Environment minister promises research-based reforms

By Our Correspondent

The Minister of State for Environment, Dr Iziaq Kunle Salako , has promised positive changes to the country’s environment sector and research-based reforms.

Salako said this on Monday in his address when he assumed office at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

Salako said the ministry will take the lead in ensuring environmental sustainability, and a greener environment for Nigeria’s future generations.

He said, “To have the opportunity to be a minister is by the special grace of God because there are many more people who are more qualified than I am.

“However, for those who may have listened to me during the screening exercise, I have always maintained that Nigeria is a great country and we all have the responsibility to ensure that the full potential of Nigeria is made for everybody to see.

“They call us the giant of Africa but we know that in reality, we are not properly on the seat of the giant and we are not acting as giants.

“Our responsibility as the Ministry of Environment is to ensure that we demonstrate that Nigeria is a giant. The environment is a gift from God, and if we do not use the environment well, God will not be happy with us.

“So we will ensure that the environment is kept in a sustainable manner, and those who are coming behind can have something to meet.

“As a public health physician, I know the importance of the environment, I have some knowledge of the environment and I believe that we will work together to deliver on the mandate of the President in the environment sector.

“The President is very committed and very determined and he is looking for the legacy he is going to leave behind so that we can remember him for good.”

He noted that the ministry will work towards achieving the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

“I’m going to be tasking all of you and it is not going to be business as usual. For the research department, if there is no research and you are doing something, then there is no basis for it because there is no evidence to show for it. And research is the basis for evidence and I hope the research department will be up and doing, and we must work as a team,” he said.