A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State, Chief Tolu Odebiyi, has congratulated Barrister Rotimi Akeredolu on his emergence as the Governor-Elect of Ondo State.
Chief Tolu Odebiyi
In a statement on Monday by his Media Office, Odebiyi said Akeredolu’s emergence is a reflection of the abiding faith of Nigerians in the APC as the party capable of rescuing the country from the rot into which the Peoples Democratic Party has thrown it.
Odebiyi equally said it was also a show of belief in the capacity of Akeredolu to take Ondo State to the Promised Land after several years in the hands of the opposition.
He added: “This is a plus also for the leadership shown by President Muhammadu Buhari in piloting the affairs of the country.
“It indeed is a reflection of the belief of Nigerians in the capacity of the President and the APC to take the country out of the doldrums despite the attempts by the opposition to rubbish the good works being done to redeem the country.”
Odebiyi heaped praises on the leadership of the APC at the national level to sell the programmes of the party to Nigerians, adding: “It is equally pertinent to congratulate the governors elected on the platform of the APC in the South West, especially the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, because their dedication to service and delivery of democratic dividends as seen by the people must have spurred the need for change as demanded for by the people of Ondo State with the election of Chief Akeredolu.”
The Advocacy and Campaigns Coalition (ACC) has frowned at the recent cancellation of the monthly environmental sanitation exercise by the Lagos State Government, calling on the authorities to, as a replacement, urgently adopt the draft state WASH (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) Policy and roll out an effective implementation plan.
Akinwunmi Ambode, Governor of Lagos State. Photo credit: ecomium.org
The ACC, a platform of Civil Society Networks in Lagos State working with other relevant stakeholders to reduce mortality and morbidity from diarrhea in under-5 children within the framework of the WHO/UNICEF 7-point plan for diarrhea control, expressed dismay over the reason of “present economic realities in the country” given for the cancellation by the Lagos government.
In a statement signed by the ACC coordinator, Ms. Gbemisola Akosa, the group further demands that all relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and stakeholders responsible for the review of environmental Laws of Lagos State speed up action on them and ensure the passage of the Laws before the end of the first quarter of 2017.
Additionally, the body demands that regular updates should be given to the general populace with respect to progress on the passage of the harmonised environmental Laws.
The ACC, an initiative of Save the Children, an organisation that promotes the welfare of children, stated: “It is incontestable that improvement in mortality rates from preventable diseases such as typhoid, diarrhea, cholera and malaria, etc., was because of improved standard of environmental sanitation. Thus, we believe that a well-planned, coordinated and implemented environmental sanitation policy for disease prevention and control is what Lagos State needs at this time, given the megacity status of the state.”
Frowning at the abolition of the monthly exercise, the body submits: “With due respect, this apparent attempt to promote economic benefits above clean and healthy environment is capable of undermining people centred governance being promoted by the current administration in the state. The reality is that there cannot be economic viability without a clean and healthy environment which impacts on the productivity of the people.
“We are all the more concerned that the exercise was cancelled without any stop-gap measure in place to preserve the gains of sound environmental sanitation, self-discipline and strict adherence to standard hygiene rules and practices promoted in the last 20 years by the rested environmental sanitation exercise.
“Of utmost concern is the inability of the government to muster enough political will in adopting the Lagos State WASH Policy which has been in the pipeline for several years. These portend grave consequences for public health and sustainable sanitation especially in the face of deteriorating state of public water supply and sanitation services in the state.
“It is acknowledged that hygiene practices are generally poor in the state due to inadequate access to portable water (10% or roughly 2.1 million people in Lagos have access to potable water) and sanitation services as well as moral decadence to the environment. This poor state of water and sanitation has contributed significantly to the high prevalence of preventable diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, malaria and typhoid.
“Significantly, Lagos has the second highest prevalence of diarrhea rate in South West Nigeria (7.5%), after Oyo State (9.2%), having an average diarrhea incidence of 13% or 520,000 cases per annum. These diseases also account for the rise in morbidity, mortality and absenteeism in schools and at work.”
