In what looks like a landmark achievement, the Advisory Board of the African Sustainability Awards in partnership with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has selected the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) as the winner of the Financial Institution of the Year – Africa category at the Africa Sustainability Awards.
The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID)
The award will be presented during an event slated for December 30, 2024, at the Accra International Conference, Accra, Ghana.
The award, it was gathered, recognises EBID’s outstanding dedication to sustainable practices across Africa and its commitment in advancing Africa’s environmental, social and economic progress in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In line with its mission of improving access to sustainable financial resources in West Africa, the Bank has to-date committed over $1 billion to sustainability-driven projects, guided by its Strategy for 2021-25.
The Bank’s attention to sustainable initiatives has gained international recognition such that the European Investment Bank (EIB) recently extended a line of credit in the amount of EUR 100 million to support climate-friendly and sustainable projects in the ECOWAS sub-region.
It will be recalled that, in February 2023, EBID published its first Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Finance Framework, formalising its commitment to green financing and sustainability initiatives.
This was followed by the maiden edition of the Bank’s informative series dubbed “The President’s Round Table” on the theme “Greening West Africa” in October 2023. The programme, which gathered environmental and sustainability experts from across the continent, focused on the effects of climate change in West Africa and made proposals for climate-conscious economic development.
Additionally, EBID recently became the first Development Finance Institution (DFI) to issue a Green, Social and Sustainable (GSS) Bond on the UEMOA regional financial market, the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM) which was oversubscribed within a space of 48 hours.
The Bank is also in the process of finalising its accreditation to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and, in that regard, recently received a high-level delegation from GCF, South Korea, for discussions on measures aimed at positioning the Bank to better support the sub-region in this area.
The African Sustainability Awards (ASA) is a platform that honours individuals, organisations, businesses, NGOs and government bodies that demonstrate a high commitment to sustainable practices.
On November 17, 2024, I was invited to Abuja, Nigeria, to attend the House of Representatives joint committee hearing on the impact of GMOs on human health and the environment. The hearing also had a second mandate of investigating the feasibility of the privatisation and commercialisation of government silos and agriculture value chain assets.
Members of the coalition against GMOs at a media session at the House of Representatives complex in Abuja
At the hearing, 97 non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations, including ZASM (Zimbabwe Anti-Sanctions Movement), were invited to contribute to the discussion on the impact of GMOs on the economy, human health, and the environment.
Among the members of these institutions were professors in genetics, gene editing, biochemistry, agriculture, agricultural economics, and other scientific disciplines, all advocating against GMOs.
The fact that the committee’s research question sought to examine the impact of GMOs on human health and the environment was very encouraging because it made the inquiry human-focused rather than being driven by corporate profit motives. From my understanding, this was the most prominent hearing to investigate the impact of GMOs on health and the environment by any parliament in Africa.
What made the hearing even more inspiring was the fact that the anti-GMO position was being bolstered by a group of highly qualified scientists and academics, dispelling the notion that those opposed to GMOs are pseudo-scientists or conspiracy theorists.
According to the high-powered CEFSAR delegation that invited me to the hearing, they had been inspired by my fight against GMOs and wanted me to provide the House of Representatives with insights into how GMOs had destroyed seeds and eroded small rural farmers’ ability to produce food in Southern Africa.
More critically, they wanted to use this opportunity to unify the anti-GMO fight across the continent in a broader effort to purge Africa of what they see as economic, chemical, and biological warfare designed to re-enslave the continent through food.
While I had much to share with the Nigerians, I learned a lot from interacting with their scientists. For example, it turns out that a GMO may have the dominant terminator gene, also known as GURT (Genetic Use Restriction Technology), to prevent a plant from reproducing. However, as explained by Professor Qrissterberg, the terminator gene can also exist as a recessive trait and in a few seasons, this recessive trait can become active, ultimately causing the crop to lose its ability to reproduce, leaving farmers in the same position of being unable to produce food without buying new GMO seeds.
He also explained how their research has demonstrated that GMO wheat has higher levels of starch, contributing to a rise in childhood diabetes and obesity. Another professor at the gathering presented research showing a significant increase in endometriosis among pigs that were fed GMOs. Considering that pig DNA is remarkably similar to human DNA, this could explain the increase in endometriosis among women in countries where GMOs are widely consumed.
Another revelation at the hearing was that Nigeria was retrospectively exploring whether to adopt GMOs, even though the government had already recently licensed Tela Maize, or MON 87460 GM maize. However, according to a geneticist, Professor Chris, who was rebutting the claim that Tela Maize was the first GMO crop licensed in Nigeria, GMO cassava, rice, wheat, cowpeas, and cotton had been secretly licensed and distributed to farmers in various provinces since 2017 – without the public’s knowledge.
Professor Chris and another academic, whose name I didn’t catch, accused the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) and the Ministry of Agriculture, of conspiring with foreign stakeholders to commercialise and cultivate GMOs in Nigeria. This conspiracy allegedly began between 2010 and 2015 when Akinwumi Adesina, a former director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s AGRA (Alliance for Green Revolution Africa) became Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria and actively laid the bricks for the covert commercialisation of GMO cassava, cow peas, rice, cotton and wheat in Nigeria, two years after he left that office.
