Civil society organisations in Uganda have backed President Yoweri Museveni for rejecting to assent to the Biosafety Bill 2017, saying the move saved the country’s indigenous species and the environment.
According to scientists, crop biotechnology has delivered significant socio-economic and welfare benefits to farmers via increased yield, pest and disease resistance, abiotic stress tolerance and enriched nutrient content. Photo credit: agronigeria.com.ng
The activists from Environment and Food Sovereignty, a consortium of environmentalists and food rights activists, argued that the Biosafety Bill in its current form sought to abolish the local plants, animals and birds that have supported the population for ages.
“We appreciate the President (Museveni)’s attitude of rejecting the bill so that it can be improved because if it had become law, all the indigenous species would disappear. Having genetically modified organisms (GMOs) will not promote our food sovereignty,” Mr Frank Muramuzi, the executive director of the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), said.
Addressing the media hardly a fortnight after President Museveni rejected the proposed law on genetic engineering, the activists also accused the scientists of making false claims that GMOs are climate change resistant whereas not.
In a December 21, 2017 letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rebecca Kadaga, the President observed that it was wrong to enact a law that gives monopoly of patent rights on genetic engineering without considering the communities that developed original material.
“Effluent from the GMO material should never mix with our organic materials. The law should clarify that. Use of poisons and dangerous bacteria as the inputs in genetic engineering must never be allowed,” President Museveni wrote.
Suggesting for severe punishments against those failing to label the GMO products, the President directed that consumers must be protected from developers of dangerous material that harms the environment, people and or animals.
Mr Muramuzi described the President’s move as cherishing the work of Ugandans in promoting and protecting the environment and the country’s natural resource, saying GMOs cannot promote food sovereignty.
“Most people in Uganda are poor and if we go GMO, we shall not be able to feed our children, educate them and even produce for sustainability. Most GMO seeds do not germinate, meaning farmers will rely on shops yet our indigenous species have supported the population for ages,” he added.
By Ephraim Kasozi (The Daily Monitor, Kampala, Uganda)
A 5.4-magnitude earthquake on Thursday, January 4, 2018 hit Merowe area in north Sudan, some 350 km north of the capital Khartoum, according to the Public Authority for Geological Research of Sudan’s Minerals Ministry.
Merowe, Sudan
“Earthquakes have occurred in Merowe area since Jan. 1 and continued intermittently in varying degrees thereafter.
“Thursday’s quake registered 5.4 on the Richter scale,” said the authority in a statement.
“The tremor was felt by the citizens in the area, and it is attributed to the effects of the geological structure which passes through the southwest and northeast of the African Continent and extends with the active crack of the Red Sea,” the authority added.
The authority further pointed out that “these movements become active from time to time near the Nile due to presence of some geological intersections.”
The authority urged the citizens not to fear but to be cautious at the same time, saying “these quakes are natural.”
Some years ago, the then Minister of Environment, Mrs. Hadiza Mailafi, shook the country’s business landscape when she announced government’s preparedness to ban the use of plastics bags, a commodity which is used in high volumes across the country.
A water body littered with plastic and other waste product. Photo credit: Cheryl Ravelo/Reuters
The pronouncement by the Minister sent a shock wave across the country as people of various shields started reacting to the decision of government to ban plastic bags.
While some were of the view that the decision was long overdue, others questioned government’s rationale and credibility of unleashing such a monumental policy decision without consultations with relevant stakeholders or communicating to Nigerians what alternative it has put in place.
But, surprisingly, what Nigeria could not summon the political will to accomplish over the years, was achieved in Kenya without much stress.
The 2017 United Nations Environment Assembly, which held recently in Nairobi, was full of praises for the Kenyan government for successfully implementing the plastic bags ban policy without suffocating the business community.
At the assembly, Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, said that his government had successfully banned the manufacture and use of plastic packaging both at industrial and domestic levels.
He called for commitment from all countries in the world to copy Kenya’s example of banning the use of plastic bags.
“My advice is that nations should not heed the sceptics, who say that all countries cannot protect our planet better by banning plastic carrier bags,” said the President.