The ACC comprises: Lagos State Gender Advocacy Team (LASGAT) / Centre for 21st Century Issues (C21st) (Gbemisola Akosa), Lagos State Civil Society Partnership (LACSOP) (Ayo Adebusoye), Youth WASH (Titilola Kazeem), National Orientation Agency (Aderemi Olaniyan), Partnership for Good Governance (Vivian Emesomwu), Climate Wednesday (Olumide Idowu), Child Protection Network (Ngozi Okoro), Network for Water and Sanitation (NEWSAN), WASH Media Network (Michael Simire) and Community Coalition (Francis Ogunbanjo).
The Benue State Environmental Sanitation Agency (BENSESA) has commissioned an Environmental Sanitation Court and waste bins in Makurdi.
Front view of the Environmental Sanitation Court at BENSESA premises in Makurdi, Benue State
Commissioning the court and bins on Tuesday, November 29, 20016, the Benue State Governor, Chief Samuel Ortom, who was represented by his Deputy, Benson Abounu, stated that the idea of building the court was ingenious and innovative by the management of BENSESA.
The governor, who also commended the provision of the waste bins, called on the management of BENSESA in future to use stronger materials especially the undercover to prevent them from eventually falling off.
Stressing further, he said it is observed that the agency has stepped up the duty of cleaning the town but there is still much to do.
“I see refuse here and there because of the activities of people who indiscriminately dump waste even after many efforts have been explored to encourage them to do the right thing, therefore, critically analyse how to address this and ensure the quick disposal of waste as well to conform with best practices,” he added.
In his welcome address, Commissioner for Water Resources and Environment, Nick Wendeh, noted that the construction and commissioning of the court was geared towards ensuring cleanliness in the state.
He maintained that now that there is a befitting environmental sanitation court in place, the hitherto inconvenience faced by magistrates in discharging their duty in the open at the premises of BENSESA is solved.
In his address, the General Manager of BENSESA, Andrew Chile, who noted that the court would strengthen sanitation enforcement and raise income generation in the state stated that “the environmental sanitation court is first of its kind since the inception of Benue State and I want to assure that with its commissioning and use, it will strengthen sanitation enforcement mechanism and also raise our income level resulting in Benue State featuring as the neatest State in Nigeria, before the end of 2017, as sanitation defaulters will on a daily basis be brought to book.”
Although, he said the Agency under his stewardship has been able to improve on municipal waste service delivery, repair of many broken down refuse vans and involved public private partnership in sanitation affairs, they are still constrained by many factors to reach their potentials.
According to Chile, issues of bulk staff of BENSESA being casual staff, rising cost of diesel, need to repair more broken down vehicles to enable expansion to local government areas and lack of office accommodation are constraints hindering their full performance.
He also promised that the current culture of indiscriminate dumping of waste will be curtailed in view of their efforts at prosecution adding that discussions are on-going to acquire new dump sites along Naka and Aliade road in addition to the one at NASME-North Bank.
“Dumpsites development and conversation processing has been properly outlined as covered in the 2017 budget,” he added.
The commissioned environmental sanitation court is comprised of three offices and a mini court room while the waste bins include three truck bins, 16 roller bins and several waste disposal polythene bags.
The sixth biennial Mayors Summit, the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group flagship event, begins on Wednesday, November 30 2016 in Mexico City, Mexico. It will hold for four days.
Mexico City, the sprawling, densely populated, high-altitude capital of Mexico, hosts the 2016 Mayors Summit, the C40 Climate Leadership Group’s flagship event
Hosted by Mayor of Mexico City, Miguel Ángel Mancera, and led by C40 Chair, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, the event draws mayors and leading thinkers from around the world to advance a shared agenda through collaboration and knowledge sharing, and increase visibility about the global potential of climate actions in cities. Previous C40 Mayors Summits have been held in Johannesburg (2014), Sao Paulo (2012), Seoul (2009), New York (2007) and London (2005).
This year’s Summit features the fourth annual C40 Awards, held in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, and taking place in the evening of Thursday, December 1. The C40 Cities Awards are granted in 10 categories and provide global recognition that are demonstrating climate action leadership.
A statement from Mancera and Paes reads: “We look forward to welcoming C40 and invited guests to the 2016 C40 Mayors Summit, the world’s foremost global gathering of political, business and intellectual leaders focused on forging a low carbon and resilient urban future.
