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.
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.
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.
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:
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:
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:
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.
President Muhammadu Buhari has raised an alarm over the housing crisis that is staring Nigeria in the face with housing deficit of 17 million. He made it clear that the country requires one million houses annually to be able to weather the storm of the housing challenge.
The President who spoke through the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, at the 35th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and International Symposium of Shelter Afrique, held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja Wednesday, said that the current national housing deficit needs to be averted before the year 2020.
The President said that the Federal Government has earmarked N40 billion in the 2016 capital budget to implement a comprehensive housing programme in the country, adding: “The government intends to directly supply housing stocks in urban areas across all the geo-political zones under its Comprehensive Housing Programme.
“The Federal Government would also continue to prosecute overall housing policy stand which recognises the government as active facilitator of private sector-driven housing sector.”
President Buhari said that the Federal Government is considering vibrant reforms in land administration, urban planning/renewal and mortgage housing finance under its new comprehensive housing programme to improve housing delivery in Nigeria.
The President said that the current realties of housing shortfall, challenges housing developers in Nigeria and Africa as a whole to re-assess their strategies and evolve fresh methodologies to meet the exigencies of these times.
He cited the successes recorded in the East and Central African Region by Shelter Afrique, a Pan-African Finance Institution, through its ‘Exemplar Housing Initiative,’ saying that its potential benefits could be better harnessed by a wider housing market to achieve housing for the low income earners in other parts of Africa.
He lauded Shelter Afrique’s commitment to further popularizing current best practices for housing delivery in Africa and therefore called on the Board and Management of the continental Finance Institution to embrace the opportunity of opening new frontiers by investing in low-income houses in Nigeria.
He appealed to other development partners to invest more in the Nigerian Housing sub-sector to deepen the vibrancy of the country’s housing market.
“I expect that this meeting will come up with a consolidated strategy that would assist national governments across Africa to develop robust systems to deliver affordable housing to the low income on sustainable basis,” the President stressed.”
While welcoming guests to the AGM, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, called on the delegates to brainstorm and find lasting solution to housing challenges in Africa.
In his address, the Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer of Shelter Afrique, Mr. James Mugerwa, said that the organisation has invested $50 million in the sector and has created 30 million construction workers across the continent.
The theme of AGM & Symposium is “Housing Africa’s Low Income Urban Population.”
Over 15,000 drivers have been arrested in Lagos and Ogun states for using worn-out tyres, as well as driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
The Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, who announced this in Lagos at a recent forum at the FRSC command in Ojodu Berger, warned that the Corps would no longer accommodate second hand tyres popularly called “tokunbo tyres” on Nigerian roads and had begun a public sensitisation on that, which would be followed by the total clamp down on such used tyres.
The Corps Marshal, who was represented by the FRSC Zonal Commanding Officer in charge of Lagos and Ogun, Assistant Corps Marshal Nsebong Akpabia, explained that, based on investigations carried out between 2011 and 2015, tyre-related problems were responsible for many accidents that claimed lives.
He said: “Available statistics from 2011 to 2015 depict that 5,288 vehicles were involved in tyre-related crashes across the country. In FRSC Zone 2 command, (Comprising Lagos and Ogun) tyre violation was reported as principal causative in 6.51 percent of crashes recorded in 2015 while 18 cases of tyre burst have also been recorded from January to April 2016. In response to this, the Zone has made tyre violation a critical thrust of enforcement which culminated in arrest of 7,751 tyre violators between January and April, 2016.
“According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 1.2 million persons die on the roads while about 20 to 50 million others sustain different degrees of injuries annually, thereby making road crashes a major developmental and health issue throughout the World. The developing countries (Nigeria inclusive) who has less than 48 percent of world population bear the greatest burden of road fatalities as they account for over 90 percent of the world road fatalities. This is the sad reality we must contend with to save our generation and our future. In this contention, one elemental risk factor that stares one on the face, like a monster, is the menace of bad tyre abuse that has sent thousands to their early grave.
“Desire for superior economic advantage has ignorantly been advanced as underlining cause of most tyre violations in some quarters, but this cannot in anyway pass the test of logical reason on the basis of economic prudence and safety imperative. Of what importance is the money a man labours to save which he would not live to enjoy? Today, the use of expired tyres, worn-out tyres, sub-standard tyres, re-treaded tyres, stitched tyres, part-worn tyres (or tokunbo) as well as poor tyre maintenance are dangerously comprising highway safety.”