Anthony Carmona, President of Trinidad and Tobago, said that, through the plastic ban, Kenya has become the hope for humanity. “Nothing stops Kenya from becoming known as the hope of humanity just as it is known as the cradle of humanity,” he stated
Why Nigeria must emulate Kenya
Today, rivers in the country are not producing enough fish hence the massive importation of fish and fish products. Fishermen and women in the Niger Delta have since put down tools and gotten themselves into anti-social activities in the absence of fishing which had been their primary source of livelihood.
Dr. Martins Akoede, a Marine Biologist, has said that the invasion of the sea beds and continuous pollution of the ocean with plastic has made it impossible for fishes to safely lay eggs hence the comatose of one of the most vibrant businesses in the area.
Nigerians have resorted to domestically breeding cat fish, which most people are now rejecting for fear of chemical components in the food mix.
Three rivers from Nigeria including Imo River, Cross River and Kwa Ibo River are among the top 20 polluting rivers accounting for 67 per cent of global plastic inflow into the ocean.
A study published by Nature, entitled “River Plastic Emissions to the World’s Oceans”, estimated that between 1.15 and 2.41 million tonnes of plastic waste currently enter the ocean every year.
The Imo River is in South-Eastern Nigeria and flows 240 kilometres into the Atlantic Ocean. Its estuary is around 40 kilometres wide, and the river has an annual discharge of 4 cubic kilometres with 26,000 hectares of wetland while the Kwa Ibo River is a river that rises near Umuahia in Abia State and flows in a South-Eastern direction through Akwa Ibom State to the Atlantic Ocean.
Nigeria is the only African country with rivers featured in the top 20 polluters and this has been attributed to the nation’s huge population.
Another reason why government must act is the lack of an efficient waste management system in the country, meaning that every waste finds its way into the river and the ocean.
Way forward
It is estimated that if nothing urgent is done, “We would expect nearly one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish in our oceans by 2025 – an unthinkable number with drastic economic and environmental consequences,” says Nicholas Mallos, Director of Ocean Conservancy’s Marine Debris Programme.
Nigeria needs to urgently summon the political will, think through the process, dialogue with the manufacturing sector and retail stores so as to commence a massive awareness campaign among the populace and ultimately provide and implement an alternative to plastic bags. The local content programme of the federal government will be greatly boosted with a total ban on plastic bags.
The nation’s paper and wood sector is not contributing any significant quota to the country’s GDP, a serious clamp down on plastic usage would therefore bring alive this sector and save the country the current tag as one of the biggest polluters of our time.
Compared to other forms by which people decide and determine their political fortunes, democracy enjoys a greater approval and wider acceptance across the globe. Proponents of democracy as a preferred system of government boast about the potency of the system to strike the cord that energises the citizenry towards conscious and active participation in matters relating to self-preservation and government as a people. Democracy gives voice to every member of the society without discrimination of any sort. A strong citizen’s voice is a sine qua non for responsiveness on the part of any government on the delivery of public goods and services.
Participants after a Town Hall Meeting at Jessu, Gombe State
There is a direct link between democracy and rapid grassroots development the world over. Taking cognisance that greater percentage of Nigerians live in the rural areas; governance in any true democracy should be strongest at the grassroots. In Nigeria, the reverse is simply the case – grassroots governance is rather weak and almost insignificant. Evidence to this claim is the comatose state of local government administration across the 774 headquarters in the country.
Descent development has eluded rural communities in Nigeria, to no exception. Rural dwellers are often the most neglected or abandoned; the least served in terms of dividends of democracy; the least represented in social amenities and infrastructural provision; and also the least consulted in terms of policy decisions except during electioneering or partisan campaigns and thereafter, only to be forgotten after elections are won. Alienation of rural communities at the grassroots has become more of a norm than an exception by successive governments in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa. This is sad, disturbing and unacceptable. Be that as it may, the rate of development a nation attains is determined by the quality of life and development of people at the grassroots.
Development of rural communities must begin with the active participation of rural dwellers at the grassroots. Democracy is never complete unless there is active involvement and participation of the people at the rural areas. Similarly, development is never complete unless the people are consciously carried along and involved fully in the governance process.
