- Urges Govt Quick Intervention
By Moses Omovevah
Delta State Special Project Director in charge of Udu/Ughelli Federal Constituency, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, has expressed concern over what he called the alarming rate of deforestation across the State, warning that the state’s forests are nearing total depletion.
Onuesoke made the call, yesterday, when the newly elected Executive members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ughelli Correspondents’ Chapel, led by its Chairman, Comrade Prince (Dr) Matthias Ogbagah, paid him a familiarisation visit in his Udu office.
According to him, years of uncontrolled logging and environmental neglect had depleted the state’s once-rich forest resources. “I have gone around the entire state from Isoko to Urhobo land from Sapele to Oghara. Today, there is no tree with a diameter of 25 inches left in our forests; not even enough to serve as an electric pole,” he lamented.
He noted that the only remaining large trees are found within sacred shrines, traditional evil forests that are preserved mainly because of their traditional and spiritual significance. In contrast, he said, forests outside these areas have been completely wiped out. In his words, “In another five years, there may not even be enough wood to bury the dead,” he warned.
He recalled that, in the past, traditional coffins were carved from a single massive tree trunk, sometimes measuring up to 200 inches in diameter, stressing that joining planks together was culturally unacceptable and considered unsafe.
“Today, people now join planks with nails and even reinforce them with old tyres. That is not tradition; it is desperation, caused by deforestation,” he said.
He further explained that the scarcity of wood has forced changes in building practices, with roofing sheets now being replaced by alternative materials. At the same time, all economic trees, such as rubber trees, palm trees, and iron trees, have been indiscriminately destroyed.
He revealed that Delta State was once among the leading rubber-producing regions in Nigeria, even during the old Bendel State era. “Rubber and palm oil were our economic backbone. Today, those trees are being butchered without replacement,” he stated.
Onuesoke disclosed that he has personally presented over 50 papers, advocating the establishment of a commission to monitor deforestation and environmental degradation in the state, regretting that no concrete action has been taken.
He emphasized that environmental protection has become a global economic opportunity and warned that the increasing heat waves and destructive winds experienced across the state are direct consequences of environmental abuse.
“Every small rainfall now comes with violent winds because there are no more giant trees to break the force. After God, the most important thing on earth is the environment.
“Governance cannot survive without it. When the environment collapses, politics becomes irrelevant,” he declared.
Describing his remarks as a call for action rather than an attack, he urged the media, government, and the general public to rise to the challenge of environmental protection.
“The media must speak. The government must act. The people must wake up, because nature will not negotiate,” he warned.
