Witnesses said no fewer than 600 passengers were trapped aboard a train overnight in a Sea of Japan coastal area as a massive winter storm dumped heavy snow in the region, local media reported on Friday, January 12, 2018.
A train caught in snow storm
“One person was taken to hospital and four were rescued as they felt unwell on the four-car train stranded between Tokoji and Obiori stations in Niigata prefecture since Thursday.
“The operator provided food and some beverage for the passengers early Friday.’’.
The operator JR East said that the train bound for Nagaoka from Niigata is equipped with restrooms with its heating and interior lights working properly.
“It is not certain when the train service can be resumed though snow removal is under way,’’ the operator said.
The storm brought much snow to many parts of Japan as weather authorities warned of blizzard conditions, traffic disruption and risk of avalanches.
President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the Aare Ona Kakanfo-designate, Otunba Gani Adams, to use the office into which he is about to step for national unity.
Gani Adams. Photo credit: nigerianmonitor.com
Adams will be installed on Saturday, January 13, 2018 as the 15th Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi 111, at Durbar Stadium, Oyo town, Oyo State.
The admonition of the President to Otunba Adams, the Founder of the Oodua Progressive Union, which is spread across 79 countries, was contained in a statement by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina.
Adesina said Buhari warmly congratulates Adams, the National Coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress, on his investiture as the 15th Aare Ona Kakanfo on Saturday.
He then charged the new Generalissimo of Yorubaland to use the position to pursue worthy goals of security, peace and national unity.
So also did the President commend Oba Adeyemi on the appointment of a new Aare Ona Kakanfo, who, he said, will assist him in the arduous task of leading the illustrious Yoruba people.
President Buhari urged the new Aare Ona Kakanfo “to bring quintessential courage, wisdom and astuteness to bear on his new office, for a more secured life for the weak, vulnerable and voiceless in the country”.
President Buhari prayed that the almighty God will grant the Aare Ona Kakanfo a favourable reign.
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has said that if the 2nd January 2, 2018 killings of dozens of people in Guma and Logo Local Government Areas of the state by suspected Fulani herdsmen was meant to intimidate the state government to repeal the Anti-Open Grazing Law 2017, the murderers had failed.
Governor Ortom signs anti-grazing bill into law as Speaker, Benue State House of Assembly, Terkimbi Ikyange, lends a hand
Ortom stated this on Thursday, January 11, 2018 at the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) Square in Makurdi, the state capital, while delivering a speech in a service to mark the mass burial of the 73 slain victims of the Fulani herdsmen invasion.
The governor, who said that the law must be implemented to the letter, emphasised that ranching was the best global practice in the 21st century, even as he maintained that the state would not accept cattle colonies on its land as advocated by the Federal Government.
He urged the government to arrest the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association because they had at several forums made incitive statements against the state, and that the recent killings were a pointer to the fact that they had executed their genocidal threats.
Further blaming the wanton killings of Benue indigenes on the absolute silence of the government and security agencies who were meant to protect them, he lamented that if the authorities had heeded to the reports he gave it concerning the threats of attacks which the Cattle Breeders Association had issued in resisting the implementation of the law, the killings would have been averted.
Also speaking, the Catholic Bishop of Gboko Diocese, William Avenya, who reiterated that cattle colonies were not acceptable by the Benue people, said that there was not enough land even for farming which is the predominant occupation of the people as such, only ranching is the solution.
Stressing further, Bishop Avenya, while blaming the wanton killings of Benue indigenes on the silence of the Federal Government, decried the non-presence of government in the state ranging from impassable federal roads, and infrastructural deficit, among others.
On his part, the UN Country Coordinator, Nigeria, Martins Okey Ejidike, while commiserating with the people of the state on their loss, stated that it is their collective loss and called for restraint on all parties.
Ejidike, while adding that the dead victims have been denied the fundamental right to life, urged the government to fulfil its obligations and bring the perpetrators to book to seek redress for the victims.
“We urge an enlightened approach to this matter that takes into account human rights, and we pray God to grant eternal rest to the lost lives and this impunity to end in Benue State as well as elsewhere in Nigeria,” he added.
