Clean Environment Key To Survival—Commissioner

By Dipo Olowookere

Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Babatunde Adejare, has emphasised the importance of a clean environment, saying no nation can prosper in a distressed and degraded environment.

Mr Adejare said this during the launch of Ikeja Clean-up Exercise and purpose-built Tricycles for waste disposal by Ikeja Local Government on Thursday in furtherance of the policy of the State Government to rid the environment of all infractions and nuisances.

The Commissioner commended the efforts of the Administrator of Ikeja LG, Engineer Abiodun Taiwo, for subscribing to the vision of the administration of Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on the environment and urged other Administrators to emulate this feat.

He said that the achievement of functional and sustainable environment is everybody’s business, adding that, “when we put environment first, development endures because we cannot lay claim to economic prosperity in the face of environmental insecurities.”

He further urged the citizens to take good care of the environment because God never created the environment to be distressed or degraded; it is human disregard for a sustainable environment that is responsible for the current worrisome state.

While restating the position of Government on sustainable environment, Mr Adejare said that the State Government was also planning to invest in the use of tricycles for waste disposal, saying such efforts will help in no small measure to assist waste disposal in the State, as the tricycles will be able to navigate hard-to reach areas.

The Commissioner also stated that the Government has also embarked on ‘Clean Lagos’ exercise across the five divisions of the State, saying this initiative will help reduce environmental degradation.

He urged Lagosians to join the State crusade to attain a cleaner, healthier, functional and sustainable environment, capable of promoting economic growth and well-being of the entire citizenry, saying “we do not have another planet, this earth is our earth, and we must do everything within our capacities to ensure it is safe for us and posterity.”

“We are all products of the environment; we cannot exist without the environment. It is paramount that we give our best to protect it,” Mr Adejare said.