To save Nigeria’s diverse ecosystems from further ruin, the Federal Government must go beyond mere words on the issue of transiting from fossil fuels-based economy and put in place the relevant laws to checkmate the activities of the extractive corporations, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria(ERA/FoEN) has said.
L-R: Mrs Warder Ayibakuro, women activist from Ikarama; Dr Godwin Uyi Ojo, ERA/FoEN Executive Director; Dr Sofiri Peterside of the University of Port Harcourt; and Celestine Akpobari of the Ogoni Solidarity Movement
ERA/FoEN’s recommendation is coming as Nigeria joined the rest of the world to mark the World Environment Day (WED) on Sunday. The WED is celebrated June 5 annually. To mark the event, ERA/FoEN organised a workshop in Abuja with the theme: “Natural Resource Governance: Bridging the Gaps versus Break Free from Fossils.”
The workshop brought together community-based groups, civil society, the academia, legal experts, the media, and government representatives to brainstorm on oil-induced conflicts and disempowerment of local communities as well as recommendations on the way forward.
ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Godwin Uyi Ojo, said: “We are delivering this message straight to our government. The era of sloganeering on preserving the environment is over. This year’s commemoration helps us mirror the local picture of ruined environments, livelihood losses and systematic depletion of wild life. Our government must now go beyond mere talk, to taking concrete actions that will reverse the chaos that has been unleashed on us under a regime of fossil-fuels dependence.
“Nigeria is yet to come up with a new economic pathway that is not dependent on fossil fuels. The significant drop in oil pricing requires an alternative economic blueprint that is envisaged within a post petroleum economy for Nigeria. There is also the misdirection in policy such as opening discussions with the Russian government on building nuclear power plants here in Nigeria. This, no doubt, is very disturbing.”
Ojo noted that the current administration may have demonstrated willingness to tackle some of the identified issues such as the Ogoni clean-up which was flagged off on June 2.
He added, however, that for it not to have given concrete time lines on commencement of the Ogoni clean-up and to deliver on any of the set objectives of the UNEP report is worrisome.
Re-echoing ERA/FoEN’s argument that Nigeria must look away from dirty energy, he insisted that the ecological disasters caused by fossil fuels dependence makes it imperative for the current administration to declare an Environmental State of Emergency in order to address the situation.
“The Federal government must demonstrate the political will to save our environment through conscious and deliberate adoption of clean and safe renewables. The option of leave the oil in the soil means taking an alternative pathway to sustainable development that is powered by renewable energy, the protection of ecosystems and biodiversity. This is non-negotiable for a new world economic order,” Ojo declared.
Marking World Environment Day, which this year focuses on the illegal trade of wildlife, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is calling on everyone to “go wild for life” and take action to help safeguard species under threat for future generations.
Environment Minister, Amina J. Mohammed, goes wild for life as an elephant on World Environment Day 2016
“We have chosen this theme because damage from this trade has become so serious and so far reaching that urgent action is needed to reverse it,” UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said in a video message on the occasion of the Day, celebrated annually on 5 June.
The UN official underlined that the effects of wildlife trade include the destruction of natural capital in which many nations could build healthy tourism industries; the spread of corruption and the undermining of the rule of law all around the world; and the “fattening of purses” of the international crime syndicates.
“This must stop and the time to take action is long overdue,” he insisted, calling on all individuals to use their “spheres of influence” to help end the illegal trade in wildlife by engaging in the “Go Wild for Life” campaign.
With the aim of reducing the demand for illegal wildlife products, the campaign stresses that that greed, fashion, ignorance, indifference, investment, corruption, pseudo medicinal use and cultural belief should not be allowed to endanger any species of animal or plant or tree.
It is giving special attention to eight species in particular: orangutans, sea turtles, pangolins, rosewoods, helmeted hornbills, tigers, elephants and rhinos.
Noting that Angola is this year’s host country for World Environment Day, Mr. Steiner announced that the country is making strong commitments to combat wildlife crime by shutting down its domestic ivory trade and taking action to stop smuggling over its borders.
“We support the actions of countries like Angola to join this fight,” he said. “We must be united in this cause, we must think globally, but also act locally, and we must have zero tolerance for poaching and illegal trade in wildlife.”
In a similar message, Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the UN Ofice on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said criminal networks and poachers have scant regard for biodiversity, or the terrible impact their actions have on our fragile environment and vulnerable communities. Every country suffers either as a source, transit or destination for these products. UNODC’s World Wildlife Crime Report shows that 7,000 species were found in more than 164,000 seizures affecting 120 countries.
“The global nature of this crime compels us to stand united and to promote global solutions to halt the catastrophic poaching and trafficking of wildlife. Our Wildlife Report is helping by providing a global assessment that will allow the international community to design effective and efficient solutions,” he said, stressing that wildlife crime deprives people of a sustainable livelihood. “These crimes are also closely connected to fraud, money laundering, human trafficking, corruption and brutal violence, among other crimes,” he said.
As such, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged governments and citizens everywhere to help end the practice, noting that there is “great cause for alarm,” as elephants are being slaughtered for their ivory, rhinos for their horns, and pangolins for their scales.
“The United Nations and its many partners have resolved to tackle this illicit trade, including by setting clear targets to put an end to poaching in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted last year by all 193 Member States,” he recalled.