Currently, Tela Maize and cotton are the only crops that have been publicly acknowledged as genetically modified, yet four other crops have been genetically engineered and introduced to the Nigerian market unbeknown to the public since 2017.
More concerning is the fact that Tela Maize, or MON 87460, was recently rejected for approval by South Africa’s Supreme Court, after the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) successfully argued that not enough impact assessment studies had been conducted in South Africa to determine its safety. Nigerians are now questioning how this same GM maize was rubber-stamped for production in Nigeria without proper interrogation, consultation or due diligence.
During the hearing, an overwhelming number of the panel’s committee members, expressed clear and unequivocal opposition to GMOs. In contrast, a small group of about five or six government-aligned organisations, led by the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) led by Rose Gidado, who also heads another NGO called Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) that is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to promote GMOs in Africa, supported the use of GMOs.
The Minister of Agriculture appeared neutral in his speech, lamenting Nigeria’s projected population growth to 400 million by 2050 and stressing the need for scientific research to safely increase food production per hectare, without compromising health or the environment. Suspiciously, he used the example of how in the early 1990s, many Nigerians believed polio vaccines were a population reduction tool, yet those vaccinated are now adults who didn’t die from the vaccine. However, the question remains: what science backs this analogy, especially given that many studies link Nigerian polio vaccines to various injuries and fatalities over the years?
The pro-GMO lobby appeared on the back foot during this hearing. Rose Gidado, the leading pro-GMO activist, remained largely silent throughout the proceedings, possibly fearing a challenge from the well-prepared team of anti-GM professors and experts who seemed knowledgeable about the negative impact of GMOs.
In fact, the pro-GMO bloc seemed so unprepared to answer critical questions about the safety of GMOs that were posed by the panel that they were asked to submit their responses in writing (in the absence of rebuttals) for later review.
I recall an interesting incident that occurred when a man came to sit next to me during the hearing. As we began chatting, I realised we hadn’t introduced ourselves, so I introduced myself and I asked whether he was part of the pro-GMO or anti-GMO group. He admitted he was pro-GMO and surprisingly said he knew who I was and that I lived in South Africa. When I asked how he knew me, he vaguely responded, “Just know that I know you very well.” Later, he inadvertently revealed that he was the husband of one of the lead pro-GMO lobbyists sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
For a moment, this sent shivers down my spine, as I wondered whether he had deliberately come to sit beside me because of my activism. Nevertheless, I soon shook off my concerns and felt proud that my work had garnered recognition across the divide.
Critically, this chapter exposed a troubling revelation about Nigeria’s biotechnology space that is marred by blatant conflict of interest, in which regulators or ministers who are meant to advance Nigeria’s interests are often also part of the pro-GMO lobby. A clear example is Rose Gidado, the Assistant Director of NABDA’s Agricultural Biotechnology Department, is also the Nigerian Country Coordinator for the Gates-sponsored OFAB, which actively promotes GMOs in Africa.
This is a glaring conflict of interest, as her government position is meant to ensure food safety and efficacy, while her OFAB role solely seeks to advance the interests of foreign biotech companies. No wonder GMOs were introduced into Nigeria without much government or parliamentary oversight, particularly under the influence of Gates-affiliated organisations like AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa) during Adesina’s tenure as Minister of Agriculture.
Conversely, CEFSAR has been instrumental in lobbying members of the House and exposing how GMOs and agrochemicals pose a national security threat. Their efforts shed light on the silent crisis pushing Nigeria toward seed dependency, food insecurity, and environmental degradation, which was instrumental in getting the House of Representatives to constitute the hearing.
This hearing helped lawmakers understand the existential threat Nigeria and Africa face. If no action is taken, the infiltration of GMOs and chemicals will not only destroy Nigeria’s agricultural independence but also jeopardise Africa’s future as a whole.
After the hearing, lobbying intensified on both sides. I joined CEFSAR in knocking on lawmakers’ doors, sharing Zimbabwe’s experience of how rural farmers have lost their ability to produce food due to costly patented seeds, chemicals, and soil destruction. Many lawmakers admitted they were unaware of the depth of GMO infiltration in Nigeria’s food systems and the threats this posed.
This trip has strengthened my resolve to work with other civil society organisations to unite Africa in resisting food imperialism. We must restore our open-pollinated seed systems and invest in organic farming to reclaim our food sovereignty from Western biotech dependency.
By Rutendo Matinyarare, Chairman, Zimbabwe Anti-Sanctions Movement (ZASM)
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) on Monday, December 16, 2024, said the reported oil leak from the Bonny Oil Export Terminal will not affect oil export.
Osagie Okunbor, Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company
SPDC noted that the incident affected only a section at one out of the three loading buoys which has been isolated.
Mrs. Gladys Afam-Anadu, SPDC’s Media Relations Manager, disclosed in a telephone chat that the cause of the incident, volume of crude discharged is being investigated.
