NAN-AE-4
Threat
By Ajibola Olaniyi
Ile-Ife (Osun), Nov. 1, 2016 (NAN) A researcher, Dr Olayinka Ajala, on Tuesday urged government at all levels to protect Nigerian environment by making cooking fuel affordable to discourage use of wood and logging.
Ajala, a senior lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo Univeresity (OAU), Ile-Ife, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ile-Ife.
The researcher, who identified desertification as a big threat to the environment, stressed the need for the protection of the environment and healthy habitation.
According to him, one of the major causes of environmental degradation through acute flooding was desertification, “which simply implies the encroachment of the desert with adverse effect of loss of vegetation.’’
“Desertification is presently peculiar to the north east and the north west of the country; so, flooding set in as a result of loss of vegetation in that part of the country.
“The South West zone of the country is located in humid tropical region, which make the environment very prone to flooding and erosion as a result of the slash and burn system of farming.
“Unless the government is proactive enough to engage experts in the area of land –use planning and mapping of the soil resources through inventory, the situation might get worse,’’ he predicted.
Ajala also mentioned logging as one of the practices, aside farming system that expose the soil to run-off and give room for Chloro-carbon gases to be emitted into the space.
The don attributed the menace of flooding and ocean surge in all the coastal strips of the country to the emission of these gases that always bring about climate change.
Ajala called for aggressive forestation programme and sustainable development to control and prevent future occurrence of this calamity.
The researcher insisted that the government should also look inward and tackle flooding through conversion of waste that are blocking the water channels to synthetic materials through the policy of ‘Waste to Wealth’. (NAN)
DOO/AOM/AFA
Edited by Abdullahi Mohammed/Felix Ajide
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