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By Amos Odhe, Yenagoa
An entrepreneur cum innovator, Azibaola Roberts, has commenced another round of enlightenment campaign against deforestation and environmental degradation of the Niger Delta rain forests.
Roberts, applauded for recently receiving an award of Innovator of the Year from the Vanguard Newspapers for his invention of an electric car, as well as other innovations in the Nigerian automobile industry, has organized the first of its kind ‘bonfire night’ to push forward his environmental activism and campaigns.
Our correspondent reports that the event which was tagged, ‘An Invitation from Azibaola Robert for a Bonfire Night’ in Otakeme Community, Ogbia Council area of Bayelsa State, the organizer’s home town, featured the reliving of environmental experiences by natives and non-natives alike in the Niger Delta rain forest.
Speaking to journalists on the reasons behind the event, the activist who is also the CEO of Kakatar Group limited, as well as of Zeetin Engineering Nigeria limited, said that he intends to use the programme to create awareness and enlighten the people of the Niger Delta on the importance of the region’s rain forest and why it has to be protected.
The Kakatar and Zeetin Engineering groups’ chairman who described the trend as worrisome, cautioned against the high spate of indiscriminate logging and wildlife hunting, adding that if not curtailed, it could snowball into total extinction of trees, some species of fishes and animals habituating the Niger Delta rain forests.
Port Harcourt Mundial learnt that prior to the ‘bonfire night’ and enlightenment programme in Otakeme Community, no fewer than six months ago, Robert had alongside staff members of Zeetin and Kakatar groups, in company of journalists, had made the first ever 14-day expedition into the Niger Delta rainforests, with Otakeme Community’s forest was chosen as the pilot forest for the programme.
He promised to make the forest expedition an annual event, even though without local or international collaboration and partnership.
He said that with the indiscriminate logging, wildlife hunting by indigenes and non-indigenes of the Niger Delta region and uncontrolled environment pollution caused by activities of multinational companies, going on unchecked in the region, he was afraid the region’s flora and fauna is headed for obliteration.
“That is why traditional rulers were invited to take the message to the grassroots,” he said.
A visibly passionate Robert enumerated some of the already extinct trees, adding that upon carrying out his first 14 days expedition into the Otakeme forest recently, heart rending discoveries were made as to the level of destruction of the biodiversity of the area.
He said: “I’m not doing this event because I want to criticize the government for not doing enough to protect our rain forests. The Niger Delta is called the rain forest because when it rains in the communities here, it also rains in the Niger Delta region’s forests.
“The Niger Delta has one of the largest rain forests in the world. The largest rain forest is called the Amazon rain forest somewhere between Brazil and other American nations. We must protect this blessing given to us by God.
“I grew up in this community as a child, and I know certain places were named after trees. But now all those tress have been fallen down by loggers for furniture and other things. Surprisingly, you can’t find any furniture industry in this area, but can find them in areas that don’t have the rain forest like us here.
“I’m not doing this programme to gain anything, but to enlighten our people and create awareness on the dangers of deforestation and the near total extinction of our biodiversity.
“I’m not too poor, but I’m also not too rich to say I’m doing this event for any selfish gains. Recently, myself, members of my team and other persons, including journalists went into the Otakeme forest on a 14-day expedition to uncover the spate of environmental degradation of our rain forests, in which we discovered that certain animals, trees and other biodiversity have completely gone into extinction. If you cut one tree, plant more, because without these tresses, there won’t be life. The oxygen we breathe comes from the trees which take in carbon dioxide from the environment and give us oxygen for our survival.”
