Imagine an eco-friendly Nigeria, where green grasses in every city are trimmed like the yards of the Millennium Park in Abuja. Imagine a clean Nigeria where pure water bags are nowhere to be found on the roadside of our streets. Picture a greener Nigeria where mountain of stack papers is saved with hard drives, word processors, and cloud storage software. The good news is that our imagination might just be real. Nigeria can be greener again. Of course, that won’t be an easy job, but … it’s doable.
As it happens, we are in the 21st century era of technology and simplicity. With strong commitments and robust efforts, we can create an incredibly charming Nigeria beyond our imagination.
Think Calgary
Ever visited Calgary? It was awarded as the cleanest city in the world in 2013 by lifestyle9 – a popular online lifestyle magazine. Now I have never visited Calgary, but have read and watched a lot about this green city recently. Located between the Rocky Mountain and the Canadian Prairies, Calgary is magnificently beautiful. Its environment is serene, and engulfed with colourful flowers, trees, greeneries and stunning mountains. Nature isn’t the only thing that keeps the city of Calgary clean; the Calgarians do. It’s their commitment to save nature with their eco-friendly behaviour that makes the city’s landscape greener, healthier, and cleaner. And because the city is tech-friendly, waste papers are not rubbishing the Calgary streets. Also, important documents are not lost or stolen because they are securely saved in computer hard drives.
A Greener Nigeria
When we go paperless, here are some of the benefits we can achieve in our work environment:
• Our documents will be secured from theft or loss.
• A paperless office can retrieve its files from multiple computers with the use of Internet technology.
• Multiple users can access documents in a paperless institution and promote transparency in the country.
• Office workers can easily access files with a simple click.
• A paperless organization can eliminate office tasks such as faxing and Xeroxing, and provide a healthy work environment.
Harnessing the Power of Technology
Back when I was writing my project in university, a friend of mine told me a funny story.
His project supervisor was a farmer, and spent most of his time in his farm – grazing his crops and enjoying the natural settings of his farmland. When the semester was almost over, my friend’s project supervisor told him to meet him in on his farm to submit his project … and he did. Before he realized what was happening, one of the goats on the farm had eaten up five chapters of his project, and the supervisor and asked him to re-write the entire project again.
We stand the risk of losing vital information that could have easily been avoided, when we don’t embrace modern technology. The use of computers must be encouraged in our tertiary institutions, government offices, and business organizations to safeguard our files from damage. With the introduction of cloud storage systems, e-mails, and other digital mediums in our educational and governmental organizations, our streets will be free from waste paper and pollution. Nigeria will also become greener, cleaner and be a more suitable living environment for us all.