She explained that the Joint Investigative Visit (JIV) to the incident site led by regulatory agencies has been scheduled for Monday.
“On December 8, 2024, an oil sheen was detected at a loading buoy during export operations at Bonny Terminal.
“Loading was immediately suspended. Our Emergency Response Team has been activated and regulatory authorities and other stakeholders have been notified.
“A joint investigation visit, led by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency is underway.
“Our priority currently is the safety, health and well-being of the local community and the environment.
“Our environmental team is therefore, actively monitoring the situation and preparing for the implementation of containment and clean-up to minimise any environmental impact,” Afam-Anadu said.
The facility has a peak capacity to load 1.25 million barrels of Bonny Light Crude blend.
The Bonga North project involves drilling, completing, and starting up 16 wells (eight production and eight water injection wells), modifications to the existing Bonga Main FPSO and the installation of new subsea hardware tied back to the FPSO.
The project will sustain oil and gas production at the Bonga facility. Bonga North currently has an estimated recoverable resource volume of more than 300 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and will reach a peak production of 110,000 barrels of oil a day, with first oil anticipated by the end of the decade.
“This is another significant investment, which will help us to maintain stable liquids production from our advantaged Upstream portfolio,” said Zoë Yujnovich, Shell’s Integrated Gas and Upstream Director.
Bonga North will help ensure Shell’s leading Integrated Gas and Upstream business continues to drive cash generation into the next decade.
The Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN) at a recently held retreat in Benin City, Edo State, examined critical challenges besetting the oil belt of the Niger Delta and communities in the north where solid minerals extraction is now causing environmental and health challenges, among locals.
Some of the contentious issues addressed include the proposed bill to ban gas flaring in Nigeria’s Niger Delta and the growing number of mine collapse incidents and the environmental crisis in communities where the nation is exploring lithium and other solid minerals, among others. After a careful dichotomising of the issues, the group made the following recommendations
Gas flaring
Proposed Ban on Gas Flaring
We find it heart-warming to learn that the Anti-Gas Flaring (Prohibition and Enforcement) bill, which seeks to prohibit the flaring and venting of natural gas, except in strictly regulated circumstances, has passed second reading at the House of Representatives.
The Bill, sponsored by Babajimi Benson seeks to also encourage the utilisation of gas resources to foster economic growth and energy generation.
The lawmaker had argued on December 5, 2024, on the floor of the National Assembly that the proposed law will mitigate the environmental, health, and economic impacts of gas flaring and will align Nigeria’s oil and gas operations with our international climate change commitments.
For us at EDEN, this bill represents the true yearnings of Niger Delta communities that have been experiencing gas flares along with its implications such as unmitigated release of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change, acid rain, and soot pollution, among others, for decades.
Gas flaring in the Niger Delta region has equally led to public health issues as natives of host communities where the gas flare stacks are sited suffer respiratory illnesses, severe itching and other ailments that have evolved over time and contribute to the declining life expectancy in the region. Currently, life expectancy in the Niger Delta where oil facilities are located is 41 years, 10 years lower than the national average.
We have equally noticed a trend attributable to the oil industry which, is the setting ablaze of oil spill impacted environment instead of proper clean up and remediation as is the standard practice globally. As we speak, this is the current situation at a site operated by Oando at Ogboinbiri, Bayelsa State. The site of the spill supposedly cleaned up went up in flames in the early hours of Monday, December 9, 2024.
While we applaud the efforts of Babajimi Benson in pushing through this bill, we find it very curious that the call for ending of gas flaring is coming from a non-Niger Deltan while the supposed representatives of the Niger Delta communities who are in the hallowed chambers still prevaricate on matters of pollution that their people suffer every day.
We anticipate that this initiative will wake them from their stupor and compel them to advocate, initiate and support laws that will guarantee the well-being of Niger Delta communities that host oil and gas projects. Of importance is our desire that they work to remove the administrative bureaucracies that have made the clean-up of Ogoniland in Rivers State as recommended by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), seamless so that it can be the model for replication of the clean-up of other sites of pollution in the region.
Time and again, we have advocated the need for a comprehensive environmental audit of the Niger Delta. We are using this medium to reiterate that call.
Divestment Confusion Still Lingers
We have noticed the speed with which oil multinationals that have operated for decades in the Niger Delta are divesting from their on-shore operations and their race to the deep waters where the federal government lacks the capacity to monitor their operations.
A cause of worry for us is government’s unwillingness to get these firms to take full responsibility for the harms their operations have caused on the environment and livelihoods of local communities. Instead the federal government has gone ahead to approve Eni’s divestment of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) to Oando Plc, Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited’s divestment to Project Odinmin Investments Limited, TotalEnergies-Telema Energies deal and ExxonMobil’s sale of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) to Seplat Energy.
The flurry of approvals by the Nigerian government which is supposed to stand for its people, continue to disregard the calls by communities impacted by the operations of these firms for environmental justice.
