A three-day international conference will explore how engagement between State and non-State actors can be further strengthened in the key sectors for Africa, such as energy, agriculture and human settlements.
Cotonou in Benin Republic hosts the 9th Africa Carbon Forum
The Africa Carbon Forum (AFC) will likewise attempt to determine the role of future carbon markets in achieving enhanced climate action towards the goals of sustainable development.
The AFC 2017, which is the ninth in the series, holds in Cotonou, Benin Republic, from June 28 to 30, 2017.
Themed: “Collaborative climate action for sustainable development in Africa”, the event will cover:
Practical examples of policies, initiatives and actions in Africa;
Barriers and enabling measures for engaging climate action in key sectors;
Financial instruments and regulatory frameworks; and,
Advancing the implementation of climate action.
“With a comprehensive programme of plenary sessions, workshops, a ministerial section, side events and exhibits, this is a one of a kind event in the region,” state the promoters, describing the forum as “a great opportunity for financiers, policymakers and project developers to share experiences, network and build capacity”.
They add: “Over the past decade the ACF has provided a unique platform for Africa to engage on climate change issues in the region. The Forum brings together key stakeholders from the public sector and other non-Party actors from Africa and beyond. It witnesses the participation of key multilateral and bilateral development institutions and experts to discuss urgent actions needed on the ground and share experience and build capacity for implementation of actions.”
Rangers International FC of Enugu has suspended its coach, Imama Amakapabo, following the club’s poor run of form in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
Rangers International FC of Enugu
The suspension was handed down to the coach immediately Rangers played out a disappointing 2-2 draw against Zesco United of Zambia on Sunday, April 9, 2017 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe in Enugu, in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup competition.
The Flying Antelope had led 2-0 courtesy of Chibuzo Madu and Osazu Okoro’s goals, before the Zambians equalised less than 30 minutes before time.
General Manager of Rangers, Christian Chukwu, told reporters after the match that the Flying Antelopes “lost” the match against Zesco from the bench.
“We lost the match due to the kind of changes effected during the game. The Coach has been told to step aside for now because everybody is angry,” Chukwu said.
Rangers, who is the reigning NPFL champions, was eliminated from the CAF Champions League by Egypt’s Zamalek, who won their fixtures 5-3 on aggregate. Rangers had to drop down to the qualifying stages for the second-tier Confederation Cup.
Meanwhile, players of Akwa United FC were attached by Kano Pillars fans after the NPFL match, which saw the home team losing 0-1 to the visitors.
Christian Piabana broke the heart of Kano football fans as he scored the only goal.
Immediately after the game, Pillars’ supporters crowded the referees and pelted them with stones and dangerous weapons. The police had to use tear gas to disperse the rampaging crowd as several cars were damaged.
In a related development, the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Football Club (MFM) has recorded the biggest win in the week 18 of the NPFL, after beating rivals El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri 3-0 at the Agege Stadium in, Lagos.
Stephen Eke scored one of the goals to increase his goal tally to 14.
Amos Gabriel scored in the 89th minutes to give ABS football club a 1-0 victory over Nasarawa United.
In Bauchi, Wikki Tourists beat Gombe United 3-1. Shooting Stars of Ibadan were 2-1 better than Niger Tornadoes, while Sunshine Stars edged Remo Stars 1-0 at the Akure Township Stadium. The game between Lobi Stars and Ifeanyi Ubah ended goalless.
Rivers United at home beat Abia Warriors 1-0, even as Katsina United secured a 2-1 victory over Enyinba FC of Aba.
Reports from Katsina say Enyiba’s players were attached by Katsina United fans after the game.
With the Government of Canada depositing its instrument of ratification on Friday, April 7 2017, the number of countries that have ratified the Minamata Convention on Mercury now stands at 41.
Canadian officials deposit the country’s instrument of ratification, thereby becoming the 41st future Party to the Minamata Convention on Mercury
A minimum of 50 nations are required to ratify the Convention to make it legally binding, implying that just nine more ratifications are needed for the global treaty to reach this milestone.
