Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Mr. Ekpo Nta, has successfully bowed out of office after six years at the helm. He handed over the reins of the Commission to Alhaji Abdullahi Bako, a Board Member, who will be acting pending the assumption of duty by the Chairman-designate, who is awaiting Senate confirmation.
Mr. Ekpo Nta (left) handing over to Alhaji Bako Abdullahi
In his address during the handing-over ceremony, the out-gone Chairman stated that he came into the Commission at a time when the Commission had a crisis of identity as to whether it was a law enforcement or civil service organisation, coupled with the fact that its premises had a seemingly abandoned look in terms of how dilapidated the physical structure was.
He revealed that though the situation dampened his enthusiasm, it also spurred him into picking up the challenge of not leaving the Commission the way he had found it.
Mr. Nta stated that the first task he and his Board Members set out to do was to rightfully place ICPC where it belonged based on the Commission’s enabling law.
He highlighted some of his achievements to include a high rate of investigation and prosecution of corruption cases; the introduction of preventive measures to check corruption in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs); and the spike in publicity for the Commission’s activities on its website and in the media.
Other achievements include: publishing of three volumes of ICPC law reports; improving the staff clinic to cater for the health of suspects in the Commission’s custody as well as the intervention and support by UNODC for the Commission’s work, amongst others.
The out-gone Chairman commended the management committee and staff of the Commission for what he described as a wonderful working period, stating that the Commission had intellectuals as staff who usually stood out at trainings and workshops featuring participants from other organisations. He urged the management committee members to continue to work hard while emphasizing the seriousness of the handing-over ceremony with its accompanying copious documentation, as an indication of a culture that helps to create institutional memory.
In his response, the Acting Chairman, Alhaji Bako, acknowledged that Mr. Nta had done a lot to project a positive image for the Commission. He noted that the achievements made Nta as Chairman ICPC, to be the first African to be appointed a Board Member of the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA), Vienna, Austria.
Alhaji Bako pleaded for the support of the management within the period he would act as Chairman while urging all staff to continue to be disciplined, and build on what they had learnt from the out-gone Chairman by striving for excellence.
Mr. Nta was appointed Acting Chairman, ICPC by former President Goodluck Jonathan at the swearing-in ceremony of the Commission’s Board Members in November, 2011 before he became the substantive Chairman in 2012 for a period of five years.
The Acting Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Bako, a current two-term Member of the ICPC Board, is a lawyer, Notary Public and Fellow of Charted Institute of Arbitration.
The Acting Chairman, who represents the North East geopolitical zone, was first appointed a Board Member of the Commission in 2009 and the appointment was renewed for a second term in 2014.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday, September 12, 2017 said more than 500 people have so far died in a cholera epidemic sweeping the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Photo credit: AFP / FABRICE COFFRINI / Getty Images
The global health body said in a statement that outbreaks of the water-borne disease occur regularly in Congo, mainly due to poor sanitation and the lack of access to clean drinking water.
It stated that this year’s epidemic, which hit at least 10 urban areas including Kinshasa, was particularly disturbing as about 1.4 million people were displaced by violence in the central Kasai region.
The WHO said at least 528 people had died and the epidemic had spread to 20 of Congo’s 26 provinces.
It noted that “the risk of spread remains very high toward the Grand Kasai region, where degraded sanitary and security conditions further increase vulnerability in the face of the epidemic.
“So far, health officials have recorded more than 24,000 suspected cases of the disease across the vast nation this year, averaging more than 1,500 new cases per week since the end of July.”
It added that WHO sent a team of experts, including epidemiologists and public health specialists to Congo this month to contain the spread of the disease.
The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Kofi Adda, has made a passionate appealed to all Ghanaians to join in the collective effort to redeem the international image of the country that has been tainted by poor sanitation.
Participants at the forum
Addressing a forum held on Tuesday, September 5, 2017, in Accra for members of the creative industry, the Minister expressed disgust at the fact that “Ghana is now the 7th dirtiest country in Africa,” and said “it is so shameful considering that Ghanaians are playing key roles in various international positions.”
