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Ogun warns against unauthorised sale of its land

Michael Simire
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Ogun warns against unauthorised sale of its land

The Ogun State Housing Corporation has warned members of the public to desist from unauthorised buying and selling of its landed properties or putting up buildings on any of its estates without approval.

Ibikunle Amosun, Governor of Ogun State. Photo credit: premiumtimesng.com
Ibikunle Amosun, Governor of Ogun State. Photo credit: premiumtimesng.com

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Corporation, Mr Akindipupo Enilolobo, who gave the note of warning, said that the development became necessary to put an end to the increasing cases of encroachment on its estates and lands across the state, saying that the Corporation would not hesitate to use maximum force which may lead to demolition to reclaim its land.

Enilolobo, therefore, enjoined the public to be careful when buying landed properties on any of the Corporation’s estates to avoid loss of money invested in acquiring such properties.

“The rate at which some unscrupulous individuals enter into government-owned lands and estates and sell the plots on such lands to unsuspecting members of the public under the cover that the land has been released to the community by one administration or the other, has become very worrisome for the authorities of the Corporation. Most of such claims which are not verifiable or gazetted are used to deceive people who themselves are looking for cheap plots for development of residential homes and business,” he said.

Enilolobo explained that most of such plots that were sold illegally were already allocated to some clients of the Corporation, only for them to get to their plots and find a building on them. He emphasised that the Corporation would have no choice than to demolish such illegal structures to reclaim the plots for the original allottees.

He maintained that the Corporation would neither do ratification nor compensate anyone for losses incurred in any illegal transaction involving lands and properties of the Housing Corporation, as usually promised by unauthorised sellers to illegal buyers that government would effect ratification.

How renewable energy can save Chilean lives, create jobs, by study

Michael Simire
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How renewable energy can save Chilean lives, create jobs, by study

A new study has been launched by the Chilean Citizens’ Committee on Climate Change showing that, by switching to 100% renewable energy by 2050, the country could: avoid spending $5.3 billion a year on fossil fuels, save 1,500 lives a year due to reduced air-pollution in Santiago alone, and create 11,000 green jobs.

Santiago, Chile
Santiago, Chile

The study, conducted by the NewClimate Institute, is one of a series of reports demonstrating the significant benefits to Chile and other countries – including the U.S., China, Japan, Australia, and the European Union – if they get on track to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2050.

The reports assess the benefits delivered in terms of lives and money saved, and jobs created by their proposed climate action commitments – also known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) – and what more they stand to gain if they boosted their efforts in line with a fossil fuel phase out.  

In December 2014 Chile announced its intention to contribute to international efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the upcoming climate change negotiations taking place in Paris this December, where a new global agreement to tackle climate change is due to be forged. Currently, Chile’s most ambitious proposal under discussion within the government aims to reduce national greenhouse gas emissions 40-45% by 2030.

A view of the Chilean capital under a heavy layer of smog. Photo credit: Reuters
A view of the Chilean capital under a heavy layer of smog. Photo credit: Reuters

However, for the Citizens’ Committee on Climate Change – a diverse national coalition of environmental organisations – this proposal is inadequate and will not achieve the transition that is needed. “The ambition of Chile’s government is insufficient compared to that of other countries in the OECD. It ignores all of the work that will be needed in the coming decades for us to adapt to climate change, particularly considering Chile has been categorised as extremely vulnerable to climate change impacts,” says Matthias Asun of Greenpeace and a member of Committee.

Through the nationwide “MAPS project” (Mitigation Actions Plans and Scenarios) the government calculated a range of models for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, 2030 and 2050 respectively – none of those models set Chile on the path to achieving 100% renewables by 2050 and therefore would fail to deliver the associated benefits outlined above.

If Chile committed to achieving 100% renewable energy by 2050, a NewClimate Institute report found:

  • Additional savings of $2.4 billion dollars related to the decrease in fossil fuel imports, for a total savings of $5.3 billion annually, including the $2.9 billion the country would save if it pursues the most ambitious plan presented so far.
  • Avoid an additional 800 premature air-pollution related deaths each year, for a total of 1,500 lives that could be saved annually.
  • Create 4,000 additional green jobs in the renewable energy sector, on top of the 7,000 jobs that would already be created by implementing the most ambitious mitigation plan. This would signify the creation of 11,000 new jobs.

