Not long ago, my friend and co-founder at Connected Development (CODE), Oludotun Babayemi, exited from the Executive Management of CODE and moved to a non-executive role as member of the Board of Trustees. This means that he will no longer have day to day responsibilities or routine involvement in CODE activities, though he will continue to consult, advise and support me and the management team.

I am delighted to say that Dotun’s exit in a very remarkable way symbolises the core spirit and value of the CODE brand and Follow The Money movement. The essence of CODE is not only captured in its written goals, mission and vision, but in an unwritten belief in the evolution of personal development.

For those readers who are not conversant with CODE, it is useful to state who we are. Founded in 2012, CODE is a non-government organisation (NGO) whose mission is to empower marginalised communities in Africa. We strengthen local communities by creating platforms for dialogue, enabling informed debate, and building capacities of citizens on how to hold their government accountable through “Follow The Money”, our governance accountability and transparency initiative.

CODE provides marginalised and vulnerable communities with resources to amplify their voices with independence and integrity while providing these grassroots populations with information that engenders social and economic progress. To enhance effective democratic governance and accountability, we create platforms (mobile and web technologies) that close the feedback loop between citizens and the government. Thus, with global expertise and reach, we focus on community outreach, influencing policies, practices, and knowledge mobilisation.

Our commitment to participatory capacity and community building and monitoring and evaluation creates effective and sustainable programs even within the most challenging environments.

Nevertheless, against this backdrop, we have as our fundamental drive, the hunger to evolve into a global brand that provides a platform for participatory governance, and youth development. We want to see a future where today’s CODE leadership shall be replaced tomorrow by a new cadre of civil society leaders who grew up within our ranks, and evolved into strong thought-leaders while we, the old guard, move on to higher national and global duties.

We want to see Next-Generation leaders who are well-equipped for tomorrow, trained from the emerging societal challenges of today.

This is why we recognise the importance of mentoring. I believe that for there to be a seamless transition into the next generation there needs to be a conscious mentorship agenda on the part of thoughtful leaders of today as well as a willingness on the part of today’s followers to enter what I call a “leadership conveyor belt” in order to be transported through the assembly line of Future Leader manufacture.

For instance, before Dotun left the Executive Team, he consciously planned an exit strategy which sought to “recruit and rejig” a replacement team in the CODE programme value chain.

When we started recruiting A – Team staff last year, he planned to have each new member take the pieces of his role in scaling the organisation, and he provided support for their various tasks while he made his transition to work with the Board. It was when he saw the success of his transition strategy that he felt convinced that the coast was clear to make the launch up the next rung in the ladder.

For me, it was a fulfillment of the CODE dream – establishing a template for leadership evolution.

It is a situation I can relate to, having experienced a similar transition in my task in my other life at the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC), when I moved from an Executive role as the Communications Director to a non-executive advisory role as member of the Board. Likewise, some day in the future, I will bow out as the Chief Executive of CODE to a non-executive role.

Just like Dotun is doing today, I will have the privilege of being able to step back and watch CODE develop and grow while I explore other opportunities to add value to the society and impact my world.

I believe robust and sustainable transition is the only way we can emphasise and stay committed to the ongoing success of CODE in particular, and of the wider transparency and accountability community in general. We must remain passionate about open-data, technology and citizen participation, as this is the only real doorway into the journey to deepen democracy by empowering more communities with enough knowledge to be able to hold their government accountable.

And this brings me to a very vital point. It took a long time of personal thought and research to come to the conclusion that the future of Nigeria and indeed Africa depends on active participation of civil society in the political process. A democratic state cannot be stable unless it is effective and legitimate, with the respect and support of its citizens.

Civil society is a check, a monitor, but also a vital partner in the quest for this kind of positive relationship between the democratic state and its citizens. Therefore, the best model would be when the civil society, empowered with their developmental experience and capacity, finds itself playing active role in politics.

There are reasons for this conclusion. First of all, the most basic role of civil society is to limit and control the power of the state.  For instance, as is the situation in Nigeria, when a country is emerging from decades of military rule, it needs to find ways to check, monitor, and restrain the power of political leaders and state officials.

Civil society actors serve as a watchdog, and raise public concern about any abuse of power.  They campaign for access to information, including freedom of information laws, and rules and institutions to control corruption. They promote political participation by educating people about their rights and obligations as democratic citizens, and encouraging them to critically examine electoral manifestoes and vote in elections.  They help develop citizens’ skills to work with one another to solve common problems, to debate public issues, and express their views. They play an important role in mediating and helping to resolve conflicts – by adopting bargaining, accommodation and compromise. These are all functions that guarantee a functional, sustainable state.

Secondly, civil society organisations help to develop the other values of democratic life:  tolerance, moderation, compromise, and respect for opposing points of view. And, without this deeper culture of accommodation, democracy cannot be stable. These values cannot simply be taught; they must also be experienced through practice.