Also speaking, the Chairman Benue State Council of Chiefs, Tor Tiv the V, HRM Prof. James Ayatse, lamented that the killings may very well be pointers of ethnic cleansing as claimed in many quarters.
The Tor Tiv, who said the killings have united Benue people who are bent on agenda of peace, agenda of liberty and freedom from their oppressors, called on goverment to arise and put an end to the wickedness and impunity perpetrated by the suspected Fulani herdsmen.
Speaking separately, Former Military Governor, Katsina State, Gen. Lawrence Onoja (Rtd), and Sen. Joseph Waku reiterated that the killings in Benue was a conspiracy against the indigenes, and that they cannot take it any longer.
“We have had enough of the senseless killings. Enough is enough.One of the survivors, Mr Akaater Azera, said that the Fulani herdsmen came in the night while they were asleep and started shooting sporadically and when his wife came out, they shot her dead.
He added that when he came out of his house he started running and they ran after him and macheted him on the mouth and leg but he survived.
Power for All, an international organisation canvassing for electricity supply in Nigeria, has advocated use of green bond proceeds to fund renewable energy projects to increase access to energy for rural communities.
Off-grid lighting / renewable energy project in a rural community in Africa. Photo credit: unep.org
Ify Malo, director of the organisation, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja Thursday, January 11, 2018.
President Muhammadu Buhari had announced,while presenting the 2018 Budget estimates, that government would launch the first African Sovereign green bond in December 2017.
The bond is being issued following Nigeria’s endorsement of the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016, designed to strengthen global response to threat of climate change.
The N10.69 billion green bond offer, whose proceeds will be used to finance projects in the 2017 Appropriation Act, has been certified as green because of the positive effects on the environment.
Among the projects to be financed with the proceeds of the bond are the renewable energy micro utilities and afforestation programmes.
But Malo said: “While the breakdown of how the expected bond to be raised will be spent is yet to be known, we will advocate that it is used to fund renewable energy projects that will increase access to energy for rural areas.”
She said proceeds from the bond could be used to increase the amount of funding available to the Rural Electrification Fund which would fund projects such as mini-grids construction.
She said the proceeds could also be used to increase funding for the Energising Economies programme of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) targeted at providing constant energy to economic clusters, using renewable energy-powered mini-grids.
According to her, a portion of the fund can be used to give low-interest loans to renewable energy entrepreneurs through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through a specific fund.
This, she said, would help to address the challenge of access to funding that is prevalent in the renewable energy sector.
Malo said channeling the funds for the development of renewable energy production through REA, a development fund with the CBN, and through programmes such as those of the REA, would ensure adequate and effective utilisation of the bond proceeds.
She explained that making the details of projects being funded and the modalities for accessing funds open and transparent would make it easier to ensure the proper utilisation of the funds.
Malo said the allocation of 30 per cent of the 2018 budget to power sector is very commendable.
She said: “It shows that the government is not only aware of the infrastructure challenges facing the country, but is also serious in making efforts to solve the hitches.
“While we are yet to see a detailed breakdown of the proposed budget, we hope that projects that will accelerate the development of decentralised renewable energy will receive adequate funding.
“This is very critical to deepen infrastructure, particularly in rural areas that form the bulk of un-electrified areas in Nigeria. This will help to further unlock the economy in such areas.”
By most accounts, low agricultural production is one of the prevailing factors behind the high incidence of poverty and food insecurity across the world.
Professor Lucy Ogbadu, Director General, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA). Photo credit: economic confidential.com
However, concerned observers note that most poor and food insecure people in the world live in developing countries and rural areas.
They say that one of the most important challenges facing the developing world nowadays is how to meet the current food needs of a growing population without undermining the ability of future generations to survive.
Therefore, issues relating to food security and sustainable agriculture have been on the front burner in the national discourse at all levels of government, as innovative plans are always made for a changing global climate and the increasing global population.
Some experts, nonetheless, insist that crop production through biotechnology applications should be encouraged to meet the increasing dietary needs of the world.
One of the experts, Mrs Edel-Quinn Agbaegbu, the Secretary of National Biotechnology and Biosafety Consortium (NBBC), called on Nigerians to embrace the use of agricultural biotechnology to transform agriculture and enhance the country’s food security.