And, upon achieving the breakthrough, the coast becomes clear for the scheduled First Conference of the Parties (COP1) to the Minamata Convention on Mercury to take place in the last week of September, 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury, a global treaty aimed at protecting human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury, was agreed at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC5) in Geneva, Switzerland on Saturday, January 19, 2013.
Canada’s ratification was preceded by those of Ghana, Honduras, Liechtenstein and Togo.
Nigeria is one of the 128 signatories to the global treaty, but she is yet to ratify it.
Ratification automatically makes a nation a Party to the Convention with the duty to domesticate its content.
The signing of the Convention would enable such a country to:
Develop a National Implementation Strategy (NIS)/Action Plan to holistically address challenges relating to the reduction and elimination of Mercury;
Undertake a comprehensive inventory as a basis to develop and implement a more robust Mercury preventive programme which will include the identification and location, contaminated sites and extent of contamination, storage, handling and disposal to ensure that mercury related activities do not result in further damage to health and the environment;
Enhance national capacities with respect to human resources development and institutional strengthening, towards addressing concerns about the long-term effects of Mercury on both human health and the environment and also to ensure the effective domestication of the instrument that will be implementable at national level;
Sensitise the populace and policy makers on the hazards of mercury;
Develop and implement Mercury Release Minimisation Projects; and,
Control mercury supply and trade.
Nations that have ratified the Convention include: Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Canada, Chad, China, Costa Rica, Djibouti, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Gayana, Honduras, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Mali and Mauritania.
Others are: Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Samoa, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Switzerland, Togo, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Uruguay and Zambia.
Major highlights of the Minamata Convention include a ban on new mercury mines, the phase-out of existing ones, the phase out and phase down of mercury use in a number of products and processes, control measures on emissions to air and on releases to land and water, and the regulation of the informal sector of artisanal and small-scale gold mining. The Convention also addresses interim storage of mercury and its disposal once it becomes waste, sites contaminated by mercury as well as health issues.
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials are proposing to eliminate two programmes focused on limiting children’s exposure to lead-based paint, which is known to cause damage to developing brains and nervous systems.
When children have exposure to lead paint, both cognitive and emotional disabilities can develop. Young children are especially at risk since they have a tendency to put items – such as paint chips – in their mouths.
The proposed cuts, outlined in a 64-page budget memo revealed by The Washington Post on Friday, April 7, 2017 would roll back programmes aimed at reducing lead risks by $16.61 million and more than 70 employees, in line with a broader project by the Trump administration to devolve responsibility for environmental and health protection to state and local governments.
Old housing stock is the biggest risk for lead exposure – and the EPA estimates that 38 million U.S. homes contain lead-based paint.
Environmental groups said the elimination of the two programmes, which are focused on training workers in the safe removal of lead-based paint and public education about its risks, would make it harder for the EPA to address the environmental hazard.
One of the programmes falling under the axe requires professional remodelers to undergo training in safe practices for stripping away old, lead-based paints from homes and other facilities.
The training programme for remodelers was set up under a 2010 EPA regulation that aims to reduce exposure to toxic lead-paint chips and dust by requiring renovators to be certified in federally approved methods of containing and cleaning up work areas in homes constructed before 1978.
The rule applies to a broad range of renovations, including carpet removal and window replacement, in homes inhabited by pregnant women and young children.
Some operators in the home renovation industry have criticised the rule as too costly, noting that some customers simply opt to hire contractors who deliberately skirt the federal standards.
Lead is a potent neurotoxin, and particularly harmful to children and the elderly. Its dangers in gasoline, paint and drinking water have been scientifically documented over many decades, which has led to stronger regulatory protections.
In a 2014 report, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention found that 243,000 children had blood lead levels above the danger threshold – and that permanent neurological damage and behavior disorders had been associated at even lower levels of lead exposure.
“The most common risk factor is living in a housing unit built before 1978, the year when residential use of lead paint was banned in the United States,” the CDC found.
EPA spokeswoman Julia Valentine said in an email that the two programmes facing cuts are “mature,” and that the goal of their elimination is to return “the responsibility for funding to state and local entities.”
