NiMet, in its 2017 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction, said heat for too long could cause heat stress, which may in turn lead to several illnesses, collectively referred to as “hyperthermia”
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted that many Nigerians will likely experience “above-danger heat stress” this year due to combination of heat and humidity.
Above-danger heat stress: A man cools off amid searing heat wave
NiMet, in its 2017 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction, said heat for too long could cause heat stress, which may in turn lead to several illnesses collectively called “hyperthermia”.
The agency warned that older people could have a tough time dealing with heat and humidity, as most people who died from hyperthermia globally each year were over 50.
NiMet highlighted some of the heat related complications to include heat syncope, heat cramps, heat edema, heat exhaustion and heat stroke, adding that Nigerians were no exception.
According to the agency, heat syncope is a sudden dizziness that can happen when one is active outdoors in hot weather.
It said: “Heat cramps are the painful tightening of muscles in your stomach, arms or legs which can result from hard work.
“Heat exhaustion is a warning that your body can no longer keep itself cool as people might feel thirsty, dizzy, weak, uncoordinated and nauseated accompanied by lots of sweating.
“Heat exhaustion can progress to heat stroke where people need to get medical help right away.
“Older people and people who become dehydrated or those with chronic diseases or alcoholism are at most risk.”
On malaria, NiMet said it had continued to make the forecast to sensitise citizens, advising the health sector to be better prepared to deal with the deadly disease.
The report said that plasmodium falciparum, a protozoan parasite that causes malaria found in Nigeria, was the most dangerous of the malaria parasites.
According to NiMet, the process of mosquito birth and bites is directly influenced by rainfall, temperature and humidity that give rise to differences in stability of disease transmission and seasonal variations.
NiMet said: “In 2017, locations including Benin City and to its north are likely to experience high to extreme mosquito population throughout the year.
“To the north of Benin City, risk in mosquito population is expected to grow with rainy season months.
“In 2017, we expect lowest mosquito population risk occurring in areas north of Yelwa, Zaria, Bauchi and Yola axis.
“NiMet hopes to develop partnership with health sector and others involved in malaria control through partnership on data collection on mosquito population and infected population to improve its malaria forecast model.”
The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that NiMet predicted that neutral El-Nino Southern Oscillation, variation in winds and sea surface temperatures phase, was most likely to dominate the January to June weather system across the country in 2017.
It said that the ENSO phase was expected to give way to a dominant El-Nino phase through the end of the year.
Minigrids, small isolated distribution networks increasingly powered by clean energy, could capture an increasing share of the $740 million sub-Saharan off-grid market, according to a report released by Rocky Mountain Institute on Monday, March 20, 2017.
Solar panels
“The minigrid market has the potential to reach $1.5 billion annually and could include many millions more people if product manufacturers and services providers along with development agencies and African governments take action,” said Stephen Doig, MD, Rocky Mountain Institute.
While the potential for the minigrid market is undeniably strong, the uptake of minigrids has been slow – even in leading markets such as Kenya. Minigrids provide electricity access for residents and businesses that are either positioned far from the existing grid or where the current grid is not reliable. To tap into this market in a cost effective and efficient way, a coordinated effort between the private sector, development partners, and national governments is required, added Doig.
The report recommends the following next steps to accelerate minigrid adoption and innovation.
Private sector
Focus on continued cost-reduction and service improvements. Opportunities include better site selection, integrated hardware and software packages, modular capacity, specialised local project development and management expertise, aggregated finance.
Focus on end-use service instead of power consumption to take advantage of and share the cost savings of of high efficiency lamps and other appliances.
Development partners
Play a coordinating and financing role by facilitating discussion between governments and the private sector, and providing carefully placed technical assistance and advocacy for a clear set of minigrid enabling policies.
Blended finance, coordinated by development partners, can begin to leverage outside investment while supporting efforts to better understand the due diligence and de-risking that will be required for full handoff to commercial financiers.
