Third world countries, especially, Nigeria and other African countries, have been charged to desist from competing with the developed world in environmental pollution, but instead exude a stronger responsibility to care for and protect Mother Earth.

A statement by HOMEF’s Media/Communication Lead, Kome Odhomor, informed that the HOMEF’s Director, Nnimmo Bassey, who gave this charge in his address at an activity to mark the 2022 Earth Day, lamented that third world countries were steeped in destructive activities such as gas flaring, generation of greenhouse gases, and deforestation, among others.

“In Nigeria and the rest of Africa, we tend to believe that if other regions gained by polluting the atmosphere, we must exercise the right to pollute so as to attain their level of so-called progress.”

“Nigeria keeps flaring gas in the oilfield communities, pumping millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and poisoning both the people and the environment. That is called progress at the altar of foreign exchange. Deforestation is going on at alarming rate all across the nation.”

He asserted that “World Earth Day reminds us as humans that the Earth is ours to protect and preserve but over time humans have abandoned their roles in protecting the planet because of selfishness and drive for profit,” emphasizing that the “International Mother Earth Day’s theme this year urges us to ‘Invest In Our Planet’ as a means to building a livable future for humans, other beings and natural systems”.

Bassey further asserted that “This is in the best interest of humans as we need saving, not the planet. We have had extremely negative footprints on the Earth, transforming, exploiting and consuming without thinking of replacing or replenishing the stock of what we are consuming. We tend to think that the Planet is limitless and that the gifts of Nature can be grabbed without any sense of care or responsibility”.  

“It is obvious that humans have gravely ignored the need to see climate change as a catastrophic phenomenon. Globally, leaders are more ready to invest in destructive activities than to invest in climate action.

The HOMEF Director stated that “Today is a good day for everyone to decide to be active ecological defenders in our communities. We should also reject risky agricultural genetic engineering as it erodes our biodiversity and thus negatively impact our environment. Do not engage in polluting activities such as destructive mining, oil theft, deforestation and other wasteful actions. Reject single use plastics. Plant a tree. Be your brother’s keeper. Love and invest in our planet because we have no Planet B”.

In his remarks, the Director of Connected Advocacy, Israel Orekha, who spoke on the topic ‘Invest in our Planet’, expressed optimism that the earth has a potential to get better if we invest in our youths.  

“There is a gap in capacity and inadequate knowledge in our youths. The need to bridge the gap by involving young people in the drive to sustaining the future and to adopt an eco-friendly solution.”

On his part, representative of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth (ERA/FoEN), Babawale Obayanju, who spoke on the ‘Future of the Earth; Plastic or Fish’ noted that over the years, the investment in the future has been investment in machines.

“With continuous upgrade and modernization in our equipment, we have become modern day slaves and we are losing our culture and identity as Africans. Our future should be in the interconnectedness with the planet and how we can protect our fishes which we suffocate with our waste and plastics in our oceans.”