He urged the artists to support his Ministry in a soon-to-be-launched exercise to secure the commitment of corporate entities to help eradicate open defecation and improve general sanitation in the country.
The forum was organised by World Vision International in collaboration with Kings Hall Media, a water and sanitation-focused firm. The purpose was to brainstorm on ways the creative industry could best contribute to resolving the nation’s sanitation problems, particularly open defecation.
Members of the creative industry including some of Ghana’s popular musicians and actors who were at the forum had a rude awakening of the reality of the menace of open defecation, after being treated to the mathematics of human faeces. A Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) consultant, Benjamin Arthur, educated them as follows:
“The baseline information is that each human produces an average of approximately 123.6 grams of faeces per day. This assumes one shit per person per day, which means no running stomachs and no constipation, with all things in the normal state.
“Now the statistics say approximately about 5,130,000 Ghanaians defaecate in the open every day. So this amounts to 634,068,000 grams, an equivalent of 634,068 kg. A bag of cement is about 50 kg. So if you divide 634,068 kg by 50, it gives an equivalent of 12,681.36 bags of cement.”
Experts say one gram of human faeces contains over 10 million germs. From the mathematical perspective it means that Ghanaians are daily discharging billions of disease-causing agents into the environment through open defecation.
Now when cement is left in the open, it cakes up and cannot be used for any good purpose, but must be discarded. Unfortunately, our faeces or shit left in the open do not just cake up. When faeces is left at the mercy of the elements – rain, sun and wind – it ends up contaminating the soil, water sources and air, leading to transfer of potential disease causing agents.
What is worrying about this state of affairs is that once faeces are exposed, coming into contact with it is very easy, especially as water and soap are not readily available on site for handwashing.
“The fact is that we pick up germs with our hands from various points including when we clean ourselves after using the toilet, during playing or working, from objects such as doorknobs and stair railings as well as from handshakes. As long as the immediate surroundings and wider environment is polluted with faecal matter, it stands to reason that everything within its reach will be contaminated with the germs,” he said.
Mr. Arthur made it clear that open defecation was the riskiest of all sanitation practices, posing the greatest danger to human health by causing diseases such as cholera, dysentery and diarrhoea, which are all easily preventable. He stated that, economically, the country was losing $290 million annually, with open defecation contributing about $79 million, while undermining the country’s tourism industry.
Mr. Arthur said that to eliminate the practice and its menace would require that people build and use about one million household latrines, which in addition to other measures will enable Ghana to meet her obligations under the Agenda 2030, also known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He explained that the SDGs, developed by the international community and member states of the United Nations, cover 17 sectors with targets and indicators to measure progress of achievement from now to 2030.
The consultant stated that the focus of Agenda 2030 for the WASH Sector is that countries with open defecation-associated problems are expected to be Open Defecation Free (ODF) by 2030. It is expected that, by time, every citizen will have access to, and use improved toilet and hand washing facilities and Ghana is obligated is obligated to do so. He said, “The deadline for an Open Defecation Free Ghana is 2025, which is just eight years away.”
This sensitisation resulted in animated discussions on the consensus that “open defecation is bad for the national image, the health and well-being of the people and the socio-economic development of the country.” The artists traced the causes to lack of enforcement of policies, obsolete policies, and politicisation of issues, among other things.
National President of the Ghana Actors Guild, Samuel Fiscian, remarked that “open defecation is not an issue that should be joked with.” He noted that “absence of enforcement has led to apathy, which has now become part of our culture and is very dangerous.”
Chairman of the Greater Accra Regional branch of MUSIGAH, Ras Caleb Appiah-Levi, noted that the contribution of artists towards addressing open defecation and general sanitation issues would be successful depending on the effectiveness of existing structures.
The artists stressed the need for the laws to be made to work and insisted that, rather than imprisoning offenders, they should be made to undertake a period of cleaning and wearing special uniforms that will identify them.
The artists also expressed the willingness to join the fight against open defecation and made several proposals including producing an all-star video clip featuring combined artists depicting the issues at stake; embark on a Creative Arts Campaign against Open Defecation at the national, regional and district levels; and undertaking communities and schools outreach events.
