Aregbesola renews call for protection of environment

The Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has reiterated the extreme importance of the environment to the existence and general well being of mankind.

Aregbesola observed this at the presentation of kits to the state’s highway managers by one of the leading commercial institutions in the country, Sterling Bank.
The Governor lamented the carefree attitude of Nigerians to the environment, saying the manner in which people just overlook the environment without any adequate attention to general cleanliness of where they live is worrisome.
According to the governor, apart from the biological make-up of human beings as they are created by God, it is only the environment that makes them what they are.
He noted that for people to live healthy and productive life, the environment must be clean, bright and well catered for regularly.
Emphasising the importance and the need to take care of the surrounding, Aregbesola averred that after food, the next thing on the priority of human beings is the environment as it could make or mar human existence depending on the way it is attended to.
He said: “Our environment defines us as human beings.
“But we all overlook our environment as if we can exist independently of the environment we live in.
“We act as if the only thing we owe ourselves is the cleanliness of our body alone.
“We neglect the environment in which our body lives.
“No amount of cleanliness we do to our body will endure if our environment is un-hygenic.
“To tell you how important our environment is to us, generally paying attention to our environment is the next most important thing after food.”
Aregbesola called on all stakeholders, who operate within the environment, to wake up and make the environment the best it could be made of to aid better living, adding that the most avowed critics of the state could not fault the progress the government has made in the state in making the environment the best for conducive living.
He commended the bank for contributing its quota to making the environment a better place for the people of the state.
He called on other corporate organisations to emulate the corporate responsibility demonstrated by Sterling Bank in donating the kits.
In his remark the Executive Director of the bank, Lanre Adesanya, said the presentation of the kits is in line with the bank’s strategic focus on the environment as one of its corporate responsibilities.
Adesanya stated that environmental cleanliness is one of the cardinal points of Sterling Bank’s corporate responsibilities.
He commended the Governor for the administration’s effort at changing the landscape of the entire state despite the challenge being faced in both public and private sectors.
He continued: “I must say here that our partnership with the state governments on environmental cleanliness is very solid and enduring.
“If you are going to talk about a cleaner in Nigeria, you cannot but mention Sterling Bank as one of the prominent organisations that has been at the forefront of environmental cleanliness nationwide.
“Mr. Governor, let me assure you that Sterling Bank will continually engage in initiatives that will protect the environment, especially those that are connected to the protection of lives through our renowned partnership with the state governments in order to maintain a healthy environment to guarantee good health for our people.”