A British judge ruled on Thursday, May 24, 2018 that Nigeria’s Bodo community, which has been involved in a protracted legal battle with Shell over the clean-up of two 2008 oil spills, should retain the option of litigation for another year.
Aftermath of oil spill in Bodo. Photo credit: Leigh Day
Lawyers for Bodo had accused Shell of trying to kill off the legal case by seeking a court order that would have meant the community had to meet onerous conditions before it could revive its litigation, which is currently on hold.
A London High Court judge, Mrs J. Cockerill, ruled that the litigation should remain stayed until July 1, 2019, with no conditions attached should the Bodo community’s representatives seek to re-activate it before then.
“We are delighted the court has rejected Shell’s attempt to restrict the community’s legal rights,” said Dan Leader, the Bodo community’s lead UK lawyer.
“The message is clear – Shell must clean up this appalling oil spill and the Bodo community will keep on with its legal case until they are confident that it will do so,” he said.
The 2008 oil spills devastated the lands and waterways of Bodo, which is just one of numerous communities in the oil-producing Niger Delta that have suffered environmental harm and profound economic and social dysfunction linked to the industry.
In 2015, Shell accepted liability for the spills, agreeing to pay £55 million ($83 million at the time) to Bodo villagers and to clean up their lands and creeks.
After years of delays, the clean-up is currently underway, under the auspices of the internationally recognised Bodo Mediation Initiative (BMI).
Shell’s lawyers had argued at a hearing on Tuesday that the community should only be able to re-activate the legal case should Shell fail to comply with its obligation to pay for the clean-up.
But Bodo’s lawyers had countered that the community should have unfettered access to the London courts if the clean-up was not completed to a high standard.
Arguing that the pressure of litigation was a key factor in pushing Shell to implement the clean-up, they had asked the judge to keep the legal case on hold until May 2020.
A spokeswoman for Shell said she had no immediate comment on Thursday’s ruling.
Oil spills, sometimes due to vandalism, sometimes to corrosion, are common in the Niger Delta, a vast maze of creeks and mangrove swamps criss-crossed by pipelines and blighted by poverty, pollution, oil-fuelled corruption and violence.
The spills have had a catastrophic impact on many communities where people have no other water supply than the creeks and rely on farming and fishing for survival.
At the same time, oil companies have run into problems trying to clean up spills, sometimes because of obstruction and even violence by local gangs trying to extract bigger payouts, or to obtain clean-up contracts.
The Anambra State Government has signed N9 billion agreements with two foreign firms and one local firm for erosion-control works on six erosion sites in the state.
Gully erosion in southeast Nigeria
The erosion sites are: Enugwu-Ukwu and Abidi-Umuoji (N2 billion), Nnewi-Ichi and Ojoto (N5 billion) and Nkpor Flyover and Ire-Obosi site at the cost of N2 billion.
Governor Willie Obiano, while signing the contract at the Governor’s Lodge Amawbia near Awka on Thursday, May 24, 2018, said that the projects would be funded by the World Bank, Federal Government and Anambra Government at the cost of N9 billion.
Obiano named the two foreign firms as: Chinese CGC-CHWE and CGC-YSE, while the indigenous firm to handle the Nkpor Flyover and Ire-Obosi is Monier Construction Company, Nig. Ltd.
The governor said that the state has 972 active erosion sites out of which only 12 had been successfully controlled, saying that his administration was happy over the award of the contract.
He explained that the completion time for all the projects was 24 months and charged the firms to abide by the terms of the agreement.
Obiano, who expressed satisfaction with the way both state and federal governments were tackling ecological problems, noted that the state government had secured 10 additional sites to be funded by the World Bank.
The governor, while canvassing for best environmental practices from citizens through the planting of tress, called for more assistance from the World Bank to ensure greater erosion control in the area.
He expressed happiness that the erosion challenges could be handled by competent firms.
Earlier, Anambra State Commissioner for Environment and Beautification, Mr Mike Okonkwo, confirmed that the state had fully paid its counterpart funds for the projects.
Deputy Managing Director of the firm handling the projects, Mr Xion Jian Fan, said that the four erosion sites would be completed within record period.
He pledged to deploy modern expertise in handling the projects.