On how to move the process forward in terms of organising these activities and ensuring sustainable funding, they suggested the setting up of a Committee to follow up on issues from the forum and organising further trainings to enhance understanding of artists on open defecation and general sanitation related matters.
On how to ensure sustainable funding, renowned Ghanaian actor, Oscar Provencal, suggested that sources of funding could include instituting a Corporate Ghana Tax Rebate for entities that will fund sanitation as well as special levies on activities such as lotteries.
Earlier, some sanitation-related organisations had delivered solidarity messages. They included the Executive Secretary of the Environmental Services Providers Associations (ESPA), Ama Ofori Antwi. She re-echoed the sector minister’s concern about the impact of the ranking of Ghana as the 7th dirtiest country saying, “It is a blot on our image and must be reversed at all cost. We cannot afford to lose the sanitation battle. It is costly on our health, productivity, and finances, and even dignity.”
She also congratulated World Vision and Kings Hall Media for bringing the artists together to join the efforts at addressing open defecation. Ms. Antwi was optimistic that because Ghana’s creative industry was a vibrant one, with very influential personalities, “it can undoubtedly help us rewrite our sanitation story.” She described her organisation as an association of private waste management companies, has been in existence since 2001, and whose members are active stakeholders in Ghana’s sanitation sector.
For his part, the Vice Chairman of the Coalition of NGOS in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), Attah Arhin, said his group was happy to be associated with the programme because, according to him, it has the potential to help address sanitation issues in Ghana. He was certain that “the creative arts can make positive contributions to the fight against open defecation and general sanitation.” Mr. Arhin also commended the minister for his leadership in the sanitation sector.
On behalf of World Vision Ghana, the Education Technical Programme Manager, Andrew Ofosu Dankyi, stressed that, in dealing with the menace of open defecation, “the goal is to get a 100 percent open defecation free Ghana.” He said that “as a lower middle income country striving to improve our status, sanitation must not be allowed to hamper our national development efforts.”
Mr. Denkyi said aside promoting WASH, World Vision also engages in education especially that which deals with specific issues for specific target groups such as adolescent girls. He said World Vision International Ghana would continue to work with the Creative Industry to make a positive contribution to the quest for an Open Defecation Free Ghana.
“Consumption of the earth’s natural reserves has doubled in the last 30 years, with a third of the planet’s land now severely degraded. Each year, we lose 15 billion trees and 24 billion tonnes of fertile soil. Smallholder farmers, women and indigenous communities are the most vulnerable, given their reliance on land-based resources, compounded by their exclusion from wider infrastructure and economic development.”
COP13 President, Mr Zhang Jianlong, opens the conference in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China
These are compelling lines from a new publication, titled: “The Global Land Outlook” (GLO). It was launched on Tuesday, September 12, 2017 at the 13th meeting of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Ordos, China.
Currently, more than 1.3 billion people are trapped on degrading agricultural land, drastically increasing competition for crucial ecosystem services such as food, water and energy. The GLO draws on an analysis of recent trends in land productivity and modelling of land demand scenarios up to the year 2050. It outlines how reversing trends in the condition of land resources could accelerate efforts to achieve many of the Sustainable Development Goals, by adopting more efficient planning and sustainable practices.
Speaking at the launch, UNCCD Executive Secretary, Monique Barbut, said: “Land degradation and drought are global challenges and intimately linked to most, if not all aspects of human security and well-being – food security, employment and migration, in particular.”
“As the ready supply of healthy and productive land dries up and the population grows, competition is intensifying, for land within countries and globally. As the competition increases, there are winners and losers. To minimise the losses, The Outlook suggests it is in all our interests to step back and rethink how we are managing the pressures and the competition. The Outlook presents a vision for transforming the way in which we use and manage land because we are all decision-makers and our choices can make a difference – even small steps matter,” she further added.
Welcoming the UNCCD’s new flagship publication, UNDP Administrator Mr. Achim Steiner, stated: “Over 250 million people are directly affected by desertification, and about one billion people in over one hundred countries are at risk. They include many of the world‘s poorest and most marginalised people. Achieving land degradation neutrality can provide a healthy and productive life for all on Earth, including water and food security. The Global Land Outlook shows that each of us can in fact make a difference, and I hope that in the next edition we are able to tell even more stories of better land use and management.”
