The rain may have stopped, but South Carolina is grappling with a host of new concerns. Dam breaks. Billions of dollars in damage. And rivers that still haven’t crested.
Flooding in South Carolina, USA
“God smiled on South Carolina because the sun is out,” Gov. Nikki Haley told reporters on Tuesday afternoon. “That is a good sign, but I will tell you that for us, we still have to be cautious. The next 36 to 48 hours are going to be a time that we need to continue to be careful.”
Haley declined to provide an estimated cost of the damage – which she called “disturbing” – but said state and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials were making assessments.
“It’s hard to look at the loss we’re going to have,” she said. “This could be any amount of dollars.”
More than 400,000 state residents were under a “boil water advisory” affecting about 16 water systems, according to Jim Beasley, a spokesman for the S.C. Emergency Response Team.
At least 11 dams have failed in South Carolina since Saturday, Haley and the state’s Emergency Management Division said. The structural integrity of 34 other dams was being monitored.
One failure, of the Overcreek Bridge dam in Richland County’s Forest Acres, sent a torrent of floodwater raging downstream and forced evacuations near Columbia.
Officials allowed water to breach at least one other dam, also in Richland County. Officials conduct these controlled breaches “to prevent a much larger incident and a much larger amount of water escaping from the dam,” emergency management spokesman Derrec Becker said.
Haley said National Guard members were assisting with sandbagging operations and other mitigation efforts. “It’s all hands on deck,” she said.
More evacuations are likely as floodwater rises.
So far, at least 17 people have died in weather-related incidents: 15 in South Carolina and two in North Carolina.
At least nine people drowned and six died in traffic accidents, South Carolina’s Department of Public Safety said.
North Carolina reported two deaths from traffic accidents, in Cumberland and Jackson counties, a state emergency management spokeswoman said.
Haley said there had been 175 water rescues so far in South Carolina, and more than 800 people were temporarily housed in shelters.
More than 70 miles of Interstate 95 in the state remained closed, with five to eight bridges still awaiting structural checks, she said.
Of all the scenes of items drifting away in the flooding, perhaps none appeared as dramatic as a casket unearthed from a cemetery.
Wayne Reeves, pastor of New Life Ministries in Summerville, was in the middle of an interview when he saw the casket float away.
So he headed into the waist-deep floodwater to retrieve it.
As the much-vaunted 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) approaches, Nigeria has commenced moves to ensure a befitting participation at the global summit.
Director, Department of Climate Change (DCC), Federal Ministry of Environment (FME), Dr, Samuel Adejuwon (standing, making a presentation) with (from L-R) Mr. B. B. Agube, Manager Operations/CDM, Renewable Energy Division, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); Prof Olukayode Oladipo, University of Lagos; Dr. Pa Lamin Beyai, Country Director of the UNDP; Mrs Nana Fatima Mede, Permanent Secretary in the FME; Mr Kasim Bayero, Director, Pollution Control & Environmental Health, FME; and Mrs Priscilla Achakpa, Executive Director, Women Environmental Programme (WEP) …at the Climate Change Negotiators Training in Abuja, FCT
Towards this, the nation is establishing a group of national multi-sectoral experts that will support is negotiations at COP 21 in Paris, France, where about 196 countries will sign a new climate change agreement.
At a climate change training workshop that held in Abuja from Monday to Tuesday, the organisers – Federal Ministry of Environment (FME) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – sought to build the capacity of a gender-balanced core group of national negotiators representing the academia, government, private sector players, civil society and the media.
Dr. Pa Lamin Beyai, Country Director of the UNDP, expressed hope that the forum would, in broader terms, increase the awareness of the strong linkages between climate change and sustainable development policies in Nigeria.
He said that it would foster deeper dialogue and cooperation across a network of national and sub-national technical experts and leaders in the field of international relations, economic development, forestry, natural resources management, green economy, national development and financial planning.
