- Dappa Maharajah
Ondo State governor, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), has reiterated his administration’s commitment to make the environmental better for sustainable development, stressing that there is need to protect the environment for the collective wellbeing of mankind.
The governor said this yesterday during this year’s World Environment Day celebration in Akure, and decried open defecation by people, adding that such practice is tantamount to inviting diseases like cholera and diarrhea.
He recalled that the ancestors started as nomads who moved from one place to another in search for fruits for their survival without destroying the natural environment, saying his administration would get the state’s forest back.
According to him, “Our administration appreciates the essence of this celebration. We are determined to leave our immediate environment better that we met it. We will continue to plant trees and discourage, actively, all activities which discount the very essence of existence.
“We will ensure that we reduce the nefarious activities of those who conduct themselves manners that depict them as enemies of this world.”
Akeredolu, who described the theme of this year’s event, “Connecting people to nature,” as apt, said it was “unmistakable suggestion of the indispensable symbiotic relationship between human beings and their natural environment for quality existence.
“The choice of this theme appears deliberate; it sets out to showcase the connection between man or woman and nature. It will afford all relevant stakeholders to think deeply about this all-important subject matter and give useful contributions that will engender environmental sustainability.”
The governor said the event would serve as a basis for assessing the world’s achievements in enhancing environmental friendliness as a way of ensuring sustainable and equitable development.
Akeredolu urged school children and non-governmental on the occasion to take the message of clean environment home for e