Oyeyemi urged marketers to desist from the unprofessional act of deceiving their customers that tokunbo tyres are better than new ones just to make profits.
He adds: “Unfortunately, many Nigerians that even desire to purchase quality tyres for their vehicles are being duped by mischievous dealers who capitalise on their ignorance to sell expired, re-treaded and sub-standard tyres to them. This is the ugly situation that attest to existence of knowledge gap in tyre safety among Nigerian populace. It makes this sensitisation and by extension our gathering here a necessity.
“Obviously, we all have a part to play in this campaign beyond listening to presentations on identification of key parameters to determine good tyres and internalising it. Nigerians are the importers, marketers, maintenance technicians (or vulcaniser) as well as users of these tyre that are daily causing wanton loss of lives and property on our highways. Why don’t we make a good change of heart and be committed to doing things right?
“If you are boarding commercial vehicle, endeavour to check the tyres for basic quality indicators. In case of bad tyre(s), you should bring it to the driver’s or park management’s attention and insist on compliance. The fare you paid should not be a fare to early grave. If they refuse to comply, report to FRSC on 122 or 08077690200.
“I have issued my directives to my officers to commence aggressive enforcement immediately this period of enlightenment is over. Call them, I can assure you of their prompt response. Let it be clarified that the enforcement thrust will target all different tyre conditions that could jeopardise safe driving.”
Oyeyemi said his men on patrol would impound any vehicle with bad tyre(s) including expired tyres, worn-out tyres, wrongly fitted tyres, and sub- standard tyres, and that he or she would be made to replace all the tyres before the vehicle is released.
In a lecture, an automobile expert, Mr. Henry Olewunel, stressed that tyres expire after four years, and advised car owners to play safe by buying only new tyres and changing them after four years.
Olewunel further advised that when buying a tyre attention should be paid on its manufacturing and expiry dates, and that for it to last, it should be pumped according to specification, adding that drivers should fix their best tyres at the back for maximum protection.
Responding, an executive member of the Lagos State National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Lagos, Comrade Tokunbo Seriki, who is the union’s branch Chairman in Ojodu area, promised to take the message to his people, hoping that all would accept it in good faith since it is for their own safety.
A donation of three motor bikes was made to the FRSC to assist it in patrol along the Lekki-Epe Expressway, which has been identified to record high accident cases. Receiving the donations, the representative of the Corps Marshal appreciated different organisations who have deemed it necessary to partner with the corps in recent times.
The Corps Marshal said: “The Corps appreciates in no mean measures the various individuals, organisations and opinion groups that have continued to partner with FRSC on the project of building safer highways in Nigeria. The donation of two patrol vehicles and bikes to Lagos State Command by his Excellency, Governor of Lagos State, is veritably appreciated. Pertinent also to mention among numerous others is the efforts of Arrive Alive Nigeria who in partnership with Chevron recently donated power bikes to the Corps for enhancement of its patrol operations along the Lekki-Epe highway. Let it be reiterated here that the Lekki-Epe highway has become another high risk route of concern on the account of excessive speeding, driving under influence of alcohol, lane indiscipline, overloading and use of phone. These are quite dangerous and unsafe acts everyone must avoid.”
In attendance at the forum were the representatives from the Police, Lagos State Government, Special Marshals and companies who are stakeholders in the “Arrive alive initiative”, being a coalition of professionals with the mandate of drastically reducing accidents along the Lagos/Ogun corridor.
By Innocent Onoh
Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has associated the incessant stormy rainfall being experienced in the country to the much-talked-about negative impacts of man on the environment.
The governor stated this recently during a courtesy visit and the opening ceremony of the Osun Architects’ Sustainable Information Synthesis Forum in Osogbo.
He attributed much of the destruction of the global ecosystem to anti-nature activities of human beings.
According to him, it is these human activities that have led to the worse state the global climate has receded into, manifesting in the harsh weather and incessant natural disaster that the world is witnessing today.
He averred that even though nature is calm but it does not respect human beings and as such could be devastating in form of protest against unconscionable human activities.
Aregbesola, who warned of danger ahead, appealed to all stakeholders in the fight against climate change to sensitise people on the need to engage in reasonable activities.
Besides, he also canvassed for a serious commitment to the greening of the environment by planting multiple trees where one is felled.
His words: “Let me call our attention to the danger – or is it tragedy – the whole world faces today with our climate.
