Climate change: Bank supports Lagos campaign with 800 trees

The Bank’s Head of Corporate Services, Mr Diran Olojo, who made the donation of the trees to the Lagos Commissioner for Environment, Muiz Banire, said the donation and planting of the trees along Lateef Jakande road in Ikeja and other notable roads in the city is part of the bank’s corporate responsibility to combat effects […]

The Bank’s Head of Corporate Services, Mr Diran Olojo, who made the donation of the trees to the Lagos Commissioner for Environment, Muiz Banire, said the donation and planting of the trees along Lateef Jakande road in Ikeja and other notable roads in the city is part of the bank’s corporate responsibility to combat effects of climate change and enhance sustainable development in Lagos.

Olojo said that trees are very important to human life, noting that aggressive tree planting remains one of the major approaches to combat the menace of climate change, because trees according to him, give life to man by giving us oxygen in exchange for carbon dioxide, noting that tree is the source of man’s existence. .

During the planting exercise, Olojo hinted that the gesture was carried out to support government’s efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change that has been troubling the whole world.

He said the state government has reawakened the consciousness of the people on the need to protect the environment with the implementation of laudable programmes that can guarantee safe and quality living environment, adding that the best way to reciprocate government’s good initiative on sustainable environment is to join them.

Responding to the bank’s donation, Banire explained that tree planting is capable of adding value to our environment and provide fresh air, thereby reducing cooling cost.

He said  the state government, knowing the importance of trees to man’s existence recently imported a giant transplanting machine from the United States of America to make transplanting of trees from one region to the other in the state possible.

Banire therefore urged individuals, organisations and corporate groups that have any unwanted trees in their neighbourhoods not to fell them but notify the Ministry promising that the transplanting machine would be sent to the area to uproot the tree and plant such tree in another place where it will be useful.

In his remarks, the Coordinator of the Fight Against Desert Encroachment, (FADE) Dr. Newton Jibunoh, who accompanied the government officials to the venue of the planting exercise, stated that human activities have affected the environment so badly that, there is an urgent need to take measures that would mitigate its effects, noting that the effects of environmental abuse by people may be too much to bear if we fail as a people to rise to the occasion.