April 22, 2023 was a big day for the FUPRE Centre for Sustainable Development. This day marks the Mother Earth’s Day and also the second anniversary of the Centre. Big players of the environment attended the event under the chairmanship of Dr Newton Jibunoh (The Desert Warrior) to “Invest in the Earth”. the Centre on her theme “Environmental Pollution: The Elephant in the room” presented certificates of training to the first ambassadors of the Centre who were trained on mitigation of plastic pollution and also recycling.
The Centre also awarded some well-meaning Nigerians with fellowship status/partnership of the Centre so that they can champion, contribute and invest heavily on solving the sustainable development goals. The fellows include: Hon Esenwan Frank, Dr Andy Ilabor, Hon Rex Anigboro etc.
Other partners were also recognized for their constant support towards the achievement of the vision and mission of the Centre. They include: Ms Florence Agbejule(Operations Manager PIND), Mr Henry Erikowa(Chief Presiding Officer CMADI),Mr Freeman Elohor (Centre Coordinator ACCARD).
At the end of the event which was concluded with a musical concert on the 17 SDGs, the communique was read by the Engr Dr Chinedum Mgbemena as follows:
- A law should be promulgated to ban cutting of trees across the country without permission from government. It is proposed that for any one tree to be cut, four new trees will be planted before approval is given to cut down the tree
- Single use plastic should be banned in Nigeria. Heavy taxes should be imposed on the use of single use plastic and biodegradable plastics should be used as replacement for single use plastic
- A complete ban on bush meat is recommended to mitigate extinction of the animals and encourage biodiversity.
This event was put together by Dr Elias Emeka Elemike (Director FCSD), Prof Doris Ogeleka(DVC Admin), Dr Akinyemi Ogunkeyede (Technical Director) Deacon Odugala(Deputy Director),Mr Harrison Agboro (Program Director), Ms Augusta Impact (SDGs Consultant),Dr Judith Umukoro (SDGs Gender Coordinator)