Nigeria is putting finishing touches to its National Forest Monitoring Systems (NFMSs) blueprint as it relates to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Participants at the gathering
At a two-day forum last week in Abuja, the federal capital city, stakeholders attempted to tidy up a 68-page plan to implement the NFMS, which is a key element of the REDD+ mechanism.
Essentially, REDD+ implies an effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development.
REDD+ covers five activities, which were operationalised in 2010 during the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC in Cancun, Mexico. These include: Reducing emissions from deforestation, Reducing emissions from forest degradation, Conservation of forest carbon stocks, Sustainable management of forests, and Enhancement of forest carbon stocks.
Towards devising and implementing the NFMS, countries are requested to establish, according to national circumstances and capabilities, robust and transparent national forest monitoring systems that:
Use a combination of remote sensing and ground‐based forest carbon inventory approaches for estimating, anthropogenic forest‐related greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks, forest carbon stocks and forest area changes; and,
Provide estimates that are transparent, consistent, as far as possible accurate, and that reduce uncertainties, taking into account national capabilities.
The Nigerian NFMS action plan document comprises eight chapters, which include: Introduction, Action plan development methodology, National circumstances, Capacity assessment, Implementation of the national system of monitoring forest, Risk assessment, Budget and work plan, and Annexes.
The action plan to implement a NFMS for REDD+ under the UNFCCC is an operational document with a standard list of activities that a country can implement to develop its NFMS. The document sets out for Nigeria a potential approach for the implementation of the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) based on the guidance and principles by the UN-REDD Programme.
According to a source, the REDD+ mechanism represents a valuable opportunity for Nigeria to contribute to climate change mitigation through improved forest conservation and enhancing sustainable community livelihoods. The objective is to build the REDD+ mechanism in Nigeria, using Cross River State (CRS) as a demonstration model.
“The NFMS represents a key element of the REDD+ mechanism by which reliable information on the forest-related GHG emissions and removals are provided and communicated to the UNFCCC,” said the source.
The UN-REDD Programme is the United Nations collaborative initiative on REDD+ in developing countries. The Programme was launched in 2008 and builds on the convening role and technical expertise of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The UN-REDD Programme supports nationally-led REDD+ processes and promotes the informed and meaningful involvement of all stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples and other forest-dependent communities, in national and international REDD+ implementation.
Similarly, the NFMS action plan is intended to inform the government of Nigeria’s National REDD+ Strategy, and follows the National REDD+ Roadmap, as a guide for the implementation of the technical elements of REDD+ required for monitoring, measuring and reporting the outcomes of REDD+ activities and their performance in mitigating climate change.
One of the requirements of the NFMS is that it must be implemented in phases.
“There are three phases, starting with a readiness phase, followed by a second phase where result based activities will be implemented by predictable funding and finally the full MRV system in phase three with payments for verified performance,” he said.
Obviously, Nigeria’s power generation challenges still persist – the country’s current output has far fallen below the 5,000 megawatts peak. As pressure mounts on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government of 11 months to revitalise the ailing sector, rather than adopting abundant harmless renewable alternative energy sources, plan is fully set to augment the dwindling power by investing heavily in coal-fired power plants. A move that sadly betrays the 2015 Paris universal legally binding climate agreements – which involved Nigeria’ active participation.
A coal-fired power plant
“The Ministry of Solid Minerals Development is collaborating the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to ensure that huge coal deposit in the country is explored to meet some of its energy needs,” Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, was quoted as saying.
At the Economic Summit held recently in Lagos, he further said, “I know there are people who are worried about climate change and the implication of coal on that. But even coal can achieve clean coal environmental standard and we believe that about 1000 megawatts of electricity can be generated from coal by the year 2020.”
This is regarded as a deliberate pranks and an attempt to hoodwink Nigerians into believing that coal is environment friendly. At a crucial time when other committed countries are halting new coal projects, and busy closing down existing coal plants while strategising and threading feasible sustainable renewables paths, Nigeria is totally pursuing a contrary devastating archaic project.
It should be noted that, as a result of alarming air pollution in China and India, over 1.6 million deaths are recorded annually. In addressing China’s air pollution, Chris Wright (Climate Tracker activist) stated: “(China has decided) to close up to 2,000 coal-fired power plants. It also plans to shut down 1,000 coal mines this year…”
Despite these facts, if the coal-fired plant is constructed due to government’s recalcitrance, past influences on aforementioned countries speak volume of its likely adverse consequences on vast majority of Nigerians, future generations and our dear planet. Nigeria’s estimated average life expectancy which currently stands at 53 years could further be reduced. Conscious citizens should be aware of this proposed dangerous adventure that could rob them of quality lives.
Rather, the Federal Government should consider massively diverting funds to be channelled in fossil fuels projects into the renewables; hydro, wind, solar and biomass are wide eco-friendly alternatives. Many hydro power projects are abandoned while immense renewables remain unexploited.