We insist that no oil corporation should be allowed to divest from the delta until it takes responsibility for its toxic legacy of pollution. They must also decommission abandoned oil infrastructure. In similar vein, buyers of the toxic assets of the divesting firms must be compelled to accept the liabilities of the former owners of the onshore operations.
As we use this medium to call for an immediate halt to the divestments, EDEN pledges its readiness to give legal support to communities that are against divestment without clean-up, remediation and compensation.
Solid Minerals Sector Time Bomb
Even as we raise alarm over oil spills, we have equally noticed the spate of mine collapse across the country and deaths associated with solid minerals extraction. In the last six months there have been about three major incidents including the Shiroro Mine collapse in Niger State which claimed about 50 lives in June 2024, the Adamawa Pit collapse which claimed 30 lives and the more recent incident in Plateau State where 13 young persons died.
Our fear that the quest to expand the nation’s revenue base through solid minerals extraction would inflict fresh wounds in our communities is manifesting by the day.
We have observed the impact of mining in Nasarawa, Plateau, Kogi, Zamfara and a host of other states especially, in the north where illegal mining activities have not only ruined their environment, but also their livelihoods and major sources of water for domestic use. The influx of foreign mining firms especially those run by Chinese nationals, is particularly worrying as their largely unmonitored activities have opened the path for insecurity and strife in host communities as well as growing cases of child sex trafficking and minors working in mining pits. The situation is not helped by governments across the mining belt that prioritise revenue over the protection of the environment and people in the communities.
More disconcerting is the conflicting approaches to address the crisis. While the Mining Marshall initiative by the Federal Government is good, it still lacks the necessary ingredients to work well as it is in conflict with the work of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the proposed forest rangers being promoted by the Nigerian Senate. EDEN is proposing instead, a uniform approach to addressing the issue of illegal mining and suggests, that the Mining Marshals established by the federal government work with the NSCDC and community monitors who, should periodically and without notice, visit mining sites to know whether or not the operators are operating within accepted standards.
We also want the federal government to explore the possibility of amending the NOSDRA Act to accommodate solid minerals under its umbrella, changing its name to reflect the modification.
We use this medium to reiterate our call for the State Houses of Assembly and indeed the National Assembly to work with the Ministry of Solid Minerals and Development to take seriously their oversight functions which are necessary to check these illegalities.
They must also fish out the masterminds of the illegal mines if Nigeria is serious about stopping the deaths of young children forced into mining due to the poverty in their communities. Unless this is done, the communities will soon start revolting because their right to life and sustainable environment are being violated. Illegal miners should be treated as economic saboteurs and when arrested, be subjected to a minimum of three years imprisonment after confiscation of operation materials found with them.
On benefits to mining communities from mining revenues, our belief is that in a well-regulated mining sector, host communities should be entitled to a minimum of 10% of all accrued funds from mining operations.
To avoid a repeat of the Niger Delta mistake, there should be an order for decommissioning of all mining pits/sites not later than one week after cessation of operations at the mining site. Failure to comply with this should be considered a criminal offence which should be punished with jail term, delicensing of a licensed lease holder and confiscation of all materials found at the site.
By Chima Williams (Chair of the Board) and Philip Jakpor (Secretary of the Board)
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) on Thursday, December 12, 2024, executed the engineering, procurement, and construction contract with Julius Berger PLC for the development of Oloibiri Museum and Research Centre (OMRC), to be located at Otuabagi, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
Officials of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Julius Berger PLC executing the engineering, procurement, and construction contract for the development of Oloibiri Museum and Research Centre (OMRC)
The Executive Secretary NCDMB, Felix Omatsola Ogbe, executed the contract at the Board’s liaison office in Abuja, with the project construction to be delivered within 30 months.
The Oloibiri Museum and Research Centre (OMRC) is being financed by the Petroleum Development Technology Fund (PTDF), NCDMB, Shell Petroleum Development Company/Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd and the Bayelsa State Government, in the ratio of 40:30:20 and 10 respectively.
The project is registered by guarantee, with the four organisations serving as partners. The contract agreement has been approved by the partners and signed by Julius Berger PLC.
The Executive Secretary of NCDMB serves as the chairman of the registered company, hence he signed the contract on behalf of the partners, with the Director Legal Services, NCDMB, Mr. Naboth Onyesoh, serving as the Secretary of the company.
The President Muhammadu Buhari administration had in February 2023 awarded the contract for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction scope of the OMRC to Julius Berger at the sum of N117 billion.
The groundbreaking of the OMRC was performed in February 2023, a colorful ceremony attended by leading government officials, oil and gas stakeholders and community members.
Ogbe expressed delight on the execution of the contract, which marked the commencement of construction activities. He noted that the project would catalyse immense economic benefits for the Bayelsa and the national economy during the construction and operation stages.
He thanked the partners of the project and other stakeholders who contributed to the success of the project to date.
He indicated that the project was conceived to pay homage to the birthplace of Nigeria’s hydrocarbon commercial production journey which commenced in 1958.
