Okeke Uchechukwu Chukwudi

Okeke Uchechukwu Chukwudi

Okeke Uchechukwu Chukwudi is a registered and licensed Pharmacist currently practicing in Nigeria and is passionate about the environment.

 Ever since I became aware about how human actions impact my environment and there is no other planet that humans can migrate to at the moment, the urgency to remediate the environment becomes more profound. This has raised my passion to contribute the best I can to save my immediate environment thus saving planet earth in the process.

 My passion for the environment stems from having developed an awareness of the threats human actions and activities have on the earth. I sought to know more about these impacts by a careful observation of my immediate environment and drew a list below of the current environmental challenges facing Rivers state where I reside and Nigeria at large;

1)   Air pollution: (particularly soot in Port Harcourt, Rivers State); resulting from illegal oil refining, gas flaring by the near moribund refineries and oil companies, emissions from diesel engines and generators because of lack constant electricity to power industries, businesses and homes, vehicular emissions, bush burning and incinerations on the street.

2)   Poor waste management: From poor sorting of waste for easy recycling and dumping of waste on walk ways and roads, a common feature in Nigeria.

3)   Water pollution: oil spillage from exploration and bunkering activities, dumping of refuse on water channels and emptying of sewage in water channels and drainages.

4)   Deforestation: Cutting down trees at an alarming rate (an economic venture), rapid venturing into green areas as a result of urbanization and real estate development, wood logging, desert encroachment mostly in the northern part of Nigeria and erosion in the eastern part of Nigeria.

 I have broadened my quest by observing that the above activities actually contribute to issues such as climate change, scarcity of resources and ozone layer depletion although the extent to which sub-Saharan Africa contribute is still debatable but cannot be ruled out. Having observed and witnessed the damage the factors listed above cause and their effects on the environment, the menacing consequences of people's lack of awareness, I have devoted my heart apart from being a healthcare professional to environmental protection for the goodness of humankind. As human networking and activities develop, I have realized that the sustainability industry has grown on world stage, hence environmental protection becomes a collaboration of all and sundry. A comprehensive understanding of this now global issue and its history is indispensable to making strategic and success trailed decisions in the future.

 According to greenamerica.org, “securing the fundamental right to voluntary, high-quality family-planning services, so women can have children by choice rather than chance and can plan their family size and spacing, is a matter of autonomy, dignity, and, yes, “climate change”. Growing evidence suggests that family planning has the additional benefit of building resilience by helping communities and countries better cope and adapt to inevitable changes brought by climate change”. I have been trained and involved in comprehensive reproductive health counselling and referral program (family planning) for the past one year and having learnt and researched the role family planning play in climate change and its remediation, my passion soar to continue to do more in this area. Over population contributes to majority of the environmental challenges facing Nigeria, from air pollution to deforestation. Efficient and effective family planning is one way to reduce this pressure on the environment and save the planet from global warming.

 I have also realized that succeeding in the protection of my immediate environment which ultimately will affect the world at large requires not only an in-depth understanding of the global conditions but also a solid ground work of various skills which I hope to gather as a Global Sustainability Ambassador, ultimately enabling me engage people in my environment and provide the extensive knowledge needed to succeed as a leader in the protection of the Earth.