“The Summit takes place one year after the historic COP21 climate negotiations, and provides a global forum to highlight the progress that are continuing to make on climate change through local action and global collaboration. The mayors of the world’s greatest cities will once again demonstrate their leadership in building a broad coalition to act on this most pressing issue of our times. The event will showcase the plans and commitments of C40 mayors and cities ahead of 2020, when global emissions must peak. Indeed, mayors and cities are essential to achieving the ambition of the Paris Agreement, and C40 cities – representing more than 600 million people and 25% of global GDP – have a particularly important role to play.
“The pace and scale of action needs to increase dramatically, particularly in sectors most critical to mitigation and adaptation: buildings, transport, energy, land use and waste. The Summit will serve as an opportunity for cities across the global C40 network to exchange best practices and agree solutions across a range of sectors and thematic areas. We are especially pleased that this year’s Summit will feature the fourth annual C40 Cities Awards, showcasing the world’s most innovative and successful sustainability projects, which will inspire and empower other cities to act.”
U.N. Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change and President of the C40 Board, Michael R. Bloomberg, said: “The C40 Mayors Summit in mexico city will bring together the largest group of local leaders fighting climate change since COP21. C40 cities around the world are leading the way in reducing carbon emission and protecting people from potential risks. Their work is setting a strong example for others – and the Summit is a great chance for cities to share their progress, learn from one another, and help the world reach the goals that were set in Paris.”
The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) is a network of the world’s megacities taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Current steering committee membersinclude: Tokyo, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Jakarta, London, Seoul, Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Milan, Boston, Mexico City, Amman and Rio de Janeiro.
C40 works to empower cities to connect with each other and share technical expertise on best practices. Lagos in Nigeria is a part of the group’s 75-member network.
Winners of this year’s Global Sustainability Film Awards, run by the media charity tve, seem to drive home the message of sustainability. They have been described as creative, deeply moving and inspirational.
Global Sustainability Film Awards trophies
At a black-tie awards ceremony at BAFTA on Monday November 28, 2016, the judges announced the winners in a worldwide competition showcasing the best of corporate sustainability. Winners included: FREITAG lab. Ag, HSBC/WWF-UK, Electrolux, and Essilor International.
“The creativity is more than incredible. It’s inspirational,” said Neil Armstrong, chief executive of Fastflow Group, main sponsor of the Awards.
Keynote speaker, Nick Nuttall, who is director of communications and spokesperson for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said that the companies’ achievements in sustainability were especially important because they show the way forward in a world on the environmental brink. “We must move with urgency from promises to practicality,” he added.
In vying for the top prizes, companies from the banking, eyecare, electrical goods, fashion, coffee, jewellery, cosmetics and hotel industries won awards in these categories:
In the Transforming Society category, sponsored by the China International Culture Stock Exchange, the winner was Essilor International for its film “Eye Mitra: Friends of the Eyes.” The Youth Career Initiative for ‘Giving Hope to Survivors of Human Trafficking’ was highly commended.
In the Reshaping the Economy category, FREITAG lab. Ag won top prize for “The Road to F-ABRIC.” Jacobs Douwe Egberts was highly commended for “Kenco’s Coffee vs Gangs.”
Winner of the Protecting the Environment category was the HSBC Water programme/WWF-UK for its film “How Improving Farms Helps Protect the Mara River: Nancy’s Story.” L’Oreal was highly commended for “The L’Oreal Approach to Ensure the Full Traceability of Palm Oil and its Derivatives.”
The Net Positive leadership award in partnership with Eco-Age was presented to Electrolux for its film “For the Better.”
April Doubleday received the Free@Last TV special mention for the film “Fairtrade Gold Mining in Colombia.”
Hosted by broadcasters Jeni Barnett and Nik Wood, the ceremony will reach television audiences throughout 2017, thanks to tve’s media partner, Free@Last TV.
Mei Sim Lai OBE DL, president of the 2016 Awards and tve trustee, told the audience at BAFTA’s Princess Anne Theatre: “The tve awards are now playing a proactive part in encouraging businesses around the world to think about how to best communicate what they are doing to meet their own sustainability targets.”