He added that President Bola Tinubu believes that the project is long overdue hence the multi-level government and private sector collaboration was engineered to actualise the establishment of the project.
The OMRC project is expected to deliver a world-class oil and gas museum, showcasing the history of crude oil production in Nigeria and display of geological formations, early equipment, tools, and platforms used in the evolution of oil and gas activities.
In addition, the research testing centre that will provide a facility where field trials of prototypes of oil and gas related indigenous research will be conducted, grant access to university students in oil and gas related disciplines to potentially better understand indigenous oil and gas technology advancements.
The OMRC project will also facilitate the commercialisation of research through the creation of a suitable ecosystem for the development of home-grown technology for oil and gas operations and create a new commercial value chain from Museum and Research operations that will generate employment for Nigerians.
In Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, a remote community is battling waterborne diseases due to unavailability of clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene facility.
A house made entirely of plastic bottles in Nigeria. It is said to be stronger than a brick house
Womio, a small community in Sabo Anagada, Gwagwalada Area Council, has a population of over 3,000. The locals get water from a village stream which they use for drinking, cooking and other household chores.
Open defecation is a norm in the community as villagers defecate in nearby bushes due to unavailability of toilet facility.
Hannatu Ismail, a married woman with four children, shares experience of how she gets water, saying her children usually go to fetch water from the stream early in the morning, a situation which made them go to school late or even stay at home.
“If you just enter the area you will see feaces everywhere, we don’t have water, we fetch from the stream which is mostly dirty.
“When you enter the community, you will see feaces everywhere which attract mosquitoes and flies that cause malaria and cholera respectively,” she said.
According to a 2019 survey by the National Bureau of Statistics, only nine per cent of the population have access to complete basic WASH services and those living in rural areas are two times more disadvantaged than those in urban areas.
In another report, it says approximately 60 million Nigerians were living without access to basic drinking water, 80 million people had no access to improved sanitation facilities, while 167 million have no access to basic handwashing facilities.
It is a well known fact that unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene affects good health and this plays a crucial role in spreading diseases like cholera, diarrhea and typhoid.
The village head of Womio, Muhammadu Haruna, confirmed incidence of disease outbreak in his community.
WASH intervention in Womio
Womio village had two boreholes commissioned by the government, but they are not functioning due to some fault they developed while in use. This situation made members of the community to resort back to their old ways of getting water: the stream.
The long practice of open defecation in the community has become a norm. They do not build toilets in their houses; they only find a space they can take their bath and ease themselves in bushes.
Due to the critical condition of Womio community, a non-governmental organisation, Rockians Medical Foundation, rehabilitated a hand pump borehole and constructed a four-unit toilet.
Martins Marvin, Chairman of the foundation, stated that the plight of not having clean water and decent sanitation and hygiene facility led to the foundation’s intervention in the community.
“We were able to restructure their already existing borehole. We did not stop there, we also had to take it further by strengthening the WASH practices in this village.
“So, we had to also raise a sanitation facility, public toilet because we noticed that all of them did not have private facilities that they are using in their homes,” he said.
Building toilets with bottles
The four-unit public toilet built by the foundation was not an ordinary toilet. It was built using pet bottles filled with sand which was used as building blocks for the project.
“We call it the ‘CLEAR’ village project, meaning; Community Learn Environmental Awareness and Recycling, because it’s not just a project that will help to strengthen the WASH practices in the village.
“It is by providing a safe and healthy space for women to carry out their extra hygiene and also to help eradicate open defecation in the village,” he said.
He said that community members supported the project by helping in filling the pet bottles with sand and sweeping the premises.
Villagers can now access WASH facility
After a period of walking long distance to get water, the unhygienic nature of the water and the practice of open defecation, the people of Womio can now access clean drinking water and ease themselves in proper toilet facility.
Haruna stated that since the hand pump was rehabilitated, his people have been enjoying relatively good health.
He added that members of the community as well as visitors from neighbouring village come to ease themselves in the toilets.
Hannatu, whose children went to school late and sometimes miss school due to unavailability of portable clean water, are now going to school early and even had breakfast before going.
“My children and I don’t need to go to the stream to get water, I can now access clean water to cook, drink and do other house chores .
“Now my children don’t get sick as frequent as before and the feaces we usually see everywhere have reduced due to the use of the newly constructed toilets,” she said.
Sustaining the intervention
Lack of maintenance attitude towards a given project or intervention in a community has been the major reason some interventions fail.
This made Rokian Medical Foundation to sensitise the villagers on the need to properly maintain and take care of the toilets while also educating them on the importance of taking ownership of the project.
“We ensure that we engaged the community leaders to educate them on step-by-step process of keeping the facility clean.
“We urged the village head, youth and women leaders to come up with a roster for cleaning the toilets. The foundation will be conducting routine checks in the community to ensure that the facility is clean,” he said.
The village head explained that whenever a facility gets faulty, he would call his people and inform them on the need to make contributions so that they can make repairs.
He said that anyone who wanted to use the toilets must come with water for cleaning while a roster for cleaning the toilet is on ground.
