Ikeazor reiterates role of data on environmental management

Minister of Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, on Tuesday, said that data remained pivotal in national development, especially on its pursuit for regulation towards a clean environment in Nigeria.

Ikeazor maintained that all attempts to effectively and efficiently manage the environment, cannot be achieved without total dependence on reliable data gathered from the field and efficiently processed and analysed for use by environmental experts.

She said this at the 15th National Stakeholders’ Forum on Environmental Data and Information Management: A Key to Environmental Governance in Nigeria where she was represented by the Director of Legal Services, Mrs Helen Obayiagon.

Ikeazor said: “Attempting solutions to these plethoras of environmental problems without appropriate data and information will not lead to the expected result.

“It is well known that Statistics helps in providing a better understanding and accurate description of nature’s phenomena.

“Gathering and analysis of data and information on the environmental situation in the country is the beginning of the whole activates aimed at the confirmation, remediation and mitigation of environmental challenges.

The enforcement of all environmental laws guidelines, policies, standards and regulations and compliance with all international agreements, treaties, protocols and conventions can only commence with the inventorisation and monitoring of the environmental media.

“This enhances the generation of accurate, adequate and timely environmental data and information,” Ikeazor stated

Emphasising the role of data in its policy direction and successful outcome as an agency mandated to regulate the environment, Director General of National Environmental Standards and Regulatory Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Professor, Aliyu Jauro, charged the 15th National Stakeholders’ Forum to evolve reliable processes, on how best data could be harnessed, for national benefits, in its quest to promote a clean environment.

Professor Jauro said this at the 15th National Stakeholders’ Forum, which had representatives of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory present.

According to him: “An array of resource persons both from the academia and in practice are here to present papers and chair the thematic groups on how best to harness data for Environmental Governance.”

He maintained that the programme was driven towards making a result that would ensure “A better understanding and appreciation of the principles and key issues relating to data and information management in Environmental compliance monitoring

Jauro said NESREA looked forward to a commitment by all key sector players to support, promote and release environmental data and information timeously.

The DG also called on the Stakeholders’ to use the forum to promote the establishment of a mechanism for continuing interaction and consultations, including a basis for networking, between NESREA and other key stakeholders in data and information management.

He said the forum should also ensure the “Identification of viable partnerships amongst the key stakeholders and deployment of data-enabled operationalisation of the Executive Order on the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

“Thereby appeal to all participants to work assiduously with a view to achieving the outcome of this Forum.

The keynote speaker and chairman of the NESREA governing Council, Chief Iyiola Oladokun, said the outcome of the two-day deliberation should capture the challenges of climate change.

He said the theme of the workshop as key to Environmental Governance, comes so timely to aid the Agency take her expected position in the implementation of the action plans on climate change.

These he said included compliance to the recent COP26 decision to reduce temperature rise to15°C; achievement of Nigeria’s commitment to cut carbon emission to net-zero by 2060.

He also said the stakeholders’ forum would energise the determination of NESREA on the implementation of the recently approved policy on climate change.

Iyiola said there was a need to drive the operationalisation of the relevant regulations necessary to achieve the above objectives need to be measured with data to test performance.

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Ikeazor reiterates role of data on environmental management