The Federal Government said on Tuesday that it would continue to
encourage the use of the newly improvised alternative and safe cooking stoves
to discourage the felling of trees for firewood.
Vice-President Namadi Sambo
stated this while inaugurating the newly introduced National Clean Cooking
Stove at the Old Banquet Hall, State House, Abuja.
“One of the global problems
today is environmental problem and desertification, desert encroachment in
Nigeria is one of our major environmental problems and as a result one of the
major causes is cutting trees and using wood as a source of energy for cooking.
“And this idea came up to have
alternative sources for cooking for our women.
“So, this programme, which Mr
President has graciously approved for the initial take-off under the Ministry
of Environment at the sum of N9 billion to procure cooking utensils and
distribute across the country to our women and by so doing, contributes in
stopping the habit of cutting trees for cooking.
“In addition to that, it has
the added value of saving women from inhaling the smoke which causes the death
of almost 90,000 women annually as a result of the smoke they inhale through
cooking.”
According to him, the cooking
stove, which is smoke-free, will help in the preservation of health of the
environment and improve the standard of living of rural and semi-urban women
who relied heavily on the use of firewood for cooking.
Sambo expressed the hope that
the stove would reduce mortality rate among rural women.
In her remarks, the Minister of
Environment, Mrs Laurentia Malam, disclosed that only N1.5 billion out of the
N5 billion approved for the project was released to the ministry for the
procurement of the stoves.
She explained that state
governments were expected to ensure that forestry departments in all local
governments encouraged the use of the new cooking stoves.
Malam hoped that the in-coming
administration would embrace the initiative with a view to expanding the
project for the good of Nigerians.
The Federal Government had in
2014, approved the sum of N9 billion naira for the supply of 750,000 pieces of
the improvised clean cooking stoves to be distributed to rural women at a subsidized rate.
do you think the new administration should continue with this policy?
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