Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, has expressed great delight over his recognition by LEADERSHIP Media Group, publishers of LEADERSHIP Newspapers, as the Environmental Impact Person of the Year 2023. He said it was great joy that such an award came from one of Nigeria’s leading news organisations.
The minister is recognised for redefining environmental governance in Nigeria with commendable innovation to combat climate change-induced challenges and revitalise the Nigerian environment.
“This is a great honour for me. And I‘m thrilled that LEADERSHIP is doing this for me for the first time because I believe that LEADERSHIP is like my own. It’s important to me. I consider it a great privilege. I am just doing what I need to do to fix the damage to our environment. We want to write the wrongs and give Nigerians a better living environment. That’s why we keep telling everyone to keep their environment clean to be safe,” the minister said on Wednesday when the management of LEADERSHIP Group, led by its Vice Chairman Mike Okpere, presented the nomination award to him in his Abuja office.
He expressed concern over the alarming environmental pollution, land degradation and deforestation that have caused many disasters, including deadly flooding across the country.
Mr Lawal revealed grave environmental concerns in Nigeria, “particularly our forests.” He added, “Nigeria has the worst forest cover in the world now. The worst, we‘re the worst, we‘re the last.”
The minimum required for forest cover is 25 per cent for all nations. “In Nigeria now, as I‘m talking to you, you have 3.7%. Because of illegal logging, because the Chinese have their wood, but they come and take our wood and go home,” he stated.
Lawal said he is driven by a passion for restoring the nation’s environment with the proper regulatory framework in partnership with various stakeholders.
The minister said the President Bola Tinubu-led government is trying to build as many trees as possible to prevent the desert from coming in. Particularly from the northern part of the country; one could see that significant threat to humanity, he said, a reason he is inviting relevant stakeholders in the environment industry and the media to come in strongly and support the government.
“We are providing a lot in our budget this year and next year. In addition, as I explained to the team that came here, we will try to work with these people who are our leaders. I don‘t think this day is bigger than you,” he stated.
Ogoni Cleanup, a long-stalled project in Nigeria’s Delta region, gained unprecedented momentum under Lawal’s stewardship. He earned widespread community support by engaging local stakeholders and launching tangible projects such as potable water schemes and the Centre for Excellence for Environmental Remediation in Wiiyaakara.
Speaking at the presentation of the award nomination letter to the minister, the director of the LEADERSHIP Conference, Mr Abraham Nda-Isaiah, said that the initiative is a testament to the minister’s commitment to restoring degraded environments and improving the lives of those most affected.
Earlier, Mr Okpere told the minister that his nomination by the board and management of LEADERSHIP Group was purely based on the merit of his contribution to the nation‘s well-being. He said Lawal is among the few Nigerians who have distinguished themselves in various fields. “It comforts us that others also recognise those we have chosen in the industry. We then believe we are doing the right thing through our selection process,” he said.
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