Ikere George hydro dam situated at Iseyin was built 33 years ago and is a glaring example out of many alternatives. It has the capacity to generate 3750 MW (3/4 of Nigeria’s current total output). Unfortunately, it was never completed and is now a shadow of itself. Several abandoned hydro-power projects are languishing and littering every nook and cranny of the nation, while Africa’s most populous country of estimated 170 million inhabitants grapples with dilemma of satisfying its ever increasing power demands.
One then begins to wonder why Nigeria’s power output currently remains at the lowest ebb in 21st century. Positive influence of humongous funds allegedly spent on power over the years by past administrations failed to have meaningful impacts. The failure can unarguably be attributed to financial recklessness and mismanagement of resources by the past anchors.
If Nigeria sincerely desires change in the power sector, there is a compelling need for the current administration to radically defy all odds in challenging and addressing the status quo. This is an unconditional choice that may warrant stepping on cartels and corrupt powerful toes.
It is high time the Ministry of Environment headed by Mrs. Amina Mohammed synergised with the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and Solid Minerals Development. This to be geared towards working out modalities for initiating projects having harmless long term effects on Nigerian populace while running it in consonance with UN climate agreements. Fruition of sustainable environment requires unrelenting coordinated concerted efforts of various actors and stakeholders.
Reneging on COP21 agreements – adopted by over 193 world leaders – is tantamount to burning the planet, like a tick time bomb that urgently needs to be defused. For sustainable and habitable planet for future generations, Nigeria’s proposed coal-fired plant deserves to be unconditionally halted, while shifting focus to utilisation of harmless andefficient renewables – in respect of the Paris climate agreement.
A mysterious planet that wiped out life on Earth millions of years ago could do it again, according to a top space scientist. Some scientists believe that the apocalyptic event could happen as early as this month.
This artistic rendering shows the distant view from Planet Nine back towards the sun. The planet is thought to be gaseous, similar to Uranus and Neptune. Hypothetical lightning lights up the night side. Photo credit: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)
Planet Nine, a new planet reportedly discovered at the edge of the solar system in January, is said to have the potential to trigger comet showers that can bomb the Earth’s surface, killing all life, says Daniel Whitmire, of the University of Louisiana.
The astrophysicist says the planet has a 20,000-year orbit around the sun and, at its closest to us, it knocks asteroids and comets toward Earth.
Fossil evidence has suggested most life on Earth is mysteriously wiped out every 26 million to 27 million years.
Whitmire claims that Planet Nine’s passage through a rock-laden area called the Kuiper Belt is responsible for the “extinction events.”
Conspiracy theorists in the ’80s and ’90s previously claimed a red dwarf planet called Nibiru or Nemesis, which orbits too close to Earth every 36,000 years, was behind the events.
Now some are convinced there will be a collision or a near miss before the end of April.
Nemesis or Nibiru was widely dismissed as crackpot pseudo-science — until Planet Nine was identified in January by the California Institute of Technology.
News reports suggesting that humanity is about to be wiped out by a mysterious planet are almost certainly incorrect, according to certain quarters, who insist that there is no clear reason to think that destruction is coming. They stress that the planet hasn’t even been confirmed as real, yet, let alone suggestions that it could cause doomsday.
“But that has not kept some people from proclaiming that it is real and is about to destroy all life on Earth,” he adds.
Mike Brown, one of the two main people involved in the claims about Planet Nine, tweeted to confirm that there is no reason to think that Earth is about to be destroyed.
“Hey, so, fun fact? Planet Nine is not going to cause the earth’s destruction,” he wrote on Twitter. “If you read that it will, you have discovered idiotic writing!”
“The idea appears to have come about because of a combination of ideas about Nibiru or Planet X, a planet that some believe has not yet been found or has been wilfully covered up and will crash into Earth and destroy it. That belief has been widely discredited,” Griffin insists, adding:
The BASIC countries, a bloc of four newly industrialised nations comprising Brazil, South Africa, India and China, have committed to signing the Paris climate change agreement on 22 April in New York.
Indian Environment Minister, Prakash Javadekar, who played host to the gathering
The bloc, formed by an agreement on 28 November 2009, made the submission on Thursday (7 April 2016) at a Joint Statement issued at the close of the two-day 22nd BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change held in New Delhi, India.
The meeting was attended by Mr. Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India, Mr. Xie Zhenhua, Special Representative for Climate Change of China, Ambassador Antonio Marcondes, Under Secretary-General for the Environment, Energy, Science and Technology, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil and Mr. Maesela Kekana, Chief Director, International Climate Change Relations and Negotiations of South Africa.
The ministers welcomed the adoption of the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and acknowledged that the 21st Conference of Parties (COP-21) held in Paris in December 2015 marked a milestone in global climate cooperation. They underlined that the Paris Agreement is meant to enhance the implementation of the Convention and is comprehensive, balanced and ambitious. It also reiterates the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR & RC).
The ministers appreciated the role of the French Presidency in carrying all Parties together and ensuring the successful adoption of the Paris Agreement at COP-21. They also commended the role of BASIC and G-77 & China groups in negotiating the Paris outcomes and securing interests of the developing countries. They reaffirmed the commitment of BASIC countries to G-77 & China and expressed their appreciation of South Africa’s chairing of the group.