Meanwhile, UNEP is underlining five quick steps that citizens can take action, including through arts and crafts exhibitions, film festivals, flash mobs and social media activities.
The Lagos-based Conservative Environmental Growth and Development Centre (CEGDEC) has said that this year’s World Environment Day (WED) offered it an opportunity to make an inroad and cross inland boarders in the country. Apart from sensitisng the students of Oke-Afa Junior and Senior Schools in Lagos, CEGDEC took a bold step to King’s Court Academy, Dabi, in the Federal Capital Territory.
“Go wild for life” was simplified and interpreted as embracing all living things as parts of the ecosystem. Examples of animals killed for fun in our society were highlighted by the students in the interactive sessions as lizards, butterflies, birds, worms, ants and the like. Apart from mosquitoes, pests and rodents that breed as a result of dirty environment, that must be eradicated, animals are important features of the environment.
By eating less meat, poultry and fish, we ‘go wild for life’, as more resources (materials like animal feeds and time) are used to provide meat than plants. Sustainable lifestyle is all encompassing, and it begins with simple change in our attitude to other features of the ecosystem, according to the group.
Keeping the environment clean through proper waste management and pollution control were stressed as avenues of maintaining a serene environment safe enough for plants, humans and all animals alike. The commemoration also coincides with the flagging up of the cleaning up of environmental pollution in Ogoni land in the Niger Delta by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The team on the final note encouraged the spreading of good environmental practices all around the year. “It is our joint responsibility to keep the environment safe for ourselves and the future to come,” said Mrs. Maryam Olayeni, head of the team.
WED is a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) day of personalising environmental issues to enable everyone identify its roles and responsibilities to become the agent for change in support for sustainable and equitable development.
The CEGDEC is a not-for-profit organisation established on the basis of reducing human footprints on the environment. It aims is to promote sustainable development by campaigning for a give-back-to-the-environment through research, advocacy, education/awareness creation, capacity building, economic empowerment and environmental management.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) in conjunction with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has commenced the implementation of a programme aimed at promoting the sustainable management and resilience of ecosystems as a means to address food insecurity.
Hajia Salamatu Garba, executive director of the Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN), making a presentation at the forum
Titled “Fostering Resilience and Sustainability for Food Security in sub-Saharan Africa”, the project involves states in the nation’s North East, North West and the North Central regions.
The programme will support efforts to:
scale-up more sustainable and more resilient approaches, practices and technologies including innovative approaches to improving soil health, water resource management and vegetation cover with direct benefits to the most vulnerable land users;
promote impacts at scale, by fostering supportive policies and incentives for smallholder farmers to adopt sustainable and resilient practices;
increase private sector investment in climate-resilient and low-emission food value-chains; and
promote mechanisms for multi-stakeholder coordination, planning and investment in Sustainable Land Management at scale.
At a two-day consultative meeting held last week in Kano, community-based organisations (CBOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from Kano, Gombe, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Benue, Katsina and Jigawa states attempted to develop the relevant information/data on the actual situation on ground in the proposed regions of focus, in the bid to foster food security and resilience in the Sudan Sahel region of Nigeria.
Hajia Salamatu Garba, executive director of the Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN), listed poverty, climate change, gender discrimination, socio-cultural/socio economical/socio-political limitations, food wastes/losses, diversion of farmland from food production, and conflict/natural disasters as challenges militating against food security in the northern part of the country.
To address the situation, she called for improvement of livelihoods and promotion of opportunities for women and youth.
She said: “Give women and youths an opportunity and it amounts to sustainable food security for the nation. The authorities should promote relevant post-secondary, vocational and business training. Data collection, record keeping, financial management services and training should be targeted to enhance agricultural productivity.
“While food security strategy should continue to prioritise nutrition and nutrition-sensitive agriculture, government should promote better livestock practices, promote resilience, link emergency relief to long-term security, invest in research and extension, invest in rural infrastructure, strengthen domestic markets, and strengthen farmer organisations/citizen participation.”
Giving a brief overview of project and implementation model of “Increasing Groundnut Productivity of Small-holder Farmers in Ghana, Mali and Nigeria,” a project being promoted by USAID and the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Dr M. Vabi, country director of ICRISAT Nigeria, listed the project objectives to include:
Enhancing farmers’ knowledge of improved groundnut production technologies including complementary crop management practices
Enhancing seed production and marketing at a grand scale
Enhancing farmers’ knowledge and diffuse improved aflatoxin management technologies
Enhancing farmers’ access to small scale processing technologies
Furthermore, he identified the scheme’s five strategic implementation approaches as:
Engaging and delivering with credible partners of the public and private sectors, and civil society organisation as well as individual resource persons/institutions
Using on-farm demonstrations and other appropriate delivery mechanisms that enhance mutual learning and sharing amongst groundnut value chain actors
Strategic simultaneous handling of geographical and institutional Upscaling – States, LGAs, Actors at different Stages of the value chain, etc.
Engaging and securing media organs – federal, state and private
Monitoring from established baselines situations
In a presentation, Professor Emmanuel Oladipo submitted that agriculture accounts for about 24% of the nation’s GDP and employs about 70% of the labour force in Nigeria. According to him, it is dominated by about 15 million smallholders (mostly women) who account for over 90% of the national food.
