Bothered by the array of threats faced by Nigerian rivers, the Foundation for Conservation of Nigerian Rivers (FCNR) has launched an advocacy campaign for rights of streams in the country.
Umuaja, source of Ethiope River
FCNR officials stated that this was undertaken to mark the World Rivers Day (WRD) on Sunday, September 23, 2018. The WRD is a global celebration of the world’s waterways observed on the last Sunday in September of every year.
In a statement endorsed by Prof. Oladapo Afolabi (Co-Founder/Chairman, Board of Trustees) and Irikefe Dafe (Founder/Executive Director), FCNR disclosed: “This year, we are marking the celebration of WRD in Nigeria and Africa by the official launching of an advocacy campaign for rights of rivers in Nigeria using River Ethiope as a case study.”
According to them, Nigeria is one of the countries in the world with rivers in a state of degradation and with no adequate and deliberate effort to reverse the trend.
The statement reads in part: “Every day, the country is losing this precious resource to pollution due to reckless activities of man (industrial and urban development) and climate change, among other factors.
“No river in Nigeria meets the water qualities standard stipulated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) either for swimming, fishing and drinking purposes. In every community in Nigeria today, the rivers that used to be a source of drinking water, swimming and other aquatic activities have ceased to play these vital roles to mankind due to pollution.
“We must redefine our concept of development as a nation, to note that developments that will not accord rivers and waterways their required attention to sustainably support human societies will not only be lopsided but transient.
“It will not be an over statement to say that the state of any river one sees in any community is a practical reflection of the mindset of the people and activities they undertake daily within a river catchment and watershed.
“The River Ethiope in Delta State is probably the only river that has a foundation established to promote its judicious use and conservation in contrast to water bodies in the USA, Australia and most parts of Europe that have all their water bodies under protection.
“Nigeria’s current efforts at economic progress and other developmental aspirations may be frustrated in the near future if deliberate and urgent attention is not given to sustainable management of its streams.”
The Nigeria National Parks Service has appealed to the public to assist the service in facilitating the recapture of wild animals that strayed from parks due to flood incidents across the country.
Alhaji Ibrahim Goni, Conservator-General of the National Parks Service
Alhaji Ibrahim Goni, the Conservator-General of the Parks Service, made the appeal in Abuja via a statement signed by his Media Assistant, Yakubu Zull, on Monday, September 24, 2018.
Goni, who sympathised with the flood victims and affected states, however, urged the general public not to kill any stray wild animal displaced by floods from wildlife parks, saying that they should instead call on experts for quick intervention.
He thanked Gov. Abubakar Bagudu and the people of Kebbi for inviting the officials of the service when they sighted four stray elephants and a calf in Danten swamp in Bagudu Local Government Area of the state.
He urged other citizens to emulate the governor in efforts to protect wildlife regardless of the location of the wild animals because of their value to a balanced and sustainable ecosystem.
“In Nigeria at present, the destruction of natural habitats continues unabated, resulting in the depletion of the country’s wildlife resources.
“Several species of wildlife have been lost, while some are threatened with extinction due to factors such as climate change, human population and pollution,’’ he added.
The conservator-general said that there were over 100 forest and game reserves across the country but noted that the current state of the reserves was quite unsatisfactory.
“This is the reason why the few remaining wild animals maraud with no habitat to protect them.
“The cases of a colony of chimpanzees killed in Enugu, elephants killed in Ondo and Kwara (Jebba), the marauding elephants in Ijebu Ode and the recent case of an elephant killed in Kebbi are fresh in mind,’’ he said.
Goni pushed for the review of the state laws that stipulated highly insignificant punishments for the killing of endangered animal species like elephants, for example.
“The fine is a tap on the wrist for such grievous offences, so the government should review the archaic wildlife laws to come up with effective protection and management policies for wildlife resources.
“The revised laws would avert the indiscriminate and wanton killing of these species,’’ he added.