National Governments
Provide predictable enabling environments for minigrids. Reduce regulatory risk for companies and their investors with:
Clear, comprehensive off-grid energy plans;
Streamlined import procedures;
Dependable incentives for renewables and energy efficient appliances; and,
Education and awareness campaigns that communicate to citizens the role of off-grid products, and minigrids in particular.
Scientists are demanding that the impact of trees on water cycles and climate be given a closer look as, according to them, effects of trees on climate through rainfall and cooling may be more important than their well-studied capacity of storing carbon
Director of FTA, Dr Vincent Gitz
Forests and trees are said to play a major role on water cycles and cooler temperatures, contributing to food security and climate change adaptation. In recent decades, the climate change discourse has looked at forests and trees mostly as carbon stocks and carbon sinks, but now scientists are calling for more attention on the relation between trees and water in climate change.
Scientists suggest that the global conversation on trees, forests and climate needs to be turned on its head: the direct effects of trees on climate through rainfall and cooling may be more important than their well-studied capacity of storing carbon. A new publication and a symposium try to shed new light on the debate.
The research paper tited: “Trees, forests and water: Cool insights for a hot world” compiles older knowledge and new research findings pointing at the important effects of trees on helping to retain water on the ground and to produce cooling moisture, which in turn have a positive impact on food security and climate change adaptation.
Authors are also participating in a two-day virtual symposium hosted by FTA, the CGIAR Research Programme on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry. On the occasion of the International Day of Forests (March 21) and World Water Day (March 22), this virtual symposium will serve to discuss the findings of the paper and to new areas of research about the linkages of forests with water and climate.
Trees for food security and climate change adaptation
“The role of trees widens,” said the Director of FTA, Dr Vincent Gitz. “This is very important in the context of the Paris Agreement, which recognised climate change is not only about mitigation, but also about adaptation.”
“The influence of trees on water cycles has important consequences on the global agenda for food security and climate change adaptation, at different scales,” Dr Gitz explained. “With trees, there is no tradeoff between adaptation and mitigation, but a synergy.”
“Carbon sequestration is a co-benefit of the precipitation-recycling and cooling power of trees. As trees process and redistribute water, they simultaneously cool planetary surfaces,” said Dr David Ellison, lead author of the study.
“Some of the more refined details of how forests affect rainfall are still being discussed among scientists of different disciplines and backgrounds,” Dr Ellison remarked, “but the direct relevance of trees and forests for protecting and intensifying the hydrologic cycle, associated cooling and the sharing of atmospheric moisture with downwind locations is beyond reasonable doubt.”
Science collaboration for climate
This emerging area of research combines the knowledge of many fields of science: biology, chemistry, climate science, geology, hydrology and social science.
The paper and symposium are a good example of interdisciplinary research and collaboration which is necessary to address the issue of climate change adaption from multiple science and policy angles.
Two Nigerian football teams over the weekend crashed out of this year’s CAF Champions League.
Rivers United of Port Harcourt, along with Rangers International of Enugu, have been eliminated from the CAF Champions League
Enugu Rangers International Football Club defeated Zamalek FC of Egypt by 2-1, but failed to achieve the target of advancing to the group stage, in the return leg clash of the competition, played at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu in Enugu State.
The Nigerian side was eliminated on a 3-5 aggregate, having previously lost the first leg of the encounter 4-1 in Cairo.
The exit of Rangers is followed by that of another Nigerian side, Rivers United, after losing by 3-4 on aggregate to Sudanese team, El-Merreikh.
Both Rangers and Rivers United will now play for honours in the CAF Confederation Cup, where they have another chance to make the group stage of the continent’s second tier football competition.
Rivers United lost 0-4 to Al-Merreikh in Omdurman on Saturday, March 18, 2017 after winning 3-0 in the first leg in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The need to interrogate what patriotism means in the context of the challenges of the push of modern agricultural biotechnology into Nigeria and Africa has been instigated by an article by a Lagos-based research scientist titled “Biotech agencies NIREC report and unpatriotic activism.”