According to experts in Chile, the government’s proposed MAPS models neglect the global requirements established by the international scientific community, since none of the scenarios put forth by the MAPS project would be allow Chile to meet its obligations as part of the global effort to avoid a global rise in temperatures 2ºC above preindustrial levels and limit catastrophic consequences.

Considering the above, and the approval process which the Council of Ministers for Sustainability and Climate Change must now follow for the proposed INDC, the Citizens’ Committee on Climate Change calls upon the Minister of the Environment, Pablo Badenier, to push for raising Chile’s ambitions towards a truly transformative process for transitioning energy generation away from dirty and outdated fossil sources and towards a green, renewable and low-impact environmental one based on sources like solar and wind.

“With the resources that Chile could save each year, we could be funding half of Chile’s new education reform package or investing in more and better sources of renewable energy,” says Karen Pradenas of Fundación Decide and a member of the Committee.

Going further, Javiera Valencia of Fundación Terram and likewise a Committee member, says “This study shows that we are jeopardising lives and wasting financial resources and jobs, simply because Chile is unwilling to make the effort which both the country and the planet need on climate change. Chile emits a small amount of greenhouse gases, but our carbon footprint per capita is approaching France’s, for example. The developed countries are tending to reduce their emissions while we are increasing ours.”

IUCN begins countdown to global conservation summit

Michael Simire
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0
IUCN begins countdown to global conservation summit

The IUCN World Conservation Congress 2016 is scheduled to take place 1-10 September in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Hawaii
Hawaii

Monday, September 1, 2015 marks one year to the opening of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress 2016, which the organisation describes as the world’s largest and most inclusive environmental decision-making forum that will define the future path for nature conservation.

The IUCN Congress will be held under the theme ‘Planet at the crossroads’, emphasising that nature conservation and human progress are not a zero-sum game, and that credible and accessible choices exist that can promote general welfare while supporting and enhancing our planet’s natural assets.

“The world is facing a rapidly closing window – our planet is at the crossroads,” says Inger Andersen, IUCN Director General. “The path we choose today will define nature’s ability to support us as a species during our lifetimes and for generations to come. The IUCN World Conservation Congress is a forum of dialogue and decision which will help us determine that path.”

With the adoption of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) later this month and momentum building towards a global agreement to tackle climate change in Paris this December, the world is setting an ambitious agenda for addressing fundamental social and environmental global challenges. The IUCN Congress will guide the efforts of IUCN’s almost 1,300 member organisations – some of the most influential players on the environmental scene – including over 200 government members, in support of these global ambitions.

Held every four years, the IUCN World Conservation Congress gathers between 6,000 and 8,000 delegates from around the world, including world leaders and representatives from governments, science, academia, Indigenous peoples groups, businesses and conservation.

This will be the first time the IUCN Congress will be hosted by the USA, having received strong endorsement from US President Barack Obama.

The IUCN Congress will include a unique global environmental parliament session – the Members’ Assembly – where IUCN’s member organisations will identify the most significant concerns and trends in conservation and guide IUCN’s work for the coming years. The Members’ Assembly will be preceded by a hub of public debate – the Forum – which will bring together people from all walks of life to discuss the world’s most pressing conservation and sustainability challenges.

The Members’ Assembly has produced policy for the most important global conservation treaties and initiatives over the past 68 years. These include the World Heritage Convention, the Ramsar Convention, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Participants of previous IUCN Congresses include His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, UN Foundation Chairman Ted Turner, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, and Ocean Elder and marine conservation champion Dr Sylvia Earle.

IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organisation, with almost 1,300 government and NGO members and more than 15,000 volunteer experts in 185 countries.

‘Nigeria must not miss 2017 Polio-free certification’

Michael Simire
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0
‘Nigeria must not miss 2017 Polio-free certification’

President Muhammadu Buhari has warned that he will not tolerate any gap that might prevent Nigeria being certified polio-free by World Health Organisation (WHO) by the year 2017.

Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria
Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria

He has, therefore, ordered the relevant agencies in the country to increase tempo of the fight against the polio virus nationwide.

He gave the directive at the Council Chamber of the State House, Abuja while receiving polio high level advocacy team.

The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Health, Linus Awute‎, told State House correspondents at the end of the closed-door meeting: “The President directed us to sustain the tempo that has led us thus far after 17 years and how to do that is clearly developed in the template upon which we are going to work in collaboration with the state governors.

“As it is now there is no polio in our country but then we still need to monitor that throughout a period of two years.

