The Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, has pledged closer cooperation with the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) with a view to creating a safe and secure environment in the state.
The governor made the pledge when the Director-General of NESREA, Dr Lawrence Chidi Anukam, paid him a courtesy call in his office in Lokoja, recently.
A statement from the agency stated that the governor described his government as “environmentally friendly” while lamenting the non-implementation of the original master plan of the state which, according to him, has allowed land speculators to embark on unnecessary defacement of the environment.
He expressed disappointment with the deficit in infrastructure and revealed that machineries were now in place to correct the anomalies in the state.
Governor Bello further stated that he was ready to move Kogi State forward by ensuring NESREA’s physical presence in the state to check the menace of bad environmental practices.
In his remark, Dr Anukam commended the governor’s interest in protective environment, which is in tune with promoting good environmental governance and ensuring sustainable development.
He emphasised that federal presence in the state would enhance effective environmental compliance and monitoring as Kogi represented a centre for oil pipelines and tanker drivers.
“Only constant awareness creation and education can help to put preventive measures in place and secure the environment,” he stated.
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