22.1 C
Lagos
Sunday, August 17, 2025
Home Blog Page 1745

Grazing cattle destroy varsity’s research farms, poison dam

admin
-
0
Grazing cattle destroy varsity’s research farms, poison dam

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Sulyman Abdulkareem, has decried the destruction of the university’s multi-million-naira research and training farms by cattle illegally grazing on the campus, and poisoning the dam with chemicals.

University of Ilorin
University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

According to the university’s weekly bulletin issued on Monday, February 12, 2018, the management of the institution last Thursday held a security meeting with the leaders of the 11 Fulani settlements on the university land.

The publication quoted the vice-chancellor as saying that sundry economic trees’ plantations were destroyed by cattle illegally grazing on the vast land of the institution.

The meeting was attended by representatives of law enforcement agencies comprising of the Nigerian Police Force, the Department of State Security Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

At the meeting held at the institution’s Auditorium Basement, Prof. Abdulkareem disclosed that the university management would no longer tolerate illegal grazing of cows on its land.

He, therefore, told the illegal settlers, who have started building permanent structures, to vacate the university land in the interest of peace.

According to him, this was coming almost a year after the university authority first issued a quit notice to the illegal settlers.

The management recalls that the university management had on April 26, 2017 handed down a seven-day ultimatum to the Fulani herdsmen encroaching on the university land to quit the campus, but the quit notice was never complied with.

The institution also noted that, on May 11, 2017, 28 persons, comprising Fulani herdsmen, Yoruba and Hausa farmers, were dragged to an Ilorin Chief Magistrate’s Court for allegedly trespassing into the university land, destroying the school’s plantation and perpetrating other unauthorised activities on the university campus.

The management explained that the accused persons were alleged to have resorted to poisoning the institution’s dam with chemicals, while also engaging in illegal felling of economic trees from which they made charcoal.

However, at last Thursday’s meeting, the Vice-Chancellor clearly told the Fulani settlers that “enough is enough”.

The VC warned that the university could no longer condone the destructive activities of their grazing cattle on the university land, as this is becoming too costly for the institution to bear.

According to the institution’s publication, herdsmen from 11 communities took turns to speak at the meeting.

The Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Usman Adamu, told the university management that the herdsmen destroying the university farm land were not living in the community.

He said that there were other ethnic groups embarking on illegal activities like logging, and were not differentiated from the Fulanis.

By Fatima Mohammed-Lawal

COP Presidencies outline Talanoa Dialogue process

admin
-
0
COP Presidencies outline Talanoa Dialogue process

The current and the upcoming presidencies of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP23 and COP24) have outlined in a message issued on February 8, 2018 a remarkable process to prepare the world to take the next steps towards higher climate action.

Voreqe Bainimarama
Prime Minister of Fiji and COP23 President, Voreqe Frank Bainimarama. Photo credit: Fijian Government

Called the Talanoa Dialogue, this will be an important international conversation in which countries and other key actors will check progress while seeking to increase global ambition to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

The Paris Agreement’s central goal is to keep the global average temperature rise to below 2C degrees and as close as possible to 1.5C. The current national climate action plans known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) fall short of this aim.

Through the Talanoa Dialogue, nations and non-Party stakeholders – ranging from cities and regions to business, investors and civil society – will be contributing ideas, recommendations and information that can assist the world in taking the next steps towards higher ambition under not only the Paris Agreement but also in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Dialogue was launched at the UN Climate Change Conference COP23 in Bonn in November 2017 and will run throughout 2018. The message outlines the preparatory phase of the Dialogue, previews what will be happening at the April/May sessions and how this and other Talanoa events will culminate in the political phase at COP24.

 

Preparatory Phase

The Talanoa Dialogue was launched at COP23 and is a yearlong process that will consist of a preparatory and political phase. The Preparatory phase will involve several mandated events and interactive processes. It will commence with the launch of this online platform which will share information about the Dialogue, its process and any other resources to facilitate Party and non-Party stakeholders’ full and effective participation in the process.

The online platform will be the portal through which Party and non-Party stakeholders will be able to make submissions along the three overarching questions of the Dialogue: where are we?; where do we want to go?; how do we get there? The questions provide a space for pre-2020 and post-2020 inputs and discussions. Online submissions will be collated twice – after April 2nd 2018, and October 29th 2018. The submissions will allow Party and non-Party stakeholders to frame the contours of the aforementioned questions.

