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Strategies For Creating Public Awareness For Environmental Sustainability in Nigeria PDF
Strategies For Creating Public Awareness For Environmental Sustainability in Nigeria PDF
Abstract
In the process of man’s consumption of natural resources in his natural environment, a
number of stress is created which affects adversely the quality of the environment in which he
lives. In this paper an attempt has been made to identify the various methods through which
public awareness that are considered effective as well as the strategies for their implication
are discussed in the light of the achievement of a sustainable environment in Nigeria.
In its introductory section, attempts have made to clarify concepts such as Environment,
Environmental Sustainability and Environmental Problems. The paper concludes with the
need to slow down the population growth in order to achieve sustainable environment and
that everybody should be involved in environmental awareness creation for effective
environmental and resources management strategies as a way forward.
Key words: Environment, Environmental Sustainability, Environmental Problems, Natural
Resources, Public Awareness
1. INTRODUCTION
Environment
The word Environment has its origin in the French word “environ” which means
“surrounding”. The surrounding and everything that affect an organism during its lifetime is
collectively known as its environment.
Environment therefore constitutes the single complex whole that contains everything that
makes up the world. It entails arts and crafts, flora and fauna, traditions and history, weather
and climate, rivers, lakes and vegetation (Oladiti, 2010). By implication, according to
(Abiodun et al., 2014), environment contains everything that human life hinges on. Thus, in
the context of human development, environment is seen as the totality of the objects and
conditions surrounding human existence. Arising from the foregoing, guarding jealously the
environment becomes pertinent. This calls for rational use of the natural resources in the
present time, bearing in mind the future generation.
Environmental Problems
It can be referred to as any natural or human-induced event which poses a serious danger or
risk to the life and properties of people in their environment. An environmental problem
associates with negative impacts on the quality or quantity of the environment (Gunilla,
2014). At the beginning, man’s activities were limited by what the environment could offer,
i.e. the environment was dictating what man can do. Later the need arose from increasing
population such that pushed man to develop technologically enough to manipulate the
environment to suit his needs.
The reality of our time now is that we have by our activities and mission individually and
collectively contributed to our environment negatively than in the positive, it is the set of
negative contributions that are referred to as ‘Environmental Problems.
Take the ‘Hydrological Cycle’ which has its natural course as an example when man is in
quest for derivable benefits from dam construction and thus, dam a river, little or no water
gets downstream and the settlement downstream begins to suffer from shortage of water
which affect all other activities.
Today, the effect of environmental problems cannot be over emphasized in Nigeria. The
problems created by them are threat to both aquatic and terrestrial life and can lead to their
In Nigeria today, the environmental problems facing the country according to (Ajibade, 2000;
Uchegbu, 2000; Omofonwan and Osa-Edoh, 2008; Daramola and Ibem, 2010; Ibimilua and
Ibimilua, 2014), including among others, the following
Deforestation
Flooding
Erosion
Industrial pollution
Rainstorm
Bush burning
Solid waste management
Each particular problem has a linkage effect with another, which tends to exacerbate the
effects of others thus creating waves of anxiety, worry and concern for all lovers of the
environment (Uchegbu, 2002). These environmental problems encourage insufficient
utilization of resources, damage or reduce productive resources, which generally reduce
people’s standard of living.
According to (Evelyn and Tyav 2012), if we fail to sustain the environment, the environment
will not sustain us. Therefore, there is need to educate the public on how to manage, and
improve on the relationship between human society and the environment in an integrated and
sustainable manner to prevents environmental problems.
A lot of control measures have been suggested to the environmental problems majority of
which are preventive in nature. This rests on the premise that, preventing an environmental
problem from occurring, is cheaper than what the government will be spending to relief
victims yearly.
(Chokor, 1988; Jimoh and Ajibade, 1995; Mohammed and Ripudaman, 2014) among others
see environmental awareness as a necessary ingredient for a successful implementation of
environmental policy in Nigeria. This is because, failure of some of our measures are
sometimes attributed in part, to lack of public awareness. It is through people’s awareness
that all effort towards preventing damages to our environment can be effective. If people are
aware of the dangers in some of their actions, it will bring about positive change and thereby
prevent any future catastrophe that can arise from environmental problems. It can then be
posited that the magnitude of the existing environmental problems depends on individual’s
level of environmental awareness and perception.
People are still involved in unsustainable practices without minding the consequences
(Harrison et al., 2015). This situation has been blamed on ignorance and low level of
environmental awareness. The cure for ignorance is education. Therefore, there is the need to
re-awake and re-orientate the individuals’ mental state of perceptions to their environment.
It is pertinent to note that the issue of environment is all encompassing requiring both multi-
disciplinary and multi-sectoral approach (Iwugo, 1991). Thus, an integrated approach
involving all these techniques will be better applicable if majority of the people are the target.
In any case, there is no best method for all cases for a particular audience at a particular time
in a particular place.
Therefore, the existing ‘conservation club’ which seems not to be popular should be reviewed
while related ones should also be established. Prominent Environmental agencies and
organisations in Nigeria today include:
Government Environmental Agencies in Nigeria:
Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA)
Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD)
Federal Ministry of Environment (FME)
Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMWR)
Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN)
National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA)
National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA)
National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA)
National Population Commission (NPC)
Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET)
Non Governmental Environmental Organizations in Nigeria:
Earth Rights Institute (ERI)
Environmental Rights Action (ERA), Friends of the Earth, Nigeria
Niger Delta Fund Initiative (NDFI),
Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF)
Wastes Management Society of Nigeria (WAMASON)
6. CONCLUSION
Environmental futures scenarios are highly uncertain as the human population grows and
anthropogenic environmental change accelerates (Sinclair and Diduck, 2016). While this act
of creating awareness on environmental issues among the people continues, attempts should
also be made to achieve a sizeable population through population control measures, good
leadership and sound economic policies which will assist in the implementation of the
environmental control measures. Slower population growth would help people adapt to
climate change, reduce the scale of human vulnerability to these impacts, and give nations a
chance to make essential investments in health care, education, and sustainable economic
development (Population Action International, 2011).
Dealing with environmental problems is no doubt an uneasy task, because it requires tough
and bold decisions on the part of the government. Consequently, established agencies should
be vigorously supported. Creating public awareness should not be left to the Federal
Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) alone. Environment refers to everything that
surrounds man, attempts should therefore be made to create separate department in individual
ministry who will be charged with the responsibility of creating public awareness. In fact, it
should be seen as a collective responsibility while the Federal Environmental Protection
Agency (FEPA) coordinates.
Environmental awareness should be seen as a continuous activity until the term no longer
need be used, when the activities that it comprises become an accepted and normal part of
human behaviour toward the environment. It therefore becomes relevant to monitor the
implementation of these public awareness techniques constantly in order to determine their
continuity or change.
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