Gov Otti Assures National Park Service of Abia’s Support for First South-East National Park

By Ezechukwu Adimoha

Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, has assured the National Park Service (NPS) of the state government’s commitment to establishing the first national park in the South-East geopolitical zone in Abia.

Governor Otti gave the assurance when he received a delegation of the National Park Service, led by its Chairman and Governing Board member, Dr Kingsley Ononogbu, at his Nvosi office in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area.

The Governor said he had earlier approved a request by the Commissioner for Environment for the tracing of forest reserves across the state, describing the exercise as a good starting point towards realising the proposed national park.

Governor Otti stressed the importance of conserving forest reserves and disclosed that he had directed the Commissioner for Environment to recover 18 of the 19 forest reserves in the state.

“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. 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, and eventually, it will go through the appropriate process,” Governor Otti said.

The Governor further disclosed that the state government would constitute a team, led by the Commissioner for Environment and supported by climate change experts, to 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,” he said.

Earlier, Dr Ononogbu urged the state government to initiate the process of establishing the first national park in the South-East, noting that the region remained the only geopolitical zone in Nigeria without a national park.

He said the establishment of a national park in Abia would correct the imbalance in the distribution of national parks across the country while creating employment, boosting tourism, improving security and attracting investment to the state.

Dr Ononogbu said Abia was strategically positioned to pioneer the establishment of a national park in the South-East, given the developmental strides recorded under the Otti administration.

He noted that the project would have significant socioeconomic benefits, particularly through employment creation for youths in host communities, adding that approximately 80 per cent of the park’s workforce would be sourced from such communities.

According to him, the park would also position Abia as a major destination for ecotourism, research and other nature-based activities, while trained and armed park rangers would complement existing security efforts by monitoring the park and surrounding communities.

Dr Ononogbu appealed to the state government to identify a suitable forest or game reserve for possible upgrade, forward a formal proposal to the Federal Government and constitute a committee to work with the NPS.

He explained that the process would begin with the identification of a viable forest or game reserve by the state government, followed by a formal proposal to the Minister of Environment or the Conservator-General of the National Park Service requesting its upgrade.

The NPS Chairman said the service was committed to working with the state government to translate the proposal into reality, adding that establishing the first national park in the South-East would give Abia a historic place in Nigeria’s conservation efforts while unlocking economic and security benefits for the state and the region.

Dr Ononogbu further disclosed that President Bola Tinubu had recently approved the recruitment of 1,000 rangers for the National Park Service, regretting that Abia and other South-East states could not benefit from the initiative because of the absence of a national park in the region.

He congratulated Governor Otti on the developmental strides recorded in Abia over the past three years and expressed appreciation for the opportunity to discuss the proposed project with the state government.

Members of the State Executive Council and other government functionaries were present during the visit.