The first set of submissions will be summarised into a report which will inform the Dialogue in the May inter-sessional which will be held from April 30 to May 11, 2018. Throughout 2018, the Presidencies will socialise/discuss the Dialogue with Party and non-Party stakeholders via a range of avenues, including workshops, webinars, forums, and relevant meetings. At the same time, Party and non-Party stakeholders are encouraged to have their own meetings on the Talanoa Dialogue to organise, strategise, and consolidate their input.

 

May Inter-Sessional

The May inter-sessional Talanoa Dialogue will be the first opportunity for Party and non-Party stakeholders to interact in a Dialogue which is constructive, non-judgemental and engage in story telling with a purpose. It will include: an opening plenary of the Talanoa Dialogue; a day of working groups (organised into three consecutive sessions) addressing the three overarching questions of the Dialogue; back to plenary reporting; and a closing plenary.

Well in advance of the May inter-sessional Talanoa Dialogue, the Presidencies will have an instructional note published on the Talanoa Dialogue online platform detailing the methodology, agenda and any supporting material for May. The online platform will also have videos on how a Talanoa Dialogue is conducted.

 

Synthesis Report

The discussions during the May inter-sessional Talanoa Dialogue will be summarised along with the totality of submissions and inputs received throughout the year. This summary will lead to a Synthesis Report which will take the pulse of the journey we have embarked on together to understand where we are, our vision for a future for our common good, and how we will collectively get there.

 

Political Phase

The Synthesis Report will inform the Political phase of the Talanoa Dialogue which will take place at COP24 in Poland. This phase will build on the momentum of conversations and stories exchanged throughout the year through the dynamic interactions via the Talanoa Dialogue.

It will bring together Heads of States and high-level representatives of Parties to take stock of the collective efforts of Parties in relation to progress towards the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement and to inform the preparation of nationally determined contributions.

Suspected poacher killed, eaten by lions near South African park

admin
-
0
Suspected poacher killed, eaten by lions near South African park

A suspected poacher has been mauled to death and eaten by a pack of lions near a national park in South Africa.

Lions
A pack of hungry lions feeding on a zebra

The man’s head and other remains were found in a private game park close to the Kruger National Park, near the northern town of Hoedspruit, on Saturday morning.

Police, who are working to establish the identity of the victim, discovered a loaded hunting rifle nearby.

“It seems the victim was poaching in the game park when he was attacked and killed by lions,” police spokesman Moatshe Ngoepe said.

“They ate his body, nearly all of it, and just left his head and some remains.”

Animals in the game park have been poached in increasing numbers over recent years.

Lions are popular targets, with their body parts used in traditional South African medicines.

Several of the big cats were found poisoned near a farm in the same region last year, with their heads and paws having been sawn off.

WWF estimates that there are just 20,000 African lions left in the wild, and that 75% of the species’ populations are in decline.

It means they are officially classed as “vulnerable”.

Other animals regularly targeted by poachers in South Africa’s game parks are rhino, to satisfy a booming demand for their horn in China, Vietnam and other Asian countries.

Africa Climate Week to shape, drive climate action

admin
-
0
Africa Climate Week to shape, drive climate action

Public and private sector organisations and companies have been called upon to help shape and drive climate action at the first Africa Climate Week, scheduled to hold from April 9 to 13, 2018, in Nairobi, Kenya.

Nairobi Kenya
Nairobi, Kenya will host the Africa Climate Week

“To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, we need to scale up global climate action and ambition across sectors, public and private,” said Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary, UN Climate Change. “Africa Climate Week can be an important means to drive that action and ambition.”

For more than a decade, the Nairobi Framework Partnership has been bringing together stakeholders – in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa – around the common goal of addressing climate change, with a focus on market-based mechanisms and finance. In 2017 it began broadening regional carbon forums to create Climate Weeks to strengthen and support implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.

The events, including the first in 2018 being organised for Africa, include workshops, panel discussions, exhibits, and meetings. They also include high-level segments to capture regional concerns and feed them back into the formal negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), through the Talanoa Dialogue launched this year.