The death toll in two major landslides that struck the Philippines recently has climbed to 95, authorities said on Monday, September 24, 2018.
Rescuers continue to search for victims buried by a landslide after Typhoon Mangkhut lashed Itogon
Officials said as of Sunday a total of 49 bodies have been pulled out of the rubble in the mining town of Itogon, Benguet province in the northern Philippines.
Meanwhile a total of 46 bodies have so far been retrieved from the landslide that also hit a community at the foot of a quarrying site in Naga City in the central Philippine Cebu province.
In Itogon, disaster officials said at least 19 others are still missing after mud boulders crashed on a bunkhouse.
The bunkhouse was where small-scale miners and their families sought refuge as super typhoon Mangkhut barreled the Philippine main Luzon Island on Sept. 15.
Rescuers are continuing their retrieval efforts to locate 40 others still missing in the Naga City landslide that buried some 30 houses around 6 a.m. on Thursday.
Disaster officials counted nearly 200 deaths in typhoon Mangkhut and the twin landslides that struck the Philippines recently.
Almost 1.6 million farmers and fishermen were affected by Mangkhut, the strongest typhoon to hit not only the Philippines but the region this year.
Data showed that 80 to 90 per cent rice and corn crops were destroyed in the affected area, jeopardising food supplies and devastating poor farmers who were counting on their upcoming harvest.
Other livelihoods such as mining are also severely impacted in the typhoon’s aftermath.
Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.
An average of 20 tropical cyclones enter the Philippines each year of which around six to seven cause significant damage.
In 2013, super typhoon Haiyan devastated the central Philippines, killing over 6,000 people.
In 2009, typhoon Ketsana also caused massive flooding in Metro Manila, killing over 700.
Taking place from Monday, September 24 to Sunday, September 30, 2018 in New York City, the New York Climate Week is expected to be another key moment in 2018 to showcase climate action from around the world and to gather political support for a strong outcome at the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference COP24 in December in Katowice, Poland.
New York City
The Climate Week, the 10th in the series, comes shortly after the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, California, where hundreds of new climate action commitments were made by states, regions, cities, civil society and investors.
UN officials welcomed the outcomes of the Global Climate Action Summit, which culminated in a landmark Call to Action presented to the UN’s Envoy on Youth, Jayathma Wickramanayake, and accepted by the UN top climate change official, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Patricia Espinosa, in the closing ceremony.
Some of the key events at the New York Climate Week include:
Addresses and statement at the opening ceremony to urge national governments gathered in New York to ramp up their commitments and deliver on the promise of the Paris Agreement.
The OECD, UN Environment and the World Bank Group host a high-level panel discussion on their joint initiative, titled: “Financing Climate Futures: Rethinking Infrastructure”.
The second One Planet Summit, co-hosted by Pres. Emmanuel Macron of France and Special Envoy for Climate Action Michael Bloomberg, which will bring a wide group of actors together for civic leadership on climate issues.
UN Climate Change and The Climate Group will co-organise a special event to announce the 15 winners of the 2018 Momentum for Change Award during Climate Week NYC on Thursday, September 27.
Nestlé has announced new plans to ensure the reduction of deforestation.
Magdi Batato, Executive Vice President and Head of Operations at Nestlé S.A
The Swiss company has set an enhanced plan to ensure that it fulfils its 2020 No Deforestation commitment by being the first global food company to implement Starling, a satellite-based service, to monitor 100 per cent of its global palm oil supply chains.
Magdi Batato, Executive Vice President and Head of Operations at Nestlé S.A, said: “Nestlé has always been committed to source the raw materials we need to make our products in a responsible manner. In 2010, we made a No Deforestation commitment stating that all our products globally will not be associated with deforestation by 2020.”
Starling use cutting-edge technology to provide un-biased year monitoring of land cover charges and forest cover disturbances. The data collected from the process allows companies to manage risks and perform field intervention strategies to drive change.