The ministers underlined that the Paris Agreement recognises the imperatives of sustainable patterns of consumption and production, with developed countries taking the lead, and the importance of climate justice, in strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change.
The ministers commended the efforts by BASIC countries and other developing countries in tackling climate change, both pre- and post-2020, and emphasised that these represent far more ambitious efforts compared to their respective responsibilities and capabilities.
The BASIC countries look forward to signing the Paris Agreement on 22 April 2016 during the High-Level Signature Ceremony convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. They expressed their will to initiate necessary domestic processes for ratification, acceptance or approval as soon as possible with a view to facilitate the timely entry into force of the Agreement, and urged other countries to do so as well.
The ministers reiterated the importance of pre-2020 actions in building trust amongst the Parties and noted with concern the pending ratification by many Annex I Parties of the Doha Amendment, which establishes the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. They urged Annex I Parties to both ratify and revisit pledges of Quantified Emission Limitation and Reduction Objectives (QELROs) to close the emission gap. They also emphasized that raising pre-2020 ambition on other pillars of the Convention (viz. adaptation, finance and technology and capacity building support) will pave the way for the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
The ministers reiterated that Parties’ contributions, termed as “Nationally Determined Contributions” (NDCs), are to be country driven and comprehensive. The ministers reflected on the importance of adaptation and means of implementation as key elements of Parties efforts under the Agreement.
The ministers stressed the differentiated obligations in mitigation actions of developed and developing countries, as well as for the provision of support, and emphasised that developed countries should continue to take the lead. They also recalled that the Paris Agreement specifically mentions that the time frame for peaking will be longer for developing countries. The ministers felt that proper anchoring of differentiation in contributions of developed and developing countries is a sound basis for ambitious actions.
The ministers also underscored the need for financial support to developing countries for effective implementation of their mitigation and adaptation actions through accelerating the work on the new Technology Framework and the Technology Mechanism including its assessment for a meaningful and tangible dissemination, transfer and deployment of technology from developed to developing countries. They also emphasised on the role of innovation and international cooperation in enhancing global actions.
The ministers welcomed the setting up of the Paris Committee, a new institutional mechanism for enhancing capacity building activities in developing countries, and urged developed countries to provide financial support for capacity building in developing countries.
The ministers emphasised the importance of building on the existing transparency framework under the Convention, for effective implementation of the Paris Agreement and reiterated the importance of providing support and flexibility to developing countries, including through the Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency, in fulfilling their obligations under the proposed enhanced transparency framework. The ministers further underlined that transparency of support is a fundamental aspect of the implementation of the Paris Agreement and that the consideration of this issue should not be outsourced to other entities. They also reflected on the need to focus on the qualitative aspects of climate finance on transparency of support.
The ministers identified means of implementation in the context of provision of finance, technology transfer and capacity building support as the most important enablers of action for developing countries. The ministers expressed their concern over the lack of adequate support in this respect and urged developed countries to honour their obligations under the Convention.
The ministers also urged developed countries to scale up their level of financial support with a complete road map to achieve the goal of jointly providing $100 billion per year by 2020. Reiterating the role of public finance, the ministers called upon developed countries to fulfil their pledges to the Green Climate Fund.
The ministers noted that the next session of the SBI, SBSTA and Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement will be deliberating on a number of issues related to the Paris Agreement. In this regard, the ministers hoped that issues under these bodies will receive balanced treatment and pledged their support to the incoming COP Presidency of Morocco to ensure a successful COP-22.
The BASIC countries expressed concern that the draft proposal on Global Market Based Measures (GMBM) under the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) may impose inappropriate economic burden on developing countries, where the international aviation market is still maturing. They urged the ICAO to develop climate change measures in a manner that is consistent with the principles of CBDR & RC, and to align the GMBM with the relevant provisions of the Paris Agreement.
The ministers agreed to further strengthen the cooperation and solidarity among the BASIC countries.
South Africa will host the 23rd BASIC Ministerial meeting.
Economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions have increasingly diverged in the UK. Photo credit: James Allan/Flickr
The nations are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States and Uzbekistan.
The United States is the largest country to experience multiple consecutive years in which economic growth has been “decoupled” from growth in carbon dioxide emissions. From 2010 to 2012, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions declined by six percent (from 5.58 to 5.23 billion metric tons), while GDP grew by four percent (from $14.8 to $15.4 trillion). In its analysis of the Clean Power Plan, the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts that moving to a cleaner electricity system after 2020 would bring about a sustained period of GDP-GHG decoupling. As illustrated in the figure below, CPP implementation is expected to reduce total U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions by a further 6 percent between 2020 and 2025, while GDP increases by 13 percent in real terms over the same period.
Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration; U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
If the United States implements the Clean Power Plan and achieves sustained decoupling, it will be in good company. Twenty other countries achieved decoupling of GDP and energy-related carbon dioxide emissions over the period from 2000 to 2014.