Average prevalence of food inadequacy and domestic food price volatility between 2000 and 2013 were 12% and 13% respectively, he noted adding that food imports despite its abundance of arable land resources stood at about $11 billion in 2012.
He listed the main drivers of food insecurity to include: rapidly the growing population, changing and uncertain climate, shrinking farming workforce, poor infrastructure, flat crops yields over the past decades, and conflicts in the northern agro-ecological zones (AEZs), where most of the grains are produced.
“All these put food security in danger unless the decline in food production is offset by vast increase in-country food production and food imports despite infrastructure, production and market support services constraints,” he said.
Prof Oladipo disclosed that specific project sites for the GEF/UNDP scheme are yet to be determined, but focus will be the sudan-sahelian AEZ where agro-pastoral millet sorghum and cereal-root crop mixed production systems are practiced.
His words: “The zone constitutes the grain basket of Nigeria and produces most of the grains (such as maize, millet, sorghum and wheat) and legumes (such as cowpeas and groundnuts) that provide the main staple diet of the people.
“The zone is subject to marked inter-annual rainfall variability resulting in periodic droughts. It is mainly of ferruginous tropical soils that are highly weathered and laterised. It is characterised by sandy-fixed undulating topography.”
The arresting headline in the June 3, 2016 edition of EnviroNews titled “Housing crisis looms with 17 million deficit,” must have scared the hell out of readers, nay other compatriots at this time when Nigeria is fighting so many wars both declared or undeclared. From Boko Haram to the Niger Delta Avengers coupled with the problems of corruption, kidnapping, economic recession, epileptic power supply and looted treasury.
Observers say Nigeria’s housing deficit is far in excess of 17 million. Photo credit: lagos.all.biz
The housing deficit figure was revealed at the 35th Annual General Meeting and International Symposium of Shelter Afrique held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja on June 1, 2016. It was contained in the opening address of President Muhammadu Buhari at the event, who innocently might not know the source of the figure he presented to the attendees of the Symposium. The President was just doing an obligated state duty, which protocol demands during such international event. This piece will focus on the fact and fallacy of Nigeria’s housing crisis.
Necessity for reliable housing data
As alarming as the figure of 17 million housing deficit is, one may be tempted to ask: From what source it is? How was the figure arrived at? Was any research done? Who or which institution spearheaded the study? I am asking these relevant questions as a result of my personal experience. This writer was a modest key player in the generation and dissemination housing data and ancillary information in Nigeria by virtue of my position as the pioneer Secretary of the Housing Policy Council (HPC), which was established in 1991 as a “specific-purpose” Council in the defunct Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. The HPC was a product of part of the recommendations contained in the operative 1991National Housing Policy. That policy recommended that HPC as a Council, be established for the purpose of monitoring and evaluation of housing policy implementation; and to give an annual report of its stewardship to the National Council on Housing – an apex body made up of all the Commissioners of Housing in all the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The body meets annually to brainstorm on housing, land and urban development in Nigeria and makes policy recommendation to the Federal Government for its consideration.
Part of HPC mandate was to establish a National Housing Data Bank for the country. As important as this assignment is in terms of generating data on housing through a detailed census that would reveal the quality and quantity, occupancy ratio and other pertinent variables for the housing census in Nigeria, the response the HPC got from majority of the states was poor and discouraging. Only very few states provided skeletal information while others simply did not respond to the questionnaires sent to them. Most of the states were either uncooperative or were naïve of how to provide the information/data asked for. When most micro institutions at the state level cannot provide housing data as input to the proposed National Housing Data Bank, it hampers the effort of the HPC to generate accurate and quality data on housing, which can be used for planning purpose and reliable statistics that agencies of government can co-use where applicable. The statistical figures being bandied around as housing deficit are figures that could not be supported with verifiable data.
The 17 million housing deficit that was referenced is suspect. The housing requirement in Lagos as a mega city of over 20 million is quite enormous if the high rate of housing demand is considered. Out of the figure of 17 million housing deficit in the country, Lagos alone can comfortably consume one third (5.6million) leaving a balance of 11.5 million. The residue figure of 11.5 million is what big cities such as Ibadan, Kano, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Aba, Onitsha, Kaduna, Owerri, Warri and Abuja can share because these cities are growing exponentially in population and so is the demand for housing in them. Basically, what this analysis reveals is that the 17 million housing deficit being bandied is what could only satisfy the needs of 10 densely populated urban centres in the country. In this calculus, the housing deficits in other state capitals are not captured. Ditto other secondary towns where there are equally housing shortages! The flaw in the given figure of 17 million housing deficit in Nigeria is discernable as analysed herein. Actually, Nigeria’s housing deficit is far in excess of the figure stated.
Underfunding of Research Institutions
It is a pity that the government that wants to improve the country’s housing situation, most especially for the low-income people, is not ready to fund most of the institutions responsible for research and data collection for planning purpose. The Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER) staffed by very brilliant Researchers has been left comatose and inactive due to acute underfunding. The Institute was on course when it started to collect data on “housing starts” circa 1990s as part of the foundation to creating reliable statistics on the number of houses built yearly in the country. The laudable effort by NISER was short-lived because the capital-intensive project was starved of funds and the idea was abruptly abandoned in less than three years, good as the initiative was. Many of the Researchers became frustrated and in wont of greener pastures abroad, many left the country.