Agbaegbu told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that application of modern biotechnology in agriculture was central to efforts to attain food security in the country.
She said that Nigeria, with a population of over 180 million, needed more food to feed its citizens, while the potential of biotechnology, as a tool for facilitating the achievement of food security, had yet to be fully exploited.
“Food, like shelter and clothing, is very important as one of the three most essential ingredients of life.
“The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recently stated that global production of food ought to double by 2050 in order to meet the demands of a growing global population,’’ she said.
According to her, Nigeria is one of the countries of the world where the percentage of the population suffering from malnutrition, hunger and starvation is still high.
Agbaegbu, therefore, said that science, modern agriculture and crop cultivation through biotechnology were required to deal with the rising challenges of food security.
She said that advances in science had resulted in accelerated development, including the application of biotechnology in agriculture, to improve overall livelihood, productivity and food security.
“The promises of biotech crops can only be unlocked if farmers are able to buy and plant these crops, following a scientific approach to regulatory reviews and approvals.
“Advances are also being realised in many African countries. In 2016, South Africa and Sudan increased the planting of biotech maize, soybean and cotton to 2.66 million hectares from 2.29 million hectares in 2015.
“In 2016, Brazil increased biotech production of maize, soybean, cotton and canola by a remarkable 11 per cent, maintaining its ranking as the second largest producer of biotech crops after the U.S.
“Brazil’s biotech soybeans account for 32.7 million hectares, out of the 91.4 million hectares grown worldwide.
“Also in 2016, 26 countries, including 19 developing and seven industrial countries, grew biotech crops,’’ she said.
Agbaegbu, however, conceded that there were certain challenges facing Africa and Nigeria, in particular, adding that the challenges included the degradation of land and water resources.
“There are myriads of other critical challenges that also affect the continent, especially Nigeria, where key crops, which are cultivated for consumption and commerce, are still facing attack of diseases.
“For instance, Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) and Cassava Brown Streak (CBSD) are still the most challenging constraints to cassava production in Sub-Saharan Africa,’’ she said.
Agbaegbu said that biotechnology, which was also genetic modification, would address the challenges relating to plant pest and diseases as well as the vagaries of weather, among other challenges facing crop growing.
She said that the new generation of biotech crops, developed via the increasing use of stacked traits, did not only address the farmers’ concerns but also addressed consumers’ preference and nutritional needs.
“The use of improved varieties is expected to contribute to improved health, environment and income, while drastically reducing the need for frequent spraying with insecticides.
“Today’s global development and sustainability are based on science.
“Fortunately, GM crops so far produced and globally commercialised are for herbicide-tolerance, insect, disease and drought-resistance, including bio-fortification.
“There is no doubt that advancement in any technology also goes with some potential adverse impacts and modern biotechnology is not an exception in this regard,’’ she said.
Agbaegbu stressed that scientific, technological and innovative advancements were crucial for the industrialisation and socio-economic development of Nigeria and Africa in general.
She said that biotechnology would boost crop yield via the introduction of high-yield varieties that were resistant to biotic and biotic stresses.
“In addition, biotechnology would reduce pest-associated losses and increase the nutritional value of foods, which are very important factors in rural areas or developing countries,’’ she said.
Prof. Benjamin Ubi, the President of Biotechnology Society of Nigeria (BSN), said that biotechnology research and development had already produced significant products.
He added that the products would play a pivotal role in plans to encourage and boost food production, considering their safety and environmental quality.
Ubi noted that the safety and potential impact of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) on human health had been a subject of serious concern and public scrutiny.
He, nonetheless, said that the future of biotech crops looked encouraging, as the global production of biotech crops continued to increase.
All the same, Ubi emphasised that the adoption of biotechnology would facilitate sustainable agricultural production in the country.
His words: “The adoption of biotechnology applications is the panacea to the current food challenges facing the country.
“Biotechnology, including genetic engineering and production of GMOs, provides powerful tools for the sustainable development of agriculture, fishery and forestry, as well as meeting the food needs of the population.
“GMOs currently account for about 16 per cent of the world’s crops, particularly crops like soybean, maize, cotton and canola, and there are indications that the growing trend will continue.
“So, we must eat what we grow and grow what we eat. This means we ought to produce more and agricultural biotechnology is a tool for achieving this.’’