The Lead Risk Reduction Programme, which would be cut by $ 2.56 million and 72.8 full-time equivalent employees, is charged with certifying renovators who work in buildings that may contain lead-based paint and upholding federal safety standards for such projects. Located in the agency’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, the lead risk reduction programme also helps educate Americans about how to minimise their exposure to lead in their homes.
“The basis for the EPA reduction is that states can do this work, but then we’re going to take away the money we’re going to give to states,” said Jim Jones, who headed the EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, which administers the lead-based paint program, in the Obama years. “I think it’s just one of many examples in that budget of the circular thinking there that just doesn’t hold together.”
But the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, which represents some of the industry’s biggest players, welcomed the plan to abolish the two programmes. The association’s chief executive, Fred Ulreich, said in a statement that the group “has long supported moving” the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Programme “from EPA down to the individual states.”
Fourteen states – Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin – run programmes to train contractors how to properly handle renovations involving lead paint, according to the EPA’s website. The rest rely on the federal government to provide training.
Ulreich said in his statement that his group “believes that the program can be better run and enforcement can be more vigorous the closer it is to the local contractors.”
But Ulreich added that the group would object to states who seek to run a lead “abatement programme.” The group has successfully delayed a programme in Maryland that goes further than the current federal requirements when it comes to lead paint removal.
Erik Olson, who directs the Natural Resources Defense Council’s health programme, said in an interview that the move leaves children in dozens of states unprotected.
“If the state doesn’t have a programme, which is true in most states, and if the EPA doesn’t have a programme, how are you going to have compliance with the lead rules?” Olson asked. “Basically, this is the guts of the programme that protects kids from lead poisoning from paint.”
State efforts to reduce lead risks have had mixed results. In 2004, New Jersey created the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund, which was supposed to provide loans and grants to homeowners and landlords to help them remove lead-based paint from aging housing stock. The programme was supposed to be funded by sales tax revenue from cans of paint, which was expected to be $7 million to $14 million a year.
Instead, over the next dozen years, the legislature and Democratic and Republican governors diverted more than $50 million from the fund to payment of routine bills and salaries.
The EPA’s Valentine said in an email that the agency is “working towards implementing the president’s budget based on the framework provided by his blueprint,” and that “while many in Washington insist on greater spending, EPA is focused on greater value and real results.”
The cuts to the lead-paint programmes would not directly affect EPA programmes related to lead in drinking water, as in the case of Flint, Mich. Those programmes fall under the agency’s Office of Water. But the EPA memo does propose reducing funding and staff for the agency’s drinking water programmes as well.
Changes to how the federal government addresses lead paint could affect hundreds of thousands of renovators, noted Remodeling magazine Editor in Chief Craig Webb.
The latest U.S. Census classified 78,000 firms as being in residential remodeling, with 278,921 employees. But since the 2010 rule also affects many siding, painting and wallcovering contractors, as well as individual proprietors, the number could be much higher.
The EPA announced in November 2016 that they had pursued more than 100 enforcement actions for lead-based paint hazards, many of those focused on the nation’s largest companies.
In 2014, Lowe’s home improvement chain agreed to pay $500,000 and create a compliance programme across its 1,700 stores as part of a settlement agreement with the EPA.
Lowe’s had “failed to provide documentation showing that the contractors it hires to perform renovation projects for Lowe’s customers had been certified by EPA, had been properly trained, had used lead-safe work practices, or had correctly used EPA-approved lead test kits at renovation sites,” the agency charged. (The company did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.)
Later, Sears reached a similar settlement with the agency. Sears also declined to comment for this story.
The National Association of Home Builders has objected to EPA’s regulation, charging that it is “an inefficient tool for achieving the environmental and health goals of the underlying statute and rule.”
On Tuesday, association spokeswoman Elizabeth Thompson said in an email: “At this point, it is premature to comment until something official has been announced.”
By Chris Mooney and Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post
Executives of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), led by the president, Amaju Pinnick, have paid a courtesy visit to the Minister of Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalung, thanking him and Nigerians in general for their support in the last CAF elections.
NFF President, Amaju Pinnick
Pinnick won a place on the CAF Executive Committee during the elections.