Armstrong said: “The creativity on show here is more than incredible. It’s inspirational. There were no less than 44 entries this year with an output so varied, so colourful and so deeply moving that we should really be handing out 44 prizes.”
In awarding these films, said Nuttall, it was important to recognise not only the achievements shown in the films, but the companies’ wider ambitious plans for sustainability. “If the world is to seize the opportunities in the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, we must move with speed and urgency from promises to practicality and from pledges to implementation,” he said.
Barry Ryan, managing director of Free@Last TV, said: “Free@Last is delighted to partner tve in these amazing awards. We have a passionate belief in the power of visual media to ensure that the vital message of sustainability is brought home around the globe.”
Dr. David Nabarro said at COP22 that it is encouraging and inspiring to see how South-South Cooperation is gaining traction
South-South Cooperation, with its focus on mutual learning, capacity building and technical cooperation, is rapidly becoming an integral component of international cooperation to address climate change and contribute to the achievement of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is encouraging that this is likely to expand, which will be hugely helpful in supporting the implementation of countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.
“It is encouraging and inspiring to see how South-South Cooperation is gaining traction,” said the Special Advisor of the UN Secretary-General on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Change, Dr. David Nabarro, who attended the event. Dr. Nabarro highlighted the Climate Partnerships for the Global South, also known as Southern Climate Partnership Incubator (SCPI), initiated by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last April, which he said “is about making connections.”
UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Patricia Espinosa, reminded the Forum’s participants, saying: “While it is clear that developed countries need to provide support to developing countries to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement, the agreement also encourages complementary support, such as South-South Cooperation.”
The President of COP22, Salaheddine Mezouar, who is Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Morocco, told participants that, through South-South cooperation, “we want to assure that countries of the South are taking charge, that they have much to share and much to bring to each other.”
Many developing countries are already taking the lead on South-South climate cooperation, with initiative such as:
Further examples are the agreements that His Majesty King Mohammed VI recently signed with the Government of Rwanda to fast-track sustainable development and green growth.
South-South cooperation also calls for extensive and coordinated multi-stakeholder participation, including actors of the UN, other international organisations, multilateral financial institutions, the private sector, academics and civil society groups.
At the Forum, the Special Representative of China on Climate Change Affairs, Mr. Zhenhua Xie, stressed the need to promote more South-South cooperation, and called on international organisations to act as “bridges.”
Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, is not a man given to flatteries. It’s far easier for him to find faults than to give credit. And there are good reasons for that. His pessimism about politicians has a lot to do with his experience about the affairs of this country. He knows what politicians are capable of doing, and what they mean and not mean whenever they speak.
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State
But when such a man commends you, then someone had better start watching you because you may be on your way to the sky. That was exactly how it must have felt for the Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu when Obasanjo came to commission some of his road projects recently.
After inspecting some of Ikpeazu’s signature projects, especially the road construction under his urban renewal programme, Obasanjo was lavish in praise. He called Ikpeazu the “visionary performer” and said his people were lucky to have such a committed chief executive.
For those familiar with Abia since Ikpeazu came on board, Obasanjo’s remarks were not flatteries. The man simply spoke the minds of the people. And Obasanjo spoke after seeing and commissioning some of the early projects of the Ikpeazu administration.
Not only was Obasanjo impressed by the service delivery ethos of the governor, but the former president saw quality jobs done at the lowest affordable cost to the state. Within a few months of coming into office, he delivered seven quality metropolitan roads, a feat that has never been recorded in the history of the state. While some governors work very hard in their first year in office and go to sleep for the remainder of their tenure, Governor Ikpeazu’s legs have remained on the pedal since his first day in office.
He has constructed 47 major roads across the state, but with particular emphasis on Aba, the commercial nerve-centre of the state. Ikpeazu’s economic transformation plan for the state is centred on Aba being an industrial and commercial hub of not just the state but the entire region. And for a governor with a deep intellectual bent, this is quite understandable. Ikpeazu has repeatedly said every state should know where it has comparative advantage over others and leverage on that.
For years, Aba town has fed traders from huge commercial centres like Lagos, Onitsha, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Kano, Kaduna and several others, giving the town and the state a commercial pedigree that is unrivalled in the region. Building on this advantage and supporting the town with incentives such as infrastructure, security and a pool of trained low and middle technical personnel as Ikpeazu is doing is the fastest way of turning around the economy of the state.
