Deploy Technology To Tackle Ecological Problems, Group Tells FG

As the world marks the 2024 International Day of the Tropics, the Media Awareness and Justice Initiative, MAJI, has expressed concern over the continued devastating impacts of oil spills and carbon emissions on Nigeria’s tropical regions.
The group lamented that the oil-rich Niger Delta region has been ravaged by decades of oil spills, resulting in widespread environmental degradation and biodiversity loss.
Addressing a media briefing to mark the 2024 Day of the Tropics, Onyekachi Okoro Emmanuel, the Executive Director of MAJI, charged the Federal Government to leverage data tools and strategies to address the environmental and climate-related challenges facing the country.
“MAJI urges the federal government and other stakeholders to use this Year’s International Day for Tropics to ponder on current challenges facing Nigeria’s rich ecological environment. It is a clarion call for all of us to embrace technological tools, data approaches and evidence-based interventions in curbing the huge environmental and ecological challenges that affects Nigeria’s rich tropical diversity,” he said.
Comrade Okoro emphasized the need for evidence-based interventions, stressing that the lack of adequate environmental data has hindered the government’s ability to effectively address climate change and environmental degradation.
Comrade Okoro, who was represented by Ikechukwu Ahaka, MAJI’s Project Officer for Policy and Governance noted that the country’s rich tropical diversity is under threat, with nearly 95% of the world’s mangrove forests and 99% of mangrove species facing extinction.
He disclosed that MAJI, with support from the United States Consular General office, has developed an Environmental Data Analysis Mobile App called DATACAB, which collects and analyzes environmental data to provide insights for stakeholders; and urged the government and other stakeholders to adopt similar data-driven approaches to combat environmental challenges.
“The Federal government of Nigeria has to make specific efforts to firstly document environmental data in a sustainable and effective manner. This data will be strategic in the analysis which will provide the platform for evidence-based intervention, and data-oriented engagements at all levels of governance,” he said.
The group warned that failure to address these issues will have far-reaching consequences for the environment, local communities and the economy.
“The Nigerian government must take immediate action to address these environmental challenges. We urge the government to invest in data-driven solutions, like our DATACAB Environmental Portal, to monitor and mitigate the impact of oil spills and carbon emissions,” the group stated.
“While MAJI’s ‘Datacab Environmental Portal’ identifies some environmental challenges through environmental data collection and analysis, we believe more robust engagement and rigorous collaboration between stakeholders will enhance Citizens education, awareness and Participation. This we believe will immensely contribute to the mitigation of these impacts.
“For us at MAJI. the 2024 World Day of the Tropics serves as a gentle reminder for all stakeholders, government, social development groups, the media, private sector and communities to collectively reflect on the impacts of the damages on our environment and collaboratively develop inclusive strategies that will provide the platform for sustainable protection of the tropical regions in Nigeria”, said the group.