François Lombard, Head of the Intelligence Business at Airbus Defence and Space, said: “Starling is a fully digital service, offering best-in-class machine learning and cloud technologies to provide very precise and near-real time forest cover change information. Terabytes of satellite images are turned into actionable information, to provide our customers with a reliable service to monitor their supply chains and to early identify potential deforestation events.”
Deforestation is a complex problem and Nestle has urged the entire industry to work together to ensure it is addressed appropriately.
Palm oil is a vegetable oil and is the most widely used of its kind. However, the practices to produce palm oil result in widespread deforestation and loss of habitat for wildlife.
By December 2018, 100 per cent of Nestlé’s palm oil will be monitored for deforestation using satellite imagery.
The District Head of Auyo in Jigawa State, Alhaji Umar Baffa, wept openly on Saturday, September 22, 2018 over the devastation caused by flood in Auyo town and other villages in the district.
A flooded Gululu community at Jahun LGA, Jigawa State. Photo credit: premiumtimesng.com
Baffa, who holds the title of Sarkin Auyon Hadejia, said at his palace that the flood, caused by the overflow of the Hadeja-Jamaare River, completely submerged the town and neighbouring communities.
“Three of my people died and properties worth N3.5 billion were lost in the flooding that submerged the town and some villages in my domain.
“For two days, water was overflowing from the Hadejia-Jama’are River to Auyo and, before we could do anything, the water submerged the town and the neighbouring villages.
“The villages included Jura, Rafeji, Uza, Gamakwai, Zabaro and Ayama, among others.
“In the process, three people got missing and we immediately put up a search team and their bodies were later found.
“Many houses, farmlands, animals and other properties were destroyed during the flooding,” the monarch said.
A businessman, Alhaji Isa Auyo, who lost 10 trailer loads of fertiliser, said it was a devastating experience.
“You can see the whole town is submerged; all the people have deserted the town and are now taking refuge in various Internally Displaced Person (IDPs) camps across the state.
“I am really worried about the plight of the people and I appeal to the government, individuals and corporate organisations to rescue us from this catastrophe.
He said that the state government had already undertaken an assessment of the damage and brought food and medicines.
Auyo added: “This is not the first time we are experiencing this episode in Auyo town, we had similar incident in 2001, but the current one is more devastating.
“I am appealing to the Federal Government to look into ways of tacking this recurring phenomenon.
“We were told that the water was from River Congo which overflowed through Cameroon to Lake Chad Basin is causing havoc in many places in Nigeria.
“I urge the federal government to do something to control the water so that that it can pass through our rivers with low velocity without causing any harm to us.
“I also want the Federal Government to include Jigawa among the 11 states where a state of emergency was declared over flooding.”
Stakeholders in the nation’s environment and sustainable development sector have been urged to adopt technology to effectively address the challenges of climate change.
L-R: Dr. Reuben Bamidele, representative of UNIDO; Dr. Richard Munang, UNEP’s Regional Climate Change Coordinator; Bitrus Bako Nabasu, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology; Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, Minister of Science and Technology; and Dr. Peter Ekweozoh, Project Coordinator, Ministry of Science and Technology
This formed the kernel of discussions at the National Inception Workshop on Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation that held on Monday, September 10, 2018 in Abuja.
Speaking at the workshop, the Regional Climate Change Coordinator of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Dr. Richard Munang, said: “To address climate change, Nigeria has everything she needs to pave the way for the entire continent. The problem with mitigating climate change in Africa is not totally a financial problem but that we have not paid attention to build people’s capacity and implore them to combat Climate Change in their respective locations and using tailored approaches.”
Dr. Reuben Bamidele, a representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), underscored the need for an effective response to monitoring and evaluation regarding climate change issues in Nigeria. He also pledged UNIDO’s willingness and availability to provide support to the Federal Government of Nigeria during the TNA process.
Citing the examples of China and Israel, the Minister of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, urged Nigeria to move with the rest of the world by leveraging technology to mitigate climate change and the resulting effects.
