Ayodele Olalere
The Lagos State government, on Tuesday, dedicated this year’s Tree Planting Day to Covid-19 front line workers.
The governor of the state, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, while marking this year’s event themed “Trees For Life,” at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, said the synergy between environment and health can not be over-emphasised, adding a healthy environment would help in the fight against the pandemic.
“Today, the tree planting day is dedicated to all our Covid-19 front line workers. This is why we are here at Yaba Infectious Disease Centre, the epic centre of our fight against the pandemic. If you remember, we acknowledged the front line workers on this year’s Workers Day. On May 29, we also acknowledged all our frontline workers today July 14, it is also dedicated to them.
“As far back as 2008, Lagos State declared July 14 of every year as the Lagos State Tree Planting Day, and then went ahead to cement this in law with the passage in 2011 of the Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency Law of 2011. So, by law, Tree Planting has been designated as one of the statutory responsibilities of LASPARK. What we are here to do today is therefore enshrined in law,”
Sanwo-Olu said.
“As you might be aware, we are down to the final decade of the push for the attainment of the seventeenth Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined by the United Nations. Everyone has a role to play in contributing strongly to these goals: individuals, corporate organisations, national governments, as well as sub-national governments like Lagos State.
Goal 13 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) challenges us to “take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.” Goal 15 seeks to “Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.”
These two goals encapsulate our responsibility to take climate change seriously, and to do everything in our power to tackle it. Let me use this opportunity to reiterate that Lagos State will continue to be at the forefront of sustainable climate action in Nigeria and Africa.
” We can drawn parallels between the protective role trees play in the environment, and the roles of our health workers in protecting us from diseases and pandemics. It is therefore fitting that we are planting trees today to celebrate and support our health workers. And just as these trees will long outlive us, the heroic feats and sacrifices of our frontline health workers will also never be forgotten, even long after the pandemic is behind us,” the governor further said.
He urged the media to propagate the importance of trees to healthy living.
” I urge you to continue to work hard to sensitize Lagosians about the importance of tree planting.
We do not have a back-up planet, so we must treat the earth with respect and dignity. The trees we are about to plant today must be nurtured to grow and thrive, and contribute their part to protecting and safeguarding the environment.”
