Rivers Varsity MarksWorld Environmental Day, 2022

As environmental issues continue to dominate the global airspace, the Department of Forestry and Environment, Faculty of Agriculture, Rivers State University (RSU), has marked the 2022 World Environment Day in Port Harcourt.
Declaring the event open, the vice chancellor of RSU, Prof Nlerum Okogbule tasked citizens to always protect and preserve the environment in the overall interest of all.
Represented by the deputy vice chancellor (DVC) Admin, Prof Nnamdi Okoroma, the VC frowned at a situation where the environment is continuously polluted by the activities of oil companies and man, and called for a change of attitude.
The VC said the environment should be catered for daily and not just as an annual ritual like the ‘World Environment Day’ ceremony.
“Environment should be taken care of on daily basis, so environment should not be remembered once a year,” Prof Okogbule stressed.
Also speaking, the dean Faculty of Agriculture of the Rivers State University, Prof Data Ekine who said the environment is used to describe our surroundings, identified waste disposal, desertification and air pollution as key problems facing the environment.
She proffered water and electricity conservation, environmentally friendly practices, as well as tree planting, as panacea to the challenges facing our environment.
Earlier in his speech, the head of department (HOD), Department of Forestry and Environment of RSU, Dr Franklyn Chukunda said the World Environment Day was significant because environment is controlled by man and so it is important to protect it.
Dr Chukunda said his department was therefore, using the 2022 World Environment Day, to sensitize the people on the need to protect and preserve the environment. He noted that one of the major tasks of man is to keep the environment green.
The HOD commended the VC of RSU, Prof Okogbule for support to the Department of Forestry and Environment, which he said made the programme possible.
This year’s World Environment Day with the theme, ‘Only One Earth’, also featured a lecture on, ‘Nature and Biodiversity Conservation’ delivered by Dr. Jasper Eze who urged the people to live environmentally friendly lifestyles.