Pinnick said his victory would not have been possible without the backing of the minister and the good people of Nigeria.
“Our visit is to say ‘Thank you’ for the support you gave us, when we embarked on the journey. You encouraged us to go and conquer and make sure we get ourselves into the continental body, as Nigeria is too big not to be part of such body,” Pinnick stated.
In his response, Dalung, on behalf of the federal government, urged Pinnick to use his new position in CAF to better the lot of Nigerian football.
“You must put to bare not only your wealth of influence, but you must exert the corporate integrity of Nigeria, anywhere you find yourself taking decision that affects the country,” Dalung said, calling on the NFF authority to, as a matter of urgency, attend to decadence of football facilities in the country.
Meanwhile, the latest football rankings released by FIFA on Thursday, April 6, 2107 came as good news to Nigeria following the Super Eagles’ rise to 40th position in the world and 5th in Africa.
Nigeria picked up points from the 1-1 draw against Senegal in London to move one spot in the latest rankings and also behind Egypt, Senegal, Cameroon and Burkina Faso in Africa’s top five.
Cameroon, who is the next opponent of the Super Eagles, is still ranked higher than the German Gernot Rohr-tutored team, but the Eagles are ranked higher than fellow World Cup qualifier group rivals Algeria and Zambia, who are ranked 54th and 97th respectively.
South Africa, Libya and Seychelles who are group rivals to Nigeria in the race to 2019 AFCON are ranked 64th, 91st and 196th respectively.
The 2019 AFCON qualifiers start in June.
In a related development, the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) has suspended the referee who officiated the match between Gombe United and Rivers United on Saturday, April 2, until the end of the season. Referee Salafa Agboola had disallowed the goal scored by Rivers United by Asamoah Godbless in the 84th minute decided at the Pantani Stadium, Gombe.
Secretary to the Referee’s Committee of the NFF, Sanni Zebai, on Wednesday reached a decision that Agboola of Osun State Referees Council be suspended till the end of the season.
Zebai added that the decision to suspend Agboola was as a result of poor handling and sheer display of incompetence which affected the outcome of the match.
He added that video clips and report of Referee Assessors found the referee wanting in the discharge of his duties, which also revealed gross abuse of the Law of the Game in the said match.
The sanctioned referee has been recommended to the Disciplinary Committee for further action.
One of the two charges being brought against Colombian environmental defenders, Elsa Ardila and Prof. Miller Dussan of the Association of those Affected by the Quimbo Megadam Project (ASOQUIMBO), has been dropped. This was the outcome of court proceedings on Thursday, March 30, 2017 in Garzon, Huila, Colombia.
Quimbo dam protest
Both defenders have been facing legal proceedings initiated by Emgesa, the Colombian subsidiary of Italian energy transnational Enel, in relation to their community organising work to resist the Quimbo mega hydroelectric project.
As such, the leaders have spent the past five years living with criminal charges hanging over them. In the first case, Ardila and Dussan stand accused of “obstructing public roads and affecting public order”, following a protest in relation to damages made by the company to local infrastructure. Miller Dussan also faces a second, heavier charge of eight years imprisonment for “instigating the occupation of land” owned by the corporation. Taken together, these charges carry a combined maximum sentence of 16 years for the two leaders.
In October 2016 ASOQUIMBO’s lawyer, German Romero, requested for the first of these charges to be dropped, arguing that those involved in the incident were exercising their constitutional rights to peaceful protest. The Public Prosecutor also later supported this request during proceedings on February 22, 2017.
The first case: Dropped
During Thursday’s one hour hearing, the Judge, in turn, also accepted these arguments and duly upheld Ardila and Dussan’s right to social protest. The case for “obstructing public roads and affecting public order” has now been closed.
Romero made the following remarks after the hearing: “This result proves two things. One, that EMGESA’s attempt to attack ASOQUIMBO’s environmental leaders with judicial harassment tactics has failed and, secondly, that the ASOQUIMBO protest was perfectly legitimate and in accordance with Colombian constiutional norms.”