Ease cut short
As people of Womio celebrate having clean water supply from the rehabilitated hand pump, their happiness is cut short one more time. This is because the only source of clean water in the community keeps developing fault after a month or two’s use.
The villagers attributed the incessant fault to over use, saying it is the only functional pump serving the whole community.
Mr Samuel Nuhu, the youth leader of the community, said the single hand pump was not enough for a community of more than 3,000 people.
He added that whenever the pump gets spoilt, people suffer to get water with some going back to the streams while others buy water.
According to him, residents of the area alone cannot afford to contribute for the maintenance of the facility.
He urged government and other non-governmental organisations to bring more boreholes that would reach everyone.
Women leader of the community, Hajara Adamu, who commended the foundation for its effort, stated that the hand pump has developed fault for the third time since its repair.
She said that this situation has led the villagers to buy water from a neighbouring village at exorbitant price.
“We are back to square one, suffering again; one bucket is N100, what about those that don’t have money? How will they cope?
“We will appreciate it if more boreholes would be constructed to ease our suffering,” she said.
Room for improvement
The four-unit toilet constructed has helped reduced open defecation in the community. However, residents of Womio want more.
The village head of Womio commended Rockians Medical Foundation for the project, saying it has helped both men and women access toilet facility.
He urged government and other stakeholders to assist them build more toilets, adding that some residents’ houses were far from the toilet; a situation that is making them go back to open defecation.
Similarly, Nuhu added that water was not connected to the toilets, saying that the villagers had to get water from the pump before using the toilets.
However, the chairman of the foundation stated that inadequate finance played a major in limitations of the project.
He explained that members of the foundation tasked themselves and volunteer with the little they could get in ensuring people have access to clean water and their health improved.
Canada will aim to cut emissions by 45-50% below 2005 levels by 2035, the environment ministry announced on Thursday, December 12, 2024, setting a new transitory target before the Paris Agreement’s 2050 goal of net-zero emissions.
Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau
The new target, a requirement under Canadian law passed by the Liberal government, builds upon a goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030.
“This target keeps us on track to keep the promise to our kids and grandkids that the world we leave behind for them will be safe, sustainable, affordable and prosperous,” Environment Minister, Steven Guilbeault, said in a statement.
A leading oil and gas producer, Canada has missed every one of its greenhouse gas emission targets.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, which has introduced a raft of measures intended to address climate change and boost the use of green energy, said in May that data suggested the country was on track to achieving its 2030 target.
The Canadian Climate Institute said on Thursday that the 2035 target “is achievable and balances the need for sustained progress cutting emissions.”
Some climate groups, however, said the new targets were not ambitious enough.
According to Climate Action Network Canada’s analysis, Canada’s fair share of the global effort to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C would require domestic emissions reductions of 80% below 2005 levels by 2035.
350.org says it is gravely concerned over how the goal falls far short of what experts have warned is necessary to prevent even more devastating impacts of the climate crisis, and for Canada to exert real climate leadership as a rich, historic polluter.
Amara Possian, 350.org Canada Team Lead, says: “This target is a slap in the face to Canadians who are already living through devastating climate disasters. It not only falls short of the ambition required to address the climate crisis and meet our national and global obligations, but disregards scientific consensus and recommendations, as well as side steps Canada’s fair share of the global effort as a rich, historic polluter.
“We need leadership that rises to this moment–not one that sides with fossil fuel industries that are continuing to torch our planet for profit. Canada remains hostage to an outdated oil-driven agenda that clings to the energy past, when the future demands bold action and leadership on climate. Instead, it must lead with a vision for a resilient, equitable, and diversified economy powered by clean energy.”
The David Suzuki Foundation said the new climate target was short of what is needed to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis, while the Pembina Institute said governments and industries must be “more ambitious to fully enhance our competitiveness in the new global clean energy economy.”
The Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, passed in 2021, requires the government to publish the 2035 emissions reduction plan by 2029-end.
Canada faces a federal election within the next year, which polls suggest Trudeau’s Liberals will lose to the opposition Conservatives. The conservatives have criticised climate measures including an emissions cap on the oil and gas sector.
The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), an NGO, has trained 60 women and youths on Community Development Plan (CDP) to integrate climate change into advocacy to achieve sustainable development.
Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State
Mr. Ango Adamu, Executive Secretary, YMCA Mada Hills, said the three-day training in Akwanga Local Government was aimed at equipping communities with skills to lobby and advocate for community development.
Adamu said that the training was part of the African Activists for Climate Justice (AACJ) Project, being implemented by YMCA and the Association of Small Scale Agro Producers in Nigeria (ASSAPIN) in Nasarawa State, with support from Oxfam in Nigeria.
He described CDP as a veritable tool that communities could use to attract government attention to developmental issues in relation to climate change impacts at community and local government levels.
“Community Development Plan is all about collective efforts of communities, identifying issues in terms of need assessment, prioritising, and pursuing development.
“So, we are training 60 participants from five LGAs – Obi, Doma, Keana, Keffi and Wamba, on Community Development Plan in relation to climate change so that they can include climate change issues into community’s advocacy.
