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FUTO plans environmental justice, health centres

By Charles Ogugbuaja, Owerri
26 June 2015   |   10:08 am
DISTURBED by the rising number of victims of environmental degradation, allegedly caused by some companies, the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) has begun moves to set up a centre for environmental justice/health.

FUTO PixDISTURBED by the rising number of victims of environmental degradation, allegedly caused by some companies, the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) has begun moves to set up a centre for environmental justice/health.

Disclosing this at an event themed ‘Our Environment: We can get it right by doing things right’ during the 2015 World Environment Day, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Chigozie Asiabaka, noted that the institution considered it necessary, in view of the increasing man-made environmental degradation and negative impacts caused on human lives around the country, to enlighten people more on how to handle environmental issues, including human rights.

The VC noted the contributions of the head of the institution’s Centre for Women, Gender and Development Studies (CWGDS), Prof. Ihuoma Asiabaka, and the keynote Speaker, Dr. Beverly Wright, who is also the Executive Director of Deep South Centre for Environmental Justice, Louisiana, United States, for her talk on “A Question of Human Rights: Transnational Targeting of Environmental Justice Communities.”

He commended Wright for opening the eyes of environmentalists on the excesses of some petro-chemical, electronics and vehicle manufacturing companies in the United States.

In her speech, Asiabaka regretted that some environmentally-unfriendly practices were hampering the nation, stressing that her centre has outlined steps to handle the situation. She urged people to protect their environment.

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