From 1999 till date, Nigeria has enjoyed uninterrupted civil democratic rule after years of dictatorial military regimes. This has been characterised by a new era of regular elections as well as return of civil liberties – to a reasonable extent and a corresponding explosion of civil society organisations. In this regard, a major landmark accruing from Nigeria’s democratic experience is the signing into law of the Freedom of Information Act by the government of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
One organisation that stands tall in the community of civil societies is Connected Development (CODE). CODE, over the years, has leveraged on the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) to negotiate and mediate citizen engagement efforts across marginalised rural communities in Nigeria to demand accountability and transparency from their elected representatives and politicians for responsiveness on the provision of public goods and services especially on three thematic areas: health, education and environment.
These thematic areas have implications for the actualisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDGs are a set of 17 “Global Goals” with 169 targets among them. Spearheaded by the United Nations through a deliberative process involving its 193 Member States, as well as global civil society, the goals are contained in paragraph 54 of United Nations Resolution of 25 September 2015. Our campaign on health is addressing Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being, while that of education is focused on Goal 4: Quality Education. Also, our advocacies and campaigns on environment is captured on Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation of the SDGs.
Since 2012, CODE has traversed the six geopolitical zones of the federation mobilising citizens for active participation for the business of good governance by tracking capital public appropriations or expenditures and amplifying citizens’ voices and experiences as they clamour for transparency and accountability against secrecy, obscurity and opacity in public expenditures.
CODE’s initiative, “Follow The Money” (FTM), is a pan-African fast-growing movement dedicated to building a large community of active citizens – youths, women, adults, rural dwellers, marginalised or closed groups, persons with special needs, policy makers and indeed everybody; to promote open governance, transparency and accountability. The buzz about this movement is also about decapitating corruption and misuse of public funds meant for rural areas, not excluding urban areas at the same time.
Corruption is an insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on societies. It undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads to violations of human rights, distorts markets, erodes the quality of life and allows organised crime, terrorism and other threats to human security to flourish. This evil phenomenon is found in all countries but it is in the developing world that its effects are most destructive.
Corruption hurts rural communities (grassroots) disproportionately when compared to urban areas by diverting funds intended for rural development, infrastructural provision and efficient functioning of the organs of government. This undermines Government’s ability to provide basic services, thereby, feeding inequality and injustice and discouraging foreign aid and investment.
Corruption is a key element in economic underperformance and a major obstacle to poverty alleviation, development and national prosperity. This is why CODE and her Follow The Money project could not have found relevance at other time in our history than now. Like President Buhari always posit: “We either kill corruption or corruption will kill us”.
Impressively, in the past five years, FTM has led interventions on the implementation of capital projects in our thematic areas of interest (health, education and environment) in over 40 rural communities in 16 states across the federation. Verifiable records at her secretariat reveal that about 115,822 lives have been torched and empowered in their outreaches.
This record is unsurpassed and unbeaten in the history of civil society organisations in Nigeria and arguably the entire sub-Saharan Africa. Worthy of note is CODE’s sustainability and strategy document where she plans to cover 105 communities in 36 states and the FCT touching about two million lives in the process.
“For now, we cannot forecast challenges or threats capable of undermining our goals. We have a dedicated workforce of young people who are deploying technology to achieving their targets and deliverables. I tell you, our projections are modest. We can even surpass them,” says the Chief Executive, Hamzat Lawal.
CODE, using the instrumentality of Follow The Money, is leading the fastest growing community of citizens who are committed to holding their leaders and public servants accountable on good governance. The standing vision of the organisation is a world where everyone, even in the remote parts of the world, can hold their government accountable.
Join this community of active citizens at www.ifollowthemoney.org. By so doing, we accept responsibility of our leadership crisis and deficit. Joining the movement is one of the pathways to the Nigeria of our dream.
By Ani, Nwachukwu Agwu (Abuja-based rural development scholar; @NwachukwuAni)
The Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON) has urged practitioners to strive to provide quality service to clients to sustain the enviable position of town planning practice in the society.
President of the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON), Mr Olaide Afolabi
The President of the association, Mr Olaide Afolabi, gave the charge while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday, January 4, 2018 in Lagos.
Afolabi said it was no longer enough to concentrate on a single aspect of the town planning profession.
He said there were different facets of the profession that could be harnessed by the practitioners to become readily relevant to the society.
“The practitioners must be interdisciplinary – system specialists who will bring together, coordinate and manage the entire system to solve complex societal problems and promote sustainable development,’’ he said.
He said professional associations must provide leadership and enforce relevant codes and standards that make economic advancement high priority in their professional practice.