The case is not different from what obtains at the Nigerian Building and Roads Research Institute (NBRRI), which exists in name now due to redundancy in building materials research attenuated by low operational budget. The Housing Policy Council was deliberately killed by the very mother (figuratively speaking) that midwifes its birth. As I write, the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development has not thought it wise to re-establish the HPC despite its necessity and in line with the provision of the extant National Housing Policy, which recommends the resuscitation of the Council. In essence, government shares a chunk of the blame for not financially supportive of the Institutions it created, in order to enhance effective job performance of these institutions. Without reliable data, it is near impossible to determine the country’s housing requirement and how to develop a Housing Plan to meet such need.
Policy somersault
The rate at which Housing Policy is changed from one administration to the other in Nigeria is a counter-productive. From 1981-2014, a period of 33 years, the country had 5 different National Housing Policy documents, which on the average translates to one policy every six years! The ideal timeframe for housing policy review should be every 10 years when it could be reasonably determined the impact of such policy. But that is not the case in this instance.
Once a new administration comes into office and a new Federal Minister of Housing is appointed, his/her preoccupation is to formulate a new Housing Policy for the country, regardless of the merit of an existing policy he/she met in office. Often misguided by self-interest ministry officials, the Minister will be ill-advised to set up a Committee to formulate a new Housing Policy, which in the end would produce copycat (evidently plagiarised) of the old one. Such document is like identical twins born from one fertilised egg. The same strategies would be recommended for housing finance, land management, institutional framework, production of local building materials, low-income housing, public-private partnership etc. In addition to this, every minister wants to initiate a National Housing Programme, which entails the involvement of government in direct construction of housing contrary to the provision of the housing policy that stipulates non-involvement of government in direct housing construction.
Without any measure of proper policy evaluation to determine how effective its implementation in all the areas of housing components (land, finance, building materials, institutional framework, research etc), it will just be a wild goose chase trying to solve the nation’s housing problems as daunting as they are. It is not the frequency of policy change that would cause increase in housing supply in the country, but sincere implementation of whatever strategies the policy recommends regardless of whether such policy is old or new. This is an honest advice any Minister of Housing should take to heart. There is nothing wrong in pursuing the housing policy objectives of your predecessor in office using the subsisting policy as a guide. But where it is necessary, the policy’s grey area can be fine-tuned without reinventing the wheel.
Conclusion
Nigeria has a daunting housing deficit, the accurate figure of which is yet to be properly and scientifically determined. The current figure given is just a tip of the iceberg as alarming as it is. Until government changes its fire brigade approach to closing the gap between housing supply and demand, it cannot make the desirable impact in the sector. The change must start from the quality and honesty of advice government officials give to the administration. This leads me to the wrong step taken in the past of not allowing National Housing Policy to endure for a reasonable timeframe before it is prematurely reviewed and a new one is formulated. Any subsisting housing policy of government has what it takes to ameliorating the country’s housing crisis, but lack of continuity and faith or rather a deliberate attitude not to implement what the policy recommends, has been the bane of Nigeria’s housing crisis. Such negative attitude must change in this era of change.
Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Saturday denied media reports claiming that a kidnap attempt was made on his mother, Mrs Christianah Ambode, at her residence in Gbagada area of the State on Friday evening.
Akinwunmi Ambode, Governor of Lagos State. Photo credit: ecomium.org
The governor, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Habib Aruna, denied the media report, saying that it was not a true reflection of what transpired at the residence of his mother.
An online newspaper had claimed that heavily armed gunmen invaded the governor’s mother’s residence and disarmed the octogenarian’s police detail in an apparent attempt to abduct her. The newspaper had further reported that the unfortunate development took place at about 7:30pm, while a back-up team arrived at the scene at about8:10pm.
Responding, Aruna said: “Whilst it is true that a commotion occurred at the residence of the governor’s mother on the fateful day, it was however far from the truth that it was a kidnap attempt.
“What really transpired was that a man parked his vehicle in front of the residence of the governor’s mother and the security detail attached to the building asked him not to park there so as not to block the entrance.
“The man who claimed to be military personnel was not in uniform as at the time of the unfortunate incident but he insisted on parking in front of the building on the ground that he was military personnel.
“He then went on to invite military personnel attached to Operation MESA to beat Mrs. Ambode’s police details after he was advised not to park his vehicle outside the building.
“The unfortunate part was that the newspaper rightly reported this aspect of the development in the body of the story but still claimed in the lead paragraph that it was an apparent kidnap attempt.
“While we would like to put on record that the disturbance was not a kidnap attempt on the governor’s mother as nothing untoward happened to her, we also like to caution against needless sensational journalism which could cause unnecessary panic.
“At the moment, officials of the State Government are taking appropriate steps to sanction the unruly military personnel who joined their colleague to disturb public peace,” Aruna stated.
A group of women and youths in a community in Abuja has received training in the fabrication of energy-efficient fuel wood stoves under the Access to Clean Energy partnership involving the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN).
L-R: Country Representative of UNDP, Dr. Pa Lamin Beyai; Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu; Director General of the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), Professor Eli Jidere Bala; and the Chief of Ushafa, Alhaji Mohammed Baba, at the launch of the training of women and youths in the fabrication of energy-efficient fuel wood stoves at Ushafa in Bwari LGA, Abuja… recently
Country Representative of UNDP, Dr.Pa Lamin Beyai, while formally opening the forum a week ago, said that energy access has a critical role in sustainable economic development. According to him, energy is essential to meeting basic human needs.
