Uniben To Plant 10,000 Trees
By OSARIEMEN IDIAGHE
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, Prof. Edoba Omoregie, SAN has disclosed that the institution will commence the campaign to plant 10,000 trees to combat the impact of climate change.
He said this when the leadership of the Edo State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) paid him a courtesy visit in his office at the university in Benin City.
Prof. Omoregie revealed that the tree planting exercise is part of his five points agenda he itemized to achieve for the institution.
“Since I came on board, I have been emphasizing that the University of Benin must move forward, the reason for my appointment is to make that possible.
"The university has existed for 55 years. It is about the only institution in Edo state apart from government that has survived in over the past 55 years. Other institutions even businesses, none of them can trace their history back to 55 years.
“So, I have said that I have a 5-point agenda and they are carefully calibrated to align with the university strategic vision.
“And if you pardon me, I will just mention them again. First, we want to sustain and advance the academic profile of the University of Benin. We want to make the University of Benin a hub for capacity building and vocational training.
“We want to mainstream the welfare of staff and students so that they can be more focused on first doing their job as staff and then focus on their studies as students.
“Then we want to improve on the infrastructure of the university and be environmentally friendly in which case, we continue to improve on the things that we need to do for our daily activities as academics.
“And even for recreational purpose, we will also be mindful that as a university, we are supposed to be the model. That is why you see as you are coming into the university, you can see you are in a different community entirely and not the larger one that you and I know.
“I need a lot of regeneration in terms of environmental outlook but we are not satisfied even as we are, apparently a model already. We want to continue to improve on the environmental friendliness here.
“In that wise, we want to plant trees very soon. We are going to commence a campaign of planting 10,000 trees on this campus.
“And we will take it even further to the state generally, Benin City and so on. If you look at Benin, from Ugbowo to every part of Benin, you will notice that there are no trees, that is very, very sad given that we are in the rain forest.
“The planting of trees is not just for fun. There are environmental conservation reasons behind that.
“It also has impact on the health, climate change, remediation and so forth. So We are taking that campaign very serious. And remember when I came on board, the first task I carried out as Vice Chancellor was to plant trees. That is just to dramatize and to emphasize what we plan to do”
The Vice Chancellor who described the institution as a responsible body therefore assured the NUJ of the institution’s readiness to always engage the council when the need arises.
Earlier, the NUJ chairman, Dr. Festus Alenkhe congratulated the VC on his appointment noting that, since his assumption of office, the institution has taken a further leap into academic greatness.
Alenkhe assured the VC of the
full support and cooperation of the union in achieving his development drive for the institution.
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