The events of Africa Climate Week will focus on NDC support and implementation, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Global Climate Action, and include:

  • The Africa Carbon Forum
  • High-level sessions with the Champions of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action
  • High-level ministerial session
  • Talanoa Dialogue
  • LEDS – Low Emissions Development Strategy – Workshop
  • Climate Technology Centre and Network Workshop
  • Technical Expert Meeting under UNFCCC
  • NDC Partnership Workshop
  • Emissions Trading System Simulation.

Countries agreed in Paris in 2015 that they would limit the rise of global average temperatures to well below 2 degrees Celsius and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. Countries submit NDCs describing their contributions to achieving that goal.

Africa Climate Week will have as its cornerstone the long-running Africa Carbon Forum, with its programme of plenary sessions, side events and exhibitions focused on market-based approaches, economic instruments and climate-aligned finance to drive investment in climate action.

Nigerians urged to stop throwing waste into water channels

admin
-
0
Nigerians urged to stop throwing waste into water channels

An ecologist, Mr Abdullahi Aremu, on Monday, February 12, 2018 urged Nigerians to desist from throwing waste or chemicals into water channels to aid the government’s efforts to check water pollution.

waste
Inadequate refuse disposal and the habit of throwing waste into water channels have led to clogged drainage routes that contribute to flooding

Aremu, who is the Director-General, Advocacy for Environmental and Sanitation Integrity, an NGO, gave the advice in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

“If we do our part by not throwing trash or chemicals into our water channels and drains, we can contribute to the improvement of aquatic life and our health in general,” he said.

The ecologist said that water covered over 70 per cent of the earth’s surface and made up over 60 per cent of the human body.

Aremu noted that the accumulation of solid waste and sediments in streams and rivers were part of the factors that caused water pollution and flooding across the country.

“Human litter such as plastic bags and six-pack rings can get aquatic animals caught or killed by suffocation.

“Industrial chemicals and agricultural pesticides that end up in aquatic environments can accumulate in fishes which are later eaten by humans.

“Fishes, which are poisoned by certain metals, can be consumed by humans. Mercury is particularly poisonous to small children and women,” he said.

Aremu said that mercury had been found to interfere with the development of the nervous system in foetuses and young children.

He stressed that water pollution affected marine ecosystems, wildlife health and human well-being.

“The panacea to the menace of water pollution is to make changes in our daily habits and pay more attention to the types of products we consume,” he said.

By Deji Abdulwahab

Group demands five-year work plan to clean Ogoniland

admin
-
0
Group demands five-year work plan to clean Ogoniland

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has urged the Federal Government to come up with a five-year work plan on the clean-up of Ogoniland if it is serious in assuaging the frustration of the people after decades of waiting for justice and salvaging their environment.

Ogoni
Norwegian Ambassador to Nigeria, Jens Petter Kjemprud, with local officials and activists during the visit

ERA/FoEN made the demand following the pledge of the Norwegian government to support the cleanup process when its Ambassador to Nigeria, Jens Petter Kjemprud, visited impacted sites in Ogoniland in the company of local activists last week.

Kjemprud had remarked that the world was interested in the ongoing clean-up of Ogoni, and that Norway, as one of the biggest donors of the United Nations, was also committed to the safety of Ogoni People.

ERA/FoEN in a statement issued in Lagos on Monday February 12, 2018 and made available to EnviroNews, said that the Norwegian government had made a bold and commendable move, urging other countries and institutions to support the Ogoni clean-up and remove it from the control of Shell, which is part of the Governing Council responsible for oversight functions for the exercise.

ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Godwin Uyi Ojo, said: “The Norwegian government support is a signal to the Nigerian government that the global community is frustrated with mere talk, and is really interested in this process gathering momentum. The continued delay in the clean-up is testing the patience of the Ogoni people whose lives and environment have been violated by Shell.”

Ojo explained that the government is yet to present the Ogonis and the world a realistic work-plan to show commitment to the exercise, adding that an announced N20 million Ogoni clean-up support in the 2018 budget was grossly inadequate and shows weak financial commitment that does not encourage stakeholders interested in moving the process forward.

He recommended a five-year plan that should be subject to stakeholders input and agreed upon before commencement of clean-up, with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) acting as technical partner.