The governor introduced a novelty in road construction by insisting on the use of cement technology, otherwise known as rigid pavement technology in road construction. The technology entails casting the road with concrete over a mass of iron before asphalting it. It is an innovative engineering technique aimed at extending the durability of the roads. It is also cost-effective. To fully realise his economic agenda for the state, governor Ikpeazu has also put machinery in motion for the launch of the Abia Industrial Clusters project, which will be kick-started from Aba. Efforts are on to procure the appropriate equipment that can match the standard of technological development needed for the clusters.
The aim, as the governor has stated, is to mechanise and automate the process of leather-making and other artisan works since Abia is a leading state for technological innovation in Nigeria. The Aba Industrial Cluster would involve 40,000 shoemakers, who are capable of producing more than 1,000 shoes daily.
This will be complemented with the establishment of trade centres for the revival of old professions such as craft works, carpentry, masonry and so on. Supervisors for the programmes have been brought in from Mexico and the Philippines. The goal is to teach young Abians the rudiments of the old craft works so that the state can produce its household items, instead of the recourse to importation.
“To teach such handiwork as carpentry, plumbing, electrical, tiling etc is to help the artisans add some professionalism and education to their trade and we expect that the trade centres will create jobs and empower people with skills,” Governor Ikpeazu said at the launch of the scheme.
Unlike most of his colleagues, he believes in the role of the governor as a leader, and not a ruler. His vision for the state is demonstrated through the diverse physical projects of his administration, and more importantly, through the force of personal example-something that cannot be said of many state chief executives. Ikpeazu has been leading the state by showing the way, not by some empty, populist rhetoric. Not only does he patronise Aba-made goods and urges his cabinet to do same.
Ikpeazu’s intervention in the education sector is also novel. He chose the occasion of his 51st birthday to launch a scheme to salvage primary education in the state. He launched “Friends of Abia Schools Adoption Initiative (FASAI)” with a focus on mobilising funds from well-meaning Abians to renovate dilapidated primary schools in the 17 local government areas of the state.
Ikpeazu urged his friends to give a facelift to dilapidated primary schools to turn around their fortunes and give the pupils a conducive learning environment and a sense of belonging. It was a brilliant initiative at a time of national economic recession for one of the poorest states in the country.
When people talk about the Ikpeazu phenomenon, it is this uncommon, patriotic zeal for service delivery and a knack for thinking outside of the box. Any perceptive observer of governance in this country, especially at the state levels, will agree that these are qualities in short supply.
Politicians in the state, used to self-serving criticism of political leaders, have found a way to deny Ikpeazu the credit he truly deserves. They attributed his success to a desire to win the support of the people in view of the challenge to his victory by the opposition All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA. Since the victory of Ikpeazu is still a subject of litigation in the court, professional critics say he is eager to get the people on his side, and that once the case is over and he gets a final victory, he will go to sleep.
These are just speculations, perhaps borne out of experience with previous administrations in the state. But the argument is actually in his favour. No matter how much you ingratiate yourself with the people, they cannot save you if the court overturns your election victory. Secondly, when an election victory is being challenged in court, it is a major distraction whether the person is a governor or legislator of local government chairman.
Thus, for a governor battling such distraction to be so focussed on delivering dividends of good governance is not only an inspiring story of leadership, but a phenomenal asset for his people. Ikpeazu has found a connection with his people through his vision and the people-centred policies and programmes of his administration.
This will explain the outrage felt by people of the state when the Appeal Court overturned his election. His people have keyed in to his vision of growth and their joy will be boundless whenever the Supreme Court affirms him as the duly elected governor of the state. The desperation of the opposition to rubbish his victory and derail the transformation going on in the state is what many hope will fail woefully. If not for anything else, for the sake of the state and its long suffering people.
Governments, non-governmental organisations and local communities have taken up the Honolulu Challenge and agreed to take bold actions to counter invasive alien species that harm biodiversity.
During the 2016 World Conservation Congress that held recently in Honolulu in Hawai’i, a call was made by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the host community in in the U.S. state for greater action in addressing invasive alien species in order to protect biodiversity and human wellbeing from their impacts.
