By: Felix Ikpotor
A group, Journalists for Sustainable Development Initiative, JSDI, has complained bitterly about the indiscriminate felling of trees in Port Harcourt City and its environs.
Executive Director of JSDI, Parry Saroh Benson who stated this in Rumuomasi Community in Obio/Akpor Council of Rivers State, during the Flag-off of the 2023 Tree Planting Awareness Campaign in the area said the felling of trees is impacting negatively on the environment.
He regretted that several trees planted by the organisation in time past has been destroyed and called on the government to set up a mechanism to discourage people from the act.
Benson said the group is however, motivated to carry out more awareness because of the benefits derived from trees.
“Our motivation is that tree is life and that and in order to increase life, we need to plant trees and that’s why we have come to carryout campaign on planting of trees. You would recall that we have been doing this over the years and this one is the starting point for 2023 Tree Planting Campaign Flag-off. “As journalists, we are not the ones to plant the trees, ours is only to create awareness for the citizens. Citizens must realise that trees have alot of benefits and if we don’t wake up to do it, nobody would do it,” he said.
Benson added: “I want to also use this opportunity to call on government to put a monitoring structure in place against people who fell trees without recourse to the environment.
“People just wake-up and fell trees anyhow. The ones we planted earlier if you go there you will see vulcanizers operating there. Government need to protect these trees. We are doing this and we would continue to do it because as journalists, it’s our responsibility to carryout social campaigns like this one we have done,” he said.
Earlier, Chairman of the occasion,
His Royal Highness , Eze Raymond Emenike Chinda, Nye-Nweli Oropotoma Nu Rumuezeolu, Evo Kingdom commended the group for the initiative and urged other royal father’s in the state to encourage tree planting in their domains.
Speaking shortly after flagging -off the exercise, Eze Chinda said many lives would benefit from the trees being planted.
He promised to ensure that the trees are protected.
“This is one of the most desirable exercise that I found myself doing for my community because I know what we have done today, many lives will benefit from it, so I’m very happy. It is my duty to make sure they are protected and not like before when they come and pull them off, we will make sure we maintain them, we will make sure we care for it to grow to serve the general public and provide the oxygen we need,” he said.
“Other royal father’s who are here, remember this is a sacrifice we are doing for those whom we represent so it’s equally your duty to protect it. It’s no longer government, it’s no longer JSDI to come and do it for you, we as members of this council must take the initiative to do it completely for our people.
“We must go home with the message to do it so that our own children will have fresh air to breathe and to safe the ozone layer from further depletion,” Eze Chinda stated.
The royal father pledged his support and that of the community to the initiative.
On his part, Mr. Michael Oba who represented the Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Environment, also commended the group for the exercise and called on other NGOs to emulate what JSDI is doing.
In a goodwill message, Secretary of the Rivers State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Ike Wigodo said the union was fully in support of what JSDI is doing and commended them for keeping up the campaign.