The ERA/FoEN boss also argued that the last two years has been fraught with talk and more talk and nothing concrete, yet the Ogonis have kept faith alive in anticipation of the commencement of clean-up hence must not be taken for granted.

“This is a crucial year that the Ogonis and Nigerians expect the first drop of oil to be cleaned up properly so that restoration work can commence. The federal government cannot afford to fail the people in its legacy project. The time for concrete actions is now,” he stressed.

The sun to be cooler by 2050 – Study

admin
-
0
The sun to be cooler by 2050 – Study

The sun might be unusually cool by 2050, according to a new study.

Sun
The sun

Based on the cooling spiral of recent solar cycles, scientists from University of California, San Diego believe the next “grand-minimum” is just decades away, during which the sun will be seven per cent cooler.

A grand-minimum, according to the study, is a period of very low solar activity, which will lead to lower temperature on earth.

During the grand-minimum in the mid-17th century, named Maunder Minimum, the temperature dropped low enough to freeze the Thames River.

However, the cooling is not uniform around the globe.

In spite of the chilling weather in Europe during the Maunder Minimum, other areas such as Alaska and southern Greenland warmed.

The phenomenon appears to offer a natural solution to global warming, but scientists invalidated that idea.

They explained that the cooling effect of the grand minimum could merely slow down global warming, but cannot stop it.

Scientists estimate that the grand minimum would probably only result in cooling the earth by about 0.25 per cent between 2020 and 2070.

The finding has been published in the Chicago-based journal Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Harvestplus plans to reach 1.2m households with vitamin A cassava, maize

admin
-
0
Harvestplus plans to reach 1.2m households with vitamin A cassava, maize

International agricultural organisation, HarvestPlus, says it will reach 1.2 million households in Nigeria in 2018 with vitamin A cassava and maize, with increased delivery activities in expansion states.

cassava
Cassava farming

The HarvestPlus Country Manager, Dr Paul Ilona, who made this known on Monday, February 12, 2018 in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan, said the expansion states included the northeast, northwest and northcentral.

Ilona said the organisation planned to deliver about three million bundles of vitamin A cassava, 2,000 metric tonnes of vitamin A maize, and bring over 50,000ha of land under cultivation to bio-fortified seeds.

“This delivery target is in addition to the awareness and demand creation, platforms, partnerships, policies and linkages that HarvestPlus Nigeria needs to push to support investors and actors in the bio-fortification value chain,” he said.

He emphasised that agriculture could undoubtedly be a sustainable source of income generation, especially for Nigeria with her teeming population and favourable climatic conditions.

The Country Manager, however, expressed dissatisfaction that farmers, many investors in the sector were still unable to grow their production and investment scales.

He said to curb the problem of access to finance, HarvestPlus Nigeria channelled efforts to help investors and farmers cultivating and processing bio-fortified maize and cassava varieties to access the finance they need to grow their trade.

“Specifically, the plan is to link them to the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing system for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL).

“NIRSAL is a CBN endorsed initiative that basically guarantees loans, guides and provides certified inputs for viable agricultural related businesses.

“The NIRSAL management is already very happy to work with us, so work is now underway to develop a formal agreement to kick start the partnership,” he said.

Ilona also disclosed that the Chairman, House of Representative Committee on Agricultural Production and Services, Mohammed Monguno, has pledged to support the development and passage of bills that will create an enabling environment, especially for maize producers in Nigeria.

This, he said, would help boost business of importing maize and other related products as Africa’s largest maize producer.

The Country Manager further urged government and policy makers to create the enabling environment to support investments and address nutrition in the country.

He also called on the media to help reinforce the message that “the foods people eat play key role in the development of the country.”

NAN reports that Harvestplus improves nutrition and public health by developing and promoting bio-fortified food crops that are rich in vitamins and minerals.

It provides global leadership on bio-fortification evidence and technology; the staple crops are naturally bio-fortified and not genetically modified.

By Chidinma Ewunonu-Aluko

Bayelsa to build New Yenagoa City

admin
-
1
Bayelsa to build New Yenagoa City

The Bayelsa State Government on Sunday, February 11, 2018 disclosed that it would build a new settlement to complement the existing capital, Yenagoa.