Nnimmo Bassey
That article opened with this claim: “Recently, a group representing the National Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) issued a press release with the intention of misleading the public and pursuing an alien agenda.” I have personally not seen the “statement” that was supposedly released by NIREC and probably would not have learned of the publication in Daily Trust, but for the strident responses from the government agencies and their proxies. I also have strong doubts that the Daily Trust publication was a press release “from a group representing the National Inter-Religious Council (NIREC).” The source of the story, however, is not our concern here.
Generally, when we speak of patriotism we evoke a sense of ‘nationalism’ and ‘loyalty’ to one’s nation or group. From the perspective of some commentators, patriotism means endorsing without question anything that a government or government agency suggests or does. Permit me to equate that to the Warrant Chief mentality of the colonial era. The colonial governments would have seen those chiefs as epitomes of patriotism. But we do know that they were loyal to foreign interests rather than the interests of our peoples or nations. We can further say that the mind-set that holds that government action is always right and must be supported willy-nilly is a very dangerous mind-set.
For an immediate modern day example by which we can examine the puerile claim that government (agency) worship is equal to patriotism, we only need to look at the current resistance to the travel ban proposed by the president of the United States of America. The president proclaimed a ban, the world was aghast, legal challenges were instituted, the government lost and a revised ban was issued. As we write, a court has blocked that new presidential order. It is our guess that those who object to the travel ban can be labelled unpatriotic, after all the orders were issued by a president. No applause for such logic. We must ask ourselves why biotechnology proponents find it hard to accept that their ideas can be questioned and that they could be wrong, as they often are. The falsehood of the myths of the biotechnology industry have been demonstrated continuously and shown for what they are. Moreover, Nature repeatedly trumps the myths – through super weeds, superbugs, etc.
Let us linger a bit more on criticism as lack of patriotism. What is patriotic about foisting on Nigeria a technology that has failed woefully in Burkina Faso, a neighbouring country? How come we are wishing away the fact that the quantity and quality of cotton harvests in Burkina Faso has picked up since they escaped the GMO hoax?
What is patriotic about forcing down our throats, a system that was sold as revolution for small scale farmers in Makhathini Flats, Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa in 1998 but failed woefully?
We will look at other issues in the article written by the Lagos-based scientist who apparently must be an insider in one or both of the agencies defended in the article. The scientist appears to have the voice of Jacob, but the hands of Esau.
The argument that anyone opposing GMOs is doing so for pecuniary reasons, or is acting as someone’s stooge, is laughable. That same argument can be extended to those of us opposed to criminal oil pollutions, toxic dumps and the like. The same can be said of those of who fought against military dictatorship in Nigeria, against apartheid in South Africa or slavery in the USA. It is a weak, poor and worthless argument that does not even merit a response. What would the Lagos-based scientist say of the web of actors and sponsors that are openly funding and pushing for the deployment of GM crops in Africa?
The committee that NIREC set up to review the GMO situation in Nigeria was an advisory one made up of academics, researchers and people of faith. To my knowledge, apart from secretariat support, members were/are not part of NIREC. The committee invited the two key institutions promoting or overseeing the “deployment” of GMOs in Nigeria.
Finally, the Lagos based scientist stated in the article under reference and we quote: “Nnimmo Bassey was an active player in the processes that cumulated in the establishment of the NBMA, so to turn around and say that the Agency is a brain child of NABDA questions his credibility and integrity.” (our emphasis).
Let us go back to what we wrote in the article that drew the ire of the Lagos-based scientist. Here is it: “A preliminary comment that is of important at this point is that these two agencies operate like conjoined twins. And that may be so because NBMA is purportedly the brainchild of NABDA. No, that is not my imagination.”
Note that I used the word “purportedly” and then added that I did not imagine that curious supposition. The fact is that the disclosure that NBMA was a brainchild of NABDA was stated by the official that represented one of the agencies when they appeared before the NIREC committee. We do not think it is important to say who among the two made that incredible claim. But if anyone really wants to know the information it can be shared. This writer did not imagine, claim or say it. The revelation unveils the foundational flaw of the GMO scaffold.