He said: “Climate change is real, and the effects are with us, not only in Nigeria but across the world too. We see the evidence with the drying up of the Chad Basin, desertification, rise in sea level, coastal encroachment, and other environmental disasters we witness every time.
“The problems of climate change are not just economical but also a social problem too. We should not be afraid of the existence of climate change; the challenge for us is our inability to use science and technology to mitigate it.”
The minister referred to countries like China and Israel, applauding their efforts to leverage science and technology to combat climate change and create jobs in their countries.
Mr. Chukwuemeka Okebugwu, a representative of Dr. Peter Tarfa, Director, Department of Climate Change in the Federal Ministry of Environment, gave a brief report of the Inter-ministerial Committee on Climate Change to help Nigeria determine her Nationally Determined Contributions of 20% (unconditional) and 45% (conditional).
His words: “The Federal Ministry of Environment is working closely with her counterparts in the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology and other related MDAs to work out solutions and ensure that Nigeria is enabled to solve many problems associated with climate change. This Technology Needs Assessment is critical to help us develop a roadmap and work with the appropriate knowledge needed to combat climate change in Nigeria.”
A National Steering Committee of the TNA on Climate Change was inaugurated by the minister.
The workshop invited interested parties to come up with practical solutions that will combat climate change and other related environmental and social challenges that stem from it. The framework for the TNA was to organise stakeholder involvement, develop a work plan, inaugurate a national team and conclude on support tools necessary for the assessment. Three focal groups – Energy, Industrial and Agriculture – were formed and presented with respective tasks.
The Nigerian Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) has begun the process of controlling gully erosion threatening the Federal High Court and other property at the Alex Ekwueme erosion site, Awka, the Anambra State capital.
The Federal High Court, Awka is under serious gully erosion threat and at the verge of imminent collapse
Mr Mike Ivenso, Project Coordinator of NEWMAP in Anambra, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday, Deptember 23, 2018 in Awka that the project had held a pre-bid meeting with some potential contractors for the control works.
He said Gov. Willie Obiano had declared emergency on the Alex Ekwueme gully erosion site which was threatening several structures, including the Federal High Court, a hotel, federal secretariat and access roads.
He said the bidding process was “abridged” in the light of the urgency of the project and the need to rescue the area expeditiously.
The World Bank-sponsored NEWMAP project coordinator said the prospective contractors were expected to respond on or before Oct. 4, two weeks after the process commenced instead of the normal eight weeks.
Ivenso said the contract would be for a period of 12 months but expressed hope that it would be delivered by March next year.
According to him, funding for the project has been appropriated by the state government which is working in concert with the Federal Government as well as the World Bank.
“We have met with potential bidders, six of them, and they have visited the site to take an assessment of what to do to enable them come up with responsive bids which we can evaluate.
“His Excellency, Gov. Willie Obiano has declared an Emergency on the Alex Ekwueme erosion site and has mandated NEWMAP and all relevant agencies to fast track the intervention works here.
“A lot of landslide has occurred here, and the erosion is fast encroaching into the Federal High Court and the governor has directed that we expedite control intervention works here.
“This vicinity houses significant amount of federal, state and private property, the area is called Central Business District, the Federal High Court is not the only threatened structure.
“We have a five-star hotel, the State High Court is not far from here, there is the upcoming Federal Secretariat, access roads to the other parts of the district are all in severe danger and that is what informed the declaration of emergency in this area.
“We intend to rescue all these properties with a combination of civil works and bio-remediation activities,” he said.
Ivenso said the Anambra government had already spent about N22 million on the preliminaries of the project as a demonstration of its commitment to the speedy execution of the project.
“Already, Anambra Government has spent about N22 million on Environmental Impact Assessment and Resettlement Action Plan; these are the two major things that must be done before any World Bank intervention works can commence as well as the engineering design.