The UK is an example of a country where economic growth and CO2 emissions have increasingly diverged. Between 2000 and 2014, the UK achieved six years of absolute decoupling where real GDP grew at the same time that carbon dioxide emissions declined. Over the 14-year period, emissions dropped from 591 to 470 million metric tons of energy-related CO2, while GDP grew from $2.1 to $2.7 trillion (constant 2005 U.S. dollars).
Sources: BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2015; World Bank World Development Indicators
How Have Countries Decoupled?
There is not a single formula, policy or demographic trend that’s driven GDP-GHG decoupling across all countries. Sweden, for example, implemented ambitious policies including carbon taxes that supported its decoupling. Denmark’s rapid increase in renewable energy reduced emissions while stimulating local production. Another key factor in many countries is a structural shift of the economy away from emissions-intensive industry.
More than 90 percent of the countries that decoupled GDP and GHG emissions between 2000 and 2014 reduced the industrial sector share of their economies. However, the exceptional cases of Bulgaria and Uzbekistan demonstrate that GDP-GHG decoupling is also feasible in countries with expanding industrial activity (not to mention Switzerland and the Czech Republic, where the industrial portion of GDP remained essentially steady). Across the 21-country group, the average change in the industry share of GDP was a 3 percent reduction over the period, with an average CO2 reduction of 15 percent.
Shifting to a Low-Carbon Path
Decoupling of GDP and GHG emissions in numerous countries demonstrates the feasibility, and increasing prevalence, of the transition to cleaner modes of economic activity. These country-level decouplings are driving the global trend toward decoupling in 2014 and 2015. Beyond the aggregate trends described here, more information is needed on the potential leakage of carbon emissions to other countries as nations move their industries overseas, factors that enable sustained and absolute decoupling, and what’s needed to support larger-scale emissions mitigation.
Over the 14-year period covered here, the aggregate annual CO2 reduction for these 21 countries amounted to slightly more than one billion metric tons. Given that total annual global carbon dioxide emissions grew by more than 10 billion metric tons over this period, it’s clear that decoupling needs to be scaled up rapidly to have any chance of limiting average warming this century to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, the current international target for preventing the worst impacts of climate change. As countries focus on implementing the Paris Agreement, decoupling presents one option to address global climate challenges while preserving economic security.
The United Nations has disclosed that a record number of countries are expected to sign the historic climate agreement adopted last December in Paris at a signing ceremony scheduled for New York on 22 April this year. The event will be hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon at COP21. Photo credit: ibtimes.co.uk
More than 130 countries have confirmed that they will sign the Paris Agreement on that day, the first day that the agreement will be open for signature. This would surpass the previous record of 119 signatures for an opening day signing for an international agreement, set by the Law of the Sea in Montego Bay in 1994. In addition, more countries have informally indicated that they will sign the agreement, with the numbers increasing rapidly each week.
Over 60 Heads of State and Government will attend the ceremony, including French President François Hollande, demonstrating the continued high level of engagement by world leaders to accept and implement the Paris Agreement.
The signing ceremony will mark the first step toward ensuring that the Paris Agreement enters into force as early as possible. The agreement will enter into force 30 days after at least 55 countries, accounting for 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, deposit their instruments of ratification or acceptance with the Secretary-General.
A number of countries have also indicated that they will deposit their instruments of ratification immediately after signing the agreement on 22 April.
The 22 April signing ceremony will also bring together leaders from civil society and the private sector to discuss efforts to boost financing for climate action and sustainable development, and to increase actions that would achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting average global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius.
“Paris was historic,” the Secretary-General said. “But it’s only the beginning. We must urgently accelerate our efforts to tackle climate change. I encourage all countries to sign the Paris Agreement on 22 April so we can turn aspirations into action.”
Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, on Tuesday said never will his administration base the execution of its programmes on allocations from federal revenues allocations again.
Rauf Aregbesola, governor of Osun State
The governor, at the signing into law of the Osun State Land Use Charge Bill at the Executive Chambers of the Governor’s Office in Osogbo, stated that previous and present administrations had so much relied on the allocation that, when the oil glut came, it could no longer pay salaries and other critical expenditures of government.
Aregbesola held that the state has learnt a lot of lessons from the situation where it had to go cap in hand to the Federal Government for the allocation that can no longer take care of the primary needs of the state.
He described a situation that suggests that the state cannot be self-sufficient in the light of the human and material endowments on the state by God as an insult, saying looking inward for progressing the state has now become a must.
The main objective of the newly signed law, he explained, is to generate additional revenue and also the provision for a single property charge which replaces all other state and local governments taxes on real property, including taxes like tenement rates, ground rents and neighbourhood improvement charges.
Aregbesola pointed out at the signing ceremony that the aim of the new law is to do away with multiple rates, increase efficiency in collection and avoid discriminatory and arbitrary application of property based levies and charges.
He said, “As you are all aware, governments at all levels have been under severe financial assault for some time. This is as a result of a precipitous fall in revenues from the federation account.
“We are here facing formidable challenges in paying salaries and meeting other critical expenditure of government. This is because we have been programmed to live day-by- day on allocation from the federation account.