Local communities in Huila joined together to form ASOQUIMBO back in 2009 to resist the construction of Enel-Emgesa’s Quimbo megadam on the Magdalena River. Through a series of conferences, direct actions and art installations – amongst other interventions – ASOQUIMBO succeeded in shining a light on the gravity of the environmental and human impacts associated with the hydroelectric project. Going beyond local concerns, ASOQUIMBO continues to question the broader mining-energy politics in Colombia and beyond. The movement’s demands are, amongst others, for the construction of localised, sovereign and autonomous politics that respond to the real needs of local communities and that is based upon clean energy alternatives. They also demand an end to the judicial (and of other forms of) persecution being brought against its members.
This decision is said to mark a win for hundreds and thousands of environmental defenders across Colombia and Latin America who are facing forced evictions, brutality and criminal charges for their resistance to the relentless advance of extractivist projects into their communities.
Professor Dussán said: “This shows that international solidarity is effective at blocking these attempts to undermine social protest by means of judicial harassment, and this is an example to follow in other resistente struggles. We have to mobilise locally and connect our efforts to these acts of international solidarity this is how we can make real progress, as the dropping of charges against ASOQUIMBO clearly demonstrates.”
The second case: Ongoing
Although there is cause to celebrate, there also remains work ahead in ensuring that ASOQUIMBO’s leaders are free from persecution. Professor Miller Dussan still faces a second legal charge for “instigating the occupation of lands” as a result of allegations made by Enel-Emgesa. This charge could see the 67-year-old academic locked up for up to eight years.
In response to civil society pressure on the multinational to drop all charges, Emgesa-Enel released a statement on February 21, affirming its intention to “waive any further pending claim” against the leaders of ASOQUIMBO. The corporation also stated that it “has has no interest in a fight with Asoquimbo”.
Although this is said to represent progress for the international campaign and Enel-Emgesa’s words on the judicial persecution of local leaders represent an encouraging next step, they now need to be translated into action.
The El Quimbo Dam is a concrete faced rock-fill dam and hydroelectric power project under development in the Huila Department of southwestern-central Colombia, approximately 69 kilometres south of the city of Neiva, on the Magdalena River. It is valued at $837 million.
Nearly 450 families were evicted from their lands and resettled on less fertile plots of land to allow the filling of the dam’s reservoir. The evicted farmers and their families have reportedly found few employment opportunities in their new homes, and they are said to be finding it difficult to renew their previous occupations of fishing and agriculture.
Emgesa has been accused of failing to conduct a study on the environmental viability of the project. The dam was also allegedly built in a seismic zone, and from the beginning downstream communities have feared that earthquakes could cause dam breakage.
African women civil society operatives have rejected the European Union’s “unnecessary meddling” in the Africa’s Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI).
Titilope Akosa of the Centre for 21st Century Issues
In a statement made available to EnviroNews on Saturday, April 8 2017, the activists expressed concern at “the manner in which some European countries, France in particular, influenced some African leaders to hastily approve projects without having a transparent process with social, environmental and gender criteria in place.”
At a board meeting in March 2017 in Conakry, the European Commission and France are alleged to have colluded with some African countries to repackage existing European Union projects for Africa, but which did not originate from Africa, as first batch of projects to be approved by AREI.
The statement, endorsed by Priscilla Achakpa (Women Environment Programme), Collette Benoudji (Association Lead Tchad) and Titilope Akosa (Centre for 21st Century Issues), reads: “The way and manner these projects were introduced and approved – by bypassing AREI’s process being developed for social and environmental criteria – is a very negative sign, setting the entire process off on a negative footing, refusing African people’s transparent decision making, and entirely against the principles by which AREI was created.
“African women insist that European Union cannot dictate for Africans over any issue, especially the one concerning universal access to clean, appropriate and affordable energy for all.
“Women are particularly concerned about the unnecessary interference by European Union and France particularly as it can jeopardise the noble objective of AREI in providing people-centered and gender-responsive clean energy solutions capable of addressing the chronic energy poverty which affects women in Africa disproportionately.
