Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, has charged Directors and Heads of Agencies and Projects in the Federal Ministry of Environment to ensure that the ministry’s vision of empowering people, taking climate action and protecting the environment align with the administration’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) implementation as government prepares for fresh challenges in the environment sector in 2018.

Speaking at the opening of the 2018 Management Retreat For Directors and Heads of Agencies and Projects of the ministry on Monday, January 8, 2018 in Kaduna, Kaduna State, the minister wants such a focus to be in line with efforts towards achieving a sustainable environment.

The retreat has “Re-dedication to the implementation of ERGP and NDC” as its theme.

He said: “Economic growth and environmental sustainability are interlinked. World economies are shifting towards cleaner growth, and the global push toward a low-carbon, sustainable economy will produce new technologies and jobs.

“As you are all aware, Nigeria is already part of those leading this transformation by innovating at home and helping to implement low-carbon alternatives. If this is done right, it will create good jobs, grow our economy and reduce pollution.  The ministry is a key participant in this environmental transformation that put people and planet at the centre.”

Jibril further stated that the ratification of three instruments including the Paris Agreement in 2017 by the President is unprecedented and shows a clear understanding of environmental issues and his commitment to address such issues.

The significance of this and to Nigeria and the implementation of NDCs, he adds, is based on the belief and commitment that climate change is not just a challenge but a historic opportunity to build a sustainable economy based on clean technology, green infrastructure and green jobs that will create sustainable growth in Nigeria.

The retreat, it was gathered, is being held with the aim of strategically aligning key activities of the ministry with the ERGP as well as with the NDCs implementation as captured in the Paris Agreement and other relevant protocols.

Officials also describe the meeting as an opportunity to re-enlighten the management on key flagship programmes of the ministry including NEWMAP, Great Green Wall, Ogoniland Clean-up, and Green Bonds, as well as other environmental regulatory programmes and projects that will ensure the empowerment of people and the protection of the planet.

The retreat, which is likewise seen as a strategic meeting to prepare the ministry to work cohesively and coherently towards delivering on the mandates of the current administration for the environment sector, holds for three days.

Up to 16 inches of snow has fallen on a town in the Sahara desert after a freak winter storm hit the area on Sunday, January 7, 2018.

This is the third time in 37 years that the town of Ain Sefra in Algeria has seen snow cover the red sand dunes of the desert.

Snow started falling in the early hours of Sunday morning and it quickly began settling on the sand.

While the town saw an inch or two, the sand dunes on its outskirts were covered in snow.

Photographer Karim Bouchetata said: “We were really surprised when we woke up to see snow again. It stayed all day on Sunday and began melting at around 5pm.”

In 2016, the town known as “The Gateway to the Desert” saw deep snow shortly after Christmas and it caused chaos, with passengers stranded on buses after the roads became slippery and icy.

Come January 2017, the town saw snowfall yet again, and  children made snowmen and even sledged on the sand dunes.

Before that, snow was last seen in Ain Sefra on February 18, 1979, when the snow storm lasted just half an hour.

A spokesman for the Met Office said on Monday morning: “Cold air was pulled down south in to North Africa over the weekend as a result of high pressure over Europe.

“The high pressure meant the cold weather extended further south than normal.”

Ain Sefra is located around 3,280ft above sea level and surrounded by the Atlas Mountains.

Despite its altitude, it is extremely rare to see snow in the town, and it is normally six to 12 degrees Celsius in January.

The Sahara Desert covers most of Northern Africa and it has gone through shifts in temperature and moisture over the past few hundred thousand years.

As preparations reach top gear for the Second Meeting of Conference of the Parties of the Bamako Convention (Bamako COP2) scheduled to take place in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire from January 28 to 30 2018, a call has gone to the Federal Government to ratify as well as implement the treaty.

Leslie Adogame, SRADev Nigeria’s Executive Director, who made the call in a statement made availabled to EnviroNews on Monday, January 8, 2018, lamented that it is worrisome that Nigeria, who should play a lead role in the continent, has inadvertently lagged behind 29 other countries in Africa.

The Bamako Convention on the ban on the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa is a treaty of African nations prohibiting the import of any hazardous (including radioactive) waste. The Convention was negotiated by 12 nations of the Organisation of African Unity (now African Union) at Bamako, Mali in January, 1991, and came into force in 1998.