“Let practitioners strive to deliver projects based on the principles of performance, reliability, durability, aesthetics and perceived quality.
“Project management process requires good planning, monitoring and controlling. And without the processes, quality service could not be effectively delivered by Nigerian practising town planners,” he said.
Adolabi said that sustainable development of the country required positive and sustained action by individuals, communities, government and institutions.
He, therefore, urged practising town planners never to deviate from the guiding codes of ethics of the profession which centred on total commitment to professionalism, the good of the society and the development of infrastructure.
Farmers, under the aegis of Zero Hunger Commodities, have called for increased support from the Federal Government to enable farmers to engage in massive food production across the country.
Farmers on the FADAMA project
They made the call in separate interviews with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of their recent meeting in Abuja.
Dr Tunde Arosanyin, the National Coordinator of Zero Hunger Commodities, said that the government had only been very forthcoming in the area of support to the country’s farmers.
He said that the development had compelled many farmers to abandon farming and take up other occupations, adding that the career switch might negatively affect food production in the coming years.
He said that in spite of the existing challenges, the agricultural sector still had a number of opportunities which could be further exploited by the private sector.
“However, factors like irrigation farming schemes, availability of farmers groups, existence of favourable policies and strategies, among others, would boost agricultural production and productivity, if they are well-harnessed and effectively utilised.
“Improved agricultural production will serve as a basis for poverty alleviation, particularly in the rural areas,’’ he said.
Also speaking, Mr Daniel Okafor, the Chairman of Potatoes Farmers Association of Nigeria (POFAN), bemoaned the challenges currently facing Nigerian farmers despite the importance which the government had attached to agriculture in its efforts to revive the country’s economy.
He stressed that the farmers were at the mercy of the buyers of farm produce, adding that they were facing other challenges such as post-harvest losses, particularly with regard to perishable produces.
“Certainly, government is slow in making efforts to help farmers out in achieving their dream of making the country a self-sufficient nation in food production,’’ he said.
Okafor said that the government should put in place pragmatic mechanisms to purchase food commodities such as rice, garri and fish, among others, directly from local farmers, rather than importing those commodities from other countries.
He said that since the government had initiated its school feeding programme, tangible efforts should be made to compel the school authorities to buy food commodities directly from farmers.
He added that foodstuffs like rice, garri and fish, for instance, should be purchased directly from local farmers, rather than relying on food imports.
“No doubt, this will show the seriousness of the government in efforts to revive the agricultural sector and boost the nation’s economy.
“I know it is better we get direct information from the farmers, which is the essence of holding this meeting but permit me to list a few challenges facing our farmers.
“A major challenge facing our farmers is post-harvest losses, as over 40 per cent of their harvests usually go bad due to the lack of storage facilities.
“Other problems include pest infestation of farms and lack of easy access to finance and markets,’’ he added.
Mr Khalil Haliluan, the Chief Executive Officer of OyaOya, an online produce marketing firm, underscored the need to facilitate produce buying and selling processes in ways that would them less stressful or time consuming.
He said that efforts should also be made by all agricultural stakeholders to facilitate produce transportation to markets.
The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) initiated the National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme to facilitate the provision of houses to Nigerians and bridge the housing deficit.
Observers say Nigeria’s housing deficit is far in excess of 17 million. Photo credit: lagos.all.biz
NHF is a pool which mobilises long-term funds from Nigerian workers, banks, insurance companies and Federal Government to advance loans at a single-digit interest rate to its contributors.
With the NHF scheme, workers are to contribute 2.5 per cent of the basic salary to the fund, while and the funds therein are supposed to be used for mortgage loans to the workers at concessionary terms for the purchase, building, expansion or renovation of their houses.
Apart from the workers’ contribution, the NHF also mobilises domestic and offshore long-term funds from banks, insurance companies and the Federal Government, which are supposed to be used as soft loans to its contributors.
The FMBN is, therefore, constitutionally empowered to facilitate the growth of viable primary mortgage institutions that would service the housing needs of Nigerians.
But while some civil servants have benefited from the NHF scheme, others have yet to benefit, prompting many people to clamour for the review or outright abolition of the scheme.
On this background, some stakeholders in the housing sector express concern about the operations of NHF and call for stiffer penalties against violators of the NHF Act.