“African women join their voices with other civil society organisations in Africa to condemn the undue interference of European Union in AREI. African women stand for a strong and independent AREI, with full and meaningful participation of women’s organisations in all levels of the decision-making processes.”
In this article, the context of the Government of Nigeria (GON) and its agencies killing a truth-seeking environmentalist is (a) physical as in murder, execution, assassination or driving one to suicide. Or (b) psychological as in breaking one’s spirit, discrediting one’s name, ruining one’s career; being a victim of government-sponsored attack dogs. Ken Saro-Wiwa a major Nigerian environmentalist suffered such a fate.
Nnimmo Bassey
It would not be paranoia or scaremongering to be concerned that the GON are after yet another environmentalist, Rev Nnimmo Bassey. The question is to what extent, considering the beginnings of similar trends and actions in the past. “Discredit him then kill him” is an old tactic. It should be taken seriously.
When I read an article purposefully written and published to smear Nnimmo Bassey as being guilty of “misleading” the public and “unpatriotic” activism just for pecuniary sake, I was shocked at the evolution of blamocracy happening within the current GON (https://www.environewsnigeria.com/biotech-agencies-nirec-report-unpatriotic-activism/).
Yes, Nigeria is now replete with Blamocrats, within and without government, that purposefully attack any critic of government regardless of the degree of necessity of the critique or the failure of the GON to adequately live up to its duties and commitments. Nnimmo Bassey wrote a befitting rebuttal to the attacking article (http://nigeriancurrent.com/2017/03/20/biotechnology-scientists-experts-government-agencies-and-patriotism-by-nnimmo-bassey/) but much concern for his safety and future had already been triggered in many people. The easily evoked chill of his buddy, Saro-Wiwa’s execution has not thawed in the minds of millions around the globe.
A smear is an attempt to damage a person with falsehoods; a criticism is an expression of disapproval about an entity or person based on real or imagined failures or mistakes. They are not the same thing. The basis for the smear levelled against Bassey was that he was the main architect of the National Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) Report and that he was critical of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) and the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA). What is quite interesting is that the scientific contents of the NIREC Report were not discussed by the author who chose to adopt a non-scientific non-rational discourse instead.
Reason: anyone who reads the NIREC Report would see the committee is constituted of noted high calibre thinkers, the issues raised were fact-driven and relevant to Nigeria’s interest, the methodology adopted was evidence-based, and the report was impeccably reference.
The NIREC Report is an evidence-based investigation into claims and counterclaims concerning the implications of the introduction of GMOs into Nigeria using appropriate scientific methodology. The scientific findings were then tested for compatibility with religious beliefs and the national interest. The theme of the Report can be reasonably narrowed down to 10 important crucial questions and rational recommendations for them. The questions are:
Do GM crops increase crop yield?
Do GM crops reduce pesticide use?
What are the effects of GM crops on human health?
What are the benefits of GM bio-fortification for our otherwise natural crops?
What are the long-term effects of GM crops on the environment; and the way forward?
What deficiencies were identified in the current Biosafety Act 2015?
What deficiencies were identified in the National Health Act 2014?
Are there concerns with the distribution of GM crops to IDPs by NGOs?
Which are the GM crops currently sold or cultivated in Nigeria?
What are the religious, socio-cultural and national interest implications of use of GM crops?
A summary of the evidence-based answers was that GMO did not increase crop yield, GMOs did not reduce pesticide use, pests were not necessarily eradicated but mere swapped by introducing GMOs, GMOs carried serious potential health risks, the future of the environment in the long-term was uncertain in the presence of GMOs, the Biosafety Act of 2015 and the Health Act 2014 required significant revision to eliminate deficiencies in them and areas where GMOs are bought and sold should be identified. All these recommendations where developed with adherence the provisions and expectations of a clearly defined religious (Christian and Islamic) and broad-based national interest concerns. Finally, more research into GMOs was required before the claims of the advantages of GMOs could be taken seriously.
What is so unpatriotic, venal or self-serving about the NIREC Report and its alleged architect Nnimmo Bassey, considering these the salience of the questions and recommendations as presented? If the contents of the NIREC Report are scientifically or morally unsound, would a rebuttal(s) based on cogent scientific evidence to the contrary not be the rational professional response?