Similarly, he emphasised that the training would provide an enduring platform for national discussions that will in turn define Nigeria’s position and contribution to the COP 21 in Paris.
He said: “We all know that the current emissions on the greenhouse gas runs out in 2020. But, after that, what happens for the decade after that and beyond? That is the big question we need to ask ourselves.
“For us here, we would like to see Nigeria and along with other African countries develop a common position to address climate change challenges and its adverse effects on her population’s livelihood. We need to develop a strong legal framework, with clear rules, a central role for equity and with very strong linkage to the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals. Hopefully, with these elements in the new deal, we are well on our way towards tackling the impacts of climate change on the continent.”
According to him, the programme is aimed at increasing Nigeria’s presence and influence on international politics, notably within the UNFCCC framework, in a way that actively contributes to building the key conditions for successful mitigation and adaptation in the country.
“As you are all aware, a strong deal will not only help Nigeria meet her international obligations, eliminate poverty, improve health and the living standards of the people, make agriculture a flourishing sector, but that it would also help increase investment opportunities, especially in clean and renewable energy solutions, and as well as develop the much needed human and institutional capacities to undergird these progress,” Dr Beyai stated.
Permanent Secretary in the FME, Mrs Nana Fatima Mede, stressed that not only does Nigeria need to strengthen the capacity of her experts already engaged in the process, but her negotiators needed to be well grounded in the emerging issues of the Convention, its processes, intricacies and the required skills of deliberations and negotiations.
Her words: “The Nigeria current position in the context of the UNFCCC negotiation and along that of the Africa Group suggests a scheme based on equitable multilateral rules with a strong link to fair access to sustainable financing.
“Nigeria wishes to see a global objective for adaptation and a mitigation objective in the 2015 agreement to limit global warming to below 20C compared with pre-industrial levels. The Africa Group proposes the use of a reference framework to reflect mitigation actions and adaptation measures taken by the countries that would lead to equity.
“We will therefore continue to stress in our negotiation the necessity for the developed country Parties in the climate change process to come forward with ambitious scale of emission reduction both in the pre- and post-2020 Agreement.”
She added that the training workshop would enhance the technical capacity of Nigeria in the development of actions that allow the mainstreaming of climate change into national and sectoral development goals by continuing the institutional and technical capacity strengthening process.
Mrs. Mede officially launched the National Policy on Climate Change document which, according to her, the FME developed “to act as a guide in the national implementation on climate change activities. The implementation is cross-cutting in that it involves all sectors.”
The African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET) is participating at the inaugural Conference of the African Union (AU) Specialised Technical Committee (STC) holding in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to push for the inclusion of Meteorology (Weather and Climate) as an additional sector component of the STC whose current sectors includes, Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, venue of the Conference of the African Union (AU) Specialised Technical Committee (STC). Photo credit: visit2ethiopia.com
The African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government had, in January 2009 and July 2011 respectively, adopted the configuration of the Specialised Technical Committees (STCs) and the modalities of their operationalisation as Organs of the Union. Composed of Ministers or senior officials responsible for sectors to provide support in their respective areas of competence, the STCs are responsible for preparing projects and programmes of the Union and submitting them to the Executive Council mad up of Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
The STCs have also the duty to ensure proper supervision, follow-up and evaluation of the implementation of decisions taken by the organs of the Union and the coordination and harmonisation of projects and programmes of the Union. The STCs are further expected to carry out any other functions assigned to them for the purpose of ensuring the implementation of the provisions of relevant AU Acts. They are also are expected to meet at least every two years in order to discharge the responsibilities vested upon them by the AU Assembly.
The overall objectives of the Inaugural Conference of the AU Specialised Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment is to review relevant strategic goals, facilitate mutual accountability and Identify synergies, linkages and complementarities in ongoing agriculture, rural development, water and environment related initiatives, and their implications on the achievement of the overarching goals of Africa Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation (3AGT) agenda for attaining food and nutrition security, reduce poverty, boost intra-African trade, and enhance resilience of production systems and livelihoods to Climate Change and related shocks.
