Ogbia—Popular innovator and entrepreneur , Azibaola Robert, FNSE has advocated for the preservation of the rainforest and wildlife in the Niger Delta region.
Robert who advocated against indiscriminate logging noted that unchecked hunting activities have led to the near-extinction of some animals and plants.
He made this known during a community meeting with the theme “Bonfire Night With Azibaola Robert” held at Otakeme community in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
The meeting, according to him, is geared towards educating the rural dwellers on the effects of indiscriminate logging and hunting of wildlife.
Robert who is the founder of Zeetin Engineering and chairman of Kakatar Group, while listing trees and animals that have gone into extinction, highlighted his experience during his 14-day expedition into the rainforest of Otakeme.
His words, “The Niger Delta has one of the largest rainforests in the world. The largest rainforest is called the Amazon rainforest somewhere between Brazil and other American nations.
“We must protect this blessing given to us by God.
“I grew up in this community as a child, and I know certain places were named after trees. But now all those trees have been fallen by loggers for furniture and other things.
“Surprisingly, you can’t find any furniture industry in this area but can find them in areas that don’t have the rainforest-like us here.
“I’m not doing this programme to gain anything but to enlighten our people and create awareness on the dangers of deforestation and the near-total extinction of our biodiversity.
“I am not too poor, but I’m also not too rich to say I’m doing this event for any selfish gains.
“Recently, members of my team and other persons, including journalists went into the Otakeme forest on a 14-day expedition to uncover the spate of environmental degradation of our rainforests in which we discovered that certain animals, trees and other biodiversity have completely gone into extinction.”
While advocating for the planting of more trees, he averred that “the oxygen we breathe comes from the trees which take in carbon dioxide from the environment and give us oxygen for our survival.”
