Dominican Republic and Cape Verde have deposited their instruments of ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and bringing the total number of ratifications to 166.
Jorge Carlos Fonseca, President of Cape Verde
Before the duo, Myanmar (161st), Bhutan (162nd), Ecuador (163rd) and Liechenstien (164th) had previously ratified the treaty.
All ratifications will enter into force in a month’s time.
The Paris Agreement builds upon the Convention (UNFCCC) and – for the first time – brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it charts a new course in the global climate effort.
The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Additionally, the agreement aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change. To reach these ambitious goals, appropriate financial flows, a new technology framework and an enhanced capacity building framework will be put in place, thus supporting action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries, in line with their own national objectives. The Agreement also provides for enhanced transparency of action and support through a more robust transparency framework.
A gathering comprising Oilwatch Africa network members, community representatives from oil regions, academia, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community-based organisations (CBOs) and the media who met in Accra, Ghana, between September 24 and 27, 2017, has called on governments to divest from fossil fuel and invest in renewable energy.
A view of participants at the Oilwatch Africa meeting in Accra, Ghana
In a communique issued at the close of the event and titled: “Fossil Fuels and Alternative Energy for Africa: The Accra Declaration”, the participants, who considered the impacts of fossil fuels on the continent, proposed alternatives for decentralised energy systems that they consider environmentally friendly and socially just.
While demanding the peoples’ ownership and control of energy systems, they want environmental and social externalities associated with fossil energy extraction be included in the true price of oil.
Oilwatch Africa members and other stakeholders at the meeting also considered the implications of fossil fuels exploitation on primary economies including agriculture, fisheries and livelihoods, even as they called for a stoppage of fossil exploration, funding and expansion activities in Africa.
The gathering likewise demanded the prioritisation of primary economies, such as of fisheries, over the enclave economies of the extractive sector – as a means of protecting the livelihoods and social security of the majority of our citizens.
Oilwatch Africa affirmed that “leaving fossils fuels in the ground” and replacing with “renewable energy” is possible and an inescapable path to protecting nations, tackling global warming and securing a future for new generations.
Leaving fossil fuels in the ground will be a powerful means of mitigating the impact of climate change, the group noted, adding that the call is in consonance with science.
The conference analysed:
The political and economic interests of the governments and multinational oil companies,
Political corruption and abuse of political power,
The rise of human and environmental rights abuses visited on our communities and peoples,
Issues of land grabbing, displacements and the marginalisation of communities,
Data paucity on renewable energy resources,
Abuse of the tools for socio-economic/environmental assessments in interrogating proposed projects,
Governments investment choices in energy systems are driven by industry and international financial institutions and do not reflect peoples’ energy needs.
Oilwatch Africa officials at the meeting comprised representatives from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has established a process whereby it renders technical assistance to African countries to align development policies with their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Dr. Anthony Nyong, Director, Climate Change and Green Growth, African Development Bank (AfDB)
Dr. Anthony Nyong, Director, Climate Change and Green Growth at the Abidjan-based AfDB, who made the disclosure, stated that the process, tagged “Africa NDC Support Hub”, would identify projects and programmes that can be implemented through national budgets to meet unconditional targets.
“The Africa NDC Support Hub will also assist in attracting international climate finance to implement conditional targets and importantly, address the neglected elements of adaptation in the NDCs,” he added.
Dr Nyong made the submission against the backdrop of an ongoing informal discussion on the seeming incompartibility between Nigeria’s Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) and the NDC document. While the ERGP was designed as the roadmap to drive Nigeria out of recession, the NDCs is meant as the pillar of sustainable development in the country.
The online discussion was kickstarted by Professor Chinedum Nwajiuba, Vice-Chancellor, Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo in Ebonyi State, who observed that the ERGP document in some instances is inconsistent with the NDCs.
But Dr Nyong pointed out that, in this regard, Nigeria is not an isolated case.
His words: “It may interest you to know that this situation is not just limited to Nigeria. It is the story of Africa. Consultants descended on 53 African countries and crafted INDCs in three to four months. In most cases these hurriedly-crafted documents did not fully align with national developmental policies and strategies.
“Secondly, these INDCs at inception identified two targets: conditional and unconditional. Little is being said of the support that is needed to meet conditional targets. While not justifying the non-alignment between the ERGP and Nigeria’s NDCs, I believe we need to explore how we can use the ERGP and other policies to implement our unconditional NDC targets in the least.”
