Foundation for Community Empowerment Initiative, on Monday, commemorated the ‘World Environment Day’ in Government Day Science Secondary School II with a call for students to understand the essence of healthy environment.
Our correspondent reports that the theme; for this year’s commemoration is beat plastic pollution, is marked June 5 annually.
Speaking at the school, Executive Director of FOCEI Rahab Makama Loh, noted that the initiative was self-funded project emphasising the need for everyone to inculcate the attitude of planting trees in the environment.
According to her, FOCEI is building a society that promotes grassroot participation in sustainable development, stressing that the self-funded project titled ‘enhancing sustainable tree planting and environmental protection is in selected private and public schools in Gombe Metropolis.
She said, “The self-funded project aims to mitigate climate change and promote environmental protection through awareness creation and tree planting for school-based young adolescents to catch them young on the importance of tree planting and environmental protection to the economy and health of human beings.”
“tree planting is inline with our mandate,” Loh added.
On his part, Team Lead, Benjamin Maina, encouraged the students to pay attention to the environment, noting that “it is paramount to take care of the environment. The environment is faced with global warming, and tree planting is the easiest way to solve the myriad of environmental challenges.”
Maina disclosed that there are four major components of Environment which include, “Lithosphere, Hydrosphere, Atmosphere and Biosphere, corresponding to rocks, water, air and life respectively,” he added.
He commended Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes, Gombe office for providing FOCEI with sensitisation materials.
Dr Jimoh Ibrahim, while presenting on ‘How environment affects us’, emphasised the need for tree planting, “the environment affects all of us in the way we live, in the air we breathe, in the food we eat, the water we drink, the clothes we wear and the homes we live in,” he said.
Ibrahim noted that following man’s carelessness there have been environmental issues, thereby resulting in climate change, “Climate change, is one of the biggest threats to our environment, might seem like something that’s only a problem for polar bears or happening far away. it has increased global temperature, water quality, groundwater contamination, soil contamination,” he said.
Also, Project Coordinator of Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes, Ambassador Sani Jauro, who was represented by Richard Amsuel, promised to inaugurate environment driven-students’ vanguard, whose focus would be on saving planet earth.
Jauro said, “We are trying to give you opportunity so that we will not all suffer because of deforestation. If you count a tree and you replace it with two others by planting that’s better. Count it a blessing to be part of saving planet earth.”
Meanwhile, FOCEI on 2nd of June (Friday), flagged off its sensitisation campaign at All Saints College Federal Low-cost Gombe.
Hundreds of students participated in the sensitisation, as they were enlightened on the importance of tree planting, especially the need to play active roles in curbing emerging environmental related issues.