In his remark, the Anambra State Project Co-coordinator for the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), Mr Michael Ivenso, noted that the agreements were an indication of government’s readiness to tackle ecological challenges in the state.
It appears that in spite of the recent fracas between President Muhammadu Buhari and the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, there is one issue on which they agree – that Nigeria should adopt modern biotechnology as the solution to agricultural challenges.
Nnimmo Bassey of HOMEF at a Media Training on Biosafety in Benin City, Edo State. He says research has shown that GMOs do not necessarily yield higher than normal crops
Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) however differs with both on the view that agricultural biotechnology will end world hunger. Several individuals and civil society organisations including the Association of Catholic Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (ACMPN) have warned against the use of this technology in Nigeria.
Obasanjo, at the South-West Sensitisation programme of the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), canvassed the adoption of biotechnology in agriculture to end hunger across the world.
In a swift response however, HOMEF asserts that agricultural biotechnology does not address the issue of hunger and it is not the solution to agricultural problems in the world.
“Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) which are the products of this technology are not designed to feed people but mostly to feed animals, machines and the financial appetites of their producers and their partners,” says Nnimmo Bassey, HOMEF’s Director.
He adds: “That more land will not have to be cultivated to meet increasing food demands and that what is needed is a reduction in food waste which now amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year. One third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally and translates into roughly $680 billion in industrialised countries and $310 billion in developing countries.
“The world already produces enough food for over nine billion people which is the population peak we expect by 2050. Thus the challenge of hunger is not for lack of food but of lack of access to food. It is a problem of poverty, inequality and wastage.
“GMOs compound economic, health, and environmental problems instead of alleviating them. Majority of the genetically engineered crops are produced to withstand the use of herbicides or to act as pesticides themselves. Apart from the fact that these chemicals are expensive, they are highly toxic and destroy beneficial organisms in the soil. Studies have shown the development of super weeds and super pests which are resistant to these chemicals and the result is an increased dependence on chemical inputs and more environmental challenges.
“That GMOs bring about increased productivity is nothing but an industry-promoted myth. In India, over 300,000 farmers are reported to have committed suicide in the past two decades because of economic losses from non-performance of GM crops. Burkina Faso, for example, had to phase out the cultivation of genetically modified cotton owing to the disastrous yields it gave.”
Bassey further explains that a bulk of the food produced in the world today is by small scale farmers who use simple organic methods. He notes that productivity can be improved with provision of needed storage and processing infrastructure, good roads to access markets and extension services. The challenge of pest outbreaks can be tackled using traditional measures without risking every other thing.
According to Joyce Ebebeinwe, Biosafety project officer at HOMEF, agricultural biotechnology poses peculiar risks as the nation is not prepared to handle the health, environmental and economic implications of GMOs.
HOMEF advices the government of Nigeria to invest in more (independent and long-term) research on GMOs and to, in the meantime, develop safe, economically inclusive and environmentally sustainable approaches such as agroecology for improved agricultural productivity.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has called for adequate preservation of forests and forest resources worldwide.
Suffyan Koroma, FAO Nigeria Country Representative
Mr Ahmed Matane, Assistant FAO Country Representative (Programme) for Nigeria, made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday, May 24, 2018 in Abuja.
He underscored the need to protect forests, saying that the critical contribution of forests to sustainable agriculture, improved food security and nutrition could never be over-emphasised.
He said that forests were a major source of livelihoods for more than 2.4 billion people, particularly those who relied on forest resources for the supply of food, wood fuel, building materials, medicines, employment and income.
Matane noted that forests covered about one-third of the earth’s land surface, while wood fuel was used by over one-third of the world’s population to cook their food.
“For instance, more than 750 million people use wood to boil water to make it safe for drinking.
“Besides, trade in wood and non-wood products is valued at approximately $730 billion globally, providing about 80 million people with income,’’ he said.
He, however, expressed worry that in spite the importance of forests, the role of forests in food security and nutrition was often overlooked.
Matane noted that 80 per cent of the current global net forest loss of 3.3 million hectares per year was primarily driven by agricultural conversion – the expansion of large-scale commercial agriculture as well as small-scale and subsistence agriculture.
He, therefore, stressed the need for greater recognition and reflection of the contribution of forests to food security and nutrition.
