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<\/p>\nDr Funmilayo Doherty President of SETPCOM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nTo guarantee the future of upcoming generations in Nigeria, experts are seeking a halt in further degradation of the environment and its natural resources.
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\nThey spoke at the\u00a0yearly conference of Society for Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Mitigation (SETPOM) 2017, held at the University of Lagos, which saw the conferment of fellows to distinguished environmentalists and presentation of awards to\u00a0winners for its green essay and green photo competitions.<\/p>\n
They noted that the future of the country might be bleak considering the growing population and the depletion\u00a0of\u00a0the resources.According to SETPCOM President, Dr Funmilayo Doherty, with the nation\u2019s\u00a0population and limited natural resources, individuals and government need to take action responsibly based on the understanding that everything done today can have implications on the lives\u00a0or people and the planet\u00a0in future.
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\nShe said the conference\u00a0provides a platform\u00a0to enhance collaboration and engagement among researchers, regulators and practitioners to find solution to common problems encountered on day-to-day basis\u00a0by environmental stakeholders.
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\nDoherty stressed that the body strives to promote sustainable environment practices and share best practices\u00a0for the benefit\u00a0of man and other occupants of the global ecosystem,
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\nShe stressed that Nigeria adopted the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development\u00a0as a member\u00a0state of\u00a0the United Nations.By committing itself to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals, Nigeria should have been able to address issues\u00a0of environmental sustainability, promote health and wellbeing\u00a0of all citizens, ensure availability of safe and quality drinking water, sanitation, hygiene and quality education.<\/p>\n
Also Professor of Ecotoxicology and Pollution Management, Prof Adebayo Otitoloju, noted that\u00a0 \u00a0although, the level of\u00a0awareness\u00a0of environmental sustainability is quite encouraging\u00a0in the country, actions in actual implementation as a practice is still low. Mrs. Sibeudu called for sincere engagement between governments, International Oil Companies (IOC\u2019s) and host communities with respect to oil spill management and environmental restoration. Guardian <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\nOtitloju, who is\u00a0the founder\u00a0of SETPOM said\u00a0the society has been spearheading information on what is to be done, to\u00a0share the best practices all around\u00a0the world, when\u00a0it comes to\u00a0energy<\/a> sustainability, and\u00a0other issues of water resources or common resources to ensure that\u00a0the future\u00a0generation could partake in what we are enjoying\u00a0now.
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\nAlso the deputy Director, Safety, Health and Environment, Department\u00a0of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mrs. Onyebuchi\u00a0Sibeudu said sustainable development\u00a0should take care of today\u2019s needs without compromising the needs of the future generation.
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\nSpeaking on\u00a0Environmental sustainability and the role DPR plays as a regulatory body to ensure Environmental sustainability with respect to the Nigerian oil and gas industry, she said,\u00a0stakeholders have a part to play in preventing environmental degradation.<\/p>\n
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\nAccording to her, there have been several attempts made by operators to establish good working relations with their host communities.Although, she noted that the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) with host communities,\u00a0have achieved reasonable success,\u00a0for a truly peaceful and sustainable development of the oil and gas industry, a more holistic engagement with all relevant stakeholders including operators, communities, government regulators, security agencies, NGOs and International Development Partners will need to be initiated and midwifed to fruition.
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\nAll stakeholders, she opined must agree to put an end to the continued pollution of the Niger Delta environment as the environment is at a threshold beyond which the sustenance of normal livelihood activities will have been irreparably impaired.She suggested a\u00a0political solution\u00a0for the problem of militancy and vandalism and a comprehensive clean up and restoration effort pursued as well as improved conflict resolution mechanisms to resolve historical and present conflicts in the Niger Delta in a definitive and timely manner to foster peace and sustainable development.
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\nThe biochemist also advocated the strengthening of regulators regulatory oversight through consolidations of laws, and man power competence building, increased vigilance of regulators especially in times of economic downturn, when pressure\/incentive to cut corners for cost saving by operators may be highest and stiffer sanctions for defaulters backed by legislations\u00a0to foster environmental sustainability.<\/p>\n