“The Administration Judge of this court has expressed grave fears about the emerging erosion, the Judges complex have been vacated because of the advancing landslide, our mandate is for a speedy and rapid response, so, we expect that it will be remedied by March next year.
Contributing, Mr Mike Okonkwo, Commissioner for Environment in Anambra, said that Obiano was very concerned about the erosion challenge, the safety of Anambra people and their property.
Okonkwo said the governor was glad that the intervention process has started with the commencement of bidding and thanked the World Bank and Federal Government for heeding the call to rescue the area.
“We have had ministers and heads of agencies visit the area, everybody knows that it is a very dangerous environmental challenge, that is why the bidding process is abridged.
“We must pay attention to every detail in the bid so that we don’t get any objection, we look forward to seeing the end of this by Oct. 4,” he said.
The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, has told the Federal High Court in Lagos to “grant the Ministry more time within which to compile and furnish Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) with information on the spending on water, and locations of specific projects, in view of the high volume of the information involved.”
Suleiman Adamu, Minister of Water Resources
Mr Adamu said, “It is not true that millions of Nigerians are drinking water from contaminated sources. It is not the duties of the Ministry of Water Resources alone to provide drinking water for the citizens.”
The Ministry of Water Resources stated this in court in its reply to the Freedom of Information suit number FHC/L/CS/632/18 filed in April by SERAP requesting Mr Adamu and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Audu Ogbeh, to “explain why millions of Nigerians have to resort to drinking water from contaminated sources with deadly health consequences, despite the authorities claiming to have spent trillions of naira of budgetary allocations on the sector since 1999.”
However, while Mr Adamu has promised to render account on spending on water projects and is now asking the court for more time to do so, Mr Ogbeh has reportedly failed, refused and/or neglected to respond to SERAP’s request and has not filed any paper in court to counter the suit filed by the organisation.
But Mr Adamu, through a counter-affidavit dated September 7, 2018 and sworn to by Kwushue Abolaji, Legal Officer at the Ministry of Water Resources, said: “The delay in furnishing SERAP with the requested information is not deliberate. The information will soon be ready, and it will be forwarded to SERAP without further delay. We humbly urge the court to grant us more time within which to do this.”
The Written Address signed by M.C. Mbam, Counsel to Mr Adamu, reads in part: “The Ministry of Water Resources did not refuse or decline to furnish SERAP with the requested information but was only unable to furnish it within the stipulated timeframe. We have already agreed in a letter dated 12 March 2018 to provide the information.”
“The inability of the Ministry of Water Resources to furnish the information is not deliberate rather it was because of the enormity of the materials required which could not be collated easily because more than one department is involved. Under the rules of this court, the judge may as often as he deems fit and either before or after the expiration of the time appointed by the rules extend or adjourn the time for doing any act or taking any proceedings.”
“The Ministry is still compiling the information and has written to various departments to provide the information for onward transmission to SERAP. We need more time to compile and transmit the requested information to SERAP. It will not be in the interest of justice to grant SERAP’s reliefs.”
It will be recalled that Justice Shagari had in June granted the order for leave following the hearing of an argument in court on exparte motion by SERAP counsel Ms Bamisope Adeyanju.
Before the suit was filed, Mr Adamu had agreed in a letter to “publish details of spending and locations of projects on water and sanitation for periods covering 2010-2016, as well as details of allocations to the 36 states of the federation.”
Mr Adamu, in a letter with reference number FMWR/LU/S/374/I, and dated March 12, 2018 and signed by P.C. Mbam, Acting Director (Legal) of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, said: “We will work hard to provide SERAP with the details of spending, and the information requested as they relate specifically to Water and Sanitation projects from 2010 to 2016.”
Mr Adamu also said: “The Federal Ministry of Water Resources was demerged from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2010. A copy of your letter will be forwarded to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for action on the other years before 2010. For emphasis sake, we advise that SERAP should send aseparate request directly to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for the period (1999-2010) outside the purview of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources’ projects.”
