BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja
Worried by the alarming cases of air pollution, the National Park Service (NPS) has called on relevant authorities at the country's border to end illegal importation of vehicles, suggesting that rickety vehicles should be phased-out so as to reduce emission.
The Conservator-General of NPS, Dr Ibrahim Goni stated this in Abuja on Monday at a one-day capacity building workshop organised by Environment Media Correspondents Association of NIgeria (EMCAN) with the theme, "Healthy Environment: Panacea to Sustainable Livelihood".
He quoted a United Nations report as saying that air pollution is the world’s largest single environmental risk to health, saying that seven million people globally die annually due to exposure to poor air quality.
Goni added, "Lack of access to clean water and sanitation cause 58 percent of diarrheal cases in the low and middle-income countries. Inadequate sanitation or insufficient hygiene result in 3.5 million deaths worldwide, representing 25 per cent of the deaths of children younger than 14; about 107,000 people die annually from exposure to asbestos and 654,000 died from exposure to lead in 2010.
He said the theme of the workshop is vital towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adding that the consequences of climate change like exacerbating natural disasters, migration and conflict have denied Nigerians the right to sustainable livelihoods.
According to him, "The air people breathe, the food they eat, the water they drink and the ecosystems which sustain them have been estimated to be responsible for 23 percent of all deaths worldwide that are caused by non-communicable diseases from exposure to chemicals, poor air quality, unhealthy lifestyles, conflict and among others".
The CG said that healthy environment could reduce 13 million deaths recorded annually, while avoiding 13–37 percent of the world's disease burden such as 40, 41 and 94 percent deaths from malaria, lower respiratory infections and diarrheal respectively.
While pleading with manufacturers to adhere to the federal government’s air quality regulations and polices as spelt out by National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), he requested the construction of public toilets at strategic locations to end open defecation.
Given the rise in the consumption of contaminated water, Goni pleaded with environmental protection and law enforcement agencies to crackdown on illegal mining sites across the country.
He stated that NPS has been working assiduously to checkmate harmful environmental practices by sensitising support zone communities against indiscriminate bush burning and bush meat consumption to reduce the spread of zoonotic diseases.
Also, the provision of health care centres, borehole, solar power and establishment of woodlots and orchards to guarantee alternative sources of livelihood.
He vowed to support EMCAN in the discharge of its noble role of facilitating healthy environment for all Nigerians in order to achieve sustainable livelihood.
On his part, the guest lecturer, Mr Paddy Ezeala harped on the need for protection and sustainable management of Nigeria's biodiversity, lamenting that only about 4 percent of the country’s forest cover is untouched.
Speaking on "Challenges and Intervention in Nigeria's Environment: Opportunities for the Media", he said that Nigeria lost about four million hectares of forest in the past 30 years.
Ezeala, who is also the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Development Agenda, said the country’s remaining forests harbour about 4000 species of plants, noting that 484 of the species are threatened with extinction, though some are used for alternative medicine.
He added, "There are also animals including birds only found in Nigeria. These include the Ibadan malimbe, Anambra waxbill, Jos indigo bird and white throated monkey (Cercopithecus erythrogaster pococki), Niger Delta's pigmy hippo and red colobus monkey which are almost extinct".
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