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By Kelechi Nwaucha
“Without trees, we lose oxygen, and without oxygen, we lose life,” said the convener of Zadok Foundation, Pastor Michael Zilly Aggrey.
This formed the background of a tree planting and climate change awareness campaign embarked on by Zadok Foundation for schools in Rivers State.
Tagged ‘Together for our Environment Day,’ and organized as part of activities marking the 2024 World Environment Day, the campaign, which sought to spread “the importance of managing our environment and creating awareness on tree planting,” ran from Thursday June 20 to 21, 2024.
The first two schools to benefit from the campaign, Jephthah Comprehensive Secondary School and Royal Sharon International School, had memorial trees planted on their grounds, awareness talk on climate change and the environment by Zadok’s resource persons, as well as gifts to the students and teachers.
Presenting a speech at Jephthah on Friday, Pastor Michael Zilly Aggrey said the aim of the campaign was to inculcate the concept of clean and healthy environment in the minds of the young.
“Globally, the world is facing all kinds of climate issues, from global warming to heat, weather, flooding, deforestation, so many issues that affect our environment and our daily lives. In Rivers State, we’ve suffered the black soot for a long time, which is a serious environmental pollution. The oil spillage, the gas flaring in Africa.
“Recently a study was done by Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, which highlighted the dangerous effect of the oil spillage in the Niger Delta. Especially the study was done at Oloibiri, where oil was first found in Nigeria. And the devastating effect that it has on women is alarming, and something needs to be done urgently.
“So we are using this opportunity, every opportunity we have, to send a voice and a call to action for every group, organization, but specifically the schools. Because there is a saying that, ‘catch them young.’
“If we begin to educate and sensitize the younger generation on the importance of the environment, then we’ll have more people speaking truth to power concerning what needs to be done, to give us a safe and healthy environment.”
Mike Zilly-Aggrey said “there are countries where their carbon emission is so low, they don’t have these pollutions, the weather is clear and bright and beautiful. But over here we have these challenges, and it’s because we don’t have enough people speaking and advocating for environmental change and protection.
“So we came here today to talk, and I was so impressed when I found out that my alma mater already has an organization that speaks on, you know, recycling, the environment, planting of trees, and basically the climate sustainable development goals. And so what we are doing is partnering, seeing how we can work with this group, you know, to make the effect of what we are doing felt,” he said.
He said Zadok is interested in spreading the awareness campaign to schools and tertiary institutions across the state and country, adding that aside Jephthah and Royal Sharon International School, his organization “will still keep pushing and getting the advocacy to more schools as much as we can in Rivers State and beyond.”
Resource Person at the event, Ebi Apre, reminded the students of the importance of taking affirmative action for a healthy and cleaner earth. “The key thing is for you to affirm, that you can fix anything. That way you can fix anything in your environment.
“We all know that when God created the world, God made man and put him in the garden. And God gave him specific instruction to watch over the garden, to tend and keep the garden. Dr. Miles Munro did say that whatever you don’t manage, you lose. And God has given us the environment for you and I to take good care of. It is our responsibility to ensure that our environment is clean and safe.
“We all understand that there are certain practices people indulge in within our community, such as deforestation, cutting down of trees illegally without planting trees, and also bush burning, wrong ways of disposing waste, plastic and other metallic substances.
“We are no longer ignorant of the fact that we are having a series of climate change (manifestations) all over the world. So, Zadok Foundation deemed it fit to be here today as a clarion call to everyone. We as young people when we go home, we should speak to our parents. We should speak to our friends, and family members,” he said.
Apre urged the students on the need for “a peaceful environment and for us to protect our environment, because without the environment you and I cannot exist. So we shouldn’t fold our hands and allow people that do not understand the importance of a good and clean environment to jeopardize our existence as human beings.
“Most of us are young people, we’re very internet savvy. You can come up with a post. Whatever you see things around you that you know that are harmful to our existence, please do not hesitate to speak out, maybe you can inform your school authorities, or for you guys to do things that will help to sensitize people that do not understand the harmful practices of doing things wrongly,” he said.
Principal of Jephthah Comprehensive Secondary School, Pastor Peter Obiekwe, described the event as “a remarkable and historic day.
“Jephthah is a school that cherishes knowledge. We know that trees and plants contribute to a healthy environment. And that’s why we have a lot of flowers, a lot of trees around us here.
“So we are aware that trees make a lot of impact, good impact in the environment. And so we encourage, we even have a club, SDC club, Sustainable Development Club. It’s a club that talks care of taking care of the environment.“
He said going forward, what do the children had learnt from Zadok will “certainly impact in their personal lives, even in their families. Like they were asked to go back and be advocates for good environment, healthy environment, safe environment. So I think it will go a long way to impact on their immediate and extended environment.
“It is our responsibility to keep this environment, because it is a gift to us by God,” he said.
Student officials of the Sustainable Development Club (SDC) at Jephthah Comprehensive Secondary School, Miss Onita Divine (vice president) and Aboturi Faithful (secretary), expressed gratitude to Zadok for giving them the opportunity to expand their knowledge base on the environment and climate change.
“Our club is about our environment. We care for the environment in the little way we can. In our little corners, we try to affect our environment with positive changes and anything we can do to help boost the ecosystem of our environment to make it healthier and livelier.
“Zadok Foundation has really blessed our lives today in this program they held for us. It really taught us the importance of planting trees and how it helps in the environment. So what we’ve learned and what we are going to do from now on is to make sure that we continue planting our trees and continue making the world a better place for everyone,” they said.