“That is why we need to intensify routine immunisation, ensuring that there is no leakage, no gap until 2017 when we shall be certified a polio free country having arrested the transmission for upward of one year plus”.

Awute‎ said there is need to interface and make further pronouncements that would boost the gains so far recorded in polio eradication in the country.

“In doing that, the stakeholders are required and that is why a strong advocacy group, a high level advocacy group that happens to be the pillar and foundation of this tremendous efforts was led down here to interface with President.

“We also needed that one to happen at the instance of the governors of the 11 states where polio before now was endemic.

“So the gains of it is that we have a consensus on what we must or must not do to be able to cherish the gains that we have made”, he said.

Katsina State Governor, Bello Masari, told reporters that all the governors have given President Buhari their commitments to support eradication of polio and other communicable diseases.

According to him, religious barriers and other factors that used to hinder the progress of the immunization programme have been removed.

“The problem came from some religious misconception, misunderstanding of the polio and now we are very lucky entirely the Ulamas, the religious leaders have accepted the fact that this is a preventable disease and curative.

“So really I think we don’t have those trailblazer and religious encumbrances that hindered the progress of the immunization programme before and there is commitment on the part of religious leaders and traditional leaders, community leaders that really accounted for what you have seen that the last reported cases of immunization in this country is over 13 months, in some states over 33 months,” he said

Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, on his part, said that Bauchi has recorded 24 months of non-prevalence and 34 months for the vaccine-induced polio.

“Mr. President has taken charge of the fight towards eradication of polio and he has invited the states that are considered as vulnerable so that he would solicit our buying-in to this renewed eradication of polio,” he added.

WHO Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Rui Gama Vaz, applauded Buhari’s commitment to eradicate polio from Nigeria by 2017.

“He has requested the executive governors to ensure they take the lead. He emphasized on the importance of bottom-top approach, starting from the ward level up to the federal level.

“He also highlighted the importance to use the polio to strengthen all health systems in the country,” he said.

Flood waters from Kiri Dam submerge seven Adamawa communities

Michael Simire
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0
Flood waters from Kiri Dam submerge seven Adamawa communities

Seven communities in five local government areas of Adamawa were submerged as flood waters from Kiri Dam in Guyuk Local Government Area, swept through the state.

AdamawaAlhaji Haruna Furo, the Executive Secretary, Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ADSEMA), announced this when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yola on Monday.

Already, NAN gathered that the Marine branch of the State Police Command and other similar agencies have been mobilised to commence rescue operation.

The dam, from the Gongola River, is about 30 kilometres in length and 15 kilometres in width.

“A report reaching us is that the flood had trapped several communities in Guyuk, Shelleng and Lamurde local government areas. More is needed to be done to rescue the communities.”

He said that there was still no report of death but many houses and farm lands had already been destroyed by the flood in the areas.

Furo said that already the agency had established some rescue camps for the affected victims in Borong in Demsa and Numan.

He said that the agency had also held an emergency meeting with Police Marine and other appropriate agencies for quick response mission.

Furo said that the aim of the joint meeting was to brief all authorities concerned on how to rescue the communities.

He said that there was need for all agencies concerned to unite to give their maximum contribution for the rescue mission.

“Among the agencies at the meeting included the police, Customs and Immigration marines and the State Fire Service.

He said the state government would do all it could to help repair the speed boats of the police marine for the rescue mission.

In his remark at the emergency meeting, ASP Gajere Raynan, the Head of Adamawa Police Marine Unit, said that the unit was ready to render its services in rescuing the affected communities.

Gajere urged the state government to provide speed boats for the mission.

He said that out of the 21 local government areas of the state, seven were directly on the bank of River Benue while two were beside the dam.

When contacted, Alhaji Sa’ad Bello, the State Coordinator, NEMA, said that the agency had contacted its headquarters over the flood.

UN Bonn climate talks: Momentum for action reaches new heights

Michael Simire
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0
UN Bonn climate talks: Momentum for action reaches new heights

A week-long UN climate negotiations began on Monday in Bonn, Germany as negotiators continue to make progress before meeting in in Paris in December to finalise a comprehensive and universal climate agreement. This agreement should protect people from climate risks and signal the end of the fossil fuel era.

Tasneem Essop of the WWF
Tasneem Essop of the WWF

On the opening of the talks, members of the Climate Action Network (CAN) commented on expectations from the gathering.  The CAN is a global network of over 900 NGOs working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels.

