Banditry: Environment Minister Harps On Reinforcement Of Forest Guards
By Ngozi Nwankwo
Federal Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal has said there was the need for reinforcement of the forest guards in line with the vision of Mr. President to rid our forests of bandits.
Lawal said this during the Ministry’s 2024 Ministerial retreat held in Kaduna State, recently.
While delivering an opening speech at the retreat, the Minister emphasised on the need for synergy between all Departments and agencies of the Ministry to tackle illegal activities of bandits in the nation’s forest reserves.
Also, in his paper presentation titled “Going Greener in 2024-2027: Mobilizing collective actions to Green the Renewed Hope Agenda.” the Minister of State for Environment, Dr. Iziaq Salako identified the need for personal actions from all Nigerians to drive the climate agenda of the country.
Meanwhile, Nigerian Pilot gathered that the retreat recognized that: President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is determined and committed to improving the socio-economic condition of all Nigerians through the eight presidential priorities and focus areas.
It also recognized that, the active participation of Mr. President at COP 28 is an affirmation of his commitment to environmental sustainability.
The ministers and directors at the retreat agreed that the Federal Ministry of Environment is mandated to drive the actualization of Mr. President’s vision through its 18 assigned deliverables and 48 Key Performance Indicators,KPIs, saying that, in order to achieve these 18 deliverables and KPIs, all Departments and Agencies must synergize.
The participants, however, resolved that all Departments, Agencies, Programmes and special projects of the Ministry should work collaboratively for the actualization of the Ministry’s mandated deliverables derived from the Presidential priorities.
In the retreat, they resolved to prioritize mentorship, institutional knowledge transfer and effective succession plan.
They said the procurement Plans should be completed early and submitted to the relevant Agencies of government to ensure timely release of fund.
Other resolutions of the retreat included, to discontinue the use of single use plastic within the Federal Ministry of Environment and its Agencies to drive a culture of waste reduction. In addition, staff of the Ministry and its agencies were requested to demonstrate leadership by example by implementing other personal climate actions in their environment.
Also, to fast track the issuance of the 3rd Sovereign Green Bond in 2024.
The participants of the retreat therefore, called on all Nigerians and other stakeholders to take personal responsibility for the protection, preservation and conservation of the environment.