By Ighomuaye Lucky. O
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, Prof. Edoba Omoregie, has said that the institution will soon begin the flagging off, of the campaign to plant 10,000 trees to checkmate the impact of climate change.
He disclosed this when the leadership of the Edo State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) paid him a courtesy call in his office at the university in Benin.
Prof. Omoregie said the tree planting was part of his five points agenda he itemized as parts of the things he has to achieve for the institution.
“Since I came on aboard, I have been emphasizing that the University of Benin must move forward. And the reason for my appointment is to make that possible.
“University has existed for 55 years. And it is about the only institution in the whole of Edo state that has survived in over the past 55 years.
“Look around whether it is talk of business, I won’t talk of institution, none can trace their history back to 55 years. So that will tell you the importance attached to this institution and not just by government, by all stakeholders, including of course, your council.
“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 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. And 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”, Omoregie said.
The University Vice Chancellor further assured the NUJ of the institution’s willingness to work together for a better and a vibrant society.
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 institution of the unflinching support of the union for him to deliver on his five points agenda for the institution.
