NIREC seeks legislation to end environmental pollution

The Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) has called on the Federal Government to make legislation to enable regulatory agencies and ministries to combat environmental pollution.

NIREC also called on concerned industries that produce waste to be professional in their waste disposal methods by cleaning areas they have polluted.

This is contained in a statement signed and issued by the Executive Secretary, Cornelius Omonokhua.

The statement said Nigeria as a country is experiencing its own fair share of environmental pollution and global warming effects.

It said the country’s lands are polluted due to improper or lack of available dumpsite for domestic wastes, wrongful or excessive use of agro-allied chemicals which are mostly washed down into nearby rivers and streams thus also posing a threat to clean water.

“Our waters are polluted by direct dumping of refuse in water or waterways thus causing blockage of such waterways which results in flooding and contamination of water. These floods are responsible for the loss of lives and property worth millions of naira on annual basis.

“Secondly, crude oil drilling activities from the oil-producing states is another aspect of water pollution mostly experienced in the southern part of the country. This involves oil spillage from the crude oil activities carried out in that region.

“These spillages be it on land or in water are responsible for the death of plants and aquatic animals thus making farming and fishing activities more difficult, ultimately affecting the means of livelihood of the host community. Improper chemical waste disposal by industries is also not left out of this,” the statement noted.

NIREC said the pollution the air suffers mostly comes from emissions of carbon monoxide from automobiles and industries.

The religious body lamented that there are no stiff penalties for such emissions and as such a lot of vehicles drive around with visible emission, with heavy-duty vehicles creating a dark cloud of soot while they are in motion.

“The impact of these activities/pollution resulting to climate change (climatic temperature rise) has given birth to high exposure to heat stress and ultraviolet radiation, absence of clean air, shortage of potable water, desertification, unpredictable weather, etc,” NIREC said.

“In order to mitigate against the devastating effects of these pollutions, the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council hereby calls on the government to make legislation particularly enabling the respective regulatory Ministries, Departments and Agencies to address and combat these crises.

“NIREC call on all concerned industries that produce one form of waste or the other to be truly professional in their waste disposal methods and own up by cleaning up areas they have already polluted.

“NIREC calls on the Nigerian citizenry to be true nationalist by avoiding acts that could be inimical to the environment,” the statement added.

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NIREC seeks legislation to end environmental pollution