NAN-AE-15
Environment
Osogbo, June 5, 2017 (NAN) Gov. Rauf Aregbesola of Osun says more than 2.5 million seedlings have been planted in the ongoing tree planting campaign in the state.
The governor made this known in a statement by Mr Semiu Okanlawon, his media aide while marking the 2017 world Environment Day on Monday in Osogbo.
The governor said his administration was concerned about a better environmental sanity hence the need to plant trees and keep the environment clean.
He said that the government had realised that only under a stable and clean environment that the potential of the citizenry could be realised.
“About 2.5 million seedlings have also been planted in the ongoing tree planting campaigns in the state
“The theme for this year ‘Connecting People to Nature ‘ is apt in the sense that we cannot fully appreciate the beauty of the environment if we fail to get closer to it.
“This theme is reminding us of that urgent need to plant trees, maintain the existing ones discourage deforestation and eliminate those human activities that contribute to environmental degradations.’’
“Today is the World Environment Day. It is the day set aside by the United Nations to call our attention to the critical issues of environment.
“So far, about 123 kilometers of waterways and canals in the state capital and outside the state capital have been dredged to avert flood disasters.
“Of critical note is the massive channelisation going on at the Old Garage area of Osogbo where the government is constructing a completely new bridge to put an end to the perennial flood that is peculiar to the area.”
Aregbesola, however, called on the people of the state to be more conscious of their environment and take proactive steps to mitigate the degree of environmental disasters that the world was being exposed to.
The governor said as the threats of climate change got more real, efforts must be geared toward preventive measures to save the environment.
He said that the state government had perfected its strategy for waste management in such a way that the people were conscious of the need to be more responsible in the handling of waste generated.
The UN set aside June 5 as the World Environment Day. (NAN)
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Edited by Grace Yussuf