In any case, those who promoted the NBMA Bill have their logos printed on the back of the document that was distributed at the Public Hearing on the Biosafety Bill Organised by the Joint Committee on Science and Technology and Agriculture, Abuja, 9th December 2009, at the National Assembly. To suggest that this writer ever endorsed what was signed into law by our former president is an incredible distortion of the truth. When we recognise that we have a bad product, two of the ways to respond is dropping it or reviewing it. One of the organisational flyers of NBMA carries the names of individuals, including those from CSOs that are totally opposed to GMOs but attended one of the meetings in the preparatory stages of the bill that has become law. Why are those names listed on a promotional flyer? To gain credibility? To silence opposition? Did their attendance indicate that they endorsed the bill? Top officials of NBMA and NABDA had in time past been invited to our events, we would never put their names in our flyers or be under any illusion that they are no longer promoting the ‘deployment’ of GMOs in Nigeria because we invited them to our events. We know they would not flip their script.
In conclusion, let us just state that no law is cast in concrete, although even concrete cannot last for ever. No matter what the current GMO promoters say, believe or defend, the fact remains that a defective piece of legislation ultimately will be reviewed or jettisoned. The same will be the terminal point of a technology whose obsolescence is already appearing.
By Nnimmo Bassey (Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation – HOMEF)
If the new Policy on Wetland Conservation and Management being developed by the Lagos State Government eventually sees the light of the day, advocacy will be a major strategy towards ensuring its effective application.
The National Arts Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos is bothered by a wetland
Being a low-lying coastal city, Lagos displays wide-ranging water bodies like oceans, lagoon, rivers, swamps and creeks, all endowed with wetland ecological assets.
Wetlands are areas that have acquired special characteristics from being wet on a regular or semi-regular basis. They are also referred to as areas where some plants and animals have become adapted to temporary or permanent flooding saline or freshwater.
However, wetland and its resources in Lagos are being adversely affected by the state’s rapid urbanisation, such that wetlands are being encroached upon by the day through reclamation, leading to flooding, loss of biodiversity as well as depletion of wildlife.
The scenario has apparently led to the development of the policy, which aims at ensuring a sustainable management of wetlands and their resources towards enhancing the ecological and socio-economic attributes.
According to a source close to the government, the policy is geared towards restoration of degraded wetlands, ensure sustainable development through conservation and preservation of the existing pristine wetlands as well as their biological diversity.
“The overall policy statement shall be to promote conservation, protection and restoration of wetlands and their eco-system services in Lagos State,” said the source.
However, the state intends to promote public awareness and understanding of wetland resources and encourage active participation of the public, government authorities, communities and institutions.
In this regard, the authorities are considering measures and strategies such as:
An integrated public awareness campaign programme involving the State, Local Government Areas (LGAs), Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), Community Development Associations (CDAs), Schools, as well as other stakeholders;
Awareness campaign and information dissemination on the importance of wetlands and its biodiversity through leaflets, posters, radio, television and other media;
Guidelines on sustainable use of wetlands and conservation of their biodiversity made available to the public;
Education of local communities through project demonstrations to enhance their capacities for better management of wetland resources in a sustainable manner; and,
Associations such CBOs (community-based organisations) and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) with interest in wetlands management and biodiversity conservation encouraged to partner with the state in the area of monitoring and management of wetlands.
It was gathered that, for the effective implementation of the policy, the Lagos wetland management will be funded by governments at the federal, state and local levels, international development agencies, NGOs, as well as corporate and private sector players.
UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has asked men to be prepared to lose more positions to women so as to ensure gender parity.
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General
Guterres told women’s rights activists and civil society representatives at a town hall discussion at UN headquarters in New York that “the clear objective of our time is parity rooted in women’s empowerment”.
He added: “Gender parity at all levels – political, cultural, economic and social – is a ‘central objective’ and must be based on women’s empowerment.