“Have we paused to ask ourselves why we have stormy rainfall constantly nowadays? It is either we experience this hailstorm before or during rainfall and we go about as if this is a normal occurrence.
“No! We are today at the mercy of the nature and it is human activity that has led to this worse climatic conditions we now experience.”
Aregbesola also expressed his worries in the inability of the professional body to come up with a suitable material for building plan 56 years after the exit of colonialism.
Aregbesola said what also gave him anxiety was the impact of the professional in the lives of the people and whether the professional cared about the welfare of the people when they plan, design and build houses.
He also lamented that over two decades after the continent’s contact with the European and 56 years after independence, Nigerian architects have yet to come up with a policy on which material is best and suitable for building.
He averred that the recommendations of the Nigeria Institute of Architects (NIA) on a building roof suitable and durable for Nigeria is enough catalyst to revamp the nation’s economy.
He stressed that the situation has gone so awry that not only the roofs but also the buildings in both urban and rural areas have so much degenerated to the level that significant numbers of them are no longer fit for human habitation.
“Up until this moment, it is not about the roofing materials alone which are unsuitable but also our buildings both in rural and urban areas have become a serious challenge.
“Our houses in urban settlement even depresses me more: most of them have passed their age of usefulness.
“If the country is committed to reviewing our human habitation through government-inspired efforts and you professionals recommend a new and durable building roofing, this alone is enough and capable of revamping our economy,” Aregbesola said.
He called on architects to be helpful in preventing the building anarchy of modern times, adding that they should also see to era of incidents of encroachment on roads and illegal structures that is becoming rampant in our society.
Aregbesola held that encroachment and illegal structures will have been avoided if architects have helped their clients do due diligence by obtaining proper documentation for their property before building.
According to him, “in Osun, we have not only reduced the cost, we have also simplified the process of obtaining land documents and building approvals in this state.
“This is in our quest to enhance urban aesthetics, prevent future separation of buildings from roads and bring about the security that possession of documents brings. It is my hope that our architects will support this programme adequately and increase the awareness on this with their clients.”
NIA President, Tony Oliver-Braid, has described Osun as a unique state in the whole of the country.
Oliver-Braid, who also described Governor Rauf Aregbesola as an extraordinary governor, disclosed that Osun is the only state in Nigeria that has at least one architect in a local government and over 50 architects engaged by the state’s Local Government Service commission.
The NIA President gave the statistics during a courtesy visit to the governor and the opening ceremony of its two-day conference tagged Osun Architects’ Sustainable Information Synthesis, OASIS Forum 2016, and the 20th Anniversary of NIS by the by Osun NIA.
The theme of conference is: “Join the Race to Make this World a Better Place.” It held at the Multipurpose Hall, Local Government Service Commission, State Secretarial, Abere.
Oliver-Braid, who was represented by the institute’s third Vice President, Enyi Ben Ehbo, said the governor’s landmark programmes and achievement are visible for all to see.
He said: “We commend you for the tremendous work you are doing despite the lean resources.
“As a seasoned Nigerian, we can see the work you are doing. With the number of architects we have in your state, Osun should see itself as the home of architecture in Nigeria.”
He said the theme of the conference was designed to herald the United Nations Environment Day, which comes up every June 5th of the year and the World Habitat Day, celebrated first Monday of October every year.
He called on governments and all stakeholders in the preservation of planet earth to take affirmative action to save the world, adding that there should be zero tolerance for killing of animals and take time to safeguard some of them, who are now endangered species.
He assured the governor that the impact of architects would be noted in every local government of the state very soon.
By Michael Simire
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, operator of the SPDC JV, has confirmed signs of a leak on the 48inch Forcados export pipeline at a location between shoreline and the Forcados terminal in the western Niger Delta, coming on the heels of a reported attack on the pipeline in the early hours of Friday, June 3.
In a statement issued on Friday, SPDC spokesperson, Gbenga Odugbesan, submitted: “We are yet to fully evaluate the potential impact and damage to the pipeline resulting from this latest incident. We have however mobilised appropriate oil spill response measures and will be conducting a joint investigation visit to the leak site with relevant stakeholders.
“We are currently focused on securing the pipeline to protect the environment. Given this latest incident and the wider security situation in the Niger Delta, we are unable to determine probable timing of resumption of exports from the Forcados terminal.”