“The lesson we are taking from the situation is that living on other people’s bakery is never reliable. It is high time we started to bake our own cake by ourselves, if we don’t want to starve.
“It is even an insult to suggest that we cannot be self-sufficient, in the light of the human and material endowments it has pleased the Almighty God to bestow on our land. One of these is land. Land is of great value where there are humans because it is the primal resource. We live, work and derive other resources from land.
“This is why we, as a government, have decided to make a law that will also benefit government from part of what the people derive from land. This is the basis of the Land Use Charge Law,” the governor stressed at the signing of the new law.
Aregbesola held that part of the attraction of the law is safeguarding people from abuse and arbitrariness, noting that a chargee under the law, on receipt of an assessment, can make a formal complaint to the Commissioner for Finance on high assessment and that it should be reduced.
He added that such chargee also has the right to file an appeal against the assessment to the Assessment Appeal Tribunal on the precondition that the chargee pays 50 per cent of the amount assessed and the fees that would be prescribed by the Appeal Tribunal for the filing of the appeal.
Governor Aregbesola said the new law is predicated on the principle of mutual delegation of authority between the state government and each of the local government areas (LGAs) in the state.
“By this new legislation called the Land Use Charge Law, once the Land Use Charge is imposed upon a property, the rates and charges which were hitherto payable under the old legislations will no longer be applicable and due on the same property.
“The Local Government Authority in the jurisdiction/locality where the property is situated is the authorised collecting authority, but in order for there to be compliance with the constitutional requirements on the division of powers between the States and the Local Governments, this new law is predicated on the principle of mutual delegation of authority between the State Government of Osun and each of the Local Government Areas in the State.
“The new Land Use Charge Law will also boost job creation in the State because between valuation and assessment and between revision and collection, we see thousands of people being employed.
“With the implementation of this law, there will be an accelerated development in many areas of the state’s economy because the multiplier effect of this new development is that by the time the owners pay property tax on their property that has been lying fallow, they will be forced to find economic use for it and in the process thousands of other unemployed youths will be gainfully engaged,” he added.
Governor Aregbesola, who attributed the new law to what he regarded as a direct instrument to boost the state revenues, however disclosed that the implementation and enforcement of the new law would exempt some institutions like religious bodies, public utilities, traditional grounds, and non-profit making organisations.
He said, “It is noteworthy that this law is a piece of legislation with human face with its Section 8 devoted to the class of people exempted from its ambit – the poor, religious bodies, public utilities, traditional grounds, non-profit making organisations among others.”
The governor therefore sought for collective supports from all and sundry, urging the people to ensure total compliance on the new development in order to move the state forward.
“I implore us all as citizens of this great state, in furtherance of our collective resolve to move our state forward by enhancing the frontiers of our economic independence, to join hands with the government to make the State of Osun Land Use Charge Law work,” he stated.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the consulting firm of Interspatial Limited, Pastor Olumide Bolorunduro, said the charge is a law in form of the executive bill sent to the House which, according to him, has already been passed into law after being assented to by Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
He said the effective implementation of law would in a greater was help in achieving a harmonised law on standardised rate.
He said, “The beauty of this exercise is based on its uniformity nature by putting into consideration the value and size of every property put together in a formula being applied in bringing in the charge.
He extolled the prompt enactment of the law which he said would go a long way in encouraging accountability, transparency and openness and as well eliminating all forms of leakages in taxation.
He said, “This new law would definitely enhance accountability and eradicate the shortcoming in all forms of taxation especially on land use charge.
“The accountability nature of the charge dictates that there will be no leakages, as all that involved in taxation and value of property or all relevant laws in this regard bringing in inter-ministerial approaches to the charge.”
Pastor Bolorundoro disclosed that a committee would be set up to give and bring in reports on monthly basis about the exercise which according to him would remain greater ingredients to harmonize the exercise.
He expressed optimism that the exercise will in no small measure increase the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state.
The Coordinating Director, Bureau of Lands, Mr. Tayo Hassan, said the implementation of the law would in no measure assist the state to jerk up its resources and revenue, hence facilitate all round development in all sectors of the economy.
Hassan expressed confidence in the socio-economic benefits of the law if properly implemented, saying it would help to complement and balance the meagre allocation accruable to the state from the Federation Accounts.
“Effective implementation of this law will increase, improve and assist the societal infrastructural activities in the state.
“At the same time, it will optimally guard against multiple land taxation as well as economic planning purposes,” he added.
Mr. Hassan said if the law is embraced and supported by all, it has the capacity to take the state to greater heights never witnessed by any administration in the state.
Enumerating the legal implications and benefits of the Land Use Charge Law, former Commissioner for Special Duties and Regional Integration, Dr. Bashir Ajibola, said the passage of the bill into law by the state legislature was a signal to the fact that the state was towing the path of economic sustainability.
Ajibola noted that the exercise would engender essential human and material development in all aspects of life and assist the state to harmonise all existing laws on property acquisition for better uniformity.
He revealed that with proper implementation of the law, some local government, which have not been benefiting from the collection of the charges on land used will be able to benefit, saying state would henceforth get more from the exercise.
