Residents of the oil-polluted Niger Delta area have been assured that the ongoing mangrove restoration programme championed by the Federal Government will tackle climate change in the region.
The Minister of State Environment, Dr Iziaq Salako gave the assurance during an inspection tour of remediation sites and the Centre of Excellence in Weeyakara, Khana Council of Rivers State. The project was built by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) under the Environment Ministry.
Salako who also seized the opportunity of the visit to plant 10 trees at Birabi Grammar School in Bori, noted that the government was committed to the course of green environment.
According to him, Nigeria and Africa can mitigate the issues of climate crisis caused by technology and development by reverting to nature and sustainable practices.
He stated that following the years of oil exploration activities that have polluted the environment, it was expedient for the FG to sustain the shoreline protection and mangrove restoration projects.
Salako while lauding the pace of work at the Centre of Excellence and the remediation sites at Eleme council, stressed that President Bola Tinubu takes environmental issues so seriously.
He said: “So we are taking the environmental issues very seriously, and I can assure you that President Bola Tinubu has prioritised the issue of the environment. If you look at his Renewed Hope Agenda, his eight priority areas, you will know that he does not joke about environmental issues.
“When it comes to the issue of climate change, one important resource that Nigeria and Africa had to offer is nature-based solutions. And when we talk about nature-based solutions, our mangrove forests are very important elements of that. Nigeria has the largest mangrove forest in Africa and about the third in the entire world. This means that our mangrove is very important to the fight against climate change.”
