From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
The Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), on Wednesday, pledged to offer more support to Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka to ensure that it actualises its green revolution targets.
Director General of the foundation, Dr Joseph Onoja, made the pledge when he paid a courtesy call on the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Charles Esimone, at the Council Chambers of the institution.
The NCF said that it was impressed with the efforts being made by the management of the citadel of learning to plant more trees in the school and also protect the university’s environment, saying that the action fell in line with the mandate of the foundation.
Onoja said that the NCF clocked 40 years this year and that it has, since inception, been influencing policies that support the protection of the environment.
The DG, who highlighted the negative impacts of erosion in the country, appealed to Nigerians to stop every harmful practice that negatively affects the environment.
He said that the NCF would provide technical and financial support to the university and also expressed willingness to work with the Anambra State Government and other states in the South East region.
The VC of the university, Esimone, commended the NCF for its support, revealing, however, that the institution had been championing environmental conservation and protection campaigns.
He said that work has been ongoing at the university’s zoological garden being funded by TETFund and that more trees would be planted in the institution as part of the plans to protect its environment.
“We have a forest reserve in the university, we came to restore what has been lost and NCF helps in reforestation.
“The university is at the forefront of green evolution and we’re educating the people on the need to conserve the environment. We are restoring our lost environment degraded by human actions and educating the people to conserve it.
“NCF has been guiding and has committed resources; 10,000 trees planted in areas mapped out. We are impressed with what we saw. We saw our forest reserves and sought for how NCF will help us conserve them”, the VC said.
Commissioner for Environment, Felix Odumegwu, and his counterpart in the Ministry of Culture, Entertainment and Tourism, Don Onyenji, said that the state government was working hard to protect the environment.
The commissioners, who lamented the devastating effects of erosion in the state, said that the government had started taking relevant actions including planting of trees to check the menace.
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