Ajibola said the new development has clearly departed from the previous policies in which the charges had been beneficially centralised.
“With all the efforts being made by the present government in the state, coupled with the economic reality on ground, there is a need for collective support just as voluntary compliance is required by all and sundry in making the state a better place to live,” he added.
The Speaker, State of Osun House of Assembly, Najeem Salam, said the bill was passed into law purposely to increase the state’s IGR and as well serve as a driven force to eradicate all forms of leakages in the revenues being generated by the government.
Salam said with the passage of the law it has become a must for every land user to comply with the dictates of the new law on land use charges.
The Speaker stated that the House, having painstakingly considered all factors involved, believed that the only sustainable way to boost the state IGR was to support the bill for physical development.
He said, “Obviously, what we have today is a fallout of what transpired during the public hearing we had.
“Due to the current economic reality on ground, both on the side of the masses and that of the government, we have intensified a considerable approach to achieve the said aims and objectives of the new land used charge.
“Our beliefs remained the fact that if this law is well implemented, the state IGR will definitely improve as it is a must that will do the needful and not optional.”
Activists have condemned Monday’s deadly police crackdown on villagers protesting coal plant construction in Bangladesh. Officials say that at least four people died when police opened fire on an unarmed crowd in Gandamara, a small coastal town in Bangladesh, where 500 villagers had gathered to oppose two new Chinese-funded coal projects.
Wild deer in the Sundarbans. The forest is home to more than 1,000 species including Bangladesh’s last population of tigers Photo credit: Majority World/Getty Images
Thousands of Bangladeshis had marched from the country’s capital, Dhaka, to the world’s biggest mangrove forest to protest plans to build two coal-power plants on the edge of the World Heritage-listed forest.
The organisers intended to persuade the Bangladeshi government to drop its backing for construction of the plants near the Sundarbans, an area of rice paddies, shrimp farms and vast mangrove forests.
Indeed, the villagers had been protesting peacefully for days, despite a police ban, after the local conglomerate behind the planned coal expansion started bulldozing land to pave the way for the obviously popular plants. Authorities in Bangladesh have long used intimidation tactics to prevent locals voicing their concerns – a move the Climate Action Network (CAN) termed a “new and deadly means of silencing opposition to dirty coal power is an extremely worrying escalation.”
“More than six thousand farmers are dependent on this fertile land for agriculture and salt production, these farmers travelled to Gandamara to save their livelihoods and some paid for it with their lives,” said Sanjay Vashist, Director of Climate Action Network South Asia. “Experts have also pointed out that the operation of coal plants would cause major damage to the delicate ecosystem of the area, due to air and water pollution and increase in boat traffic to deliver coal to the plant,” he added.
“It is time for government to stop the death and destruction caused by coal projects in Bangladesh and show real leadership through redirecting investments away from coal to renewables like wind and solar,” said Dr. Mohd. Abdul Matin, Convenor of the Coal Affairs Programme Committee and General Secretary of BAPA.
Wael Hmaidan, Director of Climate Action Network International, said, “People have a right to peacefully stand up against reckless coal expansion that threatens to destroy their homes and ruin their livelihoods. This community is trying to defend itself from an increasingly desperate industry and has suffered a direct attack from the authorities who should be preserving their rights, not trampling on them.”
CAN, a global community of over 950 NGOs in more than 110 countries fighting for action to tackle climate change, has declared its support for the demand from local groups for an immediate, full and independent inquiry into Monday’s events, to hold those responsible to account for the unnecessary murder of at least four people.
“It is simply unacceptable for police to open fire on protesters and shoot to kill,” the group stated.
“No sensible person will deny that there are many alternative ways for electricity generation,” said Anu Muhammad an economist with Jahangirnagar University, and head of the march organisers, the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports. “But there is no alternative for (the) Sundarbans.”
Both the proposed 1,320 MW Rampal coal plant and the 565 MW Orion coal plant will sit within 14km of the Sundarbans, a 10,000 sq km (3,860 sq miles) forest listed as both a UNESCO World Heritage site and a Ramsar-protected wetland. The great forest is split between Bangladesh and India, but the bulk of its lies in the former.
Activists fear that the coal plants will slowly destroy the Sundarbans – already under threat from forest fragmentation and overpopulation – due to air and water pollution, changes in water quality and increased boat traffic. The Rampal coal plant alone will take 219,600 cubic metres of water every day from the Passur river, potentially changing the salinity and temperature of the water on which mangroves depend.
A recent study released by Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev Nigeria) under the auspice of the US-based Developing World Outreach Initiatives (DWOI) has revealed that very dangerous toxic chemicals in cosmetics are widely used in salons and beauty parlours despite their attendant health effects in disruption of nervous, respiratory, reproductive systems and lungs, kidney damage and inflammation of the skin and eyes to both salon workers and users alike.
Participants at the Lagos gathering
The study was conducted in Lagos state to assess “safe cosmetic use by occupational workers of salons and beauty parlours”.