Prof Babajide Alo, Director, Centre for Environmental Human Resources Development (CENHURD), University of Lagos, opined however the divergence between the ERGP and the Nigeria NDCs is not surprising.
According to him, such inconsistencies and divergences are not uncommon with most of the nation’s development policies and national policy instruments.
“Development of policies by independent agencies with varying targets and goals that are not synchronised, as we all know, is all pervading in our nation state,” he noted.
Prof. Alo insists that synchronising the two policy instruments will not be a solution to the problem unless “the implementors of the ERGP appreciate the danger of not synchronising our national development options under the ERGP with our globally declared NDC and our national and international commitments under the Paris Agreement.”
He suggested that the Department of Climate Change (DCC) should “point this out and make specific and practical suggestions on how we might proceed to align the two development instruments.”
According to him, “an NDC-guided execution of the ERGP will clearly lead to a more successful ERGP that will lead to a significant improvement of people and their livelihoods without compromising national sustainable development targets/goals.”
Prof Olukayode Oladipo, who is also of the University of Lagos, advocated for a comprehensive long term national development plan that will, according to him, address holistically the socio-economic and environmental needs of the country (say till 2050), from where short-term (maybe five years) plans are targeted for implementation and budget implementation attached plus political and people’s will for success.
He said: “God is telling us ‘do something and I will help you’. As I understood from one of the Vice President’s speeches, no amount of prayer will develop Nigeria unless we permit the prayer to make us see value in hard work, transparency, accountability and determination to succeed as a nation and not as individuals in which less than 1% of the population are so rich that they can afford 2018 Utility Vehicles that are yet to be launched in countries where they are produced but are already in Nigeria, but 99% have to struggle for daily bread, we shall continue to rotate in the pool of confusion.”
Prof Francis Adesina of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, clamoured for the alignment of the two policy documents.
He stated: “I have also thought at some point that there are problems in the way we are going about addressing our challenges taking into consideration our commitment to the NDC. The international climate change response process does not foreclose national efforts to addressing specific national challenges, so I support the need to align these two strategies.
“This will translate to taking the country out of recession which again is about building resilience, and fulfilling our obligations under the Paris Agreement. A plausible way out is for the DCC to point this out and make specific and practical suggestions too on how we might proceed to align the two development instruments.”
Mr Sulaimon Arigbagu of HEDA Resources suggested that the demand for a Climate Change Commission should be revisited.
“I suspect that such a commission would have (aside from its other critical responsibilities) been able to engage and monitor the ERGP development process to ensure alignment with NDCs and our other climate response strategies/policies. NigeriaCAN and partners should consider this. We may have allowed the train of that effort to go cold but hope we can muster some good steam to fire the idea once more.
“I suspect my brothers and sisters in the civil service may not be too keen on the idea of a climate change commission now, and understandably too, but truly, once they get out of service they shall see the need for it. That much experience has shown.”
In the lead up to the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that held in Paris, France in December 2015, all countries that signed the UNFCCC were asked to prepare and publish their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), indicating how the parties will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The INDCs transformed to NDCs after the Paris Agreement was signed in Paris.
Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos has called for medical reports detailing the health status of four out of the five men charged with illegal firearms importation by the Federal Government.
The illegally imported firearms on display
The judge on Tuesday, September 26, 2017 directed authorities of the prison where the accused persons were remanded to make the medical report available to the court before October 4, which is the next hearing date in the case.
The directive followed the concern raised by the third defendant’s counsel, Mr. Paul Ananaba (SAN), as to the health status of his client.
On his part, counsel for the second defendant, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), told the court that he had already formally communicated to the office of the Attorney General of the Federation the intention of his client to enter into a plea bargain with the Federal Government.
Justice Faji adjourned the case till October 4 to await both the response of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), to the plea bargain proposal by Jacob’s client and the medical reports on the defendants by the prison.
The defendants in the case are Mahmud Hassan, Oscar Okafor, Donatus Achinulo, Matthew Okoye, said to be at large, and Salihu Danjuma.
They were arraigned by the Federal Government on June 14 for allegedly importing 661 pump-action rifles into the country without lawful authority.