Invasive alien species:. An invasive North American mink predating a gannet chick in the Firth of Forth, Scotland. Photo credit: BirdLife International
Invasive alien species are species that have been moved by humans, either by accident or intentionally, into areas outside of their natural habitats, and pose negative impacts upon native biodiversity, ecosystem services or human well-being. They are also regarded as plants, animals, pathogens and other organisms that are non-native to an ecosystem, and which may cause economic or environmental harm or adversely affect human health.
“Invasive alien species are among the most serious threats to biodiversity, and have a potentially devastating impact on our food security, health and economies,” says Inger Andersen, IUCN Director General. “The launch of the Honolulu Challenge couldn’t be more timely: concrete action is urgently needed if we want to curb species loss and meet the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Governments, non-governmental organisations and communities are making progress by taking steps to put preventive measures in place, and to eradicate or control already established invasive alien species.
“We need more bold actions,” said Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), at the launch of the Honolulu Challenge.
“Several global targets, including Aichi Biodiversity Targets 9 and 12, are far from being met. Invasive species still wreak havoc on numerous threatened species and ecosystems and have a serious economic impact in all countries. This is particularly relevant to oceanic islands, where urgent action is needed to prevent and eradicate invasive alien species which pose high risk on endemic and endangered species. More collaboration and fast actions are needed,” he added.
“New Zealand is lending its support to the Honolulu Challenge as a leader in combating invasive species and protecting biodiversity,” says Conservation Minister for New Zealand, Maggie Barry. “Our predator-free vision is by far the largest such project ever attempted and has drawn significant international interest. Through Predator Free 2050 the Government has set a target of completely eradicating possums, rats and stoats from New Zealand and making the country safe again for the native species these introduced predators threaten to wipe out. As a Government we’re backing New Zealanders to be at the forefront of a global solution.”
Invasive alien species are a major driver of species extinction and also threaten agricultural, forestry and aquaculture production. Their negative impact costs 20 billion Euros in the European Union each year, according to the Institute of European Environmental Policy, and $120 billion in the United States. The problem is said to be growing globally due to the influences of globalisation and climate change.
Between 1970 and 2007, the number of invasive alien species in Europe grew by 76 per cent.
The Honolulu Challenge proposes 11 measures to address this threat, including to:
Multiply efforts to develop and enact effective biosecurity policies and programmes for countries and islands;
Greatly increase the number and scale of invasive alien species eradications, especially on islands and in other priority sites;
Integrate prevention and control of invasive alien species into planning and management for Protected Areas and Key Biodiversity Areas;
Invest in the development, application and sharing of innovative technologies, and other solutions to prevent further invasions, and eradicate or control invasive alien species;
Engage with relevant sectors and civil society to raise awareness of invasive alien species,
including the compounded impacts under climate change, and increase public support for potential solutions.
Four governments and expert organisations declared commitments to achieve their challenges at the launch in Honolulu. New Zealand has committed to making the country free from invasive alien predators by 2050, and to eradicate all invasive alien species from island nature reserves by 2025. The Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has committed to doubling its long-term co-investment in invasive alien species management. BirdLife International aims to remove invasive alien threats from at least a further 35 oceanic islands worldwide by 2020. Island Conservation has committed to protect more than 100 threatened species at risk from invasive species on 40 oceanic islands by 2020.
In Mexico, the Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas, A.C. (GECI) with the support of federal government and local communities, has committed to removing invasive mammals from all islands of Mexico by 2030.
The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity is a supporter of this initiative. At its UN Biodiversity Conference1, to be held in Cancun, Mexico, from 4 to 17 December 2016, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity will consider further measures to be taken under the Convention to achieve Aichi Biodiversity Target 9.
Enforcement and legislation on urban development, land- use and protection of natural habitats have been identified as a major bane in the fight against erosion in Anambra State.
A gully erosion site in Anambra State
Rising from the First Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) Stakeholders Engagement Workshop that held recently, to which MDAs were invited, the Project observed that unregulated activities that adversely impact the environment and accelerates land degradation, gully formation and flood events are of the increase in the state.