Ubi guaranteed the safety of biotechnology in agricultural production, saying that global certification bodies had confirmed the safety of GMOs.
“All the same, informed criticism is good for checks and balances but it should not be allowed to be a cog the wheel of progress,’’ he added.
Sharing similar sentiments, Dr Abdulrazak Ibrahim, a university lecturer, emphasised that the use of modern biotechnology enhanced sustainable agricultural development, while boosting food production and alleviating poverty.
Ibrahim, who is of the Department of Biochemistry, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, said that modern biotechnology was one of the best means of achieving sustainable national development and tackling the challenges of food insecurity.
“Modern biotechnology is becoming increasingly important in addressing emerging challenges with regard to food security and renewable energy demand.
“Agriculture is everyone’s business and our nation’s independence depends on its development, as it will enable us to escape from the scourge of food insecurity which undermines our sovereignty and fosters sedition.
“Agriculture is a driver of growth, whose leverage is now acknowledged by economists and politicians, and it is the sector that is offering the greatest potential for the reduction of poverty and inequality.
“It also provides sources of productivity from which the most disadvantaged people working in the agricultural sector should benefit,’’ he added.
Ibrahim noted that GMOs, which were a product of modern biotechnology, so far had no negative impact on humans, animals and the environment.
“The coming of modern biotechnology and GMOs will facilitate our efforts to make Nigeria a nation that is self-sufficient in food production.
“We should promote the use of available modern farming methods and technologies that would solve the problems of poor agricultural productivity, health and nutrition.
“So, we should not run away from the benefits of the application of modern biotechnology and the use of genetically modified foods and feeds,’’ he added.
All in all, the general consensus of opinion is that Nigeria should make pragmatic efforts to develop its biotechnology sector and exploit the potential of the sector to develop its agricultural sector and boost its food security.
A new paper published in Science magazine shows that oxygen concentrations in ocean water are declining, not least as a result of climate change. This is in turn posing a serious threat to marine life and people dependent on the ocean.
Oxygen concentrations in ocean water are said to be declining. Photo credit: FAO
The study, compiled by a network of scientists initiated by the UN, also highlights the importance of reining in both climate change and nutrient pollution to halt the expansion of low-oxygen zones spreading around the globe.
“Oxygen in fundamental to life in the oceans,” said Denise Breitburg, lead author and marine ecologist with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Centre. “The decline in ocean oxygen ranks among the most serious effects of human activities on the Earth’s environment.”
The study notes that the oxygen content of the open ocean and coastal waters has been declining for at least the past 50 years, largely because of human activities that increased global temperatures and nutrients discharged to coastal waters.
For example, the amount of water in the open ocean with zero oxygen has increased more than fourfold in the past 50 years whilst in coastal water bodies, including estuaries and seas, low-oxygen sites have gone up over 10-fold since 1950. With rising temperatures, oxygen content in the ocean is projected to decline further, which would threaten biodiversity and result in stunted growth, diseases, suffocation and the death of many animals.
The study – conducted by a team of scientists from the Global Ocean Oxygen Network, a new working group created by the UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission – puts the spotlight on the biggest dangers to the ocean and coastal communities, and what it will take to keep Earth’s waters healthy and productive.
Need to Tackle Multiple Causes of Disappearing Oxygen in the World’s Oceans
Climate change is a clear culprit. Due to rising temperatures, warming surface waters make it harder for oxygen to reach the ocean interior. As the ocean gets warmer, the amount of oxygen decreases. In coastal waters, excess nutrient pollution from land creates algal blooms, which drain oxygen as they die and decompose. But there are other causes which need to be addressed in tandem with reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
To keep low oxygen in check, the scientists said the world needs to take on the issue from three angles:
Address the causes: nutrient pollution and climate change. While neither issue is simple or easy, the steps needed to tackle the problem can benefit people as well as the environment. Better septic systems and sanitation can protect human health and keep pollution out of the water. Cutting fossil fuel emissions not only cuts greenhouse gases and fights climate change, but also slashes dangerous air pollutants like mercury.
Protect vulnerable marine life. With some low oxygen unavoidable, it is crucial to protect at-risk fisheries from further stress. According to the GO2NE team, this could mean creating marine protected areas or no-catch zones in areas animals use to escape low oxygen, or switching to fish that are not as threatened by falling oxygen levels.
