From Felix Ikem, Nsukka
Prof. Ogbonnaya Igwe of University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) has attributed the present abnormal diseases ravaging the society to environmental pollution and consumptions of food that contains chemical.
The Professor said this on Thursday in Neukka while delivering UNN’s 166th Inaugural Lecture titled, “Earth’s Geospheric Remain: The Tectonic Shift from Balm to Humanity’s Bane.”
He said that environmental pollution is a positive indicator of an uncalibrated movement that has cost the world dearly, giving rise to abnormal diseases like cancer, Coronavirus, heart failure, kidney diseases, among others.
“People should be mindful of their environments and avoid doing something that is harmful to the environment as such actions have resulted in landslide, erosion, air pollution and other dangerous consequences.
“Diseases like Coronavirus, cancer, and health conditions like infertility and other health problems that were not there before now were cased by environmental pollution.
“Human activities like industrial processes, mining transaction, waste disposal and management cultures, oil spillage, gass flaring and others industrial activities are responsible for the present upsurge in heavy metals, petroleum derivatives and other kind of harmful contaminants in soil and other related environmental receptors.
“Our forefathers who did not degrade their environment did not suffer all this diseases and environmental challenges we are facing now because they breath uncontaminated air and they eat organic foods that has nothing to do with chemical, he said.
The Professor of Engineering and Environmental Geology urged people to avoid taking biotech food because they are product of chemical and genetic engineering.
“All biotech food are product of chemical and they are and as such they may not be good for human consumption.
“The neighborhood is stinking, the air, the soil and the water have been degraded by all kind of waste and other injurious chemicals used in engineering, agriculture and forestry,” he said.
In a remake, the Vice chancellor of the University, Prof. Charles Igwe said that UNN inaugural lecture had the objective to educate the university community and the public on issues that are very vital and important to the society with their wealth of knowledge as professors.