“Parity is important in all areas of political and social life. This is a battle, a struggle. Generally no one likes to lose positions they have long held, but the reality of gender parity is that many more women will be in positions that today are occupied by men. But that’s a good thing.”
Guterres noted that, in his experience, gender parity means better decision-making and better management.
The Secretary-General sought suggestions and opinions of the civil society representatives on how the UN could move forward on its commitments on gender equality.
He opened the discussion by sharing life lessons on the issue, telling the gathering that during his time as Prime Minster of Portugal, one of his most difficult battles had been putting family values on the national agenda.
Guterres said: “There was kind of a national conspiracy to make sure that no one talked about it – from the police to the judiciary and public in general, it was as if the problem did not exist. But it was a very serious problem.”
Guterres said much had to be done in those areas, including through legislation and broad based campaigns to put it on the agenda.
According to him, the central question is empowerment at all levels. Later, as UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Guterres said he saw that women and children were the most vulnerable among those that fell under his agency’s mandate.
“Indeed, women were doubly vulnerable,” he said, adding that, over his tenure, he learned that international legal protections are important.
He said: “We live in a male-dominated world and a male-dominated culture, so the issue goes beyond protection: the central question is empowerment.
“The question of empowerment has many dimensions, one being to ensure that men and women are able, in parity, to assume their responsibilities at all levels; political, economic, social and cultural.
“And so, parity for us in the UN is a central objective, at the level of senior management, as well as the entire staff. So this is a very central question.”
Guterres invited the enthusiastic audience to share their perspectives on ways to push the issue forward, in cooperation, not only as an objective regarding the rights of women but “an objective in relation to the quality of our societies and the international community as a whole”.
The meeting, attended by UN Women Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka; Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed; and other senior UN staff, ended the first week of the 61st Commission on the Status of Women.
Known as the largest inter-governmental forum on women’s rights and gender equality, the theme this year was: “Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Changing World of Work.”
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said that houses built under the Federal Housing Scheme will be allocated to all Nigerians, irrespective of their states of origin.
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN)
Fashola made the remarks while speaking with newsmen shortly after a tour of federal projects on Sunday, March 19, 2017 in Maiduguri, Borno.
He said all qualified Nigerian residents in a particular state would be given equal opportunity to own a house, regardless of their origin or tribe.
“The ultimate beneficiaries of the houses will be the residents of the states in which the houses are built.
“I prefer to use the word residents to indicate people who live or work in the states where the houses are built rather than those who are indigenous to the state,’’ Fashola said.
He noted that the houses built in Bauchi, for example, were for the residents of Bauchi.
“That is, the workers in Bauchi, both from public and private sector, who qualified based on whatever premises used to decide allocation of the houses.”
The minister explained that the objective of the scheme was to deliver affordable houses to workers based on the National Housing Policy.
“There is a National Housing Policy in place aimed at providing affordable housing but there has been no programme in place to deliver the houses.
“That is what this programme is all about,” he said.
Fashola stressed that the programme would ensure acceptability by stakeholders.
“The programme is built on a foundation that requires consulting stakeholders by conducting survey so the stakeholders can take ownership of it.
“We are consulting and we hope that we will be able to carry along the stakeholders so that they can take ownership of the scheme,” he said.
He added that it was after this stage that the ministry could talk about affordability, pointing out that the housing scheme was also part of government multi-facet approach to economic development.
“The programme is part of government efforts to create value chain economic activities, aimed at empowering Nigerians all over the country.
“Workers will be happy on site getting paid from contractors to take care of their families and patronising food and others,” he said.
The minister also said the ministry was training artisans like carpenters and bricklayers, among others, to be relevant technically.
Each year, the University of Southern California brings delegations from Africa to meet with business leaders, government officials and others in the U.S. But this year, the African summit has no Africans. All were denied visas.
Donald Trump, US president
Visa issues are not uncommon for people traveling from African nations. During her prior three summits, Mary Flowers saw a high percentage of her attendees at the African Global Economic and Development Summit, unable to attain visas.
