BUDDING ENVIRONMENTALISTS AT THE FACULTY OF LAW UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, ENUGU CAMPUS CELEBRATING THE WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2017

By Millicent Ele

The environmental law class at the Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria has always been vibrant and engaging. It is an elective course for the final year class. For this reason, students that elect to offer environmental law are generally the ones that truly love the environment and desire not only to enjoy and be part of it but to preserve and protect it for the present and future generations. I consider it quite fulfilling and indeed a privilege to help in training these future Nigerian environmentalists and policy makers.

The World Environment Day celebrated globally every 5^th of June is a unique day for the environmental law class as the theme of the celebration is usually discussed in class with students coming up with fresh ideas and solutions relating to the theme. Canada, the host country for 2017 World Environment Day chose the theme “Connecting people to nature.” This enjoins people to get outdoors and enjoy nature, to appreciate its beauty and importance and to take positive action to protect the environment.

I decided to give the students assignment to do something for the benefit of the environment in celebration of the World Environment Day 2017. Below are some of the things they did in commemoration of the day.

►Some went out to the general public on the streets, in buses and other modes of public transportation to teach and create awareness about the environment; emphasizing such issues as proper waste disposal and cleanup, recycling, and pollution control, sustainable consumption, global warming etc. Others went to the rural inhabitants in the Niger Delta area and Aba in Abia State of Nigeria also to teach and create awareness about proper environmental management. Others simply gathered/mingled among fellow students at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus (UNEC) also to create environmental awareness.

►Some students went to Youth Fellowship Centres to encourage the youths and their teachers to help in protecting the environment by avoiding activities that pollute and harm the environment. Some captioned the exercise “The Impact of Human Activities on the Environment” using charts and teaching aids for illustrations while others created Posters which they placed in strategic places to emphasize the theme for this year’s world environment day.

 

►Some decided to catch them early by teaching the younger ones about the environment. Quite a good number of students went to Primary and Secondary Schools again to teach the pupils about the environment. Some even distributed sweeping brooms as token gift.

 

 

►Yet other focused on clean and healthy environment through proper cleanup of the surroundings by cutting the grasses and cleaning litters around waste bins.  Some went with the motto “Keep it Clean, Green and Comfortable” and others went with the hashtag #Operation Keep UNEC Clean 2017” to depict their love for clean environment.

►Others decided to clean drainages to prevent clogging, contamination of ground water, water wells and boreholes as well as to prevent standing water that helps in breeding mosquitoes and other harmful pests.

 

►Some organized Operation Pick It Up, to pick up litters around the campus. They emphasized the need to always use proper waste receptacles for waste disposal rather than littering it around stressing that a clean environment is a healthy environment.

►Others emphasized tree planting under the hashtag #Operation Re-populate the Environment 2017. This was to replace cut-down trees. They found this necessary because trees provide natural air conditioning from the hot tropical sun, sinks for carbon dioxide, fresh air (oxygen) for animal respiration and brakes for wind and soil erosion. But others planted flowers to beautify the environment.

►Some decided to simply appreciate and admire the beauty of UNEC greenery and flowers.

►Others visited natural caves and waterfalls to connect with nature.

Some went to Awhum (Ohum) Caves and Waterfalls and others to Ezeagu Waterfall

     Courtesy: Enugu State Tourism Board

This is Awhum Limestone Cave located in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. It is close to a monastery and surrounded by lush, green vegetation which is home to a variety of biological species.

      Courtesy: Enugu State Tourism Board

This is a breath-taking view of Awhum Waterfalls located in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. The waterfall is 30 meters high cascading over a stretch of landscape. It is close to a monastery and the water is believed to have a therapeutic effect.

►Others decided to organized online campaign for the environment using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Nairaland to reach millions of users across the world including students and academicians. Some went with the hashtag #I’mwithnature in order to sensitize people about the World Environment Day and the importance of keeping a clean and healthy environment. Others specifically campaigned against the requirement of hard copies of undergraduate thesis for grading. They recommended going paperless through the submission of softcopies in order to avoid the problems of storage space and improper disposal of the hardcopies. They pointed out that apart from the environmental consequences of wrong disposal, going paperless will also help to avoid deforestation since trees are used as raw materials in paper mills. They encouraged the creation of online data base for students’ thesis/projects in order to guarantee not only a quick access to scholarly information but to help in research outcomes and improved environment.

Connecting People to Nature through Parks and Open Spaces in Celebration of the World Environment Day 2017

By Millicent Ele,

Environmental and Public Health Law Consultant,

Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus.

Email: millicent.ele@unn.edu.ng

 This article was already published by BusinessDay Online.