Yenagoa
An impression of a proposed Yenagoa city centre

Governor Seriake Dickson, who made the disclosure at an interdenominational thanksgiving service to celebrate the sixth anniversary of his administration, said government would commence the construction of a New Yenagoa City between March and April, 2018.

The governor said during the thanksgiving service that held at the Glory Land Chapel, Government House, Yenagoa, that the foundation laying ceremony of the New Yenagoa City would attract the leadership of the country and other eminent dignitaries.

The governor said: “In one or two months, we will assemble the best in our country, and I have received assurances that the leadership of our country will be here because here we are talking development.

“They all know that Bayelsa is for development, stability and security, not for politics. They will be here and we will unveil the most ambitious development any state has ever undertaken, that is the New Yenagoa City.

“I want to assure you, our dear people, that with the foundation God have helped us to lay, the future of our dear state is bright and it can only get better.”

He said that the government was also working to establish an industrial estate, an industrial park and a power hub in order to transform the state into a manufacturing, energy and tourism destination.

Dickson, who read the only lesson from Psalm 124:1-8, said that his administration had in the last six made tremendous impact in the areas of health and education and other sectors, in respect of which projects would be commissioned.

He thanked the people of the state for the support and solidarity he has enjoyed from them in the last six years and urged them not to relent.

He urged the people to continue to pray for him and his family and  his team in government to keep the vision and sustain the momentum.

The governor also charged the people to work for peace and stability in their respective communities, stressing that all that have been put on ground by his government can only be sustained in an atmosphere of peace and harmony.

World Urban Forum: €10m pledged to scale up participatory slum upgrading

admin
-
0
World Urban Forum: €10m pledged to scale up participatory slum upgrading

Investing in informal settlements and slum upgrading can leverage the socio-economic potential of sustainable urbanisation and transformation leading to “inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable communities and cities” worldwide.

Maimunah Mohd Sharif
Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director of the UN-Habitat

In African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries especially, large scale interventions in informal settlements and slum upgrading have not taken off considerably to achieve transformational reduction in people living in slums. It is estimated that, more than 50 percent of the urban population in ACP countries lives in informal settlements and slum conditions.

Although there are notable small to medium scale success stories, coordinated and integrated large-scale interventions at citywide level anchored in a long-term vision are yet to be realised in many of these countries. Within the framework of the Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme (PSUP), 35 ACP governments and 160 cities have already initiated policy and regulatory frameworks review, established citywide slum upgrading and prevention strategies and identified concrete entry-points for participatory slum upgrading at city scale.

Progressively, many countries have established budget lines at national level to finance for PSUP implementation. With this commitment from governments then, there is real opportunity to leverage those funds and achieve higher level of impact. The Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme (PSUP) seeks to build on this opportunity to work with ACP countries achieve transformational scale in slum upgrading. The Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States initiated the PSUP in 2008 to respond to the slum challenge in the member states.

Financed by the European Commission since 2008, and implemented by UN-Habitat, the programme has succeeded in mobilising multi-governance stakeholders in addressing the slum deprivations and developing right-based approach to improving living standards in slums though partnerships with national governments, local authorities and slum communities.

On Sunday, February 11, 2018, more than 35 countries proclaim that they are empowered to address slum upgrading at all levels – national, city and community. Many more countries within the ACP want to be part of the programme. The €10 million grant from the European Commission will go a long way to leverage multi-sourced financing at national and international level for countries to achieve scale. PSUP III presents an opportunity for implementing countries to develop innovative financing strategies that can unlock capital for slum upgrading.

The 3rd ACP-EC-UN-Habitat Tripartite Conference, to be held later in 2018, will centre on the theme of innovative financing to galvanise efforts in this endeavor and improve living conditions for millions of slum dwellers in ACP countries and integrate them into mainstream, urban fabric under the motto of “leaving no one behind”.

The tripartite partnership would like to further enhance the capacity of countries to contribute towards the implementation of Goal 11 (SDGs), Target 11.1 “By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums”. All parties endorsed the PSUP as a flagship, global programme and would like to act strategically to leverage more significant financing. For this purpose, new diverse partnerships are needed.

1...1,7441,7451,746...2,297Page 1,745 of 2,297

TV Report

Archives

2025 EnviroNews Nigeria. All Rights Reserved.

×