So, I see a future where civil society actors-turned politicians shall help to develop programs for democratic civic education in the schools; revise the curricula, rewrite the textbooks, and retrain teachers in order to educate young people about the mistakes of the past and teach them the principles and values of democracy.

Furthermore, because they have ingrained capacity as a result of their experience, these future leaders shall strengthen democracy by providing new forms of interest and solidarity that cut across old forms of tribal, linguistic, religious, and other identity ties. Democracy cannot be stable if people only associate with others of the same religion or identity.  They will also play the vital role of engineering electoral best practices by ensuring that the voting and vote counting is entirely free, fair, peaceful, and transparent.

Thirdly, political recruitment of today is flawed. We need a new model to identify and train new types of leaders who have dealt with important public issues and can be recruited to run for political office at all levels and to serve in state and national legislature. To achieve this, civil society mentorship processes of today could become political recruitment platforms of tomorrow.

By Hamzat Lawal (activist and currently the Co-Founder/Chief Executive of Connected Development (CODE). He is working to build a growing grassroots movement of citizen-led actions through Follow The Money for better service delivery in rural communities. He is also a Leader of the Not Too Young To Run Movement)

Ghana’s former President John Agyekum Kufuor has stated that “it will be a mistake and a very sad one, for humanity to throw up our hands and abandon our fight against climate change.” He explained that climate change “is very real and its related natural disasters and associated problems are bigger than the human mind can comprehend and that is why we must continue to work out solutions.”

President Kufuor expressed these sentiments in response to a question on the seeming waning zeal of some African governments and civil society organisations in the fight against climate change. This was in an exclusive interview on his current perceptions about the phenomenon, following the end of his tenure as one of two erstwhile UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s Special Envoys on Climate Change. The other was Jens Stoltenberg, former Prime Minister of Norway.

The two were assigned to assist in engaging Heads of State and governments around the world to mobilise political will and action on climate change in advance of the 2014 Climate Summit in New York. Their assignment in a way contributed to the international acceptance of the Paris Climate Accord during the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), dubbed COP21 and held in France in 2015.

The former President said the assignment has made him comprehend climate change issues and the frustrations that come with trying of find solutions.

“At times out of desperation, when you tackle a problem and you don’t get the solutions as quickly as you want to, you throw your hands up and just give up,” adding, “but if we can make our mark, we must continue to accept the guidance of scientific research and technological efforts at findings solutions devoid of sentiments,” he said

He that another impact of the assignment on his life is that, “naturally, I’m still interested in and do follow climate change issues and how nations are mitigating and adapting.”

On the issue of climate financing, President Kufuor said every country is supposed to contribute to working out solutions as indicated by the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The NDCs are key to the Paris Agreement and represents efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

He noted, “The forces that are being unleashed by climate change are so overwhelming and time is not on our side. We need to do whatever we can by ourselves first of all, and external help will come.” He wondered, “how come rains in recent times, are wrecking such havoc, we didn’t use to see such things before.”

President Kufuor urged African countries to do all in their power to reduce emissions and “once we do our part, the industrialised nations will also live up to their expectations, and then cumulatively we will be working for the entire world.” He was of the view that once, climate change related activities are streamlined and prioritised, allocations could be made in the national budgets to cater for their implementation.

The former President also touched on the perception that the Chinese were importing climate change into African countries through their numerous projects. He cautioned Ghanaians to beware of speaking in such general terms of the counterproductive activities of some Chinese in the country.

President Kufuor explained that statements like “the Chinese are spoiling our country,” could imply that “it is their government or nation that is behind the activities. But no, no, no…” he emphasised.

His thoughts on these developments were that “now the world is opening up so fast with mobility of people and their individual initiatives all around the world, thanks to advancing technology in transportation and communication. So we may get some people coming in to pursue their own selfish economic and business interests.”

President Kufuor added that “they come and without conscience, just driven by greed and perhaps ignorance, they liaise with some locals who again for some petty gain, not appreciating the damage they doing to their own environment engage in galamsey (illegal mining) activities, polluting our waters and environment.” He emphasised that when such people are caught the law should deal firmly with them and reiterated that “we have to be careful of not labeling the Chinese government as being responsible for the infamous activities of some Chinese individuals or firms.”

President Kufuor pointed out that “China as a nation is very concerned about the impact of climate change and the devastation it is causing in their environment.” Therefore, the nation has developed a technology for greening deserts. He recalled his visit at the invitation of the Chinese government to witness how the new technology had been employed. “I was impressed that in the huge Inner Mongolia Kubuqi Desert, about 6000 of the 18, 600 sq. km. of the area has been turned all green, with soil nutrient fixing grass, luscious fruits and vegetables.”

According to an article by Charlie Campbell published in the July 27, 2017 edition of Timeinc.net, “In 1988, the Chinese firm Elion Resources Group partnered with local people and the Beijing government to combat desertification. Almost three decades later, one third of Kubuqi has been greened. Special plants have been grown to grip the shifting sands and to prevent the dunes encroaching on farms and villages.”

