Environmental experts have called on all relevant regulatory agencies to step up education and emergency response to the crisis to check environmental hazards in the state.
Speaking on the occasion of World Habitat Day, on Monday, October 5, in Port Harcourt, the Dean of Social Sciences, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Professor Hyginus Oku, urges the government to heed the theme, “urban crisis response” with more education and improved emergency response to achieve a safer environment.
“It is very necessary and mandatory that regulatory agencies must step up education, some people are passing through issues they don’t understand, they are the measure contributors to these urban disasters, environmental hazards and several other issues must be at the highest possible highlight level”
Highlighting the significance of the celebration, the Director Centre for Equity and Sustainable Development, Chief Constance Meju, explained that overpopulation in urban areas gives rise to an unhealthy environment.
“The many intra-communal crises in the villages are pushing people from villages to cities, increasing rural to urban migration, thereby leading to overpopulation, which means that more people are using the few available facilities. Definitely, the result is that there will be a crisis, she stated.
Also, a resident in Port Harcourt, Comrade Christian Woke, urges the Rivers State government to adopt measures in tackling flood and refuse in the state.
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“Nobody wants to live in a flooded area where you will go to work one day and come back, and find out that your house is flooded and your properties are covered in floodwater. The drainage should be clean. He further added that there should be a dump site for refuse disposal.
The United Nations report states that globally, over 100 million people are forcibly displaced, while some are victims of conflict, political instability, economic hardship, flooding, and other environmental and health hazards.
In a bid to tackle the challenges, the United Nations in 1985 set aside the first Monday of October every year as World Habitat Day.
This year’s observance is a reminder that sustainable cities are not just about buildings and roads, but proffering solutions to the growing challenges the cities face, ranging from climate change and displacement, infrastructure collapse and social inequality.
As Nigeria joins the rest of the world in celebrating World Habitat Day, it is important to reminisce on the message of United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, which says, “A city is more than just bricks and mortar, it is the promise of home”.