The publication on the current and future state of the world’s land resources is said to be the first in-depth analysis of the multiple functions of the land viewed from a wide range of interrelated sectors and thematic areas, such as the food-water-land nexus, as well as the “less obvious” drivers of land use change, notably the nature of economic growth, consumer choice and global trade patterns. Crucially, the report examines a growing disconnect between the financial and socio-economic values of the land and how this affects the poor.
The first edition of the GLO was published by the UNCCD secretariat with the support of numerous partners, including the European Commission, the Governments of Korea, Switzerland and the Netherlands, and UNDP. It is available in both print and digital formats on a dedicated web platform.
As school resumes after the two months summer holiday, more parents were seen enrolling their children in public schools.
School children
This reporter visited the Methodist Primary School, Ewu Elepe, Ikorodu, local area of Lagos and found up to six pupils writing an entrance test. When asked, a parent to one of the pupils, Mrs Ogundoyin (who is mother of seven and four year olds), says, “The fees at private is too much. And my husband was laid off at his job. He is out of job for six months now, we can’t cope anymore.”
Another parent, Mrs. Aki, adds, “Private is trying but there is a new increment now; N5,000 increase.”
Their reports appear to establish the findings of DEEPEN (Developing Effective Private Education in Nigeria), an education initiative supported by the UK Aid in Nigeria. The team lead of the project, Dr. Gboyega Ilusanya, said at a recent training for education reporters in Lagos that default in fees is one of the issues many private schools are grappling with.
“Many of these parents intend to pay school fees, but the current economic realities make them default. And that weakens the private schools system,” he says.
A low fee private school charges a yearly maximum of N25,000 while a medium fee private school, N50,000, according to DEEPEN’s finding.
Meanwhile, cost of enrollment in public schools is supposed to be free; however, the finding from this school shows it is not entirely free. By rough estimate, enrolling a primary six pupil in a Lagos school, including sets of uniforms, text and notebooks, stationery, may cost between N15,000 and N20,000, but it is lesser for the lower grade.
Taking a nationwide view of public school enrollment, the registrar of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, Professor Josiah Ajiboye, notes that since the enactment of the Universal Basic Education Act in 2004, Early Childhood services in Nigeria have recorded reasonable expansion.
Prof. Ajiboye, who also spoke during the same meeting on Education facilitated by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Reporting, made clear: “There has been an appreciable increase in the number of early childhood development centers, established to provide solid foundation as well as smooth transition from pre-primary schools to primary schools.”
Furthermore the pre-primary education Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) increased from 10.9percent in 2003/2004 to 18.1percent in 2009/2010. By national figures, there were about 2,693,323 children were enrolled in pre – primary schools in 2010. In 2013, the number increased drastically again to 2,994,734.
Another reason for the migration is the teacher quality.
Dr. Ilusanya says teacher quality is better in public than that of private schools. “Because of the financial burden of private schools, they are unable to pay teachers salary. Sometimes they employ less qualified teachers.”
Lamenting, Mrs. Aki says most of the teachers employed in her child’s last private school can’t even articulate properly. “I know because when I look at my child’s daily report book, I see spelling errors. The teacher can’t even differentiate between ‘lunch’ and ‘launch’. That is really pathetic.”
This is beginning to make parents believe the outcomes at public school may be better.
Professor Ajiboye was however quick to point the challenges of large and under-resourced classrooms. “The teacher pupil ratio is 40/42 pupils to one teacher,” he notes.
The Universal Basic Education provides every Nigerian child, as a right, has nine years of free, compulsory, basic education – from Pre-primary to Junior Secondary 3. Two percent of the yearly consolidated revenue fund is released to ensure that in the 36 states there is improvement in enrolment, reduction of drop out raye, out-of school children, improved teacher training amongst other factors.
However, Prof Ajiboye notes: “Despite high gross enrolment rates, severe constraints both within and outside the education system have led to comparatively lower completion rates at public schools – the current average being 62% for girls and 59% for boys.”