Food production, running water, heat, light and transport, Dr. Beyai added, are all dependent on energy access. “Poor access to energy has severe impacts on health, quality of life, education and economic productivity,” he stressed.
The two-week hands-on training of women and the youth on locally made metal and clay-based energy efficient wood cook stoves ended over the weekend at the Ushafa community in Bwari Local Government Area of Abuja (FCT).
At the launch of the training two weeks ago were the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu; the Director General of the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), Professor Eli Jidere Bala; the Chief of Ushafa, the trainees, among other important personalities.
Dr.Beyai noted that the training aims to popularise renewable energy technology, and that it was “designed to help secure multiple environmental and socio-economic benefits, including reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from reduced fuel wood consumption, enhanced carbon storage and sequestration, and improve rural livelihood and opportunity for local development.”
He said renewable, clean energy, climate change, gender equality are key ingredients to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030, which call for collective action towards a more environmentally sustainable pathway.
His words: “When successfully completed, this training will be useful towards the attainment of three Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 5 to Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls; Goal7 to Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all; and, Goal 8 to Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.”
He described the training as a way of empowering the beneficiaries with skills that would result in the improvement in quality of lives.
“This is a giant and promising step in building the capacity of the youth and women of Ushafa Community and, in the process, conserve energy and preserve the environment. We would like to congratulate the Energy Commission of Nigeria for their relentless scientific research in exploring the various sources of renewable energy for Nigeria.
“I cannot overemphasise the importance of this training, which is directed at women and the youth in the pottery and welding trades. It is a significant step in building the local capacity of the people of this community in the design, fabrication, and installation of energy-efficient clay and metal–based wood cook-stoves. In addition to the usual pots, the training will also introduce small-scale production of the new design,” Beyai said.
He noted that young people, especially women in the rural communities, usually have limited opportunities for employment. “It is our hope that this training will partly alleviate that by increasing your individual and collective economic and social values.”
He urged all participants to make the best use of the opportunity provided by the training. “For the people of Ushafa Community, we recognise and commend your collective interest and willingness to participate in the training, and wish you all the best of luck in this noble endeavour.”
He lauded Minister for Science and Technology and the Director General of Energy Commission of Nigeria with whom he said the UNDP enjoys a very strong relationship. “We assure you of our collaboration in the actualisation of national development priorities and the SDGs.”
Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, said it was important for rural communities to benefit from the government in various ways.
He added: “The time has come for the Energy Commission of Nigeria to work with other agencies within the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology to ensure that Nigeria plays her role and utilise renewable energy efficiently. The contribution of renewable energy to the energy mix in the country is something that has to improve.
“We want a situation where we can use our coal in energy and power generation. Many countries depend on their coal and our coal has very low sulphur content. So, we believe that the Energy Commission of Nigeria will help us to do more research to see that when we use coal it does not hurt our environment. We believe that our energy needs are very important in the direction that the nation is going; we need to industrialise, we need to produce more than we are doing now. So far, we are essentially a consumer nation and this is not good for our country. We need to produce and we cannot continue to depend on only few sources of energy in the power generation capacity of our nation and I believe that the Energy Commission of Nigeria will play this very important role to make sure that we as a nation will be able to meet our own energy needs.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is very interested in making sure that the services of government will reach all Nigerians, whether those who live in urban or rural areas. This is why I am particularly very happy that in the great city of Ushafa, I will not call it village, we are interested in making sure that we move Nigeria out of poverty.”
He said the government expects that at the end of the training, the participants would lead the way in the efficient use of energy, adding that they were also expected to take environment-friendly decisions.
The minister said he was convinced that all the participants would benefit maximally from the hands-on training.
Chief Executive Officer of the ECN, Prof. Jidere Bala, said the improved wood stoves technologies have many advantages over the traditional three-stove open fire stoves.
He listed the merits to include: lower operating cost, in terms of time and money, since less biomass fuel would be used arising from higher efficiencies; enhances opportunity for education for the girl-child; reduces quantity of fuelwood required and thus lesser time required in fetching firewood; provision of a chimney means re-direction of combustion emissions away from the operator and thus significantly reduces health risks to women and children; higher efficiencies means reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) and toxic emissions in the atmosphere; the technology involved in the fabrication of these improved woodstoves is simple and rural people can easily fabricate them; reduces deforestation with its attendant environmental consequences.
Bala said the choice of Ushafa Pottery Centre was based on the fact that the Centre already has local expertise and skills as well facilities for pottery, which UNDP and ECN wanted to harness and to enhance the existing capacity to include the fabrication of eco-friendly fuelwood cookstoves, with the participation of private sector for wider jobs creation and economic empowerment of rural women and youth within Bwari LGA for a start. The training involved 50 youths and women in total, with 25 for a start.
Access to modern energy services, he said, was a challenge in Nigeria, particularly for rural dwellers. Most rural communities in the country are characterised by limited access to modern energy services with majority of the population heavily relying on traditional, rudimentary and inefficient renewable energy conversion devices like open-to-sun drying method and the traditional three – stone open fire woodstove for meeting their drying, heating and needs. These rudimentary and inefficient technologies for cooking with fuel-wood leads to continuous felling of trees, desert encroachment and soil erosion, thus, making it unsustainable. In addition, the amount of diseases associated with the use of biomass fuels for cooking, heating and for lighting have been on the increase with resultant deaths, especially among women and children.
