NAN-AE-2
Clubs
By Ebere Agozie
Abuja, Nov. 5, 2016 (NAN) Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu, of Abia, has called for the establishment of sanitation and environmental clubs in secondary schools in Nigeria.
Ikpeazu, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja, said this would ensure that students imbibe environmental protection consciousness at a young age.
“The clubs’ activities, which will include the teaching of recyclable and non recyclable wastes, will help inculcate in them the habit of proper disposing of waste and efficient methods of waste management generally,’’ he said.
According to him, ”if we continue to pollute and degrade the environment, the children will not have a safe place to live in the future”.
NAN reports that Ikpeazu was one of the recipients of an honourary fellowship award of the Nigerian Environmental Society (NES) at the Society’s 26th Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting in Abuja.
He said that Nigerians must work together to evolve the best ways of tackling and solving the environmental challenges facing the country.
“We must set a framework and proffer Nigerian solutions to our unique challenges. The NES is doing a good job in assembling professionals from all walks of life to serve as watchdogs in making sure that the Nigerian environment is safe for all,’’ he told NAN.
The governor also called for the Federal and States Government’s intervention in the area of making solar energy affordable to the ordinary Nigerian to further reduce the cost of living.
“Both federal and state governments should work together in this area to use the abundant sunshine God has given us to produce solar panels that are cheap and affordable to every Nigerian,” he said.
He stressed the need for Nigeria to explore the option of manufacturing goods with locally made materials and not to completely rely on importation.
“We need to start building our houses, constructing our roads, making clothes and household items with our own local materials and not filling our country with outdated, inferior and archaic machines,’’ he said. (NAN)
EPA/WS/IS
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Edited by Wandoo Sombo/Ismail Abdulaziz