The concerns about biosafety and GMOs are global. More and more nations are resisting or banning GMOs but Nigeria is once again shaping as the willing “toilet of the world”. Before any indignation is expressed, do not forget Nigeria is Number 1 in oil pollution, gas flaring, desktop computer dumping and the growth rate in tobacco smoking in the world with growing generous help from foreign large corporations.
Furthermore, members of NIREC complained that members of NABDA and NBMA appeared to be uninterested in the focus of biosafety in Nigeria or lacked the capacity to be so, categorically saying they have not live up to expectation as development agencies for biosafety in Nigeria. It also cited the agencies’ conflicts of interest regarding GMO companies. Many can understand that suggesting that scientists are corrupt is something they do not take lightly even if it is proven.
We can speculate that this smear attack on Nnimmo Bassey might have been the “Revenge of the Scientists”. Others have seen it as something far more serious and dreading an unsafe and uncertain future for Nnimmo Bassey in Nigeria.
The great thing is that Nnimmo Bassey is no stranger to threats resulting from his stoic and fearless approach to fighting environmental issues in Nigeria and all around the world very effectively. He would certainly not be perturbed personally but so many are concerned for him.
The GON and its agencies must know millions are watching.
By Grimot Nane (UK-based political economist and editor of Grimot Nane Zine)
Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, has said that the alleged death of two persons from Cerebro Spinal Meningitis in the state is untrue.
Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Dr. Jide Idris
The Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC) had on Friday, April 7, 2017 released statistics which claimed that meningitis killed two people in the state.
The statistics also indicated that three cases were recorded in the state so far.
A statement signed by the Director, Public Affairs of the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Adeola Salako, on Sunday, April 9, 2017 quoted the commissioner as saying that the report was false and capable of causing undue panic.
Idris was quoted as saying: “The report carried by some newspapers and online platforms is untrue and does not represent the reality of the situation in Lagos State as at today.
“For the avoidance of doubt, there are two main types of meningitis.
“The epidemic prone meningitis, which is referred to as Cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM), is caused by a bacteria called Neisseria Meningitides.
“Its occurrence is seasonal or cyclical, depending on the level of herd immunity and climatic conditions.
“The second type of meningitis is Non-Epidemic Meningitis, which is usually caused by a virus or other bacteria, but not by Neisseria Meningitides.
“The Non-epidemic meningitis occurs without any seasonal pattern or periodicity.”
The commissioner said a Disease Surveillance Notification Officer in the Lagos Island Local Government had sometime in March reported nine suspected cases of meningitis from Massey Street Children Hospital with two deaths.
He said, however, that none of these was confirmed as due to CSM.
Idris added: “Although, all the nine cases presented with clinical features of meningitis at that hospital, laboratory tests proved that they were either due to Haemophilus influenza or Streptococcus pneumoniae and not Neisseria meningitides.
“The ministry was also notified last week of a three-year-old boy, presenting clinically as meningitis at a registered private facility in Lagos, but the laboratory investigations did not confirm CSM.
“The blood culture yielded no growth but the urine culture yielded Klebsiella and not meningococcus; the patient is already responding to treatment.
“None of these cases, presented with a history of recent travel to any area with an outbreak of meningitis and neither were visits from such areas recorded with the aforementioned cases.”
Idris urged the public to observe a high standard of personal and environmental hygiene as a preventive measure against the outbreak of the disease.
He said such hygiene measures should include washing of hands with soap and water frequently and thoroughly.
He said: “Also, avoid direct contact with the discharges from an infected person and covering of mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing.
“It is strongly advised that people should avoid overcrowding in living quarters, provide cross ventilation in sleeping and work-rooms and other places where many people come together.
“People should get vaccinated with CSM vaccine when they travel to areas where meningitis outbreaks have been reported.”
Idris said people should support the government efforts in its resolve to prevent the spread of the epidemic to the state.
Such support, he said, should include reporting suspected cases to the nearest public health facility.
“There is no need to panic; we will continue with our surveillance activities, constantly review our records and brief the public from time to time,” Idris added.