“Nigeria’s delay in ratifying the Bamako Convention after 20 years of its coming into force is a bad omen for a toxic-free country and continent; it is simply not enough to sign the Convention without ratification to implement it,” said Adogame.

Bamako COP2 will be held under the theme: “The Bamako Convention: a platform for a pollution-free Africa.” To date, the Convention has 29 Signatories and 25 Parties. Nigeria is yet to ratify and implement this Convention since becoming a signatory in 1998.

Faith Osa-Egharevba, Senior Programme Officer, at SRADev Nigeria, said, “Nigeria’s continued ‘observer status’ since COP1 in 2013 simply means no voice in the continent’s negotiation and on-going effort to implement the treaty.”

Justifying the need for the ratification, Adogame stressed that, in Africa, the impetus for the Bamako Convention arose from the realisation that several developed nations were exporting toxic wastes to Africa, such as the Koko case in Nigeria and Probo Koala case in Cote d’Ivoire. He added that the ratification and implementation of the Convention had become expedient since Nigeria recently signed a pact with Russia to build and operate a nuclear power plant despite concerns about poor quality control, safety and waste management.

In “The Future We Want”, the outcome document of Rio+20 (2012), Nigeria reaffirmed her commitment to achieve, by 2020, the sound management of chemicals throughout their life cycle and of hazardous waste in ways that lead to minimisation of significant adverse effects to human health and the environment, as set out in the Johannesburg Plan Of Implementation (JPOI 2002).

Similarly, Nigeria has consistently reiterated her diplomatic support for the UN in all its efforts, including the attainment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. President Mohammed Buhari has since 2015 (70th session) been honoured to address the United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) each year at which he severally re-affirmed Nigeria’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) bold steps to transform the world.

“Charity, they say, must begin at home. We urgently call on the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Environment to match words with action away from ‘global diplomatic rhetoric’ to ratify the Convention before the COP2 meeting,” said Adogame.

The Federal Government says it will soon commence the establishment of cattle colonies in the states to check increasing cases of farmers-herdsmen clashes in the country.

Chief Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said this at a Strategy Retreat for Civil Servants and Political appointees of the ministry in Abuja on Monday, January 8, 2018.

Ogbeh, while stating the target of his ministry for 2018, said the ministry would also engage in massive cattle breed improvement through artificial insemination.

“We want to handle the issue of cattle rearing and crisis between farmers and herdsmen and actually bring it to a halt.

“I know that some people argued that open grazing is our culture, once a culture begins to develop very dangerous trends, leading to warfare between people, bloody clashes and death, that culture is due for re-examination.

“A culture must not be left because it is a culture, if it is harmful, we reform it.

“We are talking of cattle colonies, not ranches. We are talking of massive cattle breed improvement through artificial insemination, we have to start immediately.

“Sixteen states have given us land to work on, the programme is not going to be cheap but Mr President has personally informed me that if we seek help from him, he will give it to us over and above the budget we have.

“In our interactions with the herdsmen, they always say that if we have water and grass, we will not move anywhere, grass is not grass,’’ he said.

Earlier, Mrs Winifred Ochinyabo, Senior Adviser to the minister on Special Projects and General Duties said the cattle colonies would have social amenities such as good roads, a school for the nomads’ children and health facilities.

She said that agro rangers (security personnel) would also be at the colonies to help guard the animals.

According to her, the national herbage has drastically been depleted. We don’t have enough edible grass for our cattle anymore.

“The pasture production will be encouraged in the colonies as feed for the cattle, and goats

“We will be encouraging the youths to grow grass,’’ she said.

The Country Director of Synergos, Mr Adewale Ajadi, called for synergy between the states and Federal Governments to ensure success in the sector.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Synergos is an organisation that promotes collaboration among government and farmers’ organisations to improve the lives of small holder farmers.

He commended the Green Alternative Document, adding that it was a practical exposition of where the country had to go and set the future in the sector.

“This has to be a fundamentally different year because it is a year where the issues of change will be critical.

“What we do this year is not just significant to where we go as a country but significant to the future of our children,’’ Ajadi said.

He appealed to civil servants and political appointees to work together in order to achieve the desired result in 2018.

The retreat was organised by the ministry in collaboration with Synergos.

By Ginika Okoye