Quoting statistics, Bala said in Nigeria, fuelwood cook stoves accounted for more than 80% of the household energy supply with attendant large consumption of fuelwood. “Therefore policy intervention that will enhance the dissemination of improved cooking stoves will not only reduce the volume of fuelwood consumed but also will reduce levels of emissions harmful to human beings and the environment.
He said: “Consequently, governments have been working towards addressing rural energy access. In the late 1970, the Federal Government established two Energy Research Centres in University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, respectively, which were later transferred to the ECN in 1989, to focus on research and development of renewable energy and its technologies. These Centres have amongst other achievements, successfully developed designs of improved woodstoves, namely, the all-clay and the steel and clay types.
“The all-clay design (SERC) has an all-clay structural body. It may have a wire mesh, metallic strips or grit as structural re-enforcements. In the all-clay design, the clay body not only carries the load of the pot it also serves as a thermal insulator that minimises heat losses. Though cheaper, it has a lower load carrying capacity and a shorter life. The steel and clay design has a structural frame and clay thermal insulation. In the steel and clay design, the steel frame carries the load, while the clay provides the thermal insulation. The load carrying capacity and the life span are higher, however, it is a bit more expensive. The private sector has improved on these basic designs and some are now available in the markets.”
National President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Dr Olufemi Amos Olomola, passed away after a brief illness on the 31st of May 2016 at his residence in Lagos. He was the 21st President of the NITP.
Mourning members of the Management Committee of the NITP on Saturday visited the residence of the late urban planner. Dr Olomola’s widow, Mrs Victoria Adekunbi Olomola, received the delgation.
Executive Council members of the NITP with Mrs Adekunbi OlomolaDuring a prayer sessionFirst National Vice President, Luka Bulus Achi, with Mrs OlomolaMrs Victoria Adekunbi OlomolaFirst National Vice President, Luka Bulus Achi, signing the condolence registerSecond National Vice President, Lekwa Olugu EzutahExecutive Secretary, Barka Gamece MadzigaLate Dr Olomola with his wife (Mrs Victoria Adekunbi Olomola) and National Secretary of the NITP, Alex N. Ogbodo, during Olomola’s inauguration as NITP president in Lagos last year
A civil society organisation, the Rainforest Resource and Development Centre (RRDC), has said that the 443-page Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) draft report of the proposed Ikom-Katsina Ala Superhighway project prepared by PMG Nigeria Limited for the Cross River State Government is defective. The EIA was submitted to the Federal Ministry of Environment (FME) in Abuja on March 2016.
President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River state unveiling the plaque at the Ground breaking ceremony of 260km. Super Highway Dual carriage Road from Calabar to Northern Nigeria held at Obung village Akamkpa of Cross River state …20 -10-2015 .
According to the Calabar, Cross River State-based group, after analysing the report, it came to the conclusion that it (the draft report) is a deliberate attempt to misinform the FME about the true potential impacts of the proposed superhighway project.
The group submitted in a statement: “Our conclusions are based on the fact that critical elements of the project such as the buffer zones covering an expansive land mass of 20km throughout the length of the project have been deliberately omitted. The buffer zone, which comprises about 95 to 96 percent of the territory acquired for the project (5,200 square kilometres), and threatens to place more than 180 indigenous communities on forced migration, cannot be omitted from the EIA Report without rendering the entire document invalid.
“Having, therefore failed to provide the Federal Ministry of Environment with the most fundamental data essential for appraising the impacts of the said superhighway project on over one million indigenous people and the associated ecosystems, the EIA Report is thus a deficient, non-compliant, flawed, deliberately doctored and unfit document that cannot be relied upon in the matter of processing any form of approval for the project.”
Also, RRDC alleged that maps for the proposed project that are displayed in the EIA are doctored versions of the authentic ones.
ActionAid Nigeria (AAN), an organisation committed to the elimination of poverty throughout the world and in Nigeria in particular, commends efforts of the Muhammed Buhari-led Federal Government in combating insurgency in the Northeast and the fight against corruption. It notes, however, that good intentions are not enough and that urgent steps need to be taken to assure Nigerians that Change is not mere electoral gimmick.
In a statement issued on Saturday, AAN addresses three key issues out of several others that are considered to be fuelling worsening poverty and other social conditions that need to be urgently addressed by the Nigerian government and citizens to avoid increasing social tension, anxiety and anarchy that could derail the vision of change on the basis of which Nigerians voted in the 2015 general elections. These are: the state of the Nigerian economy, the prevailing state of insecurity and violence against the Girl-Child and Women.
The AAN works with the poor and the marginalised to demand and promote inclusive governance and development as a strategy for eliminating poverty in a world endowed with enormous wealth, resources and unlimited human capacity.
President Muhammadu Buhari. Photo credit: informationng.com
State of the Nigerian Economy
Recent developments in Nigeria have made a review of the health of the nation’s economy rather compelling. The economy in the first and part of the second quarter of the year 2016, based on figures and analysis from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) appear to have experienced some decline. Indicators are that compared to the last quarter of 2015, business activities, manufacturing sector, non-manufacturing sectors, and service sector all have experienced declines. Employment rate has also significantly reduced with raw materials utilisation also on the receding line. Inflation rate is also on the rise, according to the reports.
