Environmental degradation; pollution, others, my worries, says Miss Nigeria

MISS Chioma Obiadi, the 40th Miss Nigeria, has called on Nigerians to treat their environment with care and caution to ensure a healthy living for themselves.

Obiadi made the call while responding to questions during her courtesy visit to the Lagos office of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday.

The beauty queen said that environmental degradation was one of the greatest threats in the world today, noting that every Nigeria must join hands in tackling the menace.

The current Miss Nigeria who hails from Abia State said that the Miss Nigeria Organisation, the organisation that mentors occupants of the office, would do everything within its power to ensure that environmental degradation in Nigeria was reduced to its barest minimum.

The 300-level student of the Department of Geography and Meteorology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, said her project, the “Green Girl Project’ was targeted at addressing environmental issues in Nigeria.

She said that the project was meant to alleviate the problems arising from environmental issues due to ignorance, neglect among other things.

She said that it was sad that most Nigerians did not understand the implications of environmental degradation and pollution on their welfare.

According to her, “The green is for the environment and the girl is for the female folks reaching out to communities at large.

“The green girl is an environmental project aimed at ensuring sustainability of the environment.

“Nigeria is a blessed country with a beautiful environment and an amazing climate. We have almost zero natural disasters; yet, we have a lot of environmental issues,” she said.

“So, what we do with Miss Nigeria project is to educate people across diverse backgrounds on environmental issues and how they affect them either positively or negatively,” she said.

She said that it was important to explain the harmful effects of environmental degradation and its implications to the families and the unborn generations to the common man in Nigeria.

“Let Nigerians understand that 40 million people can be affected by diarrhoea and other health issues that are as serious as cancer, just from water pollution.

“If Nigerians can understand that 350,000 hectares of land in Northern Nigeria are being lost to desertification annually and also the effects of erosion in Eastern Nigeria, then we all can fight these environmental challenges collectively.

“If they can understand the implication of gas flaring in South-South of the country, then we can understand the gravity of these problems and begin to be more serious with environmental issues,” she said.

Obiadi said that the Miss Nigeria Organisation adopted different approaches to create awareness on the implications of environmental issues and to enlighten the masses on the effects of environmental degradation.

“We have the school tour where we visit primary and secondary schools as well as universities. We have the community services where we talk to the local communities.

“We visit churches and other places where we address people on the adverse effects of environmental degradation.

“We also plant trees as well as indulge in clean-up exercises. We clean up drains.

“I use myself as an agent of change for the young ones by planting these trees myself and clearing drains with my hands to encourage the younger ones,” she said.

The queen said that her status as Miss Nigeria, being a role model to the younger ones, would encourage them to ensure a more sustainable environment.

NAN reports that the ‘Green Girl Project’ is the Miss Nigeria Organisation’s project, that started with the 39th Miss Nigeria, Miss Lessi Vigboro-Peters.

The project serves as the pet projects of the reigning queen and will be passed on to subsequent queens for five years for maximum results.

The project which started in 2015 is aimed at creating awareness on the dangers of environmental pollution and the sustainability of a clean and healthy environment by the public.