SERAP also then welcomed “the firm commitment by Mr Adamu to explain to Nigerians what exactly have happened to trillions of naira budgeted for water and sanitation across the country between 2010 and 2016. Mr Adamu’s commitment is refreshing, especially coming at a time many public institutions and ministries such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) are rejecting public requests for information and making information on the spending our commonwealth harder to access.”
SERAP said it would now file a reply on points of law in court to the counter-affidavit filed by Mr Adamu. The organisation criticised Mr Ogbeh for so far failing to respond to its FOI request or reply to its suit.
SERAP in its FOI request dated March 2, 2018 claimed that “many toilets in public offices are out of order because of lack of water while millions of Nigerians remain desperate for water in their homes, often resorting to contaminated sources and drilling their own boreholes that can become easily mixed with sewage, with negative environmental impacts, and devastating for people’s health.”
SERAP’s FOI request reads in part: “We are concerned that millions of Nigerians do not have access to clean and potable water and adequate sanitation. There is no water to show for the huge budgetary allocations and purported spending and investment in the sector since the return of democracy in 1999. Successive governments have failed to improve affordability of water for millions of low-income Nigerians, thereby denying them access to water.
“Contractors handling water projects are reportedly engaging in schemes like the deliberate use of substandard pipes, among others, to make profit, leading to loss of water. This dearth of water also affects sanitation. The large number of broken down water facilities across the country has hindered effective water supply to the citizens.
“We urge you to use your leadership position to provide within 14 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter detailed information on the spending on specific water and sanitation projects and their locations carried out by the Ministry of Water Resources and Rural Development for the following years: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 (1999-2016); as well as details of allocations to the 36 states of the federation.”
Eleven different African institutions have come together through a consortium to build capacities of indigenous scientists who are researching on common diseases, especially those that are transmitted from livestock to human and vice versa through a concept known as “One Health”.
Dr. Bassirou Bonfoh
“Many times, we treat tuberculosis in humans, but it doesn’t work because it is originating from livestock animals,” said Dr Bassirou Bonfoh, the Director for the consortium also known as African Science Partnership for Intervention Research Excellence (ASPIRE).
“One Health concept therefore recognises that the health of people is connected to the health of animals and the environment, and must therefore be tackled wholesomely,” said Bonfoh.
One Health is a collaborative, multisectoral, and trans-disciplinary approach -working at the local, regional, national, and global levels – with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes recognising the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.
The consortium is currently supporting 60 young African scientists (Masters, PhD students and Post Doctoral) who are currently researching on different diseases that include TB, brucellosis and rabies, among many others.
James Akoko from Kenya is one of the fellows studying Brucellosis for his PhD at Maseno University.
Brucellosis is one of the neglected diseases, and it is transmitted from livestock to humans through poor meat handling, consumption of unpasteurised dairy products and direct contact with infected animals.
“My study seeks to understand the role of different animals in the treatment of the disease,” says Akoko.
He notes that if one is infected with the disease, then it is important to understand the origin in order to address the disease conclusively.
“In many cases, we treat Brucellosis without knowing whether the patient picked it from a goat, a cow or even a camel,” says Akoko. To address this, his study insists on interviewing the patient to understand the very animals they interact with, what kind of meat they eat and the milk they take so as to know the target for vaccination.
Through the consortium, Akoko is linked to supervisors based in Kenya, Tanzania and Switzerland. “We coordinate through skype meetings, emails, workshops and even conferences,” stresses the researcher.
Other researchers are focusing on major steps towards elimination of rabies in Africa.
“There is evidence that rabies can be eliminated. But we have not been able to do it,” ponts out Bonfoh.
The scientists are therefore involved in efforts to eliminate rabies in Tanzania, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire using an all-inclusive approach of “One Health.
“Governments need to take up the fight against these important diseases, which affect mostly the poor,” notes Bonfoh. “But the problem has been that nearly all governments focus on priority diseases while neglecting some very important ones,” he adds.
