About 60 new sites vulnerable to erosion among other ecological threats have been identified in Oyo state, Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Mr Isaac Ishola has disclosed.
Ishola made disclosure on Monday at the instance of the visit by the Ecological fund office, Abuja, to the state to assess ecological problem sites.
Speaking at Eleekara Academy, Ibadan, which one of the problem sites visited, Ishola said the visit was in line with the request by the state for continued federal government intervention in addressing ecological problems.
Beyond the 60 fresh sites, he noted that state government had also sought federal government’s intervention in some other problematic sites.
Speaking on observations from the assessment, leader of the Ecological fund team, Mr Lawrence Ojabo decried poor maintenance of existing structures, dumping of refuse in drainages and blockage of waterways.
He bemoaned that Nigerians continued to create problems for themselves by failing to take heed to environmental sanitation rules.
He said collaboration between federal, state and local communities was the FG’s strategy in resolving ecological problems.
“Some of these problems are our own creations. If you clog the water ways, you create problems and there would be devastation because water will find its own level. If you dump refuse on water ways, drainages, you create problems and this is a major problem in our environment. This is not helpful to the government, community and individuals.”
“Government does not have enough resources to re-do projects that were done before. Due to lack of maintenance, you see a lot of structures giving way. So the federal government is trying to ensure that federal, state and local government work together to address ecological problems.”
The ecological fund team which toured various ecological problematic sites in Ibadan, on Monday, will visit other parts of Oyo state by Thursday.
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