Environment
NON-Governmental Organisations under the aegis of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Albert Einstein Institution and Right Livelihood College, have said that investment in renewable energy would end environmental pollution worldwide.
The group made this known on Thursday during the 2022 8th Right Livelihood College Lecture on Environment tagged: ”Environment, War and the Global Energy System”, in Port Harcourt, Rivers.
Dr Nnimmo Bassey, the Executive Director of HOMEF, said that the theme of the lecture was very appropriate because of a very close connection between the state of environment and society.
Bassey said that the Niger Delta region, Nigeria and the world at large would be free from envronmental and climate change challenges if they invested more on renewable energy.
” Nigeria as a country should begin to invest more in renewable energy, where we don’t need to buy petrol, diesel or kerosene, and use natural resources like sun,or the wind or the heat in the air or the waves of the ocean.
”This is where we should invest our resources on and that is the future of energy in the world.
”We have a lot of war being fought over resources; Africa is now a focus for extraction of fossil fuel and that means that we can expect more conflicts on the African continent,” he said.
According to him, the lecture on non violence resistance is to help the people understand the various ways to creatively protest against harmful activities.
He said the lecture also offered avenues to creatively prepare to build resilience and capacity to withstand harmful activities and to prepare people for their liberty.
He said the lectures were organised in a university setting for students to appreciate that their education did not end in classrooms.
”Rather these exercises help them to broaden their vision to see what is happening elsewhere in the world and to generally stand up for what is right,’ he said.
According to Bassey, the kind of energy source we pursue affects the kind of actions that happens in our environment.
”So we have to hold accountable the companies that pollute our environment and blame our communities for the damage,” Bassey said.
According to him, oil needs not be drilled more anywhere in Nigeria or Africa because a whole lot of resources extracting in Africa is meant for exports.
”Even in natural gas 89 per cent of the infrastructure for natural gas extraction in Africa is for exports.
”If oil is found in commercial quality in the Northern Nigeria, as they begin to drill the oil, definitely the environment will be polluted and they will start facing environmental health and livelihood challenges like seen in the Niger Delta region.
”We don’t want anyone else or region to suffer environmental degradation like we are suffering in the Niger Delta,” Bassey said.
Similarly, Jamila Raqib, the Executive Director of the Albert Einstein Institution in the United States, urged communities to protect their environment and protest against human pollution.
Raqib urged governments to use power positively to affect changes in the climate change globally.
According to Raqib, government should think about what they educate younger ones on, what that can protect and impact in human lives globally.
Raqib, during her presentation, gave two examples that were very significant.
One was a blank paper protest in China where people protested with placards without any write up on it or violence,so it can be ridiculous to arrest someone protesting without violence.
She also gave an instance of the issue of Ghandi’s salt protest in India, where people protested for their right to produce salt by the local people.
Raqib urged people to be resilient in policies that would affect their livelihoods, education and also defend their communities and environment.
Prof. Owunari Georgewill, Vice-Chancellor, University of Port Harcourt, said that the lecture was part of the livelihood college series of public lectures held over the years since the university signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Right Livelihood Award Foundation in Sweden and HOMEF in Nigeria respectively.
Georgewill, represented by Prof. Fidelix Alen of the Department of Political and Administrative Studies, said that the lecture’s theme was crucial.
” It’s meant to think about problems of extreme violence and how it contributes to other problems especially the energy insecurity and environmental problems, especially climate change.”
Alen, who is the Coordinator of the Rights Livelihood College Port Harcourt, said that threat of conflict in the world had increased recently,adding that the war between Ukraine and Russia also contributed to energy insecurity globally.
According to Alen, the lecture is part of university culture to engage in the issue and provide that platform for students and colleagues to talk about these problems and suggest ways in dealing with them at the sub-national and international level.
Alen said that the environmental problems in the Niger Delta region were systemic and driven by economic development models that have been adopted over the years.
According to him, Nigeria has focused on economic growth, and the economic growth strategies for bringing about change do not consider the environment as a crucial factor.
”When development is defined without environment, its usually not development,what we are seeing over the years is more money from the environment at the expense of the integrity of the environment,
”If we can think about development holistically in terms of how the Niger Delta can be preserved, swamps, rivers preserved; if we can think about modest economic development, think about the non oil sector as drivers of economic growth and development, it may be better for us.
”What we need is an approach that will take incremental steps away from fossil fuel which is important for our environment,” he said.(NAN)
A.I
Tags: Albert Einstein Institution and Right Livelihood College Dr Nnimmo Bassey Health of Mother Earth Foundation Prof. Fidelix Alen Prof. Owunari Georgewill
