By, Olawale Ogunbusola, Ibadan

The Dean, Faculty of Engineering, The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Dr. David Adewuyi Oke, has called for stronger monitoring and enforcement of environmental laws to protect communities from the health and ecological consequences of pollution and unregulated development.

Oke made the call while delivering the institution’s 14th Inaugural Lecture titled, “Materials and Environment: Safer Communities from Environmental Engineering Perspective,” at the North Campus Assembly Hall of the institution.

He said Nigeria had environmental laws and regulations, including requirements for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), but their effectiveness depended largely on compliance, monitoring and enforcement.

According to him, having environmental laws in place was not enough without effective mechanisms to ensure that individuals, industries and infrastructure developers complied with established standards.

“We have environmental laws and regulations, including Environmental Impact Assessment requirements, but the question is: how effectively are these laws being monitored and enforced?

“That is where we need to do more. Having laws in place is not enough; there must be effective monitoring, compliance and enforcement to ensure that environmental standards are upheld,” he said.

Oke said Environmental Impact Assessment remained an important scientific and engineering tool for anticipating environmental consequences of development projects and designing appropriate mitigation measures.

He warned that unchecked development could undermine ecological resilience, public health and community wellbeing, citing cases involving oil spillage remediation at the NNPC Depot, noise pollution at Bodija Market, Tin Can Island Port and the Lagos-Ibadan Railway.

The don urged government agencies to conduct periodic environmental audits and adopt transparent reporting systems to improve accountability and compliance in industrial and infrastructural projects.

He also advocated the integration of emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, Internet of Things (IoT) and real-time data analytics into environmental monitoring and assessment.

According to him, such technologies would improve the accuracy and responsiveness of environmental assessments while helping regulators identify and respond to emerging environmental risks.

Oke said Nigeria’s rapid urbanisation and industrial development must be balanced with ecological stewardship, stressing that environmental assessment should move beyond being a regulatory requirement to becoming a roadmap for sustainable development.

He also called for greater public awareness and community participation in Environmental Impact Assessment processes through education, local engagement and advocacy.

The engineering scholar said communities needed to understand environmental conditions around them and the potential health implications of prolonged exposure to pollutants and other hazards.

He identified noise pollution, contaminated water and indiscriminate tree felling among environmental concerns requiring greater attention.

Oke stressed the importance of preserving trees, noting that they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, thereby contributing to environmental sustainability.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Governing Council of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Prof. Lanre Nassar, called for stronger collaboration between academia and industry to ensure that research findings and innovations were translated into practical solutions to Nigeria’s developmental challenges.

Nassar said inaugural lectures should go beyond academic tradition by providing scholars with opportunities to showcase their research, innovations and contributions to knowledge while creating platforms for stronger engagement between academia and industry.

He urged industries and companies to participate in inaugural lectures to gain exposure to research findings and innovations that could help address challenges confronting their organisations.

According to him, academic institutions must ensure that their research and curricula respond to the needs of society and the nation.

The council chairman, who is also a one-time Rector of the institution and former Vice-Chancellor of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, said stronger academia-industry collaboration would promote innovation, industrial development and economic growth.

In his remarks, the Rector of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Dr. Taiwo Lasisi, said inaugural lectures provided opportunities for scholars to demonstrate how academic research and innovation could be applied to real-life challenges.

He said research was the foundation of several technological advancements, including artificial intelligence and renewable energy.

“An inaugural lecture is not just a presentation; it is an opportunity for a scholar to demonstrate how far he has gone in his academic, research and innovation journey and project the outcome to society at large, so that people can learn from it and, more importantly, apply the knowledge to real-life challenges,” he said.

Lasisi urged society to make greater use of research outcomes, saying innovations emerging from academic institutions could contribute significantly to solving developmental challenges.

He also encouraged students and younger scholars to remain committed to their academic aspirations and pursue research capable of making meaningful contributions to society.

In attendance at the event included the Registrar, Dr. Taiwo Olajide; Bursar, Mr Abiodun Kolawole Adegbola; Chief Librarian, Mr. Olukunle Akinbola Osunrinade; Chairman, Inaugural Lectures Committee, Mr. Femi Ipadeola; Dr Sola Allimi and other academics and guests.