More specifically, the Inaugural Conference of the AU Specialised Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment aims to attain the following objectives:
a. To review and adopt the Rules of Procedure of the Specialised Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment;
b. To facilitate broad-based consultation and dialogue among all relevant stakeholders on mutual accountability, mutual learning and biennial reporting on previous commitments;
c. Consideration of various strategic documents related to Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment;
d. To identify synergies, linkages and complementarities in on-going agriculture, rural development, water and environment initiatives and agree on areas of follow up actions at various levels; and
e. To examine and internalise the strategic and operational modalities for coordination mechanisms between the relevant sector ministries at Member State level, which are also linked to those at the Regional Economic Community (REC) level.
The Inaugural AU STC Conference will, therefore, provide a peer environment for exchange and learning to support the achievement of individual and collective responsibilities for targets set by relevant sector ministries.
As global agricultural resources shrink or shift, countries are crossing borders to obtain new farmlands
Gary Gardner, contributing author of the Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2015
Since 2000, more than 36 million hectares – an area about the size of Japan – has been purchased or leased by foreign entities, mostly for agricultural use. Today, nearly 15 million hectares more is under negotiation.
“Farmland is lost or degraded on every continent, while ‘land grabbing’ – the purchase or lease of agricultural land by foreign interests – has emerged as a threat to food security in several countries,” writes Gary Gardner, contributing author of the Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2015: Confronting Hidden Threats to Sustainability.
About half of grabbed land is intended exclusively for use in agriculture, while another 25 percent is intended for a mix of agricultural and other uses. (The land that is not used for agriculture is often used for forestry.) Land grab has surged since 2005 in response to a food price crisis and the growing demand for biofuels in the United States and the European Union. Droughts in the United States, Argentina, and Australia, has further driven interest in land overseas.
“Today, the FAO reports that essentially no additional suitable (agricultural) land remains in a belt around much of the middle of the planet,” writes Gardner. As a result, the largest grabbers of land are often countries that need additional resources to meet growing demands.
Over half of the global grabbed land is in Africa, especially in water-rich countries like the Congo. Asia comes second, contributing over six million hectares, mainly from Indonesia. The largest area acquired from a single country is in Papua New Guinea, with nearly four4 million hectares (over eight percent of the country’s total land cover) sold or leased out.
The largest investor country is the United States, a country already rich in agricultural land. The United States alone has acquired about seven million hectares worldwide. Malaysia comes in a distant second, with just over 3.5 million hectares acquired.
Land grabbing is precipitated by the growing challenges shaking the foundation of food production: the water, land, and climate that make crop growth possible. Globally, some 20 percent of aquifers are being pumped faster than they are recharged by rainfall, stressing many key food-producing areas. Land is becoming degraded through erosion and salinisation or is getting paved for development. The changing climate is projected to cause a net decline of 0.2-2 percent in crop yields per decade over the remainder of the century, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The dangers of land grabbing are evident. Large-scale purchases often do not consider the interests of smallholders who may have been working the land over a long period. Additionally, the transfer of resources from poorer countries to wealthier ones increases the vulnerability of the target countries that surrender their own access to land and water resources to foreign investors and governments.
“As demand for agricultural goods increases, and as our planet’s water and fertile land become more scarce and its atmosphere less stable, greater effort will be needed to conserve resources and to exploit opportunities for greater efficiency throughout the agricultural system,” writes Gardner.
By preventing food waste, increasing water efficiency, conserving agricultural land, and decreasing production of meat and biofuels (both of which require large quantities of land and water for grain or crops), Gardner believes that the stress on food systems can be reduced. In addition, the international adoption of the right to food, already integrated in the constitutions of 28 countries, will ensure that food cannot be withheld for political reasons.
Worldwatch’s State of the World 2015 investigates hidden threats to sustainability, including economic, political, and environmental challenges that are often underreported in the media. State of the World 2015 highlights the need to develop resilience to looming shocks.
The call was made on Monday during the celebration of this year’s World Habitat Day (WHD) organised by the Lagos State Government, held at Alausa in Lagos. The WHD 2015 theme is: “Public spaces for all”.
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), promoters of the annual WHD, in 1991 adopted a resolution promoting sustainable urban development through ensuring increased access to quality urban public spaces.
In a goodwill message at the occasion, UN-Habitat Programme Manager for Nigeria, Mallam Kabir Yari, said the progressive erosion of the public open spaces in cities has become a major casualty of unsustainable urbanisation and robbed the communities of some of the most critical elements of a healthy and productive space to grow and develop in.
Yari explained that, in traditional societies, open spaces are a cardinal element in the social, cultural and economic fabric of the community and more often than not, shaped the morphology of various settlements.
He said well designed and managed public spaces and streets are a key asset for a city’s livability and economy and, when well managed, enhance the well-being of residents through: increased property values; increased opportunity for retail activity; enhanced safety; improved health, social cohesion and equality; improved environment and more effective and efficient transportation and mobility.
The UN-Habitat manager commended the Lagos State Government for taking a lead in promoting the concept of urban regeneration through its deliberate programme of inner city improvements by way of restoration of previously bastardised parks and open spaces, beautification of transportation interchanges and the enhancement of environmental quality through the ‘greening’ of road setbacks and redesign of highway furniture.
Akinwunmi Ambode, Governor of Lagos State. Photo credit: ecomium.org
Chairman, Lagos State chapter, Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Mr. Anifowoshe Abiola, said physical planning the world over has become veritable tool in the organisation, ordering and shaping the pattern of growth and developments of any geographical space be it community, city, state and region among others.
“Within the context of this year’s theme, it becomes the responsibility of all of us – resident, visitors, professionals, politicians, market men and women, non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations, organised private sector and other stakeholders – to always ensure that our public spaces which are social spaces generally are made open and accessible to people,” he said.
Guest speaker, Prof. Tunde Agbola, defined public spaces as streets, markets, parks among others that are open to the general public and do not attract any entrance fee.
He said one of the major problems that do not allow people to visit public spaces world over is the fear of crime which he described as the beginning of wisdom.
He underlined the need to for government and the citizenry to ensure that adequate security are provided in public spaces, adding that there is the need for effective planning and management of public spaces.
Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode, urged Lagosians to adopt the right attitude to public spaces so that the purpose can be realised.
The governor, represented by the Chief of Staff, Mr. Olukunle Ojo, said government is committed to the maintenance and preservation of public spaces.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a statement to observe the WHD, declared: “Public spaces are crucial for poor and vulnerable citizens. Improving access to them, and making them safe for women and girls, increases equity, promotes inclusion and combats discrimination.
“High-quality public spaces encourage people to communicate and collaborate with each other, and to participate in public life. Public spaces can also provide basic services, enhance connectivity, spawn economic activity and raise property values while generating municipal revenue.”
But, said Mr. Ki-moon, public spaces require careful collaboration among local authorities, local inhabitants and other actors.
The UN Secretary-General also highlighted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 11, which aims to “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.” He noted that the goal represented a “broad international consensus that recognises sustainable urban development as a transformational approach.”
Executive Director of the UN-Habitat, Joan Clos, noting the importance of the day’s theme, said in a statement that “the character of a city is defined by its streets and public spaces.”
His words: “Public space is a vital component of a prosperous city. Well designed and managed public space is a key asset for a city’s functioning and has a positive impact on its economy, environment, safety, health, integration and connectivity.
“The quality of life for people in cities is directly related to the state of its public spaces. Public space provides room for social and cultural interaction and can foster a sense of belonging and pride in an area. A public space that is open to all, regardless of ethnic origin, age or gender, provides a democratic forum for citizens and society.”