In a total of 29 shops from 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) sampled showed that all the shops regularly make use of cosmetic products containing particularly the “Toxic Trio” – a group of chemicals (toluene, formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate) which are ingredients in nail polishes and known today to be very toxic to human body.
Other chemicals ingredients identified to have detrimental effects found on cosmetics shelf of salons and beauty care givers (especially when handled in an unsafe manner as was found in the study) were P-phenylenediaamine used in hair dye, butylacetate, Isopropylacetate and ethylacetate used in nail paints and varnishes or wig-glue/hair piece bonding, ammonium per sulfate in olive oils as hair bleach, acetone in nail polish remover and hair spray, hydroquinone in hair treatment, preservatives like formaldehyde releasers and parabens in shampoos, shaving gels, make-ups and polyethylene glycol (cleaner/disinfectant in lotion and creams).
“This is alarming and a dangerous trend, people patronising beauty salons and cosmetologists must as a matter of urgency avoid the ‘toxic trio’ products. Since safer and affordable alternatives exist, customers should now ask for only cosmetics products that are labelled as ‘Three-free’ which do not contain these harmful ingredients and are therefore healthier for the bodies” said Leslie Adogame, Executive Director, SRADev Nigeria.
Other key findings of the study include:
Poor housekeeping practices in most of the salons. For example, a very high (79.3%) percentage of their workplaces were poorly ventilated, whereas cosmetics products are regularly exposed when not in use. Poor solid waste management and wastewater treatment practice regular. Chemical exposures to little children in attendance at workplace were noticed; and cases of poorly handled food and cooking utensils found within at workplaces.
A very high proportion (head cover (93.1%), body wear (82.8%), and nose mask (89.7%) while at work) of the workers do not make use of Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) when at work or while handling cosmetics.
Significant cases of difficulty in breathing, respiratory dysfunctions including occasional difficulty in breathing and catarrh, occasional coughing, incessant abdominal pain, occasional miscarriage, occasional neurotoxic effects such as memory loss and dizziness were indicative health symptoms/problems identified among salon workers interviewed.
The report further cautioned Nigerians on excessive and unsafe use of cosmetic products. It stated further that, reviewing the ingredients on the label is one way to be sure cosmetic product is true to its claims. It cautioned users to be aware that potentially problematic chemical ingredients are today hidden behind the word “fragrances.”
Fragrances are considered trade secrets and the ingredients within fragrances are not required by law to be revealed and may represent many ingredients, sometimes hundreds, the report disclosed, adding that since “unscented” and “fragrance free” have no legal definition, their labels do not guarantee that the product doesn’t contain potentially toxic chemicals.
“Globally, of the over 10,500 chemical ingredients used in personal care products, only about 11% have been assessed for health and safety. So the need for occupational safety and health standards for personal care products imported and used in the country requires some urgency,” said Adogame.
Since 1950, the World Health Organisation/International Labour Organisation (WHO/ILO) expert committees on Occupational Health and Safety in their first session spelt out the objectives of occupational health which includes promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations. Although, Nigeria has Workman Compensation Decree and the Factory Decrees of 1987 which should address the issue of occupational health and safety from federal to local levels, they have however not been effectively put to use or reviewed to the present day realities.
“As at today, there is no government institution that statutorily coordinates occupational hygiene and not too many Nigerians understand labour laws, factory laws and workman compensation laws that are meant to ensure the dignity of labour and its security,” said Faith Osa-Egharevba, Senior Programme officer, SRADev Nigeria.
A comprehensive report released by Women’s Voices for the Earth in 2014 shows that workers in beauty salons businesses are exposed to myriad of chemicals of concern every day in their workplaces since hair sprays, permanent waves, acrylic nail application, and numerous other salon products contain ingredients associated with asthma, dermatitis, neurological symptoms and even cancer. Salon workers and their customers absorb these chemicals through their skin and breathe them in as fumes build up in the air of the salon over the course of the workday.
In Nigeria, the beauty salon sector is made up of hairdressers, hairstylists, cosmetologists, barbers, nail salon workers, and other beauty and personal care workers employs more than one million people who work across thousands of salons and receive some 150 million potential customers. Hairdressing in Nigeria is a predominantly female profession, with over 80% women workers many of whom work full-time and stay in the shops for about 8-hour periods of time per day. A healthy work environment contributes significantly to the success of the business and is important both for the persons working in the salon trade as well as for the customers.
In an urgent response to the study, a stakeholder’s workshop was held recently in Lagos. Participants drawn from government, NGO and trade unions unanimously agreed on the immediate need to regulate the beauty care profession in Nigeria in view of the occupational, health, safety and environmental consequences of its practice and call on the government to take appropriate action.
“Ignorance is no longer an excuse for my people. We are commencing re-registration of beauticians from national to state levels for effective coordination of our members. My institution is readily available to dialogue government towards putting in place a national occupational health and safety sectoral policy framework,” said Dr (Mrs) Elizabeth Ishoka, National President of National Association of Salon Hairdressers and Cosmetologists (NASHCO).
