Anambra Ministry Of Environment To Celebrate World Earth Day

The cherished drive for a Clean, Green and Sustainable Anambra, initiated by Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, (CFR), goes into higher gear as the Anambra State Ministry of Environment celebrates World Earth Day on Saturday, April 22.

The special event of the day is a Town Hall Meeting organized by the Ministry of Environment on the theme; Clean, Green and Sustainable Anambra. Taking Ownership: A Community Participation Approach.

The Town Hall Meeting which is billed to start at 10am prompt at Prof Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre, Awka will comprehensively place the community at the very heart of the sustenance of the Clean and Green revolution in Anambra State.

It needs to be recalled that on Friday, March 31, 2023 Anambra State Governor Prof. Soludo led the charge of Ndi-Anambra to Ochanja Market in Onitsha to undertake the watershed flag-off of the Clean, Green and Sustainable programme.

Governor Soludo in championing the cause of a sustainable clean and green Anambra State is of course following the script of his well-articulated People’s Manifesto aimed at turning the homeland into a liveable, pleasurable and prosperous destination of choice.

In his avowed manner of leading by example, Governor Soludo personally set the tone by physically engaging in desilting and evacuation.

After the Friday, March 31st flag-off by Governor Soludo in Ochanja Market, the launching of the Sustainable Clean and Green Anambra State programme was extended to the 21 local governments and 181 communities on Saturday, April 1st with the Deputy Governor, Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezim taking up the charge.

In addition to the actions initiated few weeks ago, the Saturday, April 22 Town Hall Meeting at Prof. Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre is coming as the next logical step that could help to ensure the sustainability of the Clean and Green culture in Anambra State.

Governor Soludo who is the Distinguished Guest of Honour at the World Earth Day occasion is expected to deliver new vistas on the Clean, Green and Sustainable vision and mission of Anambra State after his landmark launch of desilting drainages. The following distinguished panelists will be on hand to discuss the theme of the Town Hall Meeting. They include: Mr Ibrahim Odumboni . Managing Director /CEO Lagos State Waste Management Authority LAWMA; Professor Leo Muoghalu, Dean faculty of Environmental Sciences, Chukwuemeka Ojukwu University and Professor Peter C. Nnabude, an expert on Soil Science and Water Conservation, Nnamdi Azikiwe University.

To sustain the Clean and Green campaign, it is incumbent on the public and the communities to take ownership of their environment.

Major stakeholders such as traditional rulers, market leaders, church prelates, educational institution heads, motor park unions, landlord associations etc. must continually be involved in the Clean and Green task.

It must become a way of life, a culture, and a tradition that marks Anambra State out as indeed the Light of the Nation. That’s the only way Ndi-Anambra can help create a liveable, pleasurable and prosperous state as passionately espoused by Mr. Governor.
Filth and dirt are anathema and incompatible with the kind of progressive state Governor Soludo envisions.

The native Anambra society is known for cleanliness from the beginning of time. That’s who we are and this government intends to keep it so. A clean, green and sustainable Anambra is an idea whose time has come in keeping with the ideals of Ndi-Anambra (Anambra people).

Tree felling

In shaping up the environment for good, there should be a total stop to the indiscriminate felling of trees by the people. The consequences of the felling of trees are dire, especially as it leads to rampant erosion all over the state.
Even where its absolutely necessary to cut down a tree, the person must plant three trees for every one tree brought down.

It is worth restating that Anambra and Lagos are the two states with the least land mass, but while Lagos can gain more land through ocean reclamation, Anambra keeps losing its land through the scourge of erosion.

All these are issues to be tackled on the World Earth Day Town Hall Meeting holding at Prof. Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre, Awka on Saturday, April 22.

Olusola Akintonde