Known as the Kubuqi Ecological Restoration Project, the result now is that “the cattle have returned, and secondary industries have sprung up, with tourists flocking to new locally-run hotels and restaurants, eager to explore the dunes on boards and buggies.”

Consequently, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates the project to be worth $1.8 billion over a 50-year period. Thus, “Kubuqi’s transformation burnishes China’s credentials as an environmental leader at a time when Washington is retreating from its international commitments,” notes the writer.

And President Emmanuel Macron of France affirmed these sentiments, when he stated: “Now China leads,” following US President Donald Trump’s refusal to reconsider withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord

“So I want to be careful we do not generalise when we’re talking about stray Chinese individuals in collusion with some of our own people,” Ghana’s former President stated.

He compared galamsey activities to the American gold rush where people picked up cutlasses and spades wherever they could find gold, saying “this could go on till policy is brought to bear, regularise and guide such activities. In this wise, he commended the government for taking “some very significant steps to contain the situation.”

“But beyond that,” President Kufuor said, “we should also rally the masses of people in the catchment areas of such places for social education. Let them see the dangers they are perpetrating on themselves and on the nation as a whole, and let them know there could be alternatives, let them know that government is fashioning policies perhaps to move them into cooperatives with concessions away from water bodies and farms so they could pick out their living legitimately.”

He further said, “Extension officers could help drum this into the consciousness of galamsey operators that they are not doing things right,” stressing, “we must not stop the current campaign, but we must use mass education with extension guidance and policies to move people away into legitimate operations with appropriate technologies of small scale operators.”

The ex-Un Special Envoy on Climate Change also had a word for Ghanaians ahead of the forthcoming global celebration of World Water Day on March 22 on the theme, “Nature and water.”

“We can’t separate water from nature they are intertwined. We learn from science that as humans our bodies are made up of about 70% water, so how would one say water is there and nature is on the other side. Water is life and without water, we’re killing nature and this is part of the reason why we should uphold the sanctity of water. Because water, life and creation go together and religious people know this,” he said.

World Water Day (WWD) is celebrated by the international community on March 22 of each year to draw attention to the importance of freshwater and advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. The Day was instituted in 1992 by the United Nations, to draw global attention to the importance of water as a vital resource to life.

By Ama Kudom-Agyemang

Communities in Britain were warned on Friday, February 16, 2018 to be prepared for more frequent flooding as a result of climate change.

The government’s Environment Agency (EA) launched a Flood Action Plan to prepare areas of the country likely to be vulnerable to greater flood risks.

EA said the floods followed severe pattern over the past 10 years, linked to increase in extreme weather events as Britain’s climate continued to change.

Weather office records show that, since 1910, there have been 17 breaking rainfall months or seasons, with nine of them occurring since 2000.

“As intense storms are becoming more frequent, sea levels are also rising because of climate change.

“The agency’s new campaign targets younger people through social media and online advertising to encourage them to check their flood risks.

“They can sign up at the government’s official website for free warnings and be prepared to take action when flooding hits,’’ EA said.

Research shows that 18 to 34 year olds are least likely to perceive flood risk to their area, know how to protect their homes or where to go for information.

They are also at highest risk of fatality as they are less likely to perceive their personal risk.

According to the EA’s CEO Sir James Bevan, climate change is likely to mean more frequent and intense flooding. Floods destroy lives, livelihoods, and property.

“Our flood defenses reduce the risk of flooding, and our flood warnings help keep communities safe when it threatens.

“But we can never entirely eliminate the risk of flooding.

“Checking flood risk is the first step to protecting people and their loved ones and their homes,’’ Bevan said.

In summer 2012, the lengthy period of drought Britain had experienced came to an abrupt end when prolonged and intense rainfall increased the risk of flooding from rivers and surface water for long periods.

Almost 8,000 homes and businesses were flooded across the country, particularly in the south west of England.

The winter of 2013 to 2014 started with a coastal surge and record sea levels on the north and east coasts.

This was followed by 12 storms in succession and became the wettest winter for 250 years, while 11,000 homes were flooded.

Winter 2015 to 2016 brought widespread flooding to 17,000 properties across the north of England, with named storms Desmond, Eva and Frank causing December 2015 to be the wettest month ever recorded.

“The threat of flooding is real and increasing, as is also demonstrated by its listing as one of the nation’s major threats,’’ EA added.

The Met Office recently published new innovative research which found that for England and Wales there is a 1 in 3 chance of a new monthly rainfall record in no less than one region each winter.

Met Office researcher, Prof. Adam Scaife, said that the Met Office supercomputer was used to simulate thousands of possible winters, some of them much more extreme than they have yet witnessed.

“This gave many more extreme events than have happened in the real world, helping us work out how severe things could get,’’ Scaife said.