Tasneem Essop, WWF: “Political momentum building outside the climate negotiations is putting pressure for greater progress inside the climate talks. All the efforts of people – through the declarations, mobilisations and actions – must translate into a meaningful deal being agreed in Paris. And while the UNFCCC is one but site of struggle for climate justice, it is an important one. We need to capitalise on the Paris moment to reflect the urgency and secure a climate-safe future.”

Martin Kaiser, Greenpeace: “It has long been clear that the submitted and expected INDCs won’t add up to the level of commitment needed to prevent catastrophic global warming. As a result, the agreement in Paris needs to be structured to scale up action. Key to this acceleration of ambition are commitments made every five years towards a long-term goal on mitigation. That goal needs to lead to a phase out of fossil fuels and deliver 100% renewable energy by mid-century.”

Alix Mazounie, RAC France: “Finance is one of the core missing pieces from the draft agreement here in Bonn. The silence around financial commitments after 2020 is deafening, and the growing public finance gap in the existing commitments is not sending the political signal that developing countries need. Developed countries must understand that accounting tricks alone and political declarations will not solve the bigger climate finance issue. Even French President François Hollande, host of the talks in December, has acknowledged that climate finance is key to any agreement in Paris. The recipe for predictable public finance, particularly when it comes to adaptation needs, needs to be established in the core agreement. The nuts and bolts may come later, but the principles need to be anchored by December.” 

World Bank’s gas flare-out initiative criticised

Michael Simire
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0
World Bank’s gas flare-out initiative criticised

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has urged the Federal Government to be wary of a World Bank initiative to stop gas flaring by the year 2030, insisting that the scheme, if endorsed by the government, will legitimise continued flaring by Shell and other oil corporations operating in the Niger Delta.

Gas flaring in Ogoniland, Nigeria. Photo credit: premiumtimesng.com
Gas flaring in Ogoniland, Nigeria. Photo credit: premiumtimesng.com

Media reports last week indicated that the World Bank initiative, coming on the platform of “zero routine flaring,” is expected to bring together governments, oil companies, and development institutions who recognise flaring situation as unsustainable from a resource management and environmental perspective, and who agree to cooperate to eliminate routine flaring no later than 2030.

However, the World Bank dangles an opportunity for upstream investments and viable markets for governments that endorse the initiative and expects them to provide legal, regulatory, investment, and operating environments to key into the scheme.

Development institutions will facilitate cooperation and implementation, and consider the use of financial instruments and other measures, particularly in their client countries.

But in a statement issued in Lagos, ERA/FoEN described the World Bank initiative as an attempt to financialise and reward oil corporations that have fouled the air in local communities with a cocktail of flares and, like in the case of Nigeria, further extend the flare-out dates that oil corporations operating in the country have breached time and time again.

ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Godwin Ojo, said: “There is a subsisting gas flare-out date in Nigeria and we stand by that arrangement. The Federal Government must not subscribe to this hoodwink that will free oil corporations still flaring in the Niger Delta from their obligations to ending gas flaring immediately.

“We cannot accept this World Bank initiative that will open a door for oil corporations to dodge responsibility from their human rights abuses. The flare-out deadline drama in Nigeria started in 1979 extending to 1984 and 2007 and then 2008 and 2010. Shell and other oil companies that engage in the illicit flares will only latch on to this opportunity to propose new dates for ending flares that they have willfully breached with brazen impunity to the detriment of the communities where the flare stacks are mounted.”

“Gas flaring is a violation of the fundamental right to life and healthy environment of local communities. This much was asserted by stand by retired Justice V. C. Nwokorie in a judgment brought against Shell by the Iwherekan Community Delta State, on the company’s continued flaring in the community.  At a Federal High court sitting in Benin and presided by Justice Nwokorie, he had on November 14th 2005 ordered Shell to stop gas flaring in Iwherekan by April 2007, saying it violates the fundamental right to life and dignity.”

“The current administration has rolled out well with the take-off grant for clean-up of Ogoniland. It must remain resolute in tackling the Niger Delta pollutions and not allow itself to be led by the nose. The deadline on gas flaring must be enforced immediately. Muddling the flare-out issue with financial compensation for the polluters is an absurdity that is unacceptable. Gas flaring must stop immediately,” Ojo insisted.

Mongolian wildlife to get safe passage

Michael Simire
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0
Mongolian wildlife to get safe passage

CMS-backed meeting explores actions to make roads, railways and fences in Mongolia more wildlