JUMP ON THE BANDWAGON
As long as one lives, he/she learns every day. Today, I learned that everything has a history. The only things that don’t have history are those yet to arouse human curiosity. The god of curiosity matched my destiny with the idiom- Jump on the band Wagon. Though this idiom consist of five words but it has powerful meaning, according to the phrase finder it means to join a growing movement in support of someone or something, especially when that movement is seen to have become successful.
Wonder Polis summarizes the origin which he dates back to American politics in the year 1848. Dan Rice, a popular circus clown who sold all his conveyances but his horse and bandwagon. He ran for political offices and attracted the interest of the people through music and his bandwagon. His bandwagon drew plenty of attention, and his campaign became successful. As he gained more supporters, other politicians tried to get seats on Rice's bandwagon.
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Speaking
of tracing history, the month of June is synonymous with the environment which
has gained momentum over the decades and also tops priority chart among other global
issues. Fabian Locher, in his article, Environmental History: The Origins,
Stakes, and Perspectives of a New Site for Research, attributes environmental activism to the works of Roderick Nash and
special number of the Pacific Historical Review in August 1972. Locher
in his account said Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962, heightened
awareness on environment in April 22, 1970 with the first Earth Day,
one of the largest demonstrations ever organized in the United States, gathering
20 million people. Today communities, indigenous people at the local,
sub-national, national and global have jumped on the bandwagon of environmental
activism. What started with 20 million people has engaged the attention of over
4 billion people in the globe.
The
year 5th June 1972 is also very significant, because it is the year of declaration of
World Environment Day (WED) by United Nations General Assembly. WED as it is popularly called resonates
commitment to positive actions towards the environment. The day is a reminder
that everyone has a stake in safe guarding the environment. It is a call that every
action counts, and when multiplied by a global chorus, becomes exponential in
its impact. This year’s world environment day celebration was centered on the theme
“Go wild for Life” with emphasis on illegal trade for wild life. The trend
cause damages to national revenue particularly that of developing countries.
The UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner, underlined that the effects of
wildlife trade include the destruction of natural capital in which many nations
could build healthy tourism industries; the spread of corruption and the
undermining of the rule of law all around the world; and the “fattening of
purses” of the international crime syndicates.
Nigeria
is highly endowed with various kinds of natural resources in the area of wild
life. She can boast of having wild life parks and reserves stretched from the North
to South region. In the North-East
region, In Alkaleri Local Government Area, the Yankari Game reserve which is located in the savannah, was
one of the most popular wild life reserve in Nigeria. It is endowed with various
species of animals such as Elephants, Lions, Buffalos, and Hippos. The most unique aspect of this is the warm spring-a pool which is
naturally warm regardless of the temperature. Tourist from all over Nigeria troops into Yankari to bask in the euphoria of the rich wild oasis. In the
Southern region, In Cross-river State, Nigeria is richly endowed with the tropical
rainforest and hosts on of the largest diversity in the world. We have the Afi Mountain,
Apoi creek forest reserve, Mbe mountains sanctuary and in this reserve, Nigeria is blessed with various species of Gorillas, Giant Snails, Snakes, Monkeys etc.
Eleven
days ago the
whole world chorused “go wild for life”. Was this a charade or mere show
of
excitement in commemoration with the world environment day? we also
chanted “criminalize
economic systems that support poaching of wild life’’. Beautiful
interventions
were made by stakeholders from legislature, government and civil
societies in
commemoration with the world environment day. Unfortunately somewhere
in Cross
River State Southern Nigeria's forested region. The State is also one
of the hubs for biodiversity in the world, community forest is
exterminated to construct new super high ways while neglecting
the existing highs way. Controversialproject Currently the Nigerian elephants are endangered
because they are hunted by foreigners for Ivory, government funding for wild
life protection has greatly diminished. Furthermore activities of insurgents
particularly in the Northern region has marred security and reduced the
commercial viability of some these resorts. Many tourist site like the famous
Sambisa Forest which use to be a wild life resort has become hide out for the
dreaded Boko Haram terrorist.
Despite the current status
of wild life in Nigeria like other African countries like Kenya, Nigeria can
take decisive steps to reverse the damaged state of the Nigeria wild life
sector. In a news report by a news blogger Linda Ikeji, a Nigerian was arrested in
Nairobi for wearing traditional artifacts made of ivory. These clearly depicts
the commitment of a country to resuscitate her wild life. Newsreport. Instead of depilating our wild life, in turn
destroying our environment for commercial purposes such as constructing a mega
high-way, Nigeria can also explore the business potentials in this sector like
their Kenyan, Botswana and South-African Counterparts. Nigerian government should
enact and implement stringent laws to prohibit poaching. Crude oil constitute
70% of the nation’s revenue, amidst the dwindling oil prices poses threat to
the economy. The theme "go wild for life"
issues a clarion call for Nigerians to jump on the bandwagon of sustainable
wide life management best practices in other African countries. Wildlife resort in Nigeria
Biography of Evelyn Terundu Ugbe
Miss
Ugbe is the co-founder for Initiative for Human Rights and Gender Awareness (IHGA).
A Non-Governmental Organisations that seeks to protect the rights of vulnerable
women in the society. She is very passionate about issues of gender equality. She
holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration from University of
Abuja as well as Master’s degree in Public Administration from the prestigious
Tsinghua University Beijing. Miss Ugbe has expertise in policy analysis, project
management, community engagement, legislative advocacy and facilitation.
She
has participated actively at Inter-governmental Negotiations at the United
Nations advocating for a standalone goal for women empowerment and gender
equality. Miss Ugbe led the advocacy team to the Zamfara State parliament to
solicit for inclusion of Muslim women in the State cabinet amidst stringent
religious and traditional beliefs. She constituted the group of experts that
reviewed the National gender policy making case for inclusion of issues of
gender in climate change adaptation. Evelyn
has conducted various studies on implications of women political participation
for good governance. Miss Ugbe is also the farm manager, Al-muharram Agro
allied limited. She has developed innovations to support women from all works
of life in medium and small scale agro-entrepreneurship.
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