The Presidential Investigative Panel to Review Compliance of the Armed Forces with Human Rights Obligations and Rules of Engagement, inaugurated on August 11, 2017 by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, when in acting capacity as the President, began its sitting in Abuja, on Monday, September 11, 2017.
Vice President of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osinbajo. He inaugurated the Panel on August 11, 2017
The sitting of the panel at the headquarters of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Maitama, holds till Friday, September 15, 2017.
The seven-man panel, led by a Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Biobele Abraham Georgewill, will in its five-day sitting for the North-Central Zone in Abuja, investigate alleged acts of violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It will also conduct its investigations on the alleged acts of violations under the Geneva Convention Act, African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, and other relevant laws by the Armed Forces in local conflicts and insurgencies.
Allegations were leveled against the military by Amnesty International where it named and called on the Nigerian government to investigate nine high-ranking military officials for potential individual and command responsibility.
It had also published a public statement calling on the government and the presidential investigative panel to address key concerns including documented alleged “gross and massive violations and abuses committed by all sides to the non-international armed conflict in the North-East of the country as well as human rights violations in the rest of Nigeria”.
This included evidences of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.
Vice President Osinbajo, during the inauguration of the panel in August, said all the allegations leveled against the armed forces and other security agencies must not go unaddressed so as to safeguard the good image of Nigeria.
The panel, on Tuesday, opened proceedings with two witnesses from petitioner: Moon Valley Community in Kwande Local Government, Benue State. “Moon” is pronounced as “Mon”.
The predominantly Tiv community had had a long history of communal clashes with its neighboring Kashinbilla Community inhabited by the Jukun tribe over land border issues as far back as 1998. Both communities share an interstate boundary of Benue and Taraba states.
The first witness was Jacob Kwaghkper, a retired Deputy Director with the Federal Civil Service at Federal Commission for Colleges of Education, now resident in Markudi.
He had also declared himself representative of the victims from the Moon Valley Community who had petitioned the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), the House of Representatives and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in May 2013 on alleged human rights violations by the Nigerian Army, specifically its 93 Battalion stationed in Takum, in Taraba State.
He told the panel that the 93 Battalion positioned a unit at Kashinbilla community in such a way that its compound equally shares boundary with Moon Valley Community in Benue State. The Unit was positioned by the 93 Battalion as a result of the consistent skirmishes between both communities.
While being led in examination by the Community’s counsel, Mike T. Utsaha, he told the panel that the Nigerian Army, who was expected to act as mediator in the protracted skirmishes, rather, took sides regularly with the Jukun side.
He said: “On February 3, 2014 the Nigerian Army 93 Battalion in Takum (Taraba State) attacked the Moon Valley Community and drove out the entire community out of our ancestral home. As we appear before you, indigenes of Moon have been displaced in Tiv land.”
The second witness, a farmer, Abo Utah, told the panel that he was beaten and dragged on the ground by troops of the military when he asked questions about where they had taken his younger sister and his brother’s wife.
He added that he was taken in a vehicle with some others to the military base in Takum, put in a guard room and was released on bail after being charged to a Magistrate Court in Takum for “committing trouble” at Moon Valley.
He told the panel that he became a victim of abuse during the conduct of an election in Moon Valley on December 8, 1998 when a soldier showed up and disrupted the voting process.
He explained that the people had disagreed with the soldier and his disruption and continued. However, the soldier returned with the armored tanks and shot sporadically and chased the people out of the community.
He said that, thereafter, “the Jukun came and touched our houses we left behind and handed it over to the Fulani’s”.
He added that the Fulani’s, who have been nomadic, currently live on their land which they have interest in because of its rich fertility and waters.
He and the first witness, among other things, urged the panel to intervene and asked that the military should be kept from intervening in matters of the community and sent back to their barracks.
They also asked that the displaced persons from their village be returned so they can get back to their livelihoods.
Human rights lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has kicked against the deployment of military in the South East and the use of military to clampdown on the civilians in a supposed democratic government birthed under the rule of law.
Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa
He said: “There is no insurrection going on in any part of the South East now, to warrant the display of military force or deployment.”
