The Chairman, Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, has raised the alarm over the mindless deforestation in the country and asked state governors to curtail the trend.
Dickson, who represents Bayelsa West in the National Assembly, spoke on Wednesday while receiving a coalition of 20 Non-Governmental Organizations with core values on environment, ecology and climate change at the Senate building in Abuja.
He pleaded with the state governors to redouble their efforts to ensure the preservation of the environment in the interest of posterity.
The senator promised to take advantage of his new position as Chairman, Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change to collaborate with all critical stakeholders on the issue of the environment.
He pledged to use all platforms available to him to advance the cause of the environment, the ecology and climate change.
“As the Chairman of the Senate Committee of Ecology and Climate Change, I will work with all NGOs in Nigeria, support the efforts of all institutions and bodies, to advance the cause of the environment, particularly to join the campaign against climate change.
“Nigeria’s response to climate change and support to communities devastated by climate change will see a marked difference by the time our Committee swings into action,” he said.
The leader of the coalition, Celestine Okwudili, who represented Mrs Ene Obi of Action Aid at the meeting, praised the former governor for sustaining a healthy environment while serving as Governor of Bayelsa State between 2012 and 2020.
According to Okwudilli, the indelible efforts made by Dickson include the constitution of an international commission on the environment chaired by Bishop, Lord Sentamu.
The report of the commission was presented to the House of Lords after a thorough and painstaking analysis last month and was received by Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State.
Ex-Bayelsa Gov, Dickson asks govs to curtail reckless deforestation in Nigeria