So also are gaps in the enforcement of various provisions for Environment, Land-Use, Urban Development and Waste Management and, in most cases, existing laws are not enforced while legislation is seen to be weak or non-existing in other instances.
It is against this background that the stakeholders’ conference called for urgent action, to protect the state’s depleting land area and promote environmental safeguards in communities. Actions required range from appropriate legislation to strict enforcement in the following areas, among others. The actions were listed to include:
Recovery/Creation of vegetative buffer zones and forest reserves around the state. Encroachment into these “Protected Areas” must be discouraged. Communities should be advised against activities that degrade the environment like unregulated development, deforestation, bush-burning, improper farming practices and so forth.
Restraining residents from returning to reclaimed land areas for which they been compensated before erosion control work. The idea is that reclaimed lands become public property that should be reserved for the development of nature-themed recreational parks, groves and economic tree sheds for the benefit of the communities. Specific laws should be considered to check encroachment with strict penalties.
Creation of Riparian Vegetation on both flanks of our rivers and streams to protect these natural resources, encourage agrarian culture and sustain livelihoods at the grassroots.
Regulation of “Watershed” at all gully sites – whether under intervention or not. This requires appropriate water conservation practices to manage stormwater run-offs utilising low-cost and fit-for-purpose methods to harvest water for domestic and agricultural purposes – potable water tanks, irrigation ponds etc.
There is urgent need to stem development on flood-plains and natural waterways. When natural water channels are disturbed, there is increased flooding in residential neighbourhood
MDAs involved in town planning, urban development and construction must ensure that stormwater management is adequately provided for in their designs. Drains must terminate into safe-points at low velocity to reduce/eliminate the erosive damage of bulk water discharge.
The conference appealed for executive and legislative actions to support this collective mandate stressing, “This urgent call-to-action will be incomplete without a holistic solution for managing solid wastes in our communities”.
It disclosed that the Anambra NEWMAP would provide information and implementation support through the “Integrated Watershed Management Plan”, which was flagged-off by the Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, in August. In addition, the Federal NEWMAP office is installing HydroMet and “Early-warning” systems in Omor to aid agriculture and flood disaster management in the Anambra basin.
A total of 239,834 Nigerians who were displaced by the activities of insurgents in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states are still living as refugees in neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Republic of Chad and Niger Republic.
Nigerian refugees in Chad
According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), over 100,000 displaced Nigerians reside in Niger, while the second largest number of refugees was in Cameroon.
Quoting from a recently released humanitarian intervention report by NEMA, the agency’s Head for Media and Public Relations, Mr. Sani Datti, in a statement issued on Monday, said, “There are presently 20,804 displaced Nigerians living in the Republic of Chad; 80,709 in the Republic of Cameroon; and 138,321 in the Republic of Niger.”
He noted that about 29,581 displaced Nigerians who fled their communities in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states to Republic of Niger and Cameroon voluntarily returned last year. Datti stated that 13,046 Nigerian returnees came from Niger Republic in May 2015 and were received in Geidam, Yobe State.
According to him, between April and December 2015, NEMA received about 16,595 Nigerians who voluntarily returned from Cameroon through the Sahuda border crossing area near Mubi, Adamawa State.
Datti said, “Some of the Nigerians that fled to neighbouring countries of Niger, Chad and Cameroon were provided with humanitarian relief support by the Federal Government of Nigeria through NEMA, to alleviate their suffering.
“The displaced Nigerians have also received humanitarian support from the host governments, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the host communities and Nigerian citizens living in the three host countries.”
Datti noted that the agency adopted a monthly Humanitarian Coordination Meeting, a forum which consists of relevant Federal Government agencies, UN systems and international non-governmental organisations.
The forum, he said, undertakes analysis on causes of humanitarian situations, conducts need assessments, identifies and provides humanitarian interventions based on its respective mandates. “The report added that due to the successes recorded by the Nigerian military with the support of Multi-National Joint Military Task Force in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents, the humanitarian dashboard is fast changing,” Datti said in the statement.
He noted that focus was gradually shifting towards reconstruction, rehabilitation, resettlement, recovery and dignified return of IDPs back home, while the process for the return of Nigerian refugees from neighbouring countries were equally on-going.