But Mr Ayuba Wabba, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), rather called for a realistic housing scheme that would enable workers to afford houses.
“For us to address the issue of housing deficit, we must have an agreeable interest rate that is affordable to citizens and workers, if not the houses will be built and will not be affordable,’’ he said.
Expressing worry that Nigerian workers could still not afford the houses in spite of putting in 2.5 per cent of their monthly salaries to have shelter, he called on the Federal Government to intervene by providing the necessary funds required to drive the housing scheme.
He decried the violation of the NHF Act by some stakeholders, observing that failure of commercial banks to contribute to the fund had retarded progress of the scheme.
“We actually keyed to the scheme but along the line, in 2003 and 2004, we had challenges because the houses were built and workers could not afford them.
“The type of houses required were not the type built, so hundreds of houses are lying fallow in Abuja because nobody can afford them,’’ Wabba observed.
In his opinion, Mr Oluseyi Lufadeju, a trustee at Real Estate Development Association of Nigeria, accused the Central Bank of Nigeria and some commercial banks of not contributing to the fund.
According to him, Section 5 of the NHF Act stipulates that commercial or merchant banks shall invest in the fund 10 per cent of its loans and advances.
“The loan or advance will be at an interest rate of one per cent above the interest rate payable on current account by banks.
“Every registered insurance company shall invest minimum of 20 per cent of its non-life funds and 40 per cent of its life funds in real property development; of this, not less than 50 per cent shall be paid to the fund through the FMBN.
“Section 11 of the NHF Act provides that the Central Bank of Nigeria shall collect from commercial and merchant banks at the end of every year and not later than one month after, the percentage of their contribution to the fund,’’ he explained.
Lufadeju said without full capitalisation, the bank could not fulfil its obligation of providing affordable houses to Nigerians.
Sharing similar sentiments, Mr Mohammed Khalil, a consultant, said since the enactment of the NHF Act, deposit banks and insurance companies had not invested in the fund.
He observed that an analysis of total loans and advances by the commercial and merchant banks in 2016 was N15 trillion.
“At the rate of 10 per cent, the CBN pursuant to Section 11 is supposed to have credited the NHF with the sum of N1.5 trillion by March 2017,’’ he said.
Khalil said that if the Federal Government was to create at least one million new homes through a national mortgage single digit interest rate, it would require N6 trillion.
“It follows, therefore, that at the current official figure of 17 million housing deficit, the Federal Government will require N102 trillion,’’ he said.
Mrs Hannatu Fika, Executive Secretary, Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board, therefore, noted that providing incentives for the capital market to invest in property development was crucial in proffering sustainable solutions to housing deficit in the country.
She urged the Federal Government to encourage the development of specific programmes that would ensure effective financing of housing development, particularly low-cost housing for low income earners.
In his reaction, Mr Ahmed Dangiwa, Managing Director of FMBN, said banks and insurance companies in Nigeria were required to be investing in the NHF scheme but they defaulted.
He said unless these provisions of the act were complied with, the pool of funds available for mortgage financing at affordable interest rate would continue to be inadequate.
“This means that the FMBN will be unable to make low interest mortgages available to Nigerians as the 2.5 per cent workers monthly contribution is grossly inadequate, especially that of the medium income earners,’’ he observed.
However, Mr Ahmad Kaita, the Chairman, House Committee on Housing, stated that the committee, in line with the legislative agenda of the House of Representatives, had recognised the need to provide required legal and legislative frameworks to ensure affordable housing for Nigerians.
Similarly, Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara reiterated the commitment of the house to initiate a legislative framework that would address housing deficit in the country.
He expressed concern that policies designed to provide adequate housing for Nigerians had not yielded positive results due to violation of the NHF Act by the stakeholders.
He also emphasised the need to unravel the reason why some stakeholders in the housing sector failed to comply with the NHF Act and the Federal Mortgage Bank Act.
“The National Housing Fund is designed to assist the public servants and private sector employees while saving a percentage of their income.
“The government, through mortgage banks, is expected to provide loans to real estate developers to build low cost houses for Nigerians.
“But both programmes are not yielding the desired result as houses are still not within the reach of Nigerians,’’ Dogara said.
He, nonetheless, said the legislature would collaborate with the stakeholders in ensuring safe and affordable homes.