Without adequate public space, cities can become increasingly segregated, noted Mr. Clos. “The result can be a polarized city where social tensions are likely to flare up and where crime and violence rises.”
He added that World Habitat Day is being celebrated this year with a partnership between UN-Habitat and the ‘HeforShe’ initiative promoted by the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). The two UN agencies, he added, are aiming to promote the role of men and women in the creation of “gender-equal public spaces for all.”
Hoesung Lee was elected by 78 votes to 56 in a run-off with Jean-Pascale van Ypersele. A total of six candidates had been nominated for the position.
“I am honoured and grateful that the Panel has elected me as the IPCC’s new Chair,” said Hoesung Lee. “The IPCC remains deeply committed to providing policymakers with the highest quality scientific assessment of climate change, but we can do more.”
“The next phase of our work will see us increase our understanding of regional impacts, especially in developing countries, and improve the way we communicate our findings to the public. Above all, we need to provide more information about the options that exist for preventing and adapting to climate change. I look forward to working with my IPCC colleagues to reach these goals and I thank them for their support.”
The election took place in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where the IPCC is holding its 42nd Session. Elections for other positions on the IPCC Bureau, including the Co-Chairs of the IPCC Working Groups, will take place over 6-8 October.
Lee, aged 69, is professor in the economics of climate change, energy and sustainable development at Korea University’s Graduate School of Energy and Environment in the Republic of Korea. He is currently one of the IPCC’s three vice-chairs.
The election of the new Bureau, which will have 34 members including the Chair, opens the way for work to start on the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, expected to be completed in 5-7 years. The IPCC completed its Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) in November 2014.
The key findings of the AR5 Synthesis Report are:
– Human influence on the climate system is clear;
– The more we disrupt our climate, the more we risk severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts; and
– We have the means to limit climate change and build a more prosperous, sustainable future.
The candidates for Chair, with the countries that nominated them, were:
– Ogunlade Davidson (Sierra Leone)
– Chris Field (United States of America)
– Hoesung Lee (Republic of Korea)
– Nebojsa Nakicenovic (Austria and Montenegro)
– Thomas Stocker (Switzerland)
– Jean-Pascal van Ypersele (Belgium).
The IPCC is the world body for assessing the science related to climate change. It was set up in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly to provide policymakers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation.
In a renewed effort to tackle corruption head-long in Nigeria, anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria will this week embark on a three-day retreat in Lagos under the European Union-funded support to anti-corruption in Nigeria project being implemented by the Union Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The retreat is to enable them to take stock of their activities and agree on new strategies to combat corruption in the country.
Yury Fedotov, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
The three-day retreat is holding after the last one was held in Kaduna five years ago. The heads of agencies will discuss critical issues and challenges facing their agencies, such as shrinking funds, challenges with investigation and prosecution including legislative and operational gaps, recovery and handling of recovered assets, safe reporting and protection for whistleblowers, corruption prevention, research and policy, and other issues.
Also expected as a major outcome of the retreat is an updated statement of commitment towards increased cooperation and collaboration among the agencies.
A number of developments have emerged in the anti-corruption agenda since the retreat of 2010. For instance, Corruption Risk Assessments have taken place in the Nigerian Sea Ports and the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) related MDAs of Water, Health and Education. Working Groups on Asset Recovery and Management, Investigation and Prosecution, Research and Policy and Prevention and Safe Reporting have now been set up and commenced meetings towards ensuring the necessary cooperation and synergy.
The retreat is jointly being organised by UNODC in collaboration with the Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT), the coordinating forum of agencies with anti-corruption and accountability mandates, through its secretariat, the Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption Reforms (TUGAR).
Three scientists from Japan, China and Ireland whose discoveries led to the development of potent new drugs against parasitic diseases, including malaria and elephantiasis, won the Nobel Prize for Medicineon Monday.
