Ebola: Don advocates return of sanitary inspectors

A Professor of Botany and Ecological Sciences in the Faculty of Science, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Prof. Kinsley Akpabio, has recommended the return of sanitary inspectors in order to contain the dreaded Ebola and other diseases ravaging the nation.

He said the recommendation, if implemented, will not only reduce incidences of outbreak of infectious diseases but also create employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed populace.
Professor Akpabio made the plea at the 40th inaugural lecture of the university tagged ‘Science of the Green Mass, Value of Life Tapes and the Future of the Next Generation.’
He said: “We should develop a culture of good sanitation. We should bring back the position of sanitary inspectors of old. This will certainly improve the cleanliness of our environment as well as create employment for job seekers.
“If we are to contain the Ebola disease and other diseases in our land, there is the need to start thinking of bringing back sanitary inspectors to enforce sanitary standards in our environment,” he also said.
He also recommended massive tree planting movement as a tradition and culture and not a political event, saying Nigeria is a signatory to many international treaties for conservation and environmental protection but pays lip service to biodiversity conservation.
He therefore called on the federal government to always seek the inputs of environmental experts when carrying out development projects on issues of deforestation and felling of trees as, according to him, the plants of ‘today are the carbon sink and the bank of genes for the next generation’ and should not be felled indiscriminately, without any plan to replace them.
The professor expressed regret that government directs clearing of large portions of vegetation and forest for building and construction purposes without necessarily considering the fact that the next generation is being destroyed in the process.
He therefore recommended environmental protection and biodiversity conservation in school curriculum at all levels of learning as well as the establishment of biodiversity committees in all communities to monitor and enforce conservation rules at the local government level.

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