” Bags Fellow Award.
Kogi state commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology Dr. Heleen Aderibigbe Adeniyi has charged licensed Horticulturists to deploy their knowledge to practice in order to deter quacks from taking over landscaping business across the Country.
This is just as she decried the absence of professionals in the field which drew touts and all sorts of persons dining the practice of landscape with dire consequences on the ecosystem of the major cities across the states.
The commissioner gave the charge today when she bagged fellowship award from the Nigerian Institute of landscape Horticulturists during their 18th National Conference and Annual General Meeting held in Lokoja.
The commissioner who is also a Horticulturist decried the situation where landscaping business has been taken over by those who were not trained to handle the business, urging professionals to get to practice to take back their profession from the quacks.
She described the conference as a wake up call for the practitioners to get committed to their work in order to change the narrative, stressing that the gathering is a convergence of experts who have to chart a way forward for the profession.
She warned that if the professionals failed to take ownership of their profession, others would take advantage of the vacuum and infiltrate the profession as nature abhors vacuum.
According to her, ” I started practicing years after graduation The profession means a lot to me .I really appreciate the Award bestowed on me because, I felt like I’m in the presence of my own people.
This fellow Award means a lot to me because this is my original area, my field. I’m a horticulturist by profession and I’m a professional landscaper. I practice landscaping in large scale. And one of the things is the convergence of the experts at the conference and from here we brainstorm and we will arrive at a suggestion that we think we can do.This is one of them. Secondly, you must follow us to be practical.Because if we are not doing it, we can’t stop people from doing it.
” As a professional, you are supposed to have your outlet, you are supposed to have your mini orchard, you are supposed to have your garden, where people can come, your nursery. Those are the things we encourage ourselves that we should be doing. If we don’t do it, others will do it. What we can do is to be very much involved and participate” she warned .
The erudite commissioner urge members to be more committed to the practice, disclosing that, although ,others have found themselves involved but not to a level that will deter quacks from having a field day.
While stating that she will use her position in government of kogi state to ensure that the Government patronize only the professionals to landscape Lokoja, the state capital and major cities of the state so that the citizenry will once again feel the green impact of nature
While commending the body for considering her worthy for the fellow award , said it meant a lot to her for being honoured by her own profession.
