The Earth Is Sick, When Will The Environment Get The Respect It Deserves -By Anifowoshe Misturah Esq.

The understanding that some principles are subject to diverse opinions while some ought not to, as it should be solely based on undiversified or similar opinion is the foundation of this piece. Forgive me! Did I say “Ought not”? I meant to say “should never”. The word “ought not” is used to evade liability, I was told by a friend and in this case, we can not evade liability for we can not fail to honour our obligations.

We have overtime paid little or no attention to what matters and, in this light, we have ascribed the saying “is this not Nigeria…?” to actions that are invaluable beyond the said phrase.

Human disturbance will continue to cause environmental degradation and the earlier we appreciate our adverse impacts on the ecosystem, the better for our habitat destruction. Humans need to make optimum use and management of resources, sustainable development and participation in these developmental activities.

The ecosystem and the environment become compromised when we continue to indiscriminately dump waste products. As human, what do we say to people that exploit us? We call them cheats; however, we have chosen to exploit the environment when we do not appreciate being exploited.

We have to change the paradigm of interaction with the environment. The Nature does not owe us anything however it has decided to habour us by providing a safe haven. It therefore lies within us to add value to the earth and not destroy it.

Being self-conscious and creating awareness about environmental degradation at all times is the key for our environmental health. This is because one would begin to wonder why when we intend to get food from a local restaurant, we do not go with our reusable food plates or food flask to save the earth from unnecessary pollution.

I also wonder why at every point we need to use the POS for a transaction, a receipt is generated. A safe thing to do to the environment would be that these receipts are immediately forwarded to our Gmail or phone numbers. With the severe sunlight in some states in Nigeria, we are awakened on the need for a sane environment and a place to breathe in fresh air. The effect of the major environmental problems is on both health and productivity. We crave a stable climate and a healthy environment but we fail to nurture the earth and allow it blossom.

I AM SICK, I AM TAKING CARE OF MYSELF BUT MOTHER EARTH IS SICK, WHEN WOULD YOU TAKE CARE OF HER?