BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
A former Vice-Chancellor of the Osun State University, Prof. Labo Popoola, has said state governments have been failing to protect forests within their domains, a situation that has turned the vegetation spaces to hideouts for criminals.
Popoola revealed that forest spaces in the country had been ungoverned and that the development had been paving the way for deforestation, which had been causing catastrophic effects of climate change in Nigeria.
He noted that most forests in the country were going into extinction, pointing out that the health of the populace was at risk because the carbon dioxide that human beings breathe “is from the eroding forests.”
The forestry expert advised Nigerians against fetching firewoods in the forests and also cooking with same, saying “it is one of the means of deforestation, and cooking with firewoods is injurious to human health.”
Highlighting other major ways climate change affect Nigerians, Popoola submitted that flooding had been ravaging the nation due to climate change, spurred by worsening deforestation.
Apart from the pains and agony numerous households experience during floods, Popoola said flooding negatively impacts socio-economic growth of a country.
He lamented that most forest reserves in the country had been abandoned, adding that illegal tree fellers hadalso been taking advantage of the unprotected forests to cause more damage to nature.
The former VC said climate change increased the burden of diseases in Nigeria, especially malaria. He averred that cooking with firewoods was dangerous to health and also caused environmental hazards such as respiratory illnesses in many individuals.
He then called for enhanced protection of the nation’s forest landscapes given their immense role in climate response, poverty alleviation, food and water security.
Popoola further appealed to state governments to govern and manage the vast forests of the nation, lamenting, “If you look around most of Africa today, most of our forests have become ungoverned spaces and when you have ungoverned spaces, that is where you have conflicts, that is why you have criminalities going on there.”
“About 30 per cent of the surface of the earth, globally, is vegetation, mainly about forest. We have about 71 per cent water. Now, the reality is that without forest, there will be no life because there will be carbon dioxide that would be exuded, and it is only forest that can provide the carbon dioxide. The oxygen that we breathe is from the forest. So, without the forest, we are all gone. So, it is not just about the economy, it is about our sustenance, it is about existence, ecology, the ecosystem, sustainability, SDGs. All these things connect,” he added.
He said, “We lost all our forests when we left the place ungoverned. I blame that on state governments because only the state own forests. Why have we decided to deforest without thinking about replacement? We have policies but the question is how well are they implemented? We have the National Forestry Policy.
“Havocs are being done to forests assets due to felling of trees. We are destroying the forests and it is time for us to compensate nature. When you remove one tree, there is nothing stopping you from growing another.”
He urged state governors to be more committed to replacing vegetation loss by planting trees and embarking on afforestation campaign.