He said that FAO, on its part, was pushing for a concerted action to improve the availability of the information that was relevant to multi-sectoral policymaking, in order to align policies on food security and nutrition across the relevant sectors.
The FAO official said that as part of efforts to fully recognise and integrate the contributions of forests to food security and nutrition, pragmatic policies should be made to promote provision of secure lands, forest tenure and equitable access to resources.
He said that forest preservation plans should be integrated with plans to promote crop growing, livestock and fisheries so as to achieve food security and poverty eradication in Nigeria and other developing countries.
Opening with a traditional greeting from Charles Patton, a respected elder in the Mohawk Community of Kahnawa:ke, the 25th anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was celebrated on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 in Montreal at an event gathering together senior officials from the Government of Canada, the province of Quebec, the City of Montreal, representatives of the diplomatic corps and dignitaries from around the world.
Cristiana Paşca Palmer, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). She has urged all Parties to the Biosafety Protocol that have yet to do so, to ratify the Supplementary Protocol as soon as possible
Entering into force on December 29, 1993, the CBD, or UN Biodiversity Convention, is the global treaty that provides the framework for international action on biodiversity, the variety of life on Earth. For the past 25 years, Parties and a global community of diverse stakeholders and partners have undertaken significant actions to achieve the three objectives of the Convention: to conserve biodiversity, use it sustainably, and equitably share the benefits from the use of genetic resources. The CBD Secretariat is based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Dr. Cristiana Paşca Palmer, UN Assistant Secretary-General and CBD Executive Secretary, said: “On the International Day for Biological Diversity we celebrated the excellent progress made by Parties and partners. We have much to celebrate. Significant areas of the world are now being conserved as part of protected areas. We have seen enormous improvements in governance models and sustainable use approaches to manage key natural resources. The value of biodiversity for society, our social and economic needs as well as our own health and well-being, are now widely recognised. Furthermore, biodiversity lies at the heart of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.
“But we need to approach conservation in a more innovative manner, to create new incentive models and to engage with relevant actors to help redirect behavioural choices to mitigate biodiversity losses and generate greater safeguarding values to our natural assets. Biodiversity continues to decline in every region of the world. This destruction of biodiversity and natural capital compounds and accelerates other global challenges – such as climate change, water security, food security and public health.”
Around the world, governments held celebrations marking their accomplishments in support of the Convention. In China, Huang Runqiu, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment, said China would raise public awareness of the importance of biodiversity and strengthen biodiversity conservation supervision and biodiversity research to protect important natural ecosystems and wildlife. Huang added that the protection of biodiversity had been included in the ecological protection framework of local governments and results have been good.
In the United States, California Governor Jerry Brown issued a proclamation declaring May 22, 2018 as “International Day for Biological Diversity.” California has been designated a global biodiversity hotspot. It is home to more species of animals and plants than any other state in the United States.
Since the entry into force of the Convention, membership has become near universal with 196 Parties ratifying the agreement. Almost all Parties have created National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans which are the focus of national efforts to implement the Convention. The next few years present a major opportunity to galvanise global action to increase attention to biodiversity.
Despite the worrying scientific data regarding the destruction of nature and biodiversity, this year’s International Day for Biological Diversity and the months ahead, represent a unique window of opportunity for the global community to engage on a transformative path in the way we relate to nature. With the end of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 rapidly approaching, countries will begin laying the groundwork for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Egypt later this year to design an ambitious agenda for nature and biodiversity after 2020.
Messages of congratulations were received from around the world.
António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, said: “This year, Parties to the Convention will begin work on a new action plan to ensure that, by 2050, biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used for the benefit of all people. The entire world needs to join this effort. On this International Day for Biological Diversity, I urge governments, businesses and people everywhere to act to protect the nature that sustains us. Our collective future depends on it.”
Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UN Environment, said: “Perhaps the biggest achievement of the Convention on Biological Diversity is that we no longer see biodiversity conservation as a barrier to development. We can have development and take care of planet Earth in the same policies. The global development agenda aims to leave no one behind, to bring everyone out of extreme poverty. But if we don’t protect and value biodiversity we will not achieve this goal. UN Environment has been so proud to support this Convention over the years.”