“Usually we get 40 percent that get rejected but the others come,” said Flowers, chair of the African Global Economic and Development Summit. “This year it was 100 percent. Every delegation. And it was sad to see, because these people were so disheartened.”
Flowers estimated that she lost about 100 attendees, including speakers and government officials. The countries affected included Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa.
‘A discrimination issue’
“I have to say that most of us feel it’s a discrimination issue with the African nations,” said Flowers. “We experience it over and over and over, and the people being rejected are legitimate business people with ties to the continent.”
A request for comment from the State Department was not immediately returned.
Flowers said those who were denied visas were called for embassy interviews just days before they were supposed to travel, despite having applied weeks or even months ahead of time.
One of those denied a visa was Prince Kojo Hilton, a Ghanian artist whose work includes special effects and graphic art. He paid his $500 fee to attend the event and was asked to lead a session on filmmaking. But he held off buying his plane ticket until his appointment at the embassy on March 13, four days before he was supposed to travel.
“I was really disappointed when I went to the embassy,” Hilton said in an interview with VOA.
Travel ban
It remains unclear why all of the Africans heading to the event were denied visas this year.
Diane E. Watson, who formerly represented a Los Angeles-area district in Congress, said she had called the State Department to ask for information about the denial of visas for would-be delegates to the USC summit. But the State Department isn’t allowed to discuss individual visa cases.
With the heightened attention on foreign nationals coming to the U.S., there have been stories of more visas being denied to people from countries other than those named in the Trump administration’s executive orders. But visas are routinely denied by U.S. embassies without explanation.
If there has been an increase in the number of visas rejected under the new administration, it’s hard to verify. The publicly available State Department data dates only to late 2016.
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) on Saturday, March 18, 2017 advised Nigerians to visit the dentist every six months in order to check gum diseases and tooth decay.
L-R: President, Nigerian Dental Association, Dr. Bode Ijarogbe; Oral Care Category Lead, Unilever Nigeria, Ibironke Ugbaja; Marketing Director, Foods, Ghana Nigeria, Unilever. Nsima Ogedi-Alakwe; Marketing Director, Home Care, Ghana Nigeria, Unilever, Bunmi Adeniba; VP, Nigerian Dental Association, Dr Funmi Asiwaju; and Marketing Lead, Refreshments, Ghana Nigeria, Bolanle Kehinde-Lawal, during the Pepsodent Oral Health Walk in Lagos on Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Dr. Abdulkadir Katagum, the Dental Health Coordinator for the FCT chapter of the NMA, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.
He spoke ahead of the World Oral Health Day observed every March 20.
Katagum, who expressed displeasure over visitation to dental clinics, only when patients have pains in the teeth, said such practice was unhealthy.
He said: “You do not have to wait till you are experiencing pains on your gum before visiting the dentist. Pains occur when much damage had been done to your teeth.”
According to Katagum, the ideal practice for assured healthy mouth is to visit the dentist every six months. Such visits, he said, would provide the opportunity to have the tooth examined for early signs of decay and gum diseases.
Katagum said: “If such diseases are detected early it can easily be treated and at low cost. Visiting the dentist every six months gives you the opportunity to do professional scaling and polishing of your teeth and helps to detect early signs of tooth decay and gum diseases.
“Tooth decay starts from the hard structure of the tooth passing the enamel to the dentine to the dental pulp which is the life of the teeth. If not treated on time, it can lead to tooth loss or severe pains. Oral health determines your general well-being because whatever enters your body passes through the mouth. If the mouth is unhealthy it means that every other part of your body is sick.”
Katagum noted that the World Dental Day, which was inaugurated in March 2013 by the World Dental Federation, is to raise awareness on oral health and prevention of oral diseases.
This according, to him, would enable government, health associations and the general public to work together to achieve healthier mouths and happier lives. He said this year’s theme: “Live mouth smart” was geared toward raising awareness to achieve healthy mouth and a healthier nation.
He said: “The day offers every country opportunity to develop activities and initiatives aimed at increasing awareness on oral health as well as the impact of oral diseases on general health, well-being and the economy.”