The NCDC also revealed that the death toll nationwide has increased to 438, and that 19 states have been affected.
According to a statistics on the death toll from the NCDC, Zamfara State tops the list of those with highest number of deaths since the disease broke out in Nigeria.
The statistics further revealed that the number of suspected cases three days ago has risen from 2,997 to 3,959.
The agency in a statement by its spokesman, Lawal Bakare, explained that the increase in number of cases was due to intensified case-finding going on in the affected states.
The NCDC said of the three cases recorded in Lagos State, two have died, while the other was still under monitoring.
According to the agency, as at April 5, a total of 3,959 cases with 438 deaths have been reported and 181 laboratory confirmed cases.
The statement by Bakare added: “Meningitis outbreaks are currently reported in 19 States with five States mostly affected (Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi and Sokoto in the North-West zone and Niger in the North-Central zone of Nigeria).”
The NCDC said in order to tackle the scourge, a reactive vaccination campaign has commenced in Zamfara State, with massive turnout in all the targeted communities.
It said a joint team of NCDC, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and partners have stormed Zamfara State to provide medical care for the residents.
Long-term use of aspirin is associated with lower risk of dying from various types of cancers, including colorectal, lung, breast and prostate cancer, according to a study presented at the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting on Monday, April 3, 2017.
Aspirin
The longitudinal study analysed the association of aspirin, with varied doses and duration of use, on overall mortality risks and mortality risks from cancer over a nearly 32-year period. Previous studies have shown that aspirin prevents cardiovascular disease and some types of cancer, particularly colorectal cancer, and seems to reduce the risk of dying from cancer. This large study with long-term follow-up was one of the first to examine the potential benefits of different doses and durations of aspirin use.
“Evidence suggests that aspirin not only reduces the risk of developing cancer, but may also play a strong role in reducing death from cancer,” said Yin Cao, the lead author of the study and an instructor in Medicine, Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Researchers followed 86,206 women in the Nurses’ Health Study from 1980 to 2012 and 43,977 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study from 1986 to 2012. Baseline aspirin use was recorded and then researchers followed up on aspiring use every two years after that.
Reductions in overall mortality risks and mortality risk from cancer were observed at dosages of aspirin ranging from half a standard aspirin tablet per week to seven tablets per week. Benefits on cancer mortality were observed for people who took 0.5 to 1.5 standard tablets per week. People who took two to seven tablets per week had an even greater risk reduction in cancer mortality. However, people who took more than seven tablets appear to have substantially fewer benefits. The dose response was not linear, Cao said.
Researchers hypothesised that the reduction in mortality risk from cancer was because of the anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory properties of aspirin. The anticoagulant property that prevents clots from forming in the body might also prevent cancerous cells that break away from tumors from sticking to other areas in the body and growing into metastatic tumors. The anti-inflammatory property of aspirin might also prevent tumor growth.
During the study period, 22,094 of the women and 14,749 of the men died. Among all those who died, 8,271 women and 4,591 men died of cancer, the study found.
Overall mortality risk rates among men and women who used aspirin compared to those who did not were 11 percent and 7 percent lower, respectively. Mortality risk from cancer was 7 percent lower for women and 15 percent lower for men who used aspirin compared to those who did not, the study found.
The largest reduction in mortality risk was for colorectal cancer, with a 31 percent reduction for women and 30 percent for men who regularly took aspirin. Women who took aspirin were also at an 11 percent lower risk of dying from breast cancer, whereas men who took aspirin had a 23 percent lower risk of dying from prostate cancer, the study found.
“What they have done is a nice next-step approach where they are looking at a much larger number of individuals than we have been able to do so before in terms of aspirin use,” said Margie Clapper, deputy scientific officer at Fox Chase Cancer Centre, who was not part of the study, “but we have to keep in mind when we take this to the public, the risk versus the benefit,”
Although aspirin has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and strokes, daily aspirin use is known to increase the likelihood of gastrointestinal bleeding.
“We have to make sure that individuals understand that chronic use may not be for everyone, that one size does not fit all,” Clapper said.