As indicated in the NBS’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) April 2016 report, inflation has been on the increase with a headline index of 13.7% in April. This increase which NBS put at 0.9% higher than the rate recorded in March this year “was reflected in faster increases across all divisions which contribute to the index with the exception of the Restaurants and Hotels division which increased, albeit at a slower pace for the third consecutive month”.
The core sub-index recorded its highest increase in electricity, liquid fuel and furniture & furnishing. This was attributed to “structural constraints that led to spill overs from higher electricity rates, kerosene prices, and the impact of higher PMS prices and vehicle spare parts.” The Food sub-index recorded its highest increase in fish, vegetable & fruits and bread & cereals. The increase was attributed to “increases in prices of imported as well as domestically produced foods due to supply constraints”.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) May 2016 Report of the statistics department of the CBN indicated decline in business activities in the country. Data compiled from purchasing and supply executives in manufacturing and non-manufacturing indicated there was decline in production level, new orders, employment level and raw material inventories. Of the 16 manufacturing sub-sectors studied, 11 showed decline, with only five recording expansion. Just as production and new orders declined in majority of the subsectors, with only five of 16 showing marginal growth mostly from contraction, supplier delivery time in nine of the 16 sub-sectors recorded improvement with seven classified as worsening. Already, there has been significant decline in foreign trade by Nigeria.
Admittedly, at the root of all of this is the precipitous decline of the Nigerian economy which can be explained by its structural weaknesses since independence, worsened by the dependence of the economy on the export of petroleum as the main foreign exchange earner. The recent fall in the international price of the product to all time low price of about $40 per barrel has occasioned a fiscal crisis that has had dire consequences for the management of foreign exchange, the capacity of government to decisively tackle issues of job and employment creation and the overall commitment to Nigerian citizens as evident in official statistics that have been cited above.
The majority of poor and excluded people live in rural locations which are characterised by poor social amenities that aid wellbeing. With inflation rate at 13.72%, rise in fuel price, poor farming techniques and outputs, etc lead to increased health inequalities experienced by women, decline in infant and maternal health, poor income earning capacities, and low access to amenities. This is worst among children especially the girl-child. With poor investments, nutrition intake decreases, access to education and health is denied and access to opportunities to a better life in non-existent.
Impact of the hardship of the economy are already felt across the nation as prices of commodities have since gone up and pressure on the resources of the low income earners and the poor has since risen as established by the NBS. As with the past measure, traced by many back to the 1986 IBB SAP policies, the poor appear to have been paying for the sins of the people who have had the privileges of access to the nation’s treasures. The increase in electricity tariff and pump price of petrol, as cited by the government’s NBS has impacted on prices of goods, inclusive of food on which it has been established the poor spend as much as 80 to 90% of their income. With the indication of a road tariff to be introduced soon as announced by the Minister for Power, Works and Housing, there definitely will be more pressure on the poor as this will impact on cost of transportation and movements of goods, especially food.
In addition to these hardships, Nigerians are likely to lose confidence in the ability of government to bring about the change that was promised in the 2015 general elections and could erode their confidence in our democracy which appears to show signs of consolidation. AAN calls on the Nigerian government to, as a matter of urgency, pay attention to the following:
Fast track the implementation of the 2016 budget which focuses on capital projects, social protection and employment generation in order to provide succour to Nigerians.
Open the policy space through consultations and harnessing knowledge in order to come out with a socio- economic blue print to guide the government in the design of appropriate macro-economic framework that would guarantee more efficient and realistic management of foreign exchange, the diversification of the economy, reform of the tax system to broaden the revenue base of the economy, and galvanise and mobilise the energies of the population to develop an alternative to reliance on the export of oil in the medium to long terms.
Promote greater transparency in the management of the oil industry and undertake policy measures that will restore domestic refining capacity in collaboration with the private sector with the goal of instituting a price regime that will not hurt Nigerians especially the poor majority who live in the rural areas and who have to cope with the present hardships associated with increase in the pump price of petrol.
Ensure greater traction in the fight against corruption by building on the current initiatives such as the setting up of a Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption and the National Prosecution Coordination Committee (NPCC), the ongoing trials of high profile corruption cases and the recovery of public assets from corrupt Nigerians. There is need to review the legal framework for fighting corruption, strengthen existing anti-corruption agencies in terms of training in the areas of investigation and prosecution, and above all, create an enabling framework for Nigerians and their organisations to own the fight against corruption in addition to government’s efforts.
The recovered public funds of over N204 billion, $194 million and £5 million in addition funds awaiting returns from foreign jurisdictions need to be dedicated to programmes that will benefit the poor and the excluded people. It is however imperative that public consultations are required to harvest the opinions of Nigerians to identify priority development projects to be mounted and implemented.