Improve low-oxygen tracking worldwide. Scientists have a decent grasp of how much oxygen the ocean could lose in the future, but they do not know exactly where those low-oxygen zones will be. Enhanced monitoring, especially in developing countries, and numerical models will help pinpoint which places are most at risk and determine the most effective solutions.
What the UN is Doing to Tackle the Problem
The UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 aims to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.”
Through a wide range of initiatives, the United Nations is leading global efforts to step up cooperation for safeguarding the world’s oceans. Last month, the UN General Assembly recently adopted a resolution to convene negotiations for an international treaty to protect the marine environments of the high seas.
During the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, in December 2017, UN delegates passed a resolution aimed at tackling threats emerging from ocean pollution and preventing plastic waste from entering the ocean. Among other measures, the agreement also envisions the formation of an international task force that will advise countries on ways to combat marine pollution.
The Fijian COP23 Presidency also launched an ocean initiative “The Ocean Pathway” to improve ocean health and protect critical ocean ecosystems threatened by climate change at the annual UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, in November last year.
And the UN hosted the high level Ocean Conference last year in order to mobilise efforts to reverse the decline in the health of our ocean for people, planet, and prosperity.
The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has urged the Nigerian government to take a cue from nations that have banned the importation and smoking of water-pipe tobacco otherwise known as shisha, due to its addictiveness and deadly effect on the health of users.
A shisha
ERA/FoEN made the demand following the announced ban on the product by a host of countries across Africa, with Kenya being the latest after Tanzania and Rwanda.
Tanzania banned the product on the product in July 2016, while Rwanda started enforcing a ban with effect from December 15, 2017. Other countries across the globe that have equally banned shisha and shisha bars are Pakistan, Jordan, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia.
A recent study by University of Nairobi found shisha had traces of opiates, and concluded that smoking the product has effects similar to smoking tobacco. Pipe-sharing among users could also lead to the spread of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and hepatitis.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday, January 11, 2017 and made available to EnviroNews, ERA/FoEN described the reported ban on shisha across the globe and particularly in Kenya and other African countries as a welcome development, noting that Nigeria should not wait for shisha bars to become recruitment centers for the under-aged before adopting a similar approach.
Akinbode Oluwafemi, ERA/FoEN Deputy Executive Director, said: “We commend our sister African countries that have taken this bold and life-saving step in banning this toxic product. The Nigerian government must act in like manner to save Nigerian youths who believe that shisha is less harmful and hype.”
Oluwafemi explained that studies show that shisha patrons who smoke just one single session of shisha are in reality consuming the content of about 100 or more cigarettes, even as he lamented that while patrons of the product are portrayed as hype, they stand increased risk of heart diseases, cancer, lung disease and many other deadly ailments. Pregnant users also develop problems.
The ERA/FoEN boss said that the content of shisha, like cigarettes, includes nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, arsenic, lead and other poisonous and cancer-causing chemicals and some contain heroin and cocaine.
He explained that the side effects of smoking shisha may not be immediately noticeable just like cigarettes, but with time, the toxic vapors slowly damage vital organs of the body of the smoker.
Going further, he alerted that Abuja, Port Harcourt and other cities across the country now have thriving shisha bars patronised by the elite, celebrities and supposed role models who not only smoke the product, but also circulate pictures and videos of their shisha orgies on social media, feeling cool and hype.
“The tobacco industry will stop at nothing in their quest for more lungs to consume their products. The federal government must act proactively by banning shisha and closing the shisha bars if we do not want our kids to become prime targets to be recruited into smoking. There should be no more delay on this,” Oluwafemi insisted.
An ecologist, Mr Dennis Ugwuja, has appealed to the Federal Government to fast-track the clean-up of oil spill in Ogoniland, Rivers State.
Ibuu Creek polluted by an oil spill, in Okwuzi Community in Rivers State. Photo credit: Dandy Mgbenwa
Ugwuja, who is the Executive Director of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Initiative (CCMAI), an NGO, made the appeal on Wednesday, January 10, 2018 in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
According to him, the Federal Government should accelerate the implementation of the Report on Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland.
