An education, health, environmental and entrepreneurship-centred non-governmental organisation, HalimaFactor Community Initiative, has called for more awareness among young Nigerians to drive a responsible action towards mitigating the negative effects of climate change.
The Initiative says that only a right action today can guarantee a healthy ecosystem tomorrow which will ensure a healthy living for humans, and create the right environment for economic activities to thrive.
The founder of HalimaFactor Community Initiative, Halima Usman made the call while addressing participants at the just concluded North East Festival of Literature, Culture and Creativity (NEFLiCC) organised by the Initiative.
The 2024 NEFLICC, the 4th in the series with the theme, “Future Perspective: Climate Change, Innovation and Heritage”, took place at Gombe State University, featuring poetry, prose and drawing competition; tree planting; cultural fiesta and more.
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Usman said that literary arts is a crucial tool to raise consciousness on the need for environmental friendly actions that will increase the quality of life of humans and animals.
“It is important we begin to teach everyone, including our children on how to take care of their environment. This is because in a short period of time to come, the environment will become unbearable if we don’t do something about it.
“This programme becomes one of the platforms to create the needed awareness, because the students who have converged from various schools for this event know that at the end, they will write stories, poems and speak about environment, this helps them to ask question on what is actually climate change.
“It also has a trickle down effect to the extent that they will be in a good position to educate others on what climate change is and what is expected of them to do in order to protect the environment”, she stated.
In his remarks, the Governor of Gombe State, Inuwa Yahaya who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Abubakar Kari said that the government is taking drastic actions that will assist in mitigating the impact of climate change.
He said the government is tackling deforestation and encroachment on forest reserves across the state, as well as enacting policies that will encourage responsible mining of mineral resources to reduce its impact on the environment.
He commended HalimaFactor Community Initiative for taking issues that affect the environment seriously, and reiterated the commitment of the state government to invest more on education to give young people in the state opportunity to realize their full potentials through creativity, critical thinking and essential skills acquisition.
In her remarks, the guest speaker, Joyce Agofure said that climate change is having a serious social and economic impact in the country, especially with displacement of communities by flood, shrinking farmlands, poor agricultural yields, migration and insecurity.
She said that literature is a veritable tool to drive robust awareness on good environmental behaviour which can significantly reduce the impact of climate change.
She noted that climate change is triggering hunger, causing forced migration, affecting general livelihood and health, maintaining that equipping communities with the right information is key to save the environment for the future.