In 1972, the United Nations General Assembly designated 5^th June as the World Environment Day - a day set aside to raise global awareness about environmental issues and to take positive action to protect the natural environment and the planet Earth. It was celebrated for the first time in 1974 under the slogan “Only One Earth” and the global celebration started rotating from country to country in 1988. In 2016, it was hosted in Africa by Angola under the theme “Fight against the illegal Trade in Wildlife.” This drew attention to Africa’s magnificent wildlife now under serious threat due to overexploitation, poaching and habitat destruction. Millions of people, organizations, schools, corporate bodies and governments have taken part over the years in the celebration of World Environment Day – thus helping to create awareness and drive change in national and international environmental policy.

Canada is the host nation for the World Environment Day 2017 with the theme “Connecting People to Nature.” This calls on us to get outdoors and find fun and exciting ways to experience and enjoy nature, to think about how we are part of nature and how intimately we depend on it, to appreciate its beauty and importance and to take positive action to protect the environment. In the spirit of this year's theme, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna encourages all Canadians to explore the country's beautiful natural areas, including the national parks and open spaces, nature reserves and wildlife areas, marine sanctuaries and migratory bird refuges, etc. With a population of about 36 million people, 81% of which live in the cities, successive Canadian governments have always placed premium on parks and open spaces because of their environmental and health benefits. In the light of this, Canada has made this year’s World Environment Day a major part of its 150^th birthday celebrations and has offered its citizens free access to Canada’s 46 national parks, all through 2017. This is expected to yield positive result because research has shown that the passion to connect with nature is lit and sustained once people make the initial minimal move to so connect.

Nigeria is to join the global celebration of World Environment Day on the 5^th of June 2017. But the question is – how many Nigerians will take the time out to connect with nature; to visit parks and open spaces to observe and experience other living things in their natural habitat; to hike or just to sit and relax in the park listening to the birds sing, taking in fresh air from the trees and fragrance from flowers. A more pertinent and perhaps disturbing question however, is whether Nigerians, especially city dwellers, who want to visit a park have a park to visit. Taking Enugu where I live and work as a point of reference, the trend for the past couple of decades is to re-designate parks and open spaces for other uses. For instance, the present location for Shoprite was formally Polo Park; Ekulu East Estate (commonly called Zoo Estate) was formally Enugu Zoo while Liberty Estate was formally an open wooded area used by the Enugu Rangers Football Club for their practice but which could have been converted into a beautiful park. Also neighbourhood open spaces where kids play have vastly been subdivided and built up throughout the coal city. In fact, it will not be wrong to say that there is an open war on nature in Enugu metropolis because the rate at which the government indiscriminately clear wooded areas and subdivide them for buildings and estates in Enugu is alarming. This is very sad because of the huge environmental implications on the ecosystem and human health. Indeed, a look at Okpara Square at pre-down every day with lots of people jogging and exercising will show you how much need people have for at least mini open spaces in their neighbourhoods.

Parks and open spaces are essential because they boost regular physical activities which in turn improves human health and fitness by reducing the risk of heart disease, hypertension, obesity and diabetes etc.; they improve psychological, emotional and mental health through reduction in stress, and symptoms of depression and anxiety; park trees produce oxygen, offer refuge to species, and help to counter climate change, pollution, deforestation, species extinction and erosion of biodiversity; they act as natural air conditioners that help to keep cities cooler and stimulate recreation. Parks are also important quality of life index that increases the value of neighbouring residential properties.

With all the above advantages, one wonders why any government that has the interest of its citizens at heart will routinely re-designate parks and open spaces for other uses. The amazing thing is that the attack on parks in Enugu metropolis is ubiquitous - affecting all neighbourhoods, low, middle and upscale neighbourhoods. For instance, in the case of the Zoo Estate, it is bad enough that the phased out zoo was replaced with an estate instead of a park but to worsen the situation, all the four areas designated for public parks and open spaces in the original plan for that estate have now been subdivided for private residential purposes. What is incomprehensible is that the rich residents are generally not bothered or at least not sufficiently interested to raise their voice in protest. Luckily a lone exception has been found in one resident whose property was particularly affected by this act and who has taken the state to court. His case is simply that by re-designating the parks for private residential purposes, the government has drastically changed the characteristic of that neighbourhood with the result that the property he bought overlooking one park and adjacent to another is no longer the property he now has. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this case and the attitude of the court to the impunity with which the government is short-changing the residents out of their parks and open spaces. 

The above notwithstanding, Nigerians are encouraged to step out and join the global community in celebrating the World Environment Day and to make individual or corporate effort to improve the environment.