European Union Commissioner, Karmenu Vella: “The Convention has delivered but much remains to be done to halt biodiversity loss. It is as much of a global threat as climate change. We need to make certain the CBD becomes as relevant as the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement. Discussions on a new post-2020 framework provide an opportunity for this challenge. An opportunity we cannot afford to miss.”
In Montreal, the celebrations were held at the summit of Mont Royal, a protected area in the heart of the city. A ceremonial tree planting featuring students from Montreal was held. Representatives from all levels of government participated and marked the occasion.
Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Canada, said, via video message: “Today, our resolve to address biodiversity loss and our commitment to the Convention on Biological Diversity, remains as firm as it was 25 years ago. The future will require all of us to work together to develop a vision for a new post-2020 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, one that strengthens the world’s resilience to climate change, makes our green economies more stable, and conserves our natural habitats for generations to come.”
Christine St-Pierre, Minister of International Relations and la Francophonie, said: “On this International Day for Biodiversity, it is useful to remind ourselves that despite all the progress made by the Convention, the challenges that the international community faces with regards to protecting biological diversity requires urgent additional efforts together with strong international cooperation. Therefore, we will need to double our efforts in the actions we undertake, and we will need to do so in close collaboration with our partners.”
Isabelle Melançon, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Climate Change Management, said: “in order to celebrate the International Biodiversity Day, it is important to realize that the numerous pressure points on biodiversity in general and the degradation of natural ecosystems will lead to the loss of essential ecological services meant to ensure the population’s well-being, general health and security. Some of these ecological services are essential to fight against climate change and to help us adapt. Nature is generous towards us human beings and it contributes largely to our well-being in different ways. It is our responsibility to continue developing our overall knowledge and to act in the way that ensures the conservation of nature.”
Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montréal, said: “The 25th anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity is a nice opportunity to remind ourselves that we are all affected by biodiversity, one way or another. Cities are on the front line, playing a more and more important role in the protection of natural sites and biodiversity. I am really pleased to see the many delegations from different countries present here today in Montréal to discuss this important issue. I remain very excited at the idea that together, we can act for the benefit of our citizens and the citizens of our planet.”
The Day’s celebrations demonstrated that, while much is at stake, there is a unique window of opportunity for the global community to define an ambitious new deal for nature and biodiversity post-2020, according to the CBD.
It adds: “Time is of the essence. Science has been signalling the alarm with a call to urgent action, as biodiversity remains under threat, a threat that jeopardises the well-being and livelihood of everyone on Earth. For the UN Convention on Biodiversity, investing in data and science is crucial in the lead up to 2020. As the world embarks on developing the building blocks for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, there is a need for cross-pollination between different fields of study, and sectors dependent on biodiversity in order to collectively safeguard, invest and value this natural life-saving asset.”
Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that without innovative advances such as biotechnology in agriculture, global efforts at ending hunger would remain a mirage as far more land would need to be cultivated to feed the world’s teeming population.
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo
Obasanjo said at the South West Sensitisation programme of the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) which held at Abeokuta, Ogun State, that the world’s population is estimated to reach about 9.7 billion by 2050. “If agricultural yields stay the same, we would need to cultivate more than double the present amount of land to feed that population. That’s 82% of our total land area on earth.”
He said biotechnology is taking mankind beyond the depths of understanding of chemical and physical possibilities, and has the potential to increase agricultural productivity, enhance food security, develop a better health care delivery system, boost an efficient industrial development process for transforming raw materials and detoxifying hazardous wastes, reduce mortality rates, move agriculture away from a dependence on chemical inputs and help to reduce environmental problems.
He said that agriculture occupies a strategic position in global efforts to address issues of hunger and diseases, adding that it therefore remained one of the most potent tools for Nigeria as the government intensifies efforts to diversify the economy and enhance the wellbeing of the people.
“Deliberate efforts should be made on the part of government to encourage scientific incursion into agriculture via policy measures specifically designed to encourage research and development and the adoption of new technologies,” he said.
He said that the challenges of today’s world have brought many pressures to bear on agriculture: population growth, insects and pests infestation of crops, weed invasiveness, soil infertility, salinity, the impact of climate change (drought and rise in temperature), greenhouse gas emissions, and water and energy shortages.
“This scenario heightens the critical role of innovation to make agriculture a business- more competitive and sustainable.
“I’m excited that OFAB has presented a formidable platform for dialogue on the transformation of agriculture through quality information dissemination on agricultural biotechnology in Africa, he added.
In a remark, Mr Oguntunde Abayomi, the Overseeing Director General of National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), said that the event was very timely and pertinent especially at this period that Nigeria and other African countries are adopting improved agricultural technologies for food security.
It is also commendable that OFAB has earned a reputation for committing itself to a painstaking dissemination of information and correction of misconceptions around agricultural biotechnology through organising sensitisation events similar to this all over Nigeria, he added.
His words: “By this creative initiative, it has become possible for Nigerians to identify their need for improved agricultural technologies and recognise where they stand in the scheme of things in terms of the effort to achieve global food security through sustainable agricultural practice.”
In a presentation, Dr Rose Gidado, the OFAB Country Coordinator, highlighted why biotechnology has kept the promise of achieving food security across the world.
She noted that the sensitisation programme was aimed at enlightening the public within the South West Zone on the benefits of biotechnology and promoting an understanding of the potentials of agricultural biotechnology and biosafety.
Two Democratic Republic of Congo Ebola patients who fled hospital in the city of Mbandaka on Monday attended a prayer meeting with 50 people hours before they died, Jean-Clement Cabrol, an emergency medical coordinator at Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), said on Thursday, May 24, 2018.
Orly Ilunga, the Congolese Minister of Health
Health officials are scrambling to contain an outbreak of the deadly disease in the heavily populated port city in northwest Congo that is believed to have killed 22 people since April.
Two new deaths from Ebola and seven new confirmed cases have been recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo, the health ministry said on Tuesday.
One of the deaths occurred in the provincial capital of Mbandaka, according to a daily bulletin.
A nurse also died in the village of Bikoro, where the outbreak was first detected, ministry spokeswoman Jessica Ilunga told Reuters.
The ministry said the seven new confirmed cases were registered in Bikoro.
Health officials administered an experimental vaccine on Monday to 33 medical workers and Mbandaka residents, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva.
The vaccine manufacturer Merck has provided WHO with 8,640 doses of the vaccine and an additional 8,000 doses are expected to be available in the coming days, WHO said.
Congo’s ninth outbreak of Ebola since 1976 is believed to have killed at least 28 people so far.
Officials are particularly concerned by its appearance in Mbandaka, a crowded trading hub on the Congo River with road, water and air links to Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.
NAN reports that the WHO said it will need $26 million for the Ebola Response in the DRC over the next three months.
WHO said it had also released $2 million from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies, to scale up the Ebola response.
The Government of DRC, with the support of WHO partners, is preparing to vaccinate high risk populations against Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in affected health zones.
The organisation said health workers operating in affected areas were being vaccinated on Monday and community outreach had started to prepare for the ring vaccination.
More than 7,500 doses of the rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine have been deployed to DRC to conduct vaccination in the northwestern Equator Province where 46 suspected, probable and confirmed Ebola cases and 26 deaths have been reported – as of Friday.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains on an “epidemiological knife-edge” regarding the spread of the deadly Ebola disease, in spite of the quick response by authorities and international partners to the threat, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned.
Peter Salama, WHO’s Deputy Director-General of Emergency Preparedness and Response
Speaking in Geneva at the World Health Assembly, Dr Peter Salama, WHO Deputy Director-General, who heads Emergency Preparedness and Response, said that there were several reasons why the current outbreak – which has claimed 27 lives since it was declared on May 8 – had yet to be contained.
Epidemiology is the branch of medicine which deals with the analysis of the incidence, distribution, and control of diseases’ conditions in defined populations.
“It’s hard to recall a situation of an outbreak where a Government has responded more quickly and more decisively than in this outbreak,” Salama said.
The WHO official added that it was “a multi-partner effort and it’s not over yet. We’re really just at the beginning”.
“I used the phrase yesterday that we’re on the epidemiological knife-edge of this response, the next few weeks will really tell if this outbreak will spread to urban areas or if we’re going to be able to keep it under control.”
Unlike previous Ebola events in DRC – this is the country’s ninth since 1976 — the 2018 outbreak has been complicated by the fact that it involved rural and urban areas, he said.
“This has raised the chances that it might spread both nationally and internationally,” Salama said.