Left to right: Satoshi Omura, Tu Youyou and William C. Campbell. Photo credit: arabnews.com
Irish-born William Campbell and Japan’s Satoshi Omura won half of the prize for discovering avermectin, a derivative of which has been used to treat hundreds of millions of people with river blindness and lymphatic filariasis or elephantiasis.
China’s Tu Youyou was awarded the other half of the prize for discovering artemisinin, a drug that has slashed malaria deaths and has become the mainstay of fighting the mosquito-borne disease.
Youyou is China’s first Nobel laureate in medicine.
Some 3.4 billion people, most of them living in poor countries, are at risk of contracting the three parasitic diseases.
“These two discoveries have provided humankind with powerful new means to combat these debilitating diseases that affect hundreds of millions of people annually,” the Nobel Assembly at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute said.
“The consequences in terms of improved human health and reduced suffering are immeasurable.”
Today, the medicine ivermectin, a derivative of avermectin made by Merck & Co, is used worldwide to fight roundworm parasites, while artemisinin-based drugs from firms, including Novartis and Sanofi, are the main weapons against malaria.
Omura and Campbell made their breakthrough in fighting parasitic worms, or helminths, after studying compounds from soil bacteria.
That led to the discovery of avermectin, which was then further modified into ivermectin.
The treatment is so successful that river blindness and lymphatic filariasis are now on the verge of being eradicated.
Omura, 80, said the real credit for the achievement should go to the ingenuity of the Streptomyces bacteria, whose naturally occurring chemicals were so effective at killing off parasites.
“I really wonder if I deserve this,” he said after learning he had won the prize.
“I have done all my work depending on microbes and learning from them, so I think the microbes might almost deserve it more than I do.”
Omura is professor emeritus at Kitasato University in Japan, while Campbell is research fellow emeritus at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey.
“This was the work of a team of researchers so it is by no means my work, it’s our work,” said Campbell, 85, who learned of his prize in a pre-dawn phone call from Reuters that woke him at his home in North Andover, Massachusetts.
“In the first decade, there were 70 authors that I co-authored papers with. That gives you some idea of the number of people involved,” he said.
Tu, meanwhile, turned to a traditional Chinese herbal medicine in her hunt for a better malaria treatment, following the declining success of the older drugs chloroquine and quinine.
She found that an extract from the plant Artemisia annua was sometimes effective but the results were inconsistent, so she went back to ancient literature, including a recipe from AD 350, in the search for clues.
This eventually led to the isolation of artemisinin, a new class of anti-malaria drug, which was available in China before it reached the West.
Tu, 84, has worked at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine since 1965.
The World Health Organisation spokesman, Gregory Hartl, said the award of a Nobel prize for the discovery was a great tribute to the contribution of Chinese science in fighting malaria.
“We now have drugs that kill these parasites very early in their life-cycle,” said Juleen Zierath, chair of the Nobel Committee.
“They not only kill these parasites but they stop these infections from spreading.”
Death rates from malaria have plunged 60 percent in the past 15 years, although the disease still kills around half a million people a year, the vast majority of them babies and young children in the poorest parts of Africa.
The eight million Swedish crowns ($960,000) medicine prize is the first of the Nobel prizes awarded each year.
Prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace were first awarded in 1901 in accordance with the will of dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel.
Last year, the medicine prize went to three scientists who discovered the brain’s inner navigation system.
The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) on Mondaysealed the Lagos-based Nigerian Aluminium Extrusions Limited (NIGALEX) for violation of environmental laws.
Director-General, National Environmental Standard & Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Dr. Lawrence Anukam. Photo credit: dailypost.ng
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that NIGALEX, established in 1973 at Oshodi, Lagos, has a workforce that has since been contributing immensely to Nigeria’s economic and industrial growth.
The company has relevant modern cutting-edge technology and has over the years emerged as the leading producer of high quality aluminium products in West Africa.
The Head of NESREA’s enforcement, Kolawole Gbenga, told NAN during the sealing that the company was served numerous violation and abatement notices prior to the exercise.