In the eight charges pressed against the defendants, the AGF said the persons brought 661 pump-action rifles into the country from Turkey through the Apapa Port in Lagos, using a 40-feet container, which they falsely claimed contained steel doors.
To facilitate the illegal importation, the accused allegedly forged a number of documents including a bill of lading, a Form M and a Pre-Arrival Assessment Report.
According to the prosecution, in order to evade payment of Customs duty, the accused allegedly forged a bill of lading issued at Istanbul on January 9, 2017, falsely claiming that it was issued at Shanghai, China.
In the forged bill of lading, they allegedly filled “steel door” as the content of the container instead of rifles.
They were also said to have allegedly offered a bribe of N400,000 to an official of the Nigeria Customs Service attached to the Federal Operative Unit to influence the said officer not to conduct a “hundred per cent search on the 40-feet container with number PONU 825914/3.”
The prosecution also alleged that the first accused, Hassan, corruptly gave N1 million to government officials at the Apapa Port in order to prevent the search of the container by Customs officials.
In the last count, the Federal Government alleged that the defendants had, between 2012 and 2016, illegally imported several double-barreled shotguns, pump-action rifles and single-barreled shotguns into the country through Lagos.
The eight counts pressed against them border on conspiracy, importation of prohibited firearms, forgery, uttering of forged documents, and bribery.
The offences were said to be contrary to sections 1(2)(c), 1(14) (a)(i) and 3(6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act Cap M17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2014.
An array of distinguished personalities have confirmed their attendance at the News Express 5th Anniversary Lecture, holding on Thursday, September 28, 2017, at Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Ikeja, Lagos.
Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina
A statement issued on Tuesday, September 26, 2017 in Lagos by the News Express Management listed dignitaries who have confirmed their attendance at the lecture to include Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina; Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside; General Manager, External Relations, Nigeria LNG Limited, Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke; eminent lawyer and President Emeritus of Aka Ikenga, Chief Goddy Uwazurike; and General Manager, NTA Lagos Channel 10, Mrs. Helen Onma Odeleye.
United Nations Security Coordination Officer, Francis T. Okoemu, had earlier confirmed that he would attend the well-advertised lecture.
The event will be headlined by the Guest Lecturer, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State, who would speak on “National Unity and the Demand for Restructuring – A Governor’s Perspective.”
Managing Director of Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), Emmanuel Jime, will deliver the Keynote Address on the topic, “Using the Platform of Public Office to Reclaim the Promise of Our Destiny”.
News Express Publisher, Isaac Umunna, said that the lecture would start from 12pm prompt, disclosing that “one of the highlights of the occasion would be the unveiling of the new logo of News Express.”
News Express, which debuted on August 29, 2012, is one of Nigeria’s most popular and influential online dailies. It is read by hundreds of thousands of people around the world and records annual traffic of upwards of 100 million.
One hundred and seventy-seven whales have been killed by Japanese whalers in the north-west Pacific Ocean as part of an annual hunt, Japan’s Fisheries Ministry said on Tuesday, September 26, 2017.
Whaling
The number of whales killed had been previously stipulated for the hunt, which Japan says is carried out in the name of scientific research.
This year, 43 minke whales and 134 sei whales were killed, the ministry said.
Whaling is formally allowed in Japan in spite an international moratorium banning the killing of whales for commercial purposes in place since 1986, and repeated public protests against it. Whaling is the hunting of whales for their usable products like meat, oil and blubber.
Critics said that the country uses a loophole in the charter of the International Whaling Commission by claiming that the killings are carried out for research purposes.
After the animal carcasses are examined, including the stomach contents, the meat could be sold for consumption.
In 2016, a similar scenario played out when over 300 whales, including 200 pregnant females, were slaughtered in a whaling mission in the Southern Ocean.
Japan confirmed the kill as its ships returned from their “scientific” expedition in the Antarctic region.
Its actions are in defiance of international criticism and despite a 2014 UN legal decision that ruled so-called scientific whaling activity in the Southern Ocean was a front for commercial hunts.
Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson accused the federal government of turning its back on Japan’s “sickening” illegal activity.
“Not in 40 years has an Australian government done so little to prevent whaling on our watch and in our waters,” he said.
He accused the government of breaking Environment Minister Greg Hunt’s personal election promise to send a patrol vessel to the Southern Ocean to monitor whaling activity.
