harmony with nature,†he said adding that earthquakes, landslide, massive flooding, hurricanes, extinction of flora and fauna were some of the examples of the consequences of natures anger resulting from too much pressures on it.
While reiterating the efforts of the state government at combating the effect of climate change in the state, he said that the reason the country had not witnessed any catastrophe as a result of the reactions of nature was just because the country was lucky and not because it is exempted from any tragedy.
“It behoves on us as well as the entire global people that we must be wise in whatever we do in terms of industrial and domestic purposes.
“Nature must be inevitably put into consideration, mother earth must be respected and the environment must be passionately protected and guarded,†he added.
The Commissioner maintained that Lagos had become a pacesetter in the area of fighting climate change and that the government would not relent in this drive to make the State habitable for people.
Banire also said that the administration of Babtunde Fashola had a target of planting three million trees before its expiration. He enumerated the number of gardens created within the state so far adding that more would be created.
“Let me also say that as we protect nature, we are not loosing anything, we are making money; that is the new economy-green economy. Opportunities abound as we explore a low carbon economy,†he advised.
—Eromosele Ebhomele