As the world marks World Lake Day, stakeholders in Nigeria on Thursday converged in Abuja to strategise on how to preserve the nation’s lakes.

Among the stakeholders that met to tackle lake shrinkage in the country were the ministry of environment, the Nigerian Navy through Naval Base Abuja, environmentalists and others.

The event, organised by Naval Base Abuja, had the theme: “Revitalising our Lakes: Advancing Ecosystem Resilience and Shared Prosperity.”

Speaking at the event, the minister of environment, Balarabe Lawal, who was the guest of honour, said that lakes and reservoirs around the world had shrunk significantly compared to the 1990s.

Mr Lawal, represented by Omotunde Adeola, director of pollution control and environmental health in the ministry, identified rapid urban expansion, toxic pollution and nutrient pollution as major threats to lakes.

Other threats include over-extraction, the proliferation of invasive species, habitat degradation, biodiversity loss, and unsustainable land management.

He also lamented that solid waste was being dumped directly into lakes or washed into them during floods due to climate change.

“Without immediate appropriate remedial measures, these threats will have devastating consequences on water volume, quality, services of those lakes as natural buffers, biodiversity, livelihoods, and well-being of human population,” he said.

According to him, lakes account for an estimated 58 trillion dollars in total annual economic value through food, security, and sustainability, equivalent to 60 percent of the global gross domestic product, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.

“Nigeria has over 100 small lakes and several major ones distributed nationwide which provide natural services as well as offer crucial inland water spaces for other strategic, tactical, operational and logistic activities.

“These include 16 officially recognised major lakes classified as natural or man-made, among which are Lake Chad, Kainji Lake, Oguta Lake, among others.”

Mr Lawal commended the commander, Naval Base Abuja, Commodore Oluseyi Oladipo, for commemorating World Lake Day for two consecutive years.

He said the annual observance provided an opportunity to raise awareness about the ecological, economic, and social importance of lakes, as well as reaffirm commitment to the protection, restoration, and sustainable management of lake ecosystems at all levels.

“Additionally, the presence of multi-sectoral stakeholders representing various ministries, ministerial departments and agencies, the armed forces, paramilitary organisations, experts, the media, among others, is a clear testament to the importance of this topic.

“Today celebrates the importance of healthy lakes in society, including water for human consumption, health, food, irrigation, hydroelectric power generation, microclimatic regulation, drought mitigation, and maintaining biodiversity.

“We are also celebrating inland water transportation, trade, ecotourism and recreation, which is the blue economy.

“There are over 117 million lakes on earth covering about five percent of the planet’s land surface and providing at least 90 percent of the world’s freshwater, making them cradles of human civilisation and sustainers of diverse life forms.

“Integrated, cross-sectoral, collaborative and coordinated approaches for the management and protection of our lakes are crucial in protecting the water bodies that create power, aid trade, ecotourism, recreation and facilitate inland water transportation.

“The federal ministry of environment will continue to work with the Nigerian Navy and other critical stakeholders to safeguard the future of our lakes and pave the way towards their sustainable management,” he said.

Also speaking, Mr Oladipo said that aside from the navy’s main purpose of highlighting the need to sustain lakes, the day marked a step forward in building civil-military trust through the Nigerian Navy.

According to Mr Oladipo, the development aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, which mandates the strengthening of the civilian assistance and outreach arm of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

He said it also aimed to integrate the military into the rehabilitation of the Lake Chad Basin ecosystem and other water bodies.

“We are inspired to use World Lake Day to emphasise the importance of lakes to ecosystems, economies, and communities, while fostering greater awareness of environmental issues.

“We also hope to encourage pragmatic policy actions aimed at protecting and restoring lakes from pollution, overuse, and climate change impacts towards shared prosperity of Nigerians,” he said.

He added that commemorating the day further demonstrated the importance of using the platform of the Nigerian Navy to educate the public, students, youths, and policymakers about the ecological significance of lakes.

The commodore said that the service had already engaged in a one-week cleanup of Lake Chad in commemoration of World Lake Day. 

(NAN)