The government has repeatedly refused to confirm whether it undertook any monitoring missions in the Southern Ocean that summer.
It has also refused to release legal advice it sought when Japan announced it would resume whaling, despite the International Court of Justice ruling.
Four survey ships from Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research were in the Antarctic region over a period of 115 days from December 1, 2015.
The institute’s report had confirmed 333 minke whales were captured.
Darren Kindleysides, director of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said the 2014/15 summer was the first time in 70 years Japan had stopped its whaling programme – but the break was short-lived.
He said Australia’s leading international experts had examined Japan’s new so-called scientific research programme this year and found it was also a guise for killing whales, and a breach of international law.
“That puts the onus on the Australian government to make sure this is the first and the last season of Japan’s new so-called scientific programme.”
The Australian government in December 2015 described Japan’s decision to resume whaling over the summer as “deeply disappointing” and insisted it raised concerns at the highest level of the Japanese government.
It had said it would consider sending a Customs patrol vessel to the Southern Ocean and explore options for legal action.
But conservation group Sea Shepherd in February 2016 said the Japanese fleet had faced little or no scrutiny over the summer and Australia and New Zealand seemed unwilling to send a ship to intercept them.
As 156 countries convened for the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP1) to the Minamata Convention in Geneva, a new UN report shows mercury mining skyrocketing in the last five years. Moreover, much of that mercury is used in artisanal and small scale gold mining (ASGM), the largest source of global mercury pollution.
Elena Lymberdi-Settimo, Project Manager, Zero Mercury Campaign
Currently, countries do not have reliable information about trade in neighboring countries and within their own region. This problem is compounded where borders between countries are “porous,” and a significant portion of trade is informal or illegal. For example, mercury may enter a region through legal trade to one country, but then be traded illegally across borders to neighboring countries.
“Informal trade is difficult to track, and therefore does not appear in the official trade statistics,” said Elena Lymberdi-Settimo, Project Manager, Zero Mercury Campaign at the European Environmental Bureau. “With timely reporting, Parties can better understand mercury flows in order to better enforce trade restrictions in the Convention.”
“In recent years there have been a number of shocks to the global market, resulting in a doubling of the price of mercury in the last 12 months alone,” said Michael Bender, Co-coordinator of the Zero Mercury Working Group. “In addition, EU and US export bans now in place have resulted in a major shift in the main trading hub to Asia.”
“The emergence over the past five years of new small-scale producers of mercury in Mexico and Indonesia has made a difficult situation worse,” said Satish Sinha, Associate Director at Toxics Link in India. “Between these two countries alone, around 1,000 tonnes are produced annually.”
“The main objective of the Minamata Convention is to protect human health and the environment by, in part, simultaneously reducing mercury supply and demand,” said Rico Euripidou, Environmental Health Campaign Manager at GroundWorks in South Africa. Without adequate reporting on the global movement of mercury it will be difficult to monitor the overall effectiveness of the Convention, say NGOs.
“Annual reporting is consistent with the requirements of other environmental conventions such as Basel and the Montreal Protocol,” said Leslie Adogame, Executive Director at Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development in Nigeria (SRADeV). “Legal trade flows must be understood before informal or illegal trade can be adequately addressed.” However, illegal trade remains a major challenge for Nigeria requiring urgent attention if the minamata convention implementation must improve public health status.
An analysis of publicly available UN COMTRADE data over the period 2013-2016 reveals that the majority of global mercury flows from commodity trading centres (such as Hong Kong, Singapore and the UAE) to developing country regions (such as Africa and Latin America) where mercury use in ASGM is prolific in response to the largest global gold rush the world has ever seen.
A Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday, September 26, 2017 dismissed an application by a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-kayode, seeking transfer of a money laundering case against him.
The Federal High Court in Lagos
Fani-Kayode, who was also Chairman, Media and Publicity, of the 2015 PDP Campaign Organisation, is charged alongside a former Minister of State for Finance, Nenadi Usman.
Also charged is a former National Chairman of the Association of Local Government in Nigeria (ALGON) Yusuf Danjuma, and a company, Jointrust Dimensions Ltd.
The accused are charged by The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on 17 counts of alleged N4.6 billion money laundering.
