OSOGBO – Dr Olayinka Ajala of the Department of Geography, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun, on Friday urged the Federal Government to be proactive and engage experts to prevent threats to environment.
Ajala made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Osogbo, saying there was a need to protect the environment for healthy living.
He said one of the major causes of environmental degradation through acute flooding was desertification.
“Desertification is presently peculiar to the northeast and the northwest of the country, so, flooding sets in as a result of loss of vegetation in that part of the country.
“The south-west zone is located in the humid tropical region, which makes the environment very prone to flooding and erosion as a result of the slash and burn system of farming.
“Unless the government is proactive enough to engage experts in the area of land use, planning and mapping of the soil resources through inventory, the situation might get worse,’’ Ajala said.
He said logging was one of the practices that exposed the soil and give room for the emission of gases into the atmosphere.
Ajala attributed flooding and ocean surge in the coastal strips of the country to the emission of the gases.
He called for an aggressive forestation programme and sustainable development to control further damage to the environment.
He urged the government to discourage the use of wood and make cooking fuel affordable to the people to protect the environment.
According to him, government needs to look inward and tackle flooding through conversion of waste blocking the water channels to synthetic usable materials. (NAN)
