Environment Minister inaugurates boards of agencies, institutions

By Miriam Humbe, Abuja

Minister of the Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi on Thursday in Abuja, inaugurated chairmen of boards of the various Agencies and Institutions under the supervision of his Ministry.

They included: National Parks headquarters, (Barr. Yusuf Sani) Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan, (Mr. Amirudeen Abba Ibrahim) and National Oil Spill Detection and Research Agency, (HRH Shehu Chindo Yamusa).

Others were Environmental Health Council of Nigeria, (Tonye Long-John), National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, (Alhaji Musa Salihu Abubakar), National Great Green Wall, (Hajiya Rabi Abdul Aziz) and National Biosafety Management Agency, (Pharm Anthony Sani).

This was what the Minister told the newly inaugurated chairmen:

“As we are aware, the Federal Ministry of Environment was established with a vision to ensure that Nigeria, as a country, develops in harmony with her environment and mission to ensure environmental protection and natural resources conservation for sustainable development.

“Based on these two pillars, the Ministry has the mandate to secure a quality environment conducive for good health and wellbeing of citizens; promote sustainable use of natural resources, restore and maintain the ecosystem and preserve biodiversity.

“It is the duty of the Ministry, therefore to develop policies that are tailored at achieving the mandate of the Ministry as it were.

“To meet the set goals, the Agencies and Institutions under the Ministry were established by enabling laws to implement the various policies and programmes aimed at promoting a sustainable environment and preserving the biodiversity of the ecosystem.

“It is important to note that to successfully implement these policies and programmes generated by the mainstream Ministry to meet the internationally acceptable set goals of the environment sector, competent hands are required to manage these Agencies and institutions.

“This is where you come in, ladies and gentlemen. You have been nominated to the Boards of the various Agencies and Institutions based on your competence and experience in the environment sector.

“To this end, I call on every individual either as member or representative of another MDA on the Boards to bring to bear their experiences in taking critical decisions especially, as they have to do with the overall mandate of the Ministry.

“Let me emphasize that the role of the Governing Boards is to drive general policy formulation for the implementation of the Management Teams of these Agencies.

“The general principle is that Board Members are not involved in the day-to-day running of the Agencies, except for Chairmen and Members who are statutorily saddled with executive functions.

“At this juncture, your synergy and cooperation especially with those saddled with day to day running of these Agencies and institutions cannot be over emphasized.

“Let me seize this opportunity to call on all stakeholders in the environment sector to work with this newly inaugurated Board to ensure a desirable and sustainable environment for Nigeria.

“It is important to note that Nigeria’s position on sustainable environment at the international and local levels has been applauded and it is our vision to carry out the National Agenda in tandem with the SDGs so as to lead the country to the path of Green Growth and sustainable development.”

Speaking on behalf of the inaugurated chairmen, HRH Shehu Chindo Yamusa thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the appointments.

He said: “Together we shall see the light at the end of it all”.