On the 23rd and 24thof April, 2013, Mrs. Amosun held a massive International Going Green Conference and Workshop which took place at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta. In attendance were members of the European Parliament, members from West African countries, executive Governors of Nigeria, Distinguished Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Members of the Federal House of Representatives in Nigeria, several First Ladies of states in Nigeria, the Consular General to the French Embassy in Nigeria, and a magnitude of professionals and Environmentalists from Europe, West Africa and Nigeria.
The International Conference and workshop that was organized by the UPLIFT Development Foundation in partnership with The International Centre for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE) and Knowledge Economy Network (KEN) had various international and local agencies and NGO’s in attendance.
Speaking at the conference, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) expressed its readiness to partner with UPLIFT and Ogun State in general in its Going Green initiative.
The House Committee Chairman on Environment, Hon. Uche Ekwunife noted that the concept of going green was to ensure the objective of improving the environment, maintaining that the issue of climate change has become a global challenge which governments at all levels and stakeholders must work together to address.
“We must create green environment, access to clean energy and water, pollution-free environment, reduction in waste and immensely improve our ecosystem. This will make companies to pursue profits in more sustainable ways and ensure economic benefits for all,” she said. She noted that efforts to support conventional ways of granting access to energy and electricity must be geared towards generating energy from renewed and alternative sources which would preserve the environment, urging other legislators to update the policies in all spheres of life to reflect environmental improvement and initiate bills that are people and environmental friendly.
His Excellency Senator Ibikunle Amosun the chief host of the event, urged the citizens of Ogun State to cultivate the habit of protecting the environment whilst carrying out their day-to-day activities, he canvassed for a synergy between private and public sectors to protect the environment. ”There is need for public private partnership in promoting important policies and instruments for environmental protection”.
Mrs. Amosun, the convener of the conference, stated that her main objective is to work with the youth to accomplish here fete of Ogun State and Nigeria as a whole going green. She expressed how dynamic, energetic and motivated our youth, the future leaders of tomorrow are, and explained how she wished to educate the youth on the basics and necessity of going green and then empower them to earn a living whilst sustaining the environment. This she said would be flagged off under her GEFTY (Green Education For The Youth) Initiative.
She expressed that the aims and objectives of the conference were to get international bodies and Government officials present at the conference to create an enabling environment for her GEFTY initiative to flourish, by putting laws in place that would encourage ‘green’ behavior by industries, organizations and government agencies. i.e. laws that would mandate industries to dispose off waste properly, laws that encourage industries to recycle their waste especially by buying back used containers of their products, laws that compel industries to use energy efficient machinery and create less pollution to the environment like solar powered machines instead of generator powered machinery. She said once laws and the enforcement of the laws were in place, it would help towards the progress and success of any going green initiative in Nigeria.
According to her, “Going Green means adopting basic principles like reducing pollution, converse resources, reduce waste energy, protect the earth’s ecological balance and recycling products to protect the environment from harm, as well as ensuring living on earth is sustainable for human and other creatures.” adding that she hoped that one of the outcomes of the conference would be to find solutions and ways of reducing adverse environmental impacts, conserve energy and resources get us all to live a healthier lives.