The right activist also described as amazing the clampdown on the Premium Times office in Abuja and other civil protestants as an affront on freedom of the people.
“The military quelled the Shiites’ peaceful rally in Zaria, the military sacked civilian communities in the Niger Delta, the military supervised elections in Rivers and other places, the military mowed down peaceful gatherings in the South East and the military even took over Premium Times‘ office in Abuja, a while ago.”
He stated this in a press release on Tuesday, September, 12, 2017 saying that people have been overwhelmed by the support for the present administration of President Buhari, even by those who are supposed to be critical about the administration’s policies.
“It’s just so amazing, that our entire life has been swallowed up in this frenzy and support, for the Buhari administration, as to even justify the clampdown on civilians by the military, in a supposed democratic government, birthed under the rule of law, human rights and freedoms.
“I’ve read people and even comrades and enlightened ones, prodding them on, defending the military to carry on ‘python dance’, in the midst of civilians and locals. The military! The next phase of this hidden agenda is a take over of civilian authority, because when the ‘python’ has finished ‘dancing’, it must surely swallow something to quench its usually large appetite.
“Why is the ‘python’ not ‘dancing’ in Kaduna, where a quit notice was handed down to Igbos to vacate? Why is the ‘python’ not ‘dancing’ in Yenagoa and Ibadan, where separatist agitations are also on the rise? Are pythons found only in Igboland?”
Adegboruwa prayed that those who are riding on the back of the military tiger now won’t end up in its belly, someday, “because once you put fire on petrol, then you cannot dictate how it should burn.”
He called on the military to go back to the barracks and submit to civilian authority.
Members of Abolition 2000 and affiliated networks, representing peace and disarmament organisations from around the world, have called on the United States and North Korea to step back from the brink of war in North East Asia, and instead adopt a diplomatic approach to prevent war.
North Korea has threatened the US with a “miserable end” via nuclear attack
The global network aimed at eliminating nuclear weapons in a statement endorsed by member organisations and individuals, called for the immediate commencement of negotiations to prevent a military conflict from erupting, and to resolve the underlying conflicts. Such negotiations, they added, should take place both bilaterally and through a renewed Six-Party framework involving China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
According to the group, the escalating tensions and threat of military conflict over North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities makes a diplomatic solution of vital importance and the highest priority. It added that the increasing risk of war – and possibly even the use of nuclear weapons by miscalculation, accident, or intent – is frightening.
“More than three million citizens of Korea, China, USA and other countries lost their lives in the Korean War from 1950-1953. Should a war erupt again, the loss of lives could be considerably worse, especially if nuclear weapons are used. Indeed, a nuclear conflict erupting in Korea could engulf the entire world in a nuclear catastrophe that would end civilisation as we know it,” declared Abolition 2000.
In supporting diplomacy rather than war, the group listed a number of measures, which include:
Oppose any pre-emptive use of force by any of the parties, which would be counter-productive and likely lead to nuclear war;
Call on all parties to refrain from militaristic rhetoric and provocative military exercises;
Encourage China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States to consider the phased and comprehensive approach for a North-East Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone with a 3+3 arrangement, which already has cross-party support in Japan and South Korea and interest from the North Korean government;
Encourage China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States to also consider options and modalities for turning the 1953 Armistice Agreement into a formal end to the 1950-1953 Korean War;
Welcome the call of the UN Secretary-General for a resumption of Six-Party talks and his offer to assist in negotiations;
Welcome also the offer of the European Union to assist in diplomatic negotiations, as they did successfully in the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program;
Call on the United Nations Security Council to prioritise a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
The 3+3 arrangement, it was gathered, would include Japan, South Korea and North Korea agreeing not to possess or host nuclear weapons, and would require China, Russia and the USA agreeing not to deploy nuclear weapons in Japan, South Korea or North Korea, nor to attack or threaten to attack them with nuclear weapons.
An indigenous player in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, Belema Oil Producing Limited, has said that it will end gas flaring in its host communities in 2019.
Gas flaring in Ogoniland, Nigeria. Photo credit: premiumtimesng.com
Managing Director of the company, Mr Boma Brown, who made the disclosure on Monday, September 11, 2017 at a forum to introduce its operation model to its host communities in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said that gas flaring had deprived the country of huge revenue, polluted oil producing areas and depleted the ozone layer.
