Two Months To Handover, Buhari Inaugurate Boards Of Seven Agencies
The Federal Government, on Thursday, inaugurated the boards of agencies and institutes under the Federal Ministry of Environment, less than two months to the expiration of the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari.
In his address at the inauguration ceremony in Abuja, the Minister of Environment, Muhammad Abdullahi, who inaugurated the boards, said they would support in ensuring environmental protection and natural resources conservation for sustainable development in Nigeria.
He said it was the mandate of the FME to secure a quality environment conducive for good health and wellbeing of citizens, promote sustainable use of natural resources, restore and maintain the ecosystem, and preserve biodiversity.
“It is the duty of the ministry, therefore to develop policies that are tailored at achieving the mandate of the ministry as it were.
“To meet the set goals, the agencies and institutions under the ministry were established by enabling laws to implement the various policies and programmes aimed at promoting a sustainable environment and preserving the biodiversity of the ecosystem.
“It is important to note that to successfully implement these policies and programmes generated by the mainstream ministry to meet the internationally acceptable set goals of the environment sector, competent hands are required to manage these agencies and institutions,” Abdullahi stated.
He told the various board members that “this is where you come in. You have been nominated to the boards of the various agencies and institutions based on your competence and experience in the environment sector.”
Some of the agencies/institutes with the new boards include the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan; National Oil Spill Detection and Research Agency; National Environments Standards and Regulatory Enforcement Agency.
Others include Environmental Health Council of Nigeria, National Great Green Wall, National Biosafety Management Agency, etc.
The environment minister called on every individual, either as member or representative of another MDA on the boards, to bring to bear their experiences in taking critical decisions.
“Let me emphasise that the role of the governing boards is to drive general policy formulation for the implementation of the management teams of these agencies.
“The general principle is that board members are not involved in the day-to-day running of the agencies, except for chairmen and members who are statutorily saddled with executive functions.
“Let me seize this opportunity to call on all stakeholders in the environment sector to work with this newly inaugurated board to ensure a desirable and sustainable environment for Nigeria,” the minister stated.
