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By Madu Obi
SPEAKERS at the 6th UNIZIK Business School Hybrid International conference held in Awka have attributed the worsening climate changes across the country to human activities.
Among those who made the assertion were the Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Professor Charles Esimone, Executive Director of Development Spec Academy, Abuja, Professor Okey Ikechukwu, former Deputy Vice Chancellor of UNIZIK, Professor Fred Odibo and the director of UNIZIK Business School, Professor Chinedu Onyeizugbe.
Esimone, who declared the conference open, observed that the consequences of the human activities are manifesting in pollution of land, water and soil, deforestation, desertification, global warming and ozone layer depletion.
He warned that the hazardous impacts of carbon dioxide emissions do not respect international boundaries, noting that it is threatening both the industrialized and the industrializing countries, including Africa.
In the lead paper, Professor Ikechukwu said that unless there is a change of attitude, more devastation will happen.
He said: " Construction of dams is one of the causes of transcontinental to climate change and environmental challenges."
"As I speak, there are 11 sinking cities all over the world and Lagos, Nigeria is one of them. Lagos will go under and the reason is because global warming is melting the ice and increasing the volume of water entering the ocean, which is why all the cities lying below the coastal level are dropping below the sea level."
" Similarly, we are cutting down trees and not replacing them and so, desertification is moving down south and nobody is doing anything about it, or we do not know what to do."
"Again, chemicals from manufacturing companies flow into the streams, which people drink without knowing that they are poisonous."
Former Deputy Vice Chancellor of UNIZIK, Professor Odibo, who chaired the conference , wondered why there was no report of Environmental Impact Assessment, EIA, before the commencement of the construction of the controversial coastal highway from Lagos to Calabar
"This project will adversely affect aquatic lives, and the natural environment of the inhabitants of the people living along the route will be disrupted," he observed.
The director of UNIZIK Business School, Professor Onyeizugbe said the conference chose to delve into the vexed issue of climate and environmental challenges, believing that the outcome will show how much efforts have been made at addressing them.
" We carefully selected the speakers who are versed in the area of climate change and its impact on the society," he said.
At the ceremony, some people who have contributed in protecting the environment one way or the other, were honoured.
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