DAILY TRUST
Travelogue Abuja Environmental Protection Board partnerswith school children to battle environmental challenges headlongasthe world celebratesWorld Environment Day. 8, Tosln Omen;,1 NEwouldhavct hought thai another Ch ildre n's Daycelebration was in progress as h undreds of school child re n fro m va rious
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schools across the ca pital city troo ped Into the prem ises of Lad¡ ela Seconda ry school, Area II. On t heir foung faus wt're palpable signs of excitement a nd
expectation as they fOXc hanged spirited banters with ont ano ther and wi t h a few pa rents t hai graced
the gathering. More intcresti.ng however was t he nO licuble presence of lop omclab of the Ab uja Enviro mneni lli Pro tc<:tion Board , AEPB and their ubiquito us vehiclu. A quic k lookal l he lee sh irts donned by a large num be r of tile
ron ment Day which was rece ntly ~"' rlu;-""' I.0i0- , .
revuls t he hum. n gathering. Bold l" ""mp" on the colorfui lopS was t ht' dtcl aral ion, ' wh)' nal urt' is Spt ciallO u s~' T ht' occasio n was PUI toget her to ma rk the Wo rld Envl -
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T he guest speakt'r for Lhe day Malam Ahm t d Samboan environ me ntal expert and d irec tor ohhe Sustainable Development Tra in ing Cent rt' sttth t pact' for th t d iscouut' of th t da), wht n he d t liv-
ered a power packtd but h i~hl y )'ou r str vlct' to t he- children. He noted in the tuc hing lha t tduuting and Ind ted en lightening the younge r generation was t he first step In entrenching th t cult ure of enviro nme n ta l prese r vatlo n and pro tection, Accord ing to Sa mbo.
when t b~ dltllil rm 'tTt' pWn.lt'lilig the ir Irn mt d iate e nvironmen t. t he fu ture of the nation Is irrevocably tn hanced since the progrt'u of a ny h uman socitlY is tightl)' wove n Into the Slatt of t he t' nviro nrnt nt. 'Be a n environ mental advoutt even Ir you don', btcome
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tnvl ro nme nt Wt will havt no thing to seTVt' us in the fu ture: Ht also look ample Ilmt to tnch the children o n rclevant siers to takt in ac hieving t he aim 0 enhancIng the e nviron mtnt and also the d ivtrsc: rt ntwable and non rtntl"'-
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Friday, June 17, 2011
o Yabo who also highlighted th~ importance of constructin g th e talents of s tudents in the socio economic advancement of any nation. He enumerated the challenges of the: board in its sHide to protcct the environment of the capital city and urge:d the childre n to take active part In th e: process of preserving and protecting the: nation's abundant environmental resources in their own little way. ' We expect yo u to partner with us in this arduous I3sk which will be bend'icial 10 everyone in the long run. 'Ve also wan t you to be good am bassadors of the environment wherever you arc. In the city, we have numerous challenges such as noise pollut ion, wate r pollution and \.. aste management issues but all these are surmountable wit.h from support various groups including a distinguish ed one like yours. 'We cannot take the sensi tization of the younger generation on issues that border o n the environment for granted. We hope that with you r active s up ~ port we will achieve our pur路 pose and focusof preserving and protecting the environment: he enthused to the children. The ga thering was therea ner treated to different presentations on environmental degradation and challenges b y the v isiting schools which included Glisten Secondary sch ool-who mesmerized virtually everyo ne by their -a~d ho,;the 'y~speciilc!rr;y -pre~nJj lla.liDll Drel~ t a lion, on volcalllc erup Ion nOillleuUilrn serve the non renewable onC'S. effects of global. warming, Queen .. Esther InternatIOnal, Lo yo la les路 he hIgh pmnf of the day uit, Treasu re House Montessori school and a host of other private was perhaps the promise of partnership with stuschoo ls. The colorful unveiling of dents offere~. by the director of the ladela schoo l orchard and an AE J'B, AlhaJI Abubakar Sheh u environmental monitoring 5ta -
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tion amidst rapturous clapping rounded off the e\'ents for [he day. According to the director of the school, Mrs Ajala Angela who addressed the gathering shortly after the inaugura tion of the school's e nv ironm enta l protection club, the aim of th e: occasion was to build environmental aware ness in the childre n s ince Ihat is the most impressionabl e period o f thei r lives. She added that when such values as concerns the wtlfare of the envi ronm ent Is
is particularly miffed at the state of affairs and says that jf anything is to be gained by the recen t World Environment Day celebr31ions it was Ihe fact that a clean and sound environme nt has a direct innuence on the welfare of the human body. ~ In Ab uja and many parts o f the country people still h ave to contend with the issu e of garbage. Abuja which is adjudged as one of the most popular cities in th e Afri can con tinent still has to battle with that challenge. It is dreadful that we cannol find a lasting solutio n \0 this problem. Everywhere yo u go including the city ce nter, you can still find piles of refuse linering the streets and even nowing into the roads, This Is an area that the AEPB in particular has to address immediately. And [he change must be seen to be beyond words. What we want is action and that can only be seen when refuse disappears from our environ me nt: Ano ther residenl. Obiora pUIS the blame on residents rather [han the autho rities. He says that, 'if we inculcate hygienic values, the problem will be greally reduced.
involVing everyo ne from everywhere: WED celebration began in 1972 and has grown to become one of the main vehIcles through which the UN stimulates worldwide awaren .. ss of the environment and encourages political a!len tion and action.
-The government has a part to play but we also have to play our pari. h ' pi5Ses' me off when I see people dumping refuse on the roads. We need to change our own orientation too )'OU know?' According to online reco rd ~ , ' World Environment Day popu[arlY liI.!a;o::tl WED I~ an ann",,1 event that is aimed at be ing the biggest and most widely celebrated global day for positive environlllelllai action . \VED activities take place all yea r round but climax OLi 5 June every yea r.
Also 'through WED, the UN Environmen t Program me is able personiilit.e environmental issues and enable everyone \0 realit.e not only th ei r responsibil路 ity, but also their power to become agents of change in su ppo rt of sustainable: and equitable development. WED is also a day for people from all walks of life to come together to e nsu re a cleaner. greener and brIghter ou tlook for themselves and future generatioLls:
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entrenched in the psyche of the children, the society would end up being better for it. H
owever, re5 idents of the capital city opine that relevant authorities need
.... 6~"-T'".- "'-,,-..I~--.dl<lg..a.nd do more in terms of proter llng and preserving the Ab uJa en virons. They particularly point to the gradual take over o f different parts of the city by huge piles of garbage and the apathy o f the AEPB. A reside nt, Hassan Tanko
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