SPDC is the operator of the export line on behalf of the joint venture partners comprising NNPC (55%), SPDC (30%), Total E&P Nigeria Ltd (10%) and Nigerian Agip Oil Company (5%).
The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) in the early hours of Friday claimed to have blown up a pipeline controlled by Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited. This comes as an addition in a series of oil pipeline destructions in the Niger Delta.
According to the NDA, the pipeline, SPDC Forcados 48″ Export line, was recently repaired after a similar attack.
It said it had warned against its repair in the first place.
The group, in a tweet at 5:23am on its Twitter handle, said the attack was carried out at 3am on Friday.
It tweeted: “At 3:00 am today @NDAvengers blow up the SPDC Forcados 48″ Export line. We warned SPDC not to go ahead with repair works but they refuse.”
As President Muhammadu Buhari flags-off the cleaning of the environment of Ogoniland today, Thursday 02 June 2016, environmental activist Ninimmo Bassey says history is in the making. He acknowledges the labours of past heroes like the late Ken Saro-Wiwa towards making the day a reality
The submission of the UNEP report on the assessment of the Ogoni environment in August 2011 laid to rest any doubts anyone may have had over the degree of hydrocarbons pollution in the Ogoniland, and by implication the Niger Delta. That scientific work proved to the whole world that Ogoniland has suffered extreme pollution and by interpretation that the response ought to be one of environmental emergency. For years down the road, there has been nothing concrete beyond signposts to indicate that this signal was understood by government.
In his statement before execution, Ken Saro-Wiwa declared that we all stand before history. Today, in another sense, we all stand at the brink of history. We stand at the line denoting the fact of the justness of the historic, determined and heroic calls for a clean-up of Ogoniland.
Today, we salute the memory of the Ogoni 13 and all that have laid down their lives, lost their limbs and were displaced in the hard and long years of struggle for justice. Today, we stand in solidarity with our peoples who still breathe air loaded with hydrocarbon fumes, drink water laced with toxic chemicals, fish and farm in polluted lands. Today we recall a fragment from one of the letters Ken Saro-Wiwa wrote during his last imprisonment and note his cry for environmental justice:
I’m not going into partisan politics. What I meant is that I would be taking a wider role in the nation’s affairs—expanding the Ogoni struggle to other parts of the delta and beyond. I could never be a part of whatever Abacha is planning for the future. What I want to see, and what I will always argue for is ERECTISM — ethnic autonomy, resource and environmental control. If this comes to pass, then Ogoni will be free and it is to them that I wish to dedicate the rest of my life. And I hope that that can be an example to other ethnic groups. The translation of my dreams into reality. Nothing to do with partisan politics.
With decades of extreme hydrocarbons pollution, the environment of Ogoniland and several places in the Niger Delta has been out of control. The environment that ought to provide the backdrop for life, safety and progress, indeed turned hostile, becoming an impediment to the enjoyment of the right to life.
Today, we applaud the courage of President Muhammadu Buhari as he flags off the cleaning of the environment of Ogoniland as the pathway to the detoxification of the Niger Delta environment. Taking this step at a time such as we are in is a mark of commitment that we must salute.
As members of civil society, and concerned peoples of this great nation, we pledge to contribute our quota to see that this is not a mere political event, but one that is adequately funded, systematically pursued and implemented with clear targets and milestones, with best available expertise and with the full inclusion of local communities. As we commit to do this, we keep in mind the stanza of our national anthem which declares: the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain.
Just as controlled fires are used to stop larger bush fires, researchers are embracing the use of water-laden components to make dams and control flooding.
Flood-prone Netherlands, in the bid to adapt to its peculiar situation, is adopting alternatives to the traditional sandbags, which are being replaced by a range of innovative “waterbags” as flood defences.
Courtesy of the Flood Proof Holland (FPH), local and international scientists and inventors at the 4th International Climate Change Adaptation Conference that held recently in Rotterdam demonstrated numerous variants of the damming mechanism.
The FPH is a test facility for innovative temporary flood defences, allowing entrepreneurs to test and use their inventions in a real life environment. FPH is created in close cooperation with the Delft University of Technology.
No fewer than seven innovations were presented to participants at the week-long forum also referred to as: “Adaptation Features 2016” and themed: “Practices and solutions.”
Some of the flood defences include: BoxBarrier, SlamDam, Tube Barrier, Mobile Dyke, Grassblock and Velox.
The BoxBarrier is a modular flood defence that consists of box elements, which are connected by joint elements. The boxes are filled with water and covered by a lid.
