Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has pledged his administration’s commitment to establishing the first national park in the South-East, directing the state Ministry of Environment to begin the process of identifying a suitable forest reserve for the project.
The proposed national park is expected to serve as a major centre for biodiversity conservation, ecotourism, environmental research among others and is expected to create jobs, generating revenue as well as complement existing security efforts through the deployment of trained park rangers.
Governor Otti made the pledge on Tuesday when the management of the National Park Service (NPS), led by its Governing Board Chairman, Dr Kingsley Ononogbu, paid him a visit in Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area.
The governor said he had already approved a request by the Commissioner for Environment for the tracing and assessment of forest reserves across the state, describing the exercise as a good starting point for the proposed national park.
“I would, therefore, give him the assignment to look at the 18 forest reserves. There are actually 19, but the commissioner said one of them has already been encumbered.
“We have 18 here, which means, at a minimum, one per local government area and we have 17 local government areas, and some of these reserves are overgrown with bushes and nobody seems to be managing them.
“I will be able to identify one of them, working with you, then eventually, it will go through the appropriate process”, he said.
Governor Otti further assured that the state government would constitute a team, led by the Commissioner for Environment, with the State’s climate change experts, to work with the NPS and facilitate the establishment of the park.
“They are all here, so we will set up a team that will work very quickly to ensure that we establish the National Park in Abia”, the governor said.
He stressed the importance of preserving the natural environment despite advances in technology, noting that nature remains an essential part of human existence.
Governor Otti also commended Dr Ononogbu for personally championing the initiative, noting that the proposal might not have received the necessary attention if the chairman had not taken it up personally.
Earlier, the Chairman, Governing Board of NPS, Dr Kingsley Ononogbu, urged the Abia Government to initiate the formal process for establishing the national park.
According to him, the South-East is currently the only geopolitical zone without a national park, describing the situation as “a glaring omission that must be corrected”.
He said the initiative would create employment, boost ecotourism, generate revenue and strengthen security in host communities, noting that about 80 per cent of the park’s workforce would be recruited from surrounding communities.
“Approximately 80 per cent of the staff strength of the park will be sourced from host communities, directly reducing unemployment among our youths.
“It will also create indirect employment in hospitality, transport and local crafts”, he said.
The NPS chairman also disclosed that President Bola Tinubu had approved the recruitment of 1,000 rangers, but said Abia and other South-East states could not benefit from the initiative without a national park in the region.
“The president has just approved the recruitment of 1,000 rangers, but that is for the places where you already have a park and that will be at the expense of the Federal Government.
“So now that we don’t have one here, we’re not being considered at this point in time”, Dr Ononogbu said.
The NPS chairman explained that the process of establishing the park would begin with the identification of a suitable forest or game reserve by the state government, followed by a formal proposal to the Federal Government and constitution of a committee as well as a comprehensive survey by the NPS to determine its suitability.
He congratulated governor Otti on what he described as the developmental strides recorded in Abia over the past three years and assured the state government of the NPS’s commitment to turning the proposal into reality.
Also speaking, the Conservator-General of the NPS, Dr Ibrahim Goni, said the visit marked the commencement of the process to establish a national park in Abia, which would be the first in the South-East.
He said the process would begin with a formal proposal to the Minister of Environment for onward transmission to the President and the National Assembly for concurrence.
Goni added that the NPS would provide technical support and deploy officers to guide the committee to be constituted by the state government through the process.