The workshop, attended by both national and state members of the umbrella body, NASHCO, was aimed at increasing awareness of beauty practitioners on salon chemical exposure, health effects, safety at workplace and strengthening capacity towards creating a legal framework. It also solicited views on next concrete steps towards a more robust national campaign, regulation of the profession and policy development in the future.
“It can no longer be business as usual, NAFDAC would be putting in place necessary mechanisms to expand its regulatory mandate for the salon sector, but there is the need for collaboration among other relevant government agencies. Presently, the ban in cosmetics products containing hydroquinone and mercury in Nigeria is still in place by my organisation,” said Dr Anthony Hotton of NAFDAC.
Lagos State President of NASHCO, Mrs Surat Abari-Ajibola, commended the timeliness of the workshop and applauded the recent findings of the study, calling for continued partnership between SRADev Nigeria and NASHCO. She assured that NASHCO would put in place urgent actions towards setting up Environmental Health Surveillance Task force from to work with the government in monitoring of beauty parlours shops and salons all over the state.
While no one can say that the Nigerian petroleum resources sector is known for transparency, most would readily agree that it wields a lot of power. The sector has effectively determined the political, economic, social and cultural paths of the nation since its ascendancy as major income earner for the nation. As its power rose, so the attendant impunity, including a murky treatment of financial matters. Governments have bent backwards so much that the tail began to dictate to the head.
Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki
To secure continuous flow of revenue from the sector, full military might have been deployed to silence calls for dialogue from already trashed communities and these have sometimes resulted in horrendous sackings of communities in wasting operations by way of flagrant and outright display of murderous rage at the slightest provocation. Today, citizens are intimidated by security forces into raising their hands in total surrender each time they come close to oil pipelines of transnational corporations crossing their creeks.
Denying Dialogue
The denial of dialogue can be said to be a major precursor of the persistent conflict points in the Niger Delta. That was what the people of Umuechem requested for in 1990. What they got was mayhem and deaths.
The current outcry over the non-inclusion in the new Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) of the Host Communities Fund that was provided for in the “old PIB” is justifiable. This will continue to agitate communities and observers until the National Assembly or the Petroleum Resources Ministry explain what the fate of the communities will be in the new dispensation.
The Quadruplet Logic
What we have learnt from the grapevine is that the new PIB will come in multiple parts so what is being debated is not yet the whole story. However, the entire focus is on business and there is scant attention to the environment or the people. These may remain the milk cows that should simply steel themselves for more squeezes.
It is thought that the PIB will come in four parts arranged as follows:
The Governance and Institutional Framework for Oil and Gas Bill
The Fiscal Reform Bill
Licencing Rounds Bill
Revenue Allocation and Management Bill
It is expected that the fourth bill may say something about the funds for communities. Perhaps the logic is to serve the “controversial” consideration of oil field communities last with the hope that the hurdle will never be reached within the life of this government or that the controversy would have died of its own accord by such a time.
One complaint against the former PIB was that it was rather voluminous. Having the bill split into four volumes may make reading easier for text-message or SMS generation.
It could also be one way of displaying a bent towards unbundling the sector in all ramifications. Another plausible explanation could be that the sector is simply copying the industry’s best practice in other countries.
Host Communities Conundrum
The sore point of the petroleum sector in Nigeria as in elsewhere is the serious impact it has on the environment, the communities and the people.
The fact that our politicians could not agree on any allocation of resources for host communities should not make the current legal draughtsmen push consideration to back burners. The President doubles as the Minister of Petroleum Resources and he should clarify what the intentions are with regard to the communities and indeed the oil field environment. With the clean-up of Ogoni and the Niger Delta about to commence, informing about the global environmental architecture would help.
A key point is to ensure that host communities are not defined as only the communities that host oil wells, pipelines, flow stations, waste pits and other oil industry appurtenances. Here is the reason why this definition must be broadened. There are communities that do not have the physical presence of oil operations but are heavily impacted by those operations. A case in point is Goi community in Ogoni. This community has been severely impacted by repeated oil spills and related fires and one section of the community has been deserted for over a decade now. Yet, Goi has no pipeline and no oil well. It simply sits on the bank of a creek that connects oil facilities that have spewed crude and devastated their environment. Would it be right to say that Goi is not a host community? My point is that any community that has the potential to be impacted by petroleum sector accidents has to be classified as a host community. So, a host community is a community that hosts oil or industrial facilities as well as those that host pollutions.
Another case in point is that Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 in Alaska. The spill so much impacted Prince William Sound and the coastline that, despite all clean-up efforts, 27 years after effect is still there and less than half of the wild life population is yet to recover.
Time to Come Clean
It is time for the National Assembly and the Ministry of Petroleum Resource to come clean over the PIB. The draft bill(s) should be posted online and made available to citizens. It would help the ministry, the National Assembly and the nation if citizens are able to scrutinise the bill(s) and make comments based on knowledge rather on rumours. What are the provisions in the PIB for ending gas flaring? What is in it for the communities? Certainly the oil business cannot be allowed to be all about money to the detriment of life.
By Nnimmo Bassey (Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation – HOMEF)