“There are a lot of climate change issues in the communities, now that local government autonomy is in place, they can talk to their representatives in positions of power to influence policies that can have positive impacts on communities,” he said.
Prof. Emmanuel Salau, lecturer at the Nasarawa State University and the lead facilitator, said CDP is critical tool through which communities take part in decision-making on issues around service delivery.
Salau emphasised inclusivity and fair representation, especially accommodating diverse interests and groups – women, youth and people with disabilities when developing a community development plan.
“So, we are training these communities to be able to mobilise themselves as community development association to assess their needs and come up with their priority needs to present either to government or donor agencies.
“We are also emphasising areas of climate change mitigation intervention because rural communities are badly hit by the impacts of climate change like flooding, drought, soil infertility, low crop yield, among others,” he said.
Speaking earlier, Dr Kenneth Akpan, AACJ Project Coordinator for Oxfam in Nigeria, urged the participants to take the training seriously to be able to develop CDP to hold duty bearers accountable.
“CDP is about building your capacity as community members, it is when you know these things and itemise them that you can now engage politicians and policy makers effectively.
“Climate change is real and you need to identify challenges in your locality and put them properly,” he said.
Also speaking, Rev. Dr James Agot, President, YMCA Mada Hills thanked Oxfam and ACCJ project for supporting the training and urged the participants to put into practice the knowledge they have acquired.
Speaking on behalf of the participants, Mr. Cletus Inji thanked the organisers and described the training as apt and an eye opener, given the numerous development challenges presently facing communities.
“We know what value we are taking home; we are beginning to imagine the faces of our people when we step down this training, it is so relevant,” he said.
The Federal Government has been called upon to reverse the privatisation of the electricity sector and halt discussions on privatising public assets and utilities.
Anti-privatisation protest march in Ikeja by civil society and labour
The authorities were also urged to reverse the tariff hikes in the electricity sector and immediately end the balkanisation of Nigerians into tariff bands that they believe create class and segregation.
These submissions are contained in a communique released on Friday, December 13, 2024, at the close of a daylong Symposium on the Socio-Economic and Political Implications of Privatisation of Public Assets and the Way Forward in Lagos State, convened by the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) and the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) with support from the DGB Bildungs Wek and Public Services International (PSI).
The communique was endorsed by AUPCTRE, NUEE, Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), Pan African Vision for the Environment (PAVE), Child Health Organisation, Committee for Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Peace and Development Project (PEDEP) and Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev Nigeria).
While asking the Nigerian Senate to convene a Public Hearing to allow Nigerians to air their views on the state of electricity sector privatisation, the group clamoured a halt to World Bank and IMF suggested initiatives on privatising Nigeria’s water assets under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) or any model that puts profits over service delivery and human rights.
They, however, want the adoption of the Public Public Partnership model which, according to them, has proven to be successful “as against privatisation which has become a conduit pipe to fleece the nation”.
While clamouring for sustained investment in human capital development in the public sector to pave way for efficiency and transparency in their operations, the campaigners dememded an end to practices that unfairly target workers in exercises that are carried out to strengthen government institutions.
Instead, they insist, workers should be regularly trained and rated based on performance.
The symposium, which held in Lagos, sought to deepen conversations on the need for review of privatisation of public assets and utilities by the Nigerian government and their dire implications on the citizenry and the economy.
Participants reviewed the electricity sector privatisation which happened in 2013 and ongoing plans by the federal government and some state governments like Lagos to privatise water assets and utilities.
While welcoming the participants, AUPCTRE National President, Comrade Benjamin Anthony, said that privatisation in all forms either in the water or electricity sector must be confronted by labour and civil society. He explained that the failure of the electricity sector privatisation, which was consummated in 2013, was predicted and the same fate would meet the water sector unless ongoing advocacy for its halt is sustained.
The keynote address on Weaning Nigeria of Privatisation in the Age of Remunicipalisation and Democratic Control of Public Utilities was delivered by Professor Mande Hosea Mangu, while a panel discussion session on People Power versus Corporate Takeover of Public Assets set the tone for recommendations on how labour and civil society can collaborate to reverse the privatised entities and stop those currently in the works.
A major highlight of the symposium was also a protest march in Ikeja, Lagos, by the participants to express their rejection of privatisation of state assets and utilities and a call for the reversal of the electricity sector privatisation.
At the end of the discussions, participants observed the following:
The electricity sector privatisation carried out in 2013 has failed Nigeria’s over 200 million people as power generation has continued to oscillate between 4,000 megawatts and 5,800 megawatts since the exercise was carried out.
Incessant power grid collapse with the most recent representing the 24th crash in 2024 is a huge embarrassment to the nation.
Nigerians now depend on their own power generation through electric generators at huge financial, environmental and health costs.
The incessant hike in electricity tariffs and the balkanisation of Nigerians into electricity bands, suggesting who should get electricity the most is unjust, creates an unnecessary class system in the society as it weighs heavily against poor Nigerians who now struggle to pay for darkness.
