BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja
Committed to improving the fauna and flora across Nigeria's ecological zones, the National Park Service (NPS) has moved to acquire aircraft for increased surveillance at the parks' in order to curb insecurity.
Already, the acquistion of the aircraft and other sundry issues were captured in the ageny's 2022 budget, just as the service plans to engage with the National Assembly for improved funding.
The Conservator-General of NPS, Dr Ibrahim Goni stated this in Abuja Wednesday while receiving a 6-man delegation from Environment Media Correspondents Association of Nigeria (EMCAN) and others, who were on a courtsey visit to felicitate with him on his reappointment.
According to him, "We are aware of what is happening in our country. Mr President said that he's aware of our efforts in trying to keep the national parks secure. In order to focus on security, we are proposing the acquisition of ICT equipments to get detailed digital intelligence and thwart the efforts of would-be invaders into the national parks."
This, he said would end the series of death and injury sustained by the officers while confronting invaders and poachers at the national parks.
Goni stated that NPS officers currently fights bandits, poachers and hoodlums alongside the army, police and other security agencies, adding that the Chief of Army Staff had earlier approved to send additional officers during the service field work in any national park.
He appreciated God, President Muhammadu Buhari, Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi as well as men and officers of the service for their massive support and roles, which led to his reappointment for another five-year term.
President Buhari had on 10th May 2022, extended the tenure of Dr Goni for another five-year given his milestone achievements in the areas of ecological tourism and enhancing parks' ecosytem.
The CG said though the task ahead is tougher compared to his initial achievements, that the service performed excellently in the areas of welfare, trainings and partnerships, targeted at boosting the morale of the officers.
On research, he said, "One of the basic mandates of NPS is reasrch. We have lots of plants and animal resources in the parks. We need to carry out extensive research on them and collaborate with organisations such as NAFDAC, Pharmaceutical Institutes and others that can use the findings of our research to move Nigeria forward. We will focus more on research in the next five years."
He commended the media for their massive support during his first tenure, adding that the courtsey visit would open new windows of opportunities for the service.
Speaking on Public Private Partnership (PPP), he added, "National parks in Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa don’t depend on government for funding. Some of us had traveled to understudy the national parks. We gave gathered so much knowledge from the visit. We want to explore the areas to see how we can improve our revenue through PPP."
He stated that Office of the Vice President under the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has listed three national parks for commercialisation, saying that NPS would key into the plans to source for entrepreneurs that would provide the needed infrastructure at the parks.
Earlier, the leader of EMCAN delegation, Comrade Chuks Oyema lauded the CG for his numerous achievements that led to his reappointment, even as he prayed for him to excel in the next five years.
Oyema, who is also the Chairman of EMCAN said though the task ahead is tedious, that the media is willing to work and support his efforts towards enhancing the country's flora and fauna.
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