According to him, Belema Oil is now ready to harness its flared gas to generate more revenue.
“We have already set up a team to monetise our gas which is basically to turn the gas presently flared into revenue as part of our business model.
“The company is currently speaking and engaging stakeholders with a focus to ending gas flaring in five oil fields in Idama, Robertkiri, Jokka, Inda and Belema-Belema North, all in Kula (Rivers).
“We have already started the framework by carrying out the projects that we have earmarked to stop gas flaring before the end of 2019,” he said.
Brown said that government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had, shown willingness to end gas flaring in the country in 2020.
He expressed optimism that deregulation of the downstream industry would drive needed investment in the oil and gas sector.
Brown expressed optimism that his company’s drive to end gas flaring would encourage other multinational oil companies to follow suit and end decades-long pollution in the Niger Delta.
“Introduction of Belema Model to our host communities is part of our desire to create value in the communities and allow them share in the wealth.
“We want communities to participate in our activities – not just only in surveillance of oil and gas facilities – but to acquire skills that would enable them participate in the industry.
“We will do this through regular training and integration with our contractors while employing some of them to work with the company,” he said.
The NNPC recently released a template to curb gas flaring, preparatory to the 2020 flare-out deadline by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, said on Monday, September 11, 2017 that about $700 million had been realised from the pledges made by donors to address the humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad basin region.
Scientists say the Lake Chad, that borders Nigeria and some other countries, has shrunken by 95 percent over the past 50 years. They have also linked the Boko Haram insurgency to the lake’s situation. Photo credit: AP/Christophe Ena
Onyeama stated this in Abuja while fielding questions from newsmen after a closed door meeting with a UN delegation led by Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
The UN had in February organised a $1.5 billion donor conference in Oslo to tackle the complex crisis caused by Boko Haram terrorists in the Lake Chad Basin.
Donors pledged more than $670 million at the conference hosted by Norway in conjunction with Nigeria and Germany to support aid operations in the region.
“At the last count I believe about $700 million has been realised in the pledges made to assist in the humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad basin country including Nigeria.
“Nigeria is having the large chunk of it. The UN is disbursing a lot of the fund, and a lot of it is going into relief and food materials for the Lake Chad region countries,” Onyeama said.
The minister, who commended the UN for the role it played in organising the conference, however, said that there were challenges in the redemption of the pledges by the donors.
“We appreciate very much, role the UN has been playing in assisting us addressing the serious humanitarian challenges we are facing in the northeast of the country.
“We are very grateful to the UN for assisting us to organise the donor meeting in Oslo and really put it in the centre of the international stage.
“We appreciate the visit of the delegation led by the UN Under-Secretary-General which is meant to highlight the challenges of the of Lake Chad Basin countries,” he said
He said that a lot had been achieved on the very impressive pledges made by countries in Oslo
“We appreciate it very much, of course the challenge in the pledge is to have it all redeemed but it is a work in progress and significant amount has been redeemed.
“UN has also embarked on creating awareness through the UN General Assembly and to encourage international support,” he said
Lowcock earlier remarked that he was in Nigeria to have first hand assessment of the humanitarian crisis in the northeast region and report back to the UN General Assembly.
“My visit is to have first hand assessment of the situation here and in particular to understand the progress made in the lives of the people that need humanitarian help.
“More than 11 million people over a year ago were in need of humanitarian help and are now being helped by Nigerian government and the international community.
“Next week when the leadership of the UN will gather we will have the opportunity to take the stock of the progress made and to identify further area where the assistance would be provided,” he said
Lowcock said that he would be in the northeast to meet with affected populations and humanitarian partners to evaluate the response.
The UN Chief said that the visit would avail him opportunity to also engage with government officials in the northeast and to advocate for increased support to affected people and communities.
He said that his visit was also aimed at drawing global attention and to mobilise increased support for affected populations.
He said that focus was particularly on women and children amid growing protection concerns, food insecurity and worsening health conditions exemplified by the recent cholera outbreak across camps.