The recent alarm raised by the Nigerian Senate that the electricity sector privatisation has failed and should be reversed represents the reality but the Upper Chamber is yet to work its talk by proposing the ideal way forward.
There is also a growing trend whereby the power distribution companies abdicate responsibility of installing electricity infrastructure in local communities only to insist on owning those facilities after locals task themselves to put them in place.
Ongoing plans by the federal and state governments suggesting the privatisation of the nation’s water assets and utilities supported by the World Bank and other multilateral agencies and donors have become very worrisome and unsettling to Nigerians.
Workers continue to carry the biggest burdens of privatisation through job losses, displacements and uncertainty of job security in their workplaces.
The Editor-in-Chief of Premium Times, Musikilu Mojeed, and the CEO of the Media Trust Group, Ahmed I. Shekarau, have been re-elected President and Secretary of the Nigerian chapter of International Press Institute (IPI) respectively.
Delegates at the Nigerian chapter of International Press Institute (IPI) forum
Mojeed, Shekarau and four other officials, elected unopposed and sworn in on Thursday, December 12, 2024, will direct the affairs of the Nigerian affiliate of the global media body for the next three years.
A statement issued by a member of the global executive board of the IPI, Raheem Adedoyin, disclosed that other members elected into the executive committee of IPI Nigeria include Fidelis Mbah of Al Jazeera Television (deputy president), Rafatu Salami of Voice of Nigeria (treasurer), Yomi Adeboye of Herald Newspaper (assistant secretary) and Tobi Soniyi of Arise News (legal adviser).
Speaking during the inauguration of the new leaders, Mojeed, who promised inclusive administration, solicited the support and commitment of members to enable his team to achieve the organisation’s set objectives of enhancing the Nigerian media operating environment.
The election of new leaders was preceded by the organisation’s annual general meeting (AGM) where the Mojeed-led executives rendered account of their three-year stewardship and updated members on the financial state of the body. Some sections of the organisation’s constitution were also amended during the AGM.
A major highpoint of the event was the arrival of ex-Governor Segun Osoba, a renowned journalist and prominent, longtime member of the IPI. He praised IPI Nigeria members for their commitment to press freedom, journalists’ rights and independent journalism.
Mr. Osoba, who recently returned from an overseas trip, further commended the organisation’s leadership for ensuring a successful conference.
Apart from ex-Governor Osoba, some other prominent journalists who attended the AGM included a former Editor-In-Chief of Tribune Newspapers (who chaired the forum), Folu Olamiti; former presidential spokesperson and ex-President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Garba Shehu; chairman of the Editorial Board of the Herald and member of the global board of the IPI, Mr. Adedoyin; Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Oluwafisan Bankale; and the Executive Director of the organisation, Dayo Aiyetan.
Some of the other dignitaries at the congress were Professor Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika of the University of Lagos; Kunle Babs, the Nigerian Bureau Chief of Feature Story News; Danlami Nmodu, publisher of Newsdiary Online; Fabian Benjamin, editor-in-chief of JAMB Bulletin; Sule Yau Sule of Bayero University, Kano; Dotun Oladipo, publisher of The Eagle Online; Funke Egbemode, former President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors; Ochiaka Ugwu, an editor with Peoples Daily; Ken Ugbechie, publisher of Political Economist; Lawal Sabo Ibrahim, former managing director of The Triumph newspapers; Mohammed Danjuma, publisher of Katsina Times; Christopher Isiguzo, former president of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ); Lanre Arogundade, executive director of the International Press Centre; Zainab Suleiman Okino, chair of the editorial board of Blueprint Newspapers; and Hameed Bello, chief operating officer of Peoples Daily newspapers.
Earlier on Wednesday, IPI Nigeria hosted a conference with the theme: “Democracy, Media Freedom and the Imperative of Protecting the Nigerian Civic Space.”
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who chaired the conference’s opening day session, said press freedom exists in Nigeria. The keynote address was delivered by Professor Tony Iredia. He disagreed with the minister, arguing fiercely that press freedom does not exist in Nigeria.
The Director-General of the Department of State Services, Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi, gave a presentation on “Dissecting the Frosty Relationship Between the Nigerian Media and Security Agencies” while the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, spoke on “How the Media and Journalists can Partner Anti-corruption Agencies in the Fight Against Corruption.”
In the same vein, a former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, addressed participants on the topic “Government Vs Media: How to Reduce Tension, Enhance Mutual Understanding, and Avoid Censorship”.
The three-part event concluded on the night of December 12 with a dinner for the organisation’s members, partners, and supporters.
The International Press Institute (IPI), with headquarters in Vienna, Austria, is a global network of media executives, editors, and leading journalists. Since its establishment in 1950, it has consistently advocated for journalists’ rights and media freedom worldwide.
IPI Nigeria is the Nigerian branch of IPI Global and is totally committed to credible and independent journalism, media freedom, freedom of speech and the free flow of news and information in Africa’s most populous country and the continent’s biggest economy.