Gbenga said the agency had discovered that some companies and facilities were into the production of different products without protecting the environment.
He said: “Today, we have come to seal this company that is involved in the production of metallic products (iron rods).
“It has not been complying with some relevant environmental laws such as the disposal of their waste and untreated effluents.
“We are expected to manage the environment and not to destroy it.
“If we must site a company, we are expected to follow and comply with relevant laws put in place to protect the integrity of the environment.
“We have issued compliance notice thrice.
“Also, we issued two abatement notices as warning, but the facility owners failed to comply and we have no option than to apply the law.”
Gbenga said the company was expected to correct the anomalies before the unsealing by the agency.
The Lagos State Coordinator of NESREA, Nosa Aigbedion, said the warning notices were served to the company on June 11, 2014 after the first inspection by the agency.
Aigbedion said the company was further instructed to install an effluents treatment plant, which had not been installed.
He said: “The company has failed to comply with environmental laws by not having an Environmental Impact assessment certificate and non-submission of Environmental Audit Report to NESREA.
“We have applied the carrot and it is time to apply the stick.
“We conducted the first inspection in 2014 and till date no action has been taken to mitigate the concerns and we have a duty to ensure the environment is clean and safe for all.
“There is a need for them to reach out to their community as a form of Corporate Social Responsibility.”
Aigbedion advised that companies and industries should buy into the compliance programme and imbibe the culture of respecting and obeying laws to sanitise the environment.
Efforts by NAN to get an official of the company to comment on the development failed as he declined to speak.
Public support is crucial if any technology is to be accepted and adopted by those who stand to benefit from it, including modern biotechnology which is relatively new in Nigeria. Etta Michael Bisong, an environmental journalist based in Abuja, writes on the role of the media in strengthening modern biotechnology practices to provide alternative sources of livelihoods in Nigeria.
Crop biotechnology has delivered significant socio-economic and welfare benefits to farmers via increased yield, pest and disease resistance, abiotic stress tolerance and enriched nutrient content. Photo credit: agronigeria.com.ng
Many Nigerians no doubt are still uncertain about the meaning of modern biotechnology talk of its revolutionary impact on social development. The level of public awareness about this technology, even though it has been in existence for over two decades, visibly remains low due to lack of appropriate strategies to ensure effective understanding of bioscience communication and its role in fostering growth through biotechnology development in the country.
Science communication, as defined by Gregory and Miller (1998), is a process of generating new, mutually-acceptable knowledge, attitudes and practices. It is a complex but dynamic exchange as disparate groups find a way of sharing common messages and negotiating based on trust that leads to mutual understanding, rather than through statements of authorities or of facts. Therefore, science communication is crucial in promoting an open and transparent debate about the potential risks and benefits of modern biotechnology. This debate guarantees responsible use of the technology and assures stakeholders of having a choice or say in its adoption.
Crop biotechnology, one of the many possible scientific options to improve agricultural productivity, for example, has delivered significant socio-economic and welfare benefits to farmers whether in increased yield, pest and disease resistance, abiotic stress tolerance, enriched nutrient content, and other quality traits.
About 12 million farmers in 2007 across 23 countries were recorded to have planted biotechnology crops spread across 114.3 million hectares. Of these farmers, 90 percent or 11 million are small and resource-poor farmers from developing countries such as China, India, the Philippines and South Africa.
Nigeria, acknowledging the great benefits associated with this technology, long signed and adopted various international treaties including the Cartagena Protocol on Biodiversity to signify interest and promote the domestication of modern biotechnology development in the country. Well over 70 million farmers in Nigeria are estimated to benefit and reap the significant benefits of agricultural biotechnology similar to economic transformations currently experienced in Brazil, India, Burkina Faso, Egypt and South Africa.
Food security challenges, empowerment of scientists and research institutes, and consolidation of economic diversification from oil revenue to a more sustainable revenue generation are among other socio-economic gratifications that Nigeria can gain from if modern biotechnology practices are properly integrated into national development initiatives.