For affordable houses, the Senate Committee on Lands, Housing and Urban Development, pleaded with shareholders to pay up their equities to actualise the planned recapitalisation of FMBN.
Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Barnabas Gemade, listed the shareholders to include the Federal Government, Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund.
He observed that the CBN had vital role to play in making the FMBN function effectively by exercising its statutory roles, especially in the areas of funding and regulation.
“The N5 billion capital base of the FMBN is low and the shareholders should hasten up by increasing the capital base to reflect current realities.
“CBN should sanction commercial banks that defaulted in remitting 10 per cent of their loan portfolio to FMBN as investment to the development of a virile mortgage industry as required by the law,’’ he said.
He promised that the committee would also ensure amendment of both the FMBN and NHF Acts to make the bank function effectively.
Gemade noted that N100 billion was approved in 2017 budget as intervention fund to support mortgage activities in the country.
He directed the bank to follow up the matter with its supervisory ministry, noting that the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing should contact the Federal Ministry of Finance to secure the release of the fund.
An Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon, Prof. Titus Ibekwe, on Thursday, January 4, 2018 urged the general public to desist from using cotton buds, pen cover, car keys, among others to clean their ear.
Cleaning the ear with a cotton bud. Photo credit: Medical/UIG via Getty Images
Ibekwe, who is with the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that such practices were harmful to the ear.
He said that the practice of using feather or pouring hot oil in the ear to clean it was also harmful.
The consultant ENT surgeon said that such practices exposed the ear canal to infections, which could cause temporal or permanent damage to the ear.
Ibekwe said that the ear had the ability to clean itself.
“It is tempting to use cotton bud or other objects when you feel your ears are blocked, but this can interrupt the natural cycle of wax production, which actually acts as a self-cleaning agent.
“Earwax is the normal substance that the body produces to clean and protect the ears.
“Using any substance to remove such wax will further push it into the canal, thereby causing a blockage which in the long run causes hearing loss among other complications.’’
The consultant noted that a lot of people engaged in these practices and self treatment ignorant, saying that it was not advisable health-wise.
“You are not supposed to clean the ear with anything, because the ear canal has the kind of configuration that will hinder you from removing the intended dirt or wax.
“The problem is that efforts to eliminate earwax only create further issues because the earwax is just getting pushed down and impacted further into the ear canal.
“Anything that fits in the ear can cause serious harm to the ear drum and canal with the potential for temporary or even permanent damage,’’ he added.
Ibekwe urged the public to consult ENT experts in the event of any hearing or ear challenge for proper diagnosis and medication.
Following nomination by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, the General Assembly on December 22, 2017 elected Maimunah Mohd Sharif of Malaysia as Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).
Maimunah Mohd Sharif
She succeeds Joan Clos of Spain to whom the Secretary-General says he is grateful for his dedicated service to the organisation. Dr. Clos led UN-Habitat during the pivotal years when the world’s population became majority urban. During this time, he championed the development of a New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG11), the first development goal focused on sustainable urbanisation. His emphasis on urban planning and national urban policies has been widely appreciated and applied to plan and steer the world’s cities toward sustainability, economic and social progress and inclusion.
Ms. Sharif is currently Mayor of the City Council of Penang Island, Malaysia. Prior to her appointment as Mayor, she was the first woman to be appointed as President of the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai in 2011. As mayor of a local authority, she leads Municipal Council of Seberang Perai to achieve its vision of a “cleaner, greener, safer and healthier place to work, live, invest and play”.
She is a champion of Gender Responsive Participatory Budgeting to integrate gender perspectives into the governance process as a tool to mainstream gender into budgetary and development policy and planning. During her tenure, the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai was the first Local Authority to implement and achieve six quality-based management ISO certifications.
Ms. Sharif began her career as a Town Planner at the Municipal Council of Penang Island in 1985. In 2003, she was promoted to Director of Planning and Development, a position she held until November 2009. As Director, she was responsible for the preparation of structure and local plans, and was directly involved in development control of Penang City projects and landscape development. She also led a team for the planning and implementation of the Urban Renewal Projects in George Town. In November 2009, she was entrusted as the first General Manager to establish George Town World Heritage Incorporated and manage the George Town World Heritage Site which was inscribed by UNESCO in July 2008.
She holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Town Planning Studies from the University of Wales Institutes of Science and Technology, United Kingdom and a Master of Science in Planning studies from the Malaysia Science University.
Year 2017 was another important year to the environment sector. While there were several efforts at both national and global levels towards effectively managing the environment to prevent natural and human-induced environmental disasters that threaten human health, agriculture, water resources and other sectors of the economy, there were also scores of disasters recorded that tried to undermine the efforts made in safeguarding the environment.
Let me first highlight prominent environmental disasters that were recorded in 2017, starting from Nigeria, then globally.
Flooded highway in Lekki, Lagos
Environment disasters recorded in Nigeria
In early 2017, a strange black soot blanketed parts of Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital in Nigeria. The black soot which first appeared in late 2016 continued to fall down from the sky, scaring residents. Residents had different complaints about the soot: “you hang your clothes and before you know it, they become black. You step on your floor, everywhere is black.” “When I brush my teeth in the morning and try to clear my throat, I normally notice a dark phlegm and the same applies when I try to clear my nostrils.”
In the 3rd quarter of 2017, following the prediction by Nigeria Meteorological Agency that some parts of the country will experience flooding in 2017, flood started visiting some Nigerian States. The major flood started in Lagos, then Niger, Oyo, Kogi, Benue and other States. On July 8th, 2017, Lekki and Victoria Island areas of Lagos State were on flood lockdown due to overnight torrential rains which started at 11pm the previous night. Houses were submerged and economic activities halted as the flood locked down the State. In Niger State, the flood that hit Suleja town caused death of about 13 people. “Among the dead were a house wife, her six children and a good Samaritan who tried to rescue some children from the flood.” “Several electric poles and not less than seven houses were destroyed as a result of the flood due to five-hour rainfall.” In Benue State, “more than 110,000 persons in 24 communities, including Makurdi were displaced by flood.” The devastating flood incidents made “…the House of Representatives… set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the…flooding in Lagos and Niger States.”
Environment disasters recorded in other parts of the world
In other climes, environmental disasters also hit hard. “California was drenched in the wettest winter on record, ending years of drought. Then came California’s most destructive and largest wild fires season ever. The Tubbs fire in Northern California killed 22 people and damaged more than 5,600 structures.”
“Two major hurricanes – Harvey and Irma – blasted the United States coast with winds exceeding 130 miles per hour (mph), and savage hurricane Maria rocked Puerto Rico with winds exceeding 155 mph.”
Most of summer’s damage to United States in 2017, said to be the most expensive hurricane season “was caused by the infamous trio of Harvey, Irma and Maria. Besides its winds, Harvey flooded Houston with more than four feet of rainfall as it made landfall August 25. Irma battered the Carribean before coming ashore in the Florida Keys on September10th. And Maria destroyed homes and much of the infrastructure in Puerto Rico and inflicted a devastating disaster on the island when it came ashore on September 20.”
In Asia, “historic rainfall during the height of monsoon season… killed more than 1,200… in India and Bangladesh” and affected some 41 million people.
In Sierra Leone, West Africa, “a massive mudslide sparked by heavy rains and flooding in an area of Freetown…killed around 500 people and left hundreds missing.”
In the United Kingdom, “snow and ice brought much of England and North of Scotland to a standstill, with road closures and public transportation cancellations,” as overnight, temperature plummeted to minus 8 Degrees Celsius.
Away from the environment disasters recorded in 2017, there were also efforts to save the environment through policies, regulations, laws, advocacy and innovations.
Nigeria
In year 2017, the Federal Government of Nigeria engaged coordinators for the implementation of the Ogoni land cleanup project. Also the Federal Government received the first tranche of the $1 billion initial capital for the implementation of the project. “Recall that the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which conducted an environmental audit of some contaminated sites in Ogoni, had in its recommendation to the Federal Government, suggested that an Environmental Restoration Fund for Ogoniland be set up with an initial capital injection of $1 billion contributed by the oil industry and the government, to cover the first five years of the cleanup project. But since the launch of the Cleanup and subsequent inauguration of the Governing Council and Board of Trustees (BoT) for the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) in August 2016, the project had experienced delays…”
The year also saw the Nigeria’s former Minister of Environment, Amina J Mohammed who was announced as the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations on December 15, 2016, resumed work at the United Nations.