The ecologist said that the Report, which was inaugurated in 2011 by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), was also handed over to the Federal Government for implementation.
The ecologist recalled that the report recommended, among other things, that the Federal Government should commence immediate clean-up of oil spill in Ogoniland.
“Having carefully studied the oil spill and clean-up projects of Gulf of Mexico and the Exxon Valdez Oil spill, it didn’t take ages to clean up the whole thousands of miles that were affected.
“Ogoni communities have never enjoyed the natural resources deposited in their land as a result of impacts of oil activities on their land, especially the oil spill on their economic land,” he said.
According to him, it is high time for the Federal Government to address the clean-up of Ogoni oil spill project it inaugurated in 2017.
Ugwuja said that his organisation was yet to see the hand work of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) saddled with the responsibility of facilitating the implementation of the clean-up in Ogoni land.
“It is only in the third world country like Nigeria that serious issues affecting the lives of oil producers and their economic farm land are politicised.
“Government should make undiluted effort to ensure speedy clean-up of Ogoniland. The Ogoni people can no longer be deceived by mere promises,’’ he said.
He called on well meaningful environmentalists to form synergy and remain steadfast in the fight against oil pollution in the Niger Delta.
Belize has made history by unanimously passing the “Petroleum Operations (Offshore Zone Moratorium) Bill, 2017” which will place an indefinite moratorium on offshore oil in Belize’s marine territory. The decision has been welcomed by Oceana, WWF, and other members of the Belize Coalition to Save Our Natural Heritage as a landmark step forward to protect the Belize Barrier Reef and strengthen marine conservation worldwide.
Off-shore oil drilling
This action is historic given Belize’s economic dependence on its natural resources and will safeguard invaluable marine environments including the second longest barrier reef in the world, which runs along Belize’s coast. Just as importantly, this law recognizes and respects the collective leadership and persistent involvement of tens of thousands of Belizeans for more than seven years on the issue of offshore oil.
Oceana has been an unwavering supporter of this call of the Belizean people since it began in the aftermath of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 and within the reality that Belize’s entire offshore area had already been sold as oil concession licenses. Following today’s proceedings, Oceana’s Vice President for Belize Janelle Chanona said, “This is truly ‘The People’s Law’. Belizeans have remained steadfast in their opposition to offshore oil since they became aware that marine assets were at risk of irreversible damage from the offshore oil industry.”
This news brings hope that the Belize Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will no longer be considered a “Site in Danger” as oil was identified as direct threat to the site’s integrity. “We urge Belize’s government to follow today’s historic announcement with the additional actions needed to ensure the site is removed from UNESCO’s in danger list,” said Nadia Bood from WWF.
Believed to be the largest international advocacy organisation dedicated solely to ocean conservation, Oceana is rebuilding abundant and biodiverse oceans by winning science-based policies in countries that control one third of the world’s wild fish catch.
Prof. Timothy Nubi of the University of Lagos, Akoka on Wednesday, January 10, 2018 urged the Federal Government to evolve polices that would guarantee affordable housing in the country.
Prof. Timothy Nubi
Nubi, who is the Dean, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, gave this advice while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He said that the government could formulate a policy, mandating that at least 300 to 600 housing units be constructed in each state annually.
“This kind of policy will go a long way to reposition the housing issues, particularly when it is accompanied with other societal development projects,” he said.
He said that successive policies of the government on housing had failed to consider the numerous challenges facing the sector.
“Instead of promulgating policies to address these challenges, successive governments’ attempts focused on building houses that are not affordable for the targeted low income group,” he said.
Nubi listed insufficient capital base, non availability of secondary mortgage markets and the lack of credit facilities as some of the challenges which needed government’s attention.
He stressed the need for the government to intervene and complete mortgage sector reforms, saying it could be a major step to encourage construction and increase availability of houses.
Nubi bemoaned the inability of the National Housing Trust Fund scheme (NHTF) to bridge the housing gap and rise to the challenge of providing funds for workers to build houses.
According to him, the scheme is having loopholes that make it ineffective in its efforts to solve the housing needs of workers.
He suggested restructuring of the scheme and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), saying that an effective housing sector could not be possible without a functional and sustainable mortgage system.