However, bioscience like other scientific inventions has positive as well as negative aspects that if not properly regulated can inimically affect the peaceful preservation of biodiversity. Globally, there are two major contenders when the issue of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are usually raised: those in support and against the adoption as well as practice of this technology.
Cases of risks and safety of genetically engineered products mostly in crop breeding have and are still strongly debated by these groups. Issues like political, economic, ethical, cultural and even religious viewpoints have all been raised by these groups in the quest to institutionalise modern biotechnology development.
While proponents believe and subscribe to scientific knowledge in their approach and support for the deployment of this technology, the non-GM campaigners have always built their arguments on sentiments as against facts.
A focus on societal and ethical implications has made the adoption of modern biotechnology and use of GMOs a recurring and contentious public policy issue. As a result, GMOs products have been caught in a maelstrom of controversy which Nigeria is not immune from. This is where the role of the media, both traditional and new, reinforces. Cardinally, the objective of every medium of mass communication is to create shared perception and improve understanding among people to promote common interest.
The global response to these arguments has always centred on the basis of empirical assertions rather than emotional claims. International bodies like the European Food Safety Agency, World Health Organisation, United States Department of Agriculture as well as the African Union (AU) and NEPAD African Biosafety Network of Expertise have, through various empirically tested methods, attested to the safety of modern biotechnology and use of GM products.
For scientists in the field of Biosciences, biosafety remains the answer to the discrepancies sparked by the anti-GM agents. In demonstration of this belief and in fulfilment of the Cartagena Agreement the Federal Government under the reign of former President Goodluck Jonathan in April 2015 passed into law an Act establishing the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) to provide regulatory framework, institutional and administrative mechanism for safety measures in the application of modern biotechnology and use of GMOs in Nigeria.
The Act, as described by Rufus Ebegba, the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of NBMA, is “the only safety valve in the adoption of modern biotechnology and the deployment and use of GMOs for Nigeria’s national economic development.”
Sir Ebegba, at a press conference organised by Nigeria chapter of the Open Forum for Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) in Abuja, stressed the role of media in view of the immerse responsibility of the agency to encourage knowledge based regulatory regime.
“A need to expand biosafety information through the media will give room for factual reporting and build public confidence in adoption of safe GMOs and encourage scientists and others within the sector,” he said.
Also, the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) in a recent declaration renewed its commitments, one of which is to work closely with the media to promote the agency’s mandate.
Nigeria’s Biosafety law according to the Director General of NABDA, Professor Lucy Ogbadu, is a monumental delight to all her scientists who jointly participated in systematically making and presenting a convincing case for the enactment of the law.
“We hereby declare our determination to work collectively to improve the communications environment, including the use of latest as well as traditional communication strategies to ensure effectiveness in the deployment of modern biotechnology in Nigeria,” Professor Ogbadu asserted recently in a speech during an inter-agency parley in Abuja.
There are five factors according to Cormick (2007) that affect the acceptance of biotechnology into an environment: information, regulation, consultation, consumer choice, and consumer benefit. Studies from many countries that have ventured into modern biotechnology practice show a general pattern of low public knowledge, distrust on the part of environmental groups, and government’s slow action on regulatory support which is crucial for the technology to thrive. This scenario is compounded by lack of or inaccurate information, misinterpretation or over- simplification of facts.
Consequently, it is important therefore to enhance the capacity of the media in Nigeria to ensure that adequate, science-based information is made available to various stakeholders to help them analyse issues, correct misinformation, and make early and informed decisions regarding modern biotechnology development. Accordingly, actors particularly the government must begin to initiate a multi-stakeholders process or dialogue to develop a bioscience communication road map to evoke public acceptance for biotechnology and in evolving enabling policies.
This plan must be conceptualised such that it converge diverse ideas mostly considering that “no cookie-cutter approach will suffice for developing an approach to understand how to communicate about biotechnology development.”