He noted particularly since the city of Mbandaka – where the disease was identified after first surfacing in the relatively remote Bikoro – is close to the Congo river, which acts as the main transport link to DRC’s capital, Kinshasa.
”With 58 confirmed, probable or suspected cases of the disease in the country as of Wednesday, effective tracing of anyone who had come into contact with the disease would “make or break” the response to Ebola,” Salama said.
He described the task ahead as “the detective work of epidemiology”, adding that medical personnel at a hospital in Wangata, Mbandaka, were tracing some 600 contacts from three separate chains of transmission.
One of these chains was associated with a funeral in a neighbouring town of Bikoro; another was linked to a health-care facility in the small village of Iboko; and the third related to a church ceremony.
“Each one has the potential to expand if not controlled,” Salama said.
The WHO official confirmed that a selective, or “ring vaccination” programme had just begun and that efforts were ongoing to ensure that the Ebola drug could be stored in “ultracold” conditions at between -60 and -80°C.
WHO has repeatedly stressed that vaccination was only one measure among many in any outbreak response.
That message was repeated in Geneva by Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, who praised the commitment and sacrifice of the communities and health workers on the front line, as “the most important element in fighting this outbreak”.
The WHO chief also underlined that the coordination among international health partners was essential, too, before highlighting that even he had problems in accessing rural Bikoro to see the problem first-hand, during his visit to the area shortly after the beginning of the outbreak.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, has blamed the 17 million housing deficit in Nigeria on policy somersaults by successive administrations.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha
Mustapha stated this while receiving delegates from the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), according to a statement signed by Andrew Uhwe, Director Press, OSGF, on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 in Abuja.
He urged the FHA members to come up with a comprehensive social housing roadmap to tackle the huge housing deficit in the country and entrench policy sustainability in the sector.
“The provision of affordable and low-cost houses to citizens is a primary responsibility of the government because it is a social investment that should ease housing challenges.
“But over the years this objective had not been realised because of policy somersaults by the successive administrations.
“Since government is a continuum all developmental policies of the agency should be sustained and not discarded,’’ Mustapha said.
The SGF reiterated the determination of the present administration to tackle the huge housing deficit, by ensuring that a million houses were built across the country every year.
He applauded the productive efforts of Nigerians in Diaspora through their remittances to the economy.
He added that these remittances could be invested in beautiful estates for those in diaspora to halt the problem of fraud and abuse of trust by their friends and relatives.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Board, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, said the visit was to brief the SGF on activities and challenges of the agency and to seek for support and intervention in key areas of concern.
He stressed that in the 45 years history of the FHA government had made huge investment of over a trillion naira in housing projects.
He lamented the challenge of poor budgetary funding and requested that states assist the agency with suitable lands where they could build and sell.
He solicited for the amelioration of their estates ravaged by ecological problems requesting that the Office of the Secretary to the Federal Government coordinates the diaspora city project.
Following Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, the Federal Government has increased surveillance in all airports to forestall the re-occurrence of 2014 experience.
Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Port Health Services personnel have increased the screening of international passengers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, General Manager, Corporate Affairs of FAAN, told NAN that the organisation had not relaxed its surveillance at the airports since the case of the virus was first recorded in Nigeria in 2014.
Yakubu said that all the equipment and personnel used in combatting the virus in 2014 were still very much on ground at the airports.
She explained that the thermal scanners that monitor temperature of passengers and capture their pictures were still functioning very well in all airports.
“When passengers walk pass the scanners, it registers their temperature and if yours is high, you are pulled aside for observation.
“Since the virus was reported in Congo, all relevant agencies, including the Port Health Services have been mobilised and are collaborating effectively to ensure the safety of passengers and airport users at all time,” she said.
NAN recalls that Congo had been battling to stem the spread of the virus through Ebola vaccination campaign it began on Monday in a northwest provincial capital.
It was reported that the virus had spread from rural towns into an urban centre with over a million people.
The Federal Government had on May 9 directed the relevant ministries of help to step up emergency surveillance activities at all land and airport borders, so as to keep Nigerians safe.
The disease was first discovered in Congo in the 1970s. It is spread through direct contact with body fluids from an infected person, who suffers severe bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea.
More than 11,300 people died in an Ebola outbreak in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone between 2013 and 2016.