Security
Security concerns have remained despite determined efforts by the government to mobilise her own resources and partnerships with the international community to improve the situation. For instance, in the year 2016, the Nigerian military has recorded tremendous successes in the battle against the Boko Haram insurgents in North East Nigeria, although the deadly group has continued its attack on soft targets. Concerns however still exist that intelligence gathering remains weak and is often cited as the reason for the continued bombing of locations by suicide bombers without early notice or detection. Government must remain focused on defeating insurgency in the region and reverse the ugly human security situation including the ravaging of livelihoods of the people and escalating food insecurity as attested to by the Human Development Report (2015) which said that Nigeria and its border countries such as Niger and Cameroon are among the last 20 per cent in terms of key human development indicators. What is more worrying is that Boko Haram and other forms of agitations are tearing at the fabrics of Nigeria’s unity and social coherence.
The rise of ethnic nationalism among some youths in the South East and emergence of a violent group in parts of the Niger Delta area, Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) in the aftermath of the 2015 general elections, have raised new security concern in the country. The NDA, which has resorted to blowing up pipelines, has this year blown up many pipelines resulting in the loss of over 40,000 barrels of crude oil per day, and invariably a reduction in the country’s income. It is not yet ascertained if the series of bombing by the NDA played any significant role in the current increase in the international barrel price of oil. Meanwhile, the spate of violence and killings associated with the agitation for a separate state of Biafra masterminded by IPOB should be a troubling sign of nation-building several decades after the Nigerian civil war.
The prevailing state of insecurity is further complicated by escalating cases of violent clashes in communities and the dramatic rise in herders/farmers conflicts which moved into the southern parts of the country, beyond the Middle Belt parts of the country as it was previously the case. When added to incidents of kidnapping that have received national attention in many of the southeast states and Kogi in recent times, one will not be surprised that Nigeria once ranked as the most peaceful state now ranks very low in the Peaceful State Index. As it well established by the work that AAN has extensively done across the country, it is the wellbeing and livelihoods of the ordinary citizens who are poor and marginalised that is most compromised in conflict situations. To stem the tide of insecurity and create conditions that will encourage economic growth, development and the survival if Nigeria’s democracy, the following recommendations are pertinent:
Priority attention should be accorded to issues of adjustment in Nigeria’s federal system to pay greater attention to justice, equity and fairness in the distribution of resources and opportunities among the component parts of the federation as ethno-regional groups and agitators tend to feed on these grievances even where they may not be genuine representatives of the people they allege to represent.
Democratic channels of addressing grievances including dialogue, negotiation and trade-off should be embraced by government and aggrieved groups to find enduring solutions rather that resorting to violence and worsening already precarious situation across the country.
There is need for thorough investigation into troubling incidents of herders/farmers conflict especially in communities in Benue and Enugu states to unravel the motives and faces behind the attacks in order to come to terms with genuine communal conflict and the activities of criminal gangs who may camouflage as herders.
The modernisation of agriculture especially pastoralism should be accorded high priority in the forms of ranches and grazing reserves to avoid seasonal movements of herdsmen and their herds to reduce the spate of conflict between herders and grazers.
Rise in Violence Against Women & Girls
Despite the signing of the Violence Against Persons’ Prohibition (VAPP) Act last year, incidences of violence against women and girls, as well as child abuse, continue to rise in Nigeria. Recent instances include the murder of a woman in the market in Kano for alleged blasphemy, and the rape to death of a pregnant 22-year-old woman in her own house in Kano, the murder of Ronke Shonde allegedly by her husband, the abduction and forced marriage of Ese Oruru, and the brutalising of a two-year-old by his step mother, among others. Targeting of women and girls by armed men and cases of exploitation and abuses of vulnerable women and girls in IDP camps also abound. These incidences spanning domestic violence, sexual violence, and abduction, highlight a lack of safety for women, girls and children in both public and private spaces.
Unfortunately, cultural beliefs and the manipulation of religion and the deep culture of patriarchy tend to whittle the depth of violations of the rights of the girl child and women that the cases highlighted above and others portray. AAN wishes to make the following recommendations to protect the human rights and dignity of the Girl-Child as follows:
The full weight of the law should be brought to bear on perpetrators of violence against the Girl-Child and women regardless of the social status of the persons involved; the agencies involved in criminal justice administration are particularly called upon to demonstrate a sense of responsibility in the discharge of their duties in line with Nigeria’s domestic and international obligations.
Government and civil society should urgently drive the comprehensive and strict implementation of the existing Violence Against Persons’ Prohibition (VAPP) Act.
The rehabilitation and re-integration of victims already identified should be accorded priority attention by government, civil society and communities to avoid undesirable consequences on the victims.
Conclusion
AAN is strongly convinced that Nigeria is one country with a huge possibility to eliminate poverty in all its facets considering her immense resource endowment and human capacity, if responsive governance, conflict-sensitive planning and inclusive growth are pursued with political commitment at the highest level and at all levels. AAN will continue to work with the poor who must realise that they have a right to development and must demand accountable governance from their leaders. Among several challenges that face Nigeria and make the realisation of pro-poor development impossible, AAN believes that the present Nigerian leadership, as well meaning as it may be, must address the issue of economic decline and the socio-economic hardships it has engendered, frontally confront the numerous security challenges and urgently protect the Girl-Child and women from the various forms of violence they have been subject to, especially in more recent times.
“Go wild for life” was simplified and interpreted as embracing all living things as parts of the ecosystem. Examples of animals killed for fun in our society were highlighted by the students in the interactive sessions as lizards, butterflies, birds, worms, ants and the like. Apart from mosquitoes, pests and rodents that breed as a result of dirty environment, that must be eradicated, animals are important features of the environment.