On February 20, the Lagos House of Assembly passed “A Bill for a Law to Consolidate all Laws Relating to the Environment for the Management, Protection and Sustainable Development of the Environment in Lagos State and for Connected Purposes” into law. The law that criminalizes the drilling of boreholes without permit was criticized by most Nigerians.
Other environmental issues that attracted widespread criticism in the year were: the two permits to Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Limited for the commercial release and market placement of genetically modified (GMO) cotton and the confined field trial of GMO maize by National Biosafety Management Agency, and the proposed 260km super highway in Cross River State. These two issues were criticized and rejected by civil society organisations led by Nnimmo Bassey, the Executive Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation. The issue about the two permits issued to Monsanto was the concern about human health and environmental risks of genetically altered crops, which made the civil society organizations to demand nullification of the permits and the repealing of the National Biosafety Management Agency Act 2015 which gave “enormous amounts of discretionary powers” to the agency. On the 260km super highway in Cross River state, “Environmental activists… kicked against the project which they said would destroy several species of plants and animals and also displace the indigenous people of the areas where the road will traverse.”
Following the controversy generated by the super highway project, the Federal Government gave the Cross River State 23 conditions to fulfill before embarking on the project. “Among the conditions are that Cross River State Government (CRSG) ensures that the updated maps in the new EIA must show the re-routed road corridor cognisance of the boundary of Cross River National Park and Ekuri Community Forest as well as conform to international best practices on setbacks for highways in critical ecosystems such as the proposed corridor.”
In the year, the House of Representatives also organised a three-day national summit on environment from October 3 to 5 in Abuja, as a prelude to the formulation of a legislative framework to protect the environmental. The need to take proactive steps in developing appropriate environmental laws and policy for Nigeria considering its position in the comity of nations informed the holding of the summit.
Nigeria also finalised plans to offer N10.69 billion green bonds at 13.48% per annum for financing of renewable energy and other environmental projects. The green bond was considered for issuance following Nigeria’s endorsement of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, with the aim of strengthening global response to the threat.
The House of Representative in 2017 “passed a bill to provide a legal framework for mainstreaming of climate change responses and actions into government policy formulation and implementation. The bill also proposed the establishment of a council to coordinate climate change governance as well as support the adaptation and mitigation of the adverse effects of climate change in the country.”
2017 also saw the Nigerian Government making concrete moves to ratify the Minamata Convention on Mercury following series of preparatory activities. The United Nations Minamata Convention on Mercury aims to protect the human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds.
Global
Apart from the efforts made by individual countries in managing the environment, there were also collective efforts by countries at the global level to address environmental challenges. Some of these efforts were through global conventions where member states to the United Nations agreed on actions to be taken collectively to address global environmental challenges. Some of the conventions held in this respect were as follows:
The thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (BC COP-13), the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (RC COP-8) and the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention (SC COP-8) were held back to back from 24 April to 5 May 2017 in Geneva. These three sister conventions aim to reduce/prevent exposure to harzadous chemicals and wastes.
The First Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP1) was convened from September 25 to 29, 2017 in Geneva, within one year of entry into force of the Convention. The Minamata Convention came into force on August 16, 2017 with ratification by over 50 countries.
The 23rd session of the Conference of Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held in Bonn, Germany, from November 6 to 17, 2017. The major decisions at this convention revolved around achieving the goal of the Paris Climate Change Agreement of holding global average temperature well below 2 Degrees Celsius as well as realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
After COP23, the world convened in Nairobi, Kenya for the 3rd session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 3) to take decision on another global environment issue – pollution. The Assembly which convened from December 4 to 6, 2017 adopted 11 resolutions aimed at achieving a pollution-free planet. The resolutions adopted revolved around land, water, air and soil pollution.
Just immediately after UNEA 3, On 12 December 2017, two years after the historic Paris Climate Change Agreementwas adopted, world leaders gathered in Paris for the One Planet Summit to drive forward climate action and financing of a Greener future. Twelve commitments were made at the One Planet Summit, some of which include: $300 million for the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund to restore deserted land; Launch of the “Tropical Landscape Financing Facility; A $650 million financing programme for research to help smallholder farmers adapt to climate change; Creation of the 100 Water and Climate Projects for Africa funding platform; $15 million for the One Planet Fellowship for young African and European researchers.
