By Chidinma Agu
Lagos – Environmentalists on Wednesday in Lagos urged the Federal Government to stop the misapplication of ecological fund and use it to solve environmental issues in the country.
According to them, ecological fund is meant to address environmental challenges besieging almost all parts of the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government sets aside two to three per cent of the national revenue as ecological fund for resolving environmental problems.
The fund is not on the concurrent list of the government and does not need budgetary allocations before it is spent.
Dr Desmond Majekodunmi, an environmentalist and Chairman of Lagos Urban Forest and Animal Sanctuary Initiative (LUFASI) Natural Park, Sangotedo, said it was now time for Nigerians to take interest in how the ecological fund was spent.
“The nation’s environmental situation has called for the citizens to ensure that government obeys Chapter II Article 8 of the Constitution as it touches conservation and protection of the environment.
“It is time environmental lovers and Non-Governmental Organisations come together to make this happen. Serious coastal environmental challenges are going on and yet the government has not intervened using the fund to address them.
“There is need to build groins to protect Kuramo, Lekki and Afa Beach erosion sites among others, even if it is to save the few remaining coconuts trees,’’ he said.
Majekodunmi said that enhancing and promoting conservation was critical to checking environmental degradation in the country.
Prof. Oladele Osibanjo, another environmentalist and President of Waste Management Society of Nigeria (WAMSON), said that the ecological fund had been politicised over the years.
“Unfortunately, the ecological fund has been so much politicised that it is not being used well to solving environmental issues.
“What is needed now is the political will to use it wisely to intervene on serious environment issues round the country.
“Desertification is fast dislodging settlements in the North and making animal grazing difficult.
“There is Nanka erosion site in the East, assuming life threatening dimensions, and erosion along the nation’s coastal areas with colossal environmental issues.
“There is no more time to continue `sharing’ ecological fund, rather we should use it to put the environment in order,’’ he said.
Osibanjo lamented that the Nigerian side of the Great Green Wall (GGW) project was still lagging behind while other countries had made progress.
He said that it was time to reform the Ecological Fund by introducing checks and balances to ensure accountability.
Osibanjo also said that involving citizens in monitoring the utilisation of ecological fund was crucial to ensuring that it was used wisely to solve serious priority ecological problems.
NAN reports that Chapter II Article 8 of the 1979 Constitution states that the State shall protect and improve the environment and safeguard the water, air and land, forest and wild life of Nigeria.