They had, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The accused were first arraigned on June 28, 2016 before Justice Muslim Hassan of same court, but the judge withdrew from the suit on March 16, (this year) following an application by Fani-Kayode, on grounds of a likely bias.
The case was, therefore, re-assigned to Justice Mohammed Aikawa and the accused were re-arraigned on the charges.
At the last adjourned date on June 21, defence counsel, Mr Norrisson Quakers (SAN), had prayed the court to transfer the case to its Abuja division, adding that the court lacked jurisdiction.
He had argued that the facts of the case showed that all the transactions carried out by the accused while Director of Media and Publicity of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, took place in Abuja.
Besides, he had argued that the accused resides in Abuja and had another trial ongoing at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Meanwhile, in objection, EFCC’s lawyer, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, had urged the court to refuse the application on the grounds that the transactions as well as cheques and receipts in furtherance of same were done in Lagos.
He had urged the court to dismiss the application for transfer, as a mere waste of time.
Delivering judgement on Tuesday, Justice Aikawa held that some of the authorities cited by defence counsel were delivered before the enactment of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, which he noted had provided exceptions to the issues of venue of court.
“In the case before me, the prosecution avers in its counter affidavit that “the sum of N30 million was paid to PW1 (Olusegun Idowu) of Paste Posters Company Ltd, who has his office in Lagos”.
“This, in my view, shows that all facts leading to the transaction was done in Lagos, and only evidence will prove otherwise.
“In the light of all these, it is clear that the facts and circumstances of this case falls into the exceptions of the law regarding criminal trials.
“There is no justification to warrant a transfer of this case to Abuja; the interest of justice requires that the trial of this case continues in this court.
“This application hereby fails and is accordingly dismissed,” he said
The court also ruled on an objection raised by defence counsel on the last adjourned date, challenging the tendering of photocopies of payment receipts by PW1, who had began his evidence on June 7.
Aikawa held that it was not the business of the court to concern itself with whether a document is original, so long as the document sought to be tendered, is duly certified.
The court accordingly, dismissed the objections, admitted the receipts in evidence and marked same as Exhibits 3 and 3A respectively.
The court then called on prosecution to continue with the examination of his first witness.
Led in continuation of his evidence before the court, Oyedepo asked PW1(Idowu): “You told the court that you printed some posters, now take a look at Exhibit 3 and tell the court if that is the payment receipt.”
In response, the witness echoed “yes” and added that the amount on the receipt was N6 million which payment was made to him in cash, and in the name of “Directorate of Media and Publicity, PDP Campaign Organisation”.
The witness added that, on same day, the sum of N30 million was also remitted to him in cash in the name of same Directorate.
After the conclusion of his testimony, the prosecutor informed the court that he was done with examination in chief of his first witness.
Meanwhile, defence counsel, (Quakers) urged the court to grant an adjournment to enable him study the exhibits and prepare his cross examination.
The court consequently, adjourned the case to Wednesday, September 27 for cross examination and continuation of trial.
In the charge, the accused were alleged to have committed the offences between January and March 2015.
In counts one to seven, they were alleged to have unlawfully retained over N3.8 billion which they reasonably ought to have known formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful act of stealing and corruption.
In counts eight to 14, the accused were alleged to have unlawfully used over N970 million which they reasonably ought to have known formed part of an unlawful act of corruption.
Meanwhile, in counts 15 to 17 Fani-Kayode and one Olubode Oke, who is said to be at large, were alleged to have made cash payments of about N30 million, in excess of the amount allowed by law, without going through a financial institution.
Besides, Fani-Kayode was alleged to have made payments to one Paste Poster Co (PPC) of No 125 Lewis St., Lagos, in excess of amounts allowed by law.
All offences were said to have contravened the provisions of sections 15 (3) (4), 16 (2) (b), and 16 (5) of the Money laundering (prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012.
In a statement delivered on Sunday, September 24, 2017 at the First meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP1) to the Minamata Convention on Mercury holding in Geneva, Switzerland, Charlie Brown, President of the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, salutes Nigeria, the EU and other nations across the world for their pioneering work to end the use of mercury in the practice of medicine and dentistry
Charlie Brown, President of the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry
Today we convene the historic Minamata Convention, where we shall make mercury history.
Yes. And we shall make dental amalgam history.
The World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry salutes the European Union, which has phased out amalgam for children, and phased out amalgam for pregnant women and for breastfeeding women.
The World Alliance salutes the work of the Africa region and of the African governments in the march toward mercury-free dentistry. The Abuja Declaration for Mercury-Free Dentistry for Africa sets the pace. The government of Mauritius ended amalgam use for children. Dental schools from Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria across to Tanzania and Kenya have made major curriculum shifts to educate this generation of dentists.
Dental mercury is a major source of black-market mercury in illegal gold mining. If we end dental amalgam, we have a two-fold gain.
The World Alliance salutes the nations across Asia for their pioneering work for mercury-free dentistry. The Dental Council of India ended the amalgam proficiency requirement, freeing up dental schools to be entirely mercury-free. In China, a multi-stakeholder conference was held involving the government of China and civil societies for the road map for mercury-free dentistry. Similar national stakeholder conferences were held in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, and Vietnam. The Dhaka Declaration for Mercury-Free Dentistry for Asia shows the commitment of civil society to move to this goal.
The phase-out of amalgam for children is the key phasedown step:
Milk teeth are less complex, longevity is not a factor, and there’s the obvious rule of precaution when implanting a gram of mercury centimeters from a child’s developing brain.
It means the emergence of atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) – even in the villages that lack electricity. As the WHO report Future Use of Materials for Dental Restoration says: “Alternative restorative materials of sufficient quality are available for use” for the milk teeth.
When you return to your home nations, please do as the European Union as done: phase out amalgam for children now. For one simple reason: The children of your nation are equally important to the children of Europe.
The Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) and Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) are said to be operating miles apart.
Vice Chancellor, Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (FUNAI), Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba
While the ERGP was designed as the roadmap to drive Nigeria out of recession, the NDC is meant as the pillar of sustainable development in the country.
In the lead up to the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that held in Paris, France in December 2015, all countries that signed the UNFCCC were asked to prepare and publish their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), indicating how the parties will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The INDCs transformed to NDCs after the Paris Agreement was signed in Paris.
But Professor Chinedum Nwajiuba, Vice-Chancellor, Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo in Ebonyi State, believes that the ERGP document in some instances is inconsistent with the NDCs.
“For example, the NDC intends to work towards off-grid solar of 13,000 megawatts while the ERGP hopes to add 1,100 megawatts of solar energy to the national grid (on-grid). Also, the NDC will work towards ending gas flaring by 2030 while the ERGP is so much interested in urgently increasing oil production,” submitted Prof Nwajiuba, who is also Member, Board of Directors, Nigerian Environmental Study/Action Team (NEST).
He emphasised that even though the ERGP mentioned that gas flaring would be reduced in the country, the extent in terms of annual volume of reduction projection was missing.
“I think this is vague. I read the quantitative projections of the macroeconomic indices contained in the ERGP, so concerted effort should have been made to quantify the reduction of gas flared,” he submitted.
Describing Nigeria’s agriculture as very vulnerable to climate change, Nwajiuba explained that, climate smart agriculture, a practice which seeks to increase productivity/yield, adaptation, resilience and mitigation, was considered by the NDC and the Green Alternative (Agriculture Promotion Policy) as the main climate change response for Nigeria’s agriculture.
“Unfortunately, this is totally absent in the ERGP. Climate change was totally absent in the ERGP, despite Nigeria’s recent endorsement of the Paris Climate Agreement. Therefore, the ambitions laid down in the ERGP cannot be met without due consideration of the impacts of climate change and its potential to retard or even stop any development effort in Nigeria. This is a potential gap,” said Nwajiuba.
He added: “To further provoke debate on the ERGP, let me ask some questions. Who owns the ERGP: Federal Government without the states and local governments? What is the extent of ownership and responsibilities of non-state actors?”
In a reaction, Prof. Haruna Ayuba of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, stresses that the NDC (with 13 years to go) could be regarded as mid-term (or even long-term in Nigeria!) while the ERGP (with barely three years to go) is short-term.
His words: “I totally agree with you that there should have been synchrony in the two documents, that is the ERGP should serve as milestone in achieving the NDC.
“Maybe the Department of Climate Change (DCC) (in the Federal Ministry of Environment) should quickly liase with those implementing the ERGP to find common grounds. I think that a lot of the successes in the ERGP could feed into the NDC.”