An official of BAM Infraconsult, which is promoting the use of the product, says: “The BoxBarrier is a very effective temporary flood defence system, which can be used to temporarily heighten the crest of a dike, or to make a temporary dam on a flat terrain. This increased crest height prevents flooding of the areas behind the dike. The concept of the BoxBarrier is characterised by easiness, because it makes use of its opponent: it retains water with water.”
The SlamDam is a mobile emergency dam which can be set up quite easily by two people as soon as there is threat of flooding , and can also be dismantled when the risk of flooding decreases.
Its promoters say that in addition to being deployed in the fight against flooding, the product can be use to contain contaminated being used for firefighting, and also prevent nearby land or waterways from being contaminated in the event of disaster.
A source at SlamDam B. V. discloses: “For centuries, we have been using sandbags in order to protect us from floods. But why are we still using this ancient method? With the current technique, the job can be done a lot faster and more efficiently with the SlamDam, which is an innovative flood defender, developed to handle flood in a quick and efficient and labour-saving way.”
The Tube Barrier is a flexible filled up with water, transforming it into a dam. The flexible tube is segmented in chambers and can be made as long as desired.
“The Tube Barrier is adaptable to local context, is low-tech, user-friendly, easy to install and store, and has a quick response time,” stresses the demonstrator.
Similarly, the Mobile Dyke modules are connected to each other to form a stable chain and filled with water. The system, which consists three material layers to provide a high safety reserve, is available different heights from 45 up to 260 centimetres.
But the Velox is a flat component that deploys automatically with the upcoming water, and transformed into a barrier. The water stabilises the barrier immediately, and is kept into position by its own weight.
The barrier, it was gathered, can be used for both controlling floods and deviating streams.
The Grassblock is a composite revetment consisting of a porous concrete base covered by earth with a top layer of grass. This creates a surface with a green look which still offers extra durability against hydraulic forces such as wave attack and overtopping.
Torrential rain has hit Germany, France and Austria leaving hundreds of pupils stranded in their schools and families have been forced to scramble to their rooftops to escape the rising deluge.
Several areas in Paris were under red alert as the Seine River burst its banks in several places after four days of almost non-stop rain caused severe flooding in the central Loire Valley area and southeast of the French capital.
Incessant rain in regions of Germany, France and Austria led to flash flooding on Wednesday, leaving hundreds of pupils sleeping at school overnight as access roads were blocked.
In southern Bavaria state on the Austrian border, firefighters and other emergency services were dispatched to inundated towns.
“The floods came so quickly that people had to escape to the roofs of their houses,” a spokesman for the Lower Bavaria regional police said, adding that many streets were submerged.
The town of Triftern, around 200 schoolchildren bunked down in their school, preparing to spend the night, when road access became restricted. A town spokesman said the school building itself was out of danger as it was on higher ground.
A separate group of 27 children on a class trip together with two teachers and a chaperone ran into trouble on a boat trip down the Regen river.
Their group of 12 boats became separated in the raging current sparked by a sudden storm and panic broke out among the pupils.
About 20 members of the group had to be rescued by emergency services, while the others were able to reach the riverbank on their own.
Just over the border in Austria, heavy rain lashed the Salzburg region, flooding several roads and forcing several schools to announce closures for Thursday.
And in central France, residents called in emergency services 8,000 times in recent days to demand assistance due to flooding.
In Paris, many promenades along the Seine were closed due to high water while in Nemours, 80 kilometres (50 miles) to the south, residents had to be evacuated Wednesday afternoon after the Loing river burst its banks.
The neighbouring Loiret region saw the average rainfall of six weeks in just three days and Chambord, the Loire Valley’s best-known Renaissance chateau and a tourist magnet, was surrounded by rising waters.
The A10 Paris-Bordeaux motorway and rail lines north of Orleans were cut by floods, as was the main rail line from the eastern city of Metz to Luxembourg. Residences, schools and a retirement home were evacuated in the town of Montargis, 110 km (68 miles) south of Paris.
The national weather service said France had endured the wettest month of May since records began 150 years ago.
Emergency services have responded to some 8,000 call-outs, Interior Minister Berhard Cazeneuve said. Officials said the Seine was set to rise to a peak level of 5.60 metres on Friday, below the 6.00 metre level that would flood the RER underground railway and far below the 8.60 metre record hit in 1910.
