NCF, Unical Celebrates World Earth Day

                                                  
BY:VITALIS UGOH, Calabar

The Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) in collaboration with the (Protect Our Planet)   movement, (POP) Transformation Home Africa, Deep Root Academy, and the  University of Calabar  Cross River State collaborated together this year to mark the 2021 World Earth Day.

Thee theme of this year celebration is  “Restore Our Earth”.

The week-long event started with advocacy visits by the team to the Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar Florence Obi who was represented by the DVC Admin  Michael Okom.

In her remarks, she noted that the University was willing to work with the group and provide all necessary support to ensure a successful outing while also noting the importance of the preservation of the earth with respect to tree planting and environmental pollution. 

The NCF delegation also visited  the Dean of Faculty of Environmental Sciences  and other Heads of departments in the University as well as  the Cross River State Ministry of Environment, The Drill Ranch and other civil society groups to create awareness on the need to protect the earth through sustainable actions.

The visit was however followed by a symposium held at the (GIS)Lab of the department of Geography, University of Calabar where a lecture and a panel discussions was held for students and other members of the university community. 

Emmanuel Owan, a representative of the NCF, noted during his presentation as one of the panelist that the importance of managing the earth as the only habitat of man cannot be overemphasized as failure to do so will spell doom for mankind. 

He nevertheless highlighted the importance of living in harmony with nature while also outlining the negative effect of man’s interaction with mother earth and encouraged participants at the workshop to utilize the earth resources sustainably.

Other speakers and panelist at the workshop include Mr. Samuel Okorie (a UN ambassador of Climate Change) and Mr. Kenedy Omojefe (founder, Transformation Home Africa).

This symposium was followed by a clean-up exercise within the university environment  which culminated in the presentation of waste bins and baskets by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar,  Florence Obi who was represented by the Director of Planning University of Calabar to the NCF, POP MOVEMENT, Transformation Home Africa and others who have come together to form a group known as CALABAR CLIMATE ADVOCATES.

The theme of the clean-up exercise was “GO CLEAN UNICAL”.

The weeklong event ended with a visit to the Drill Ranch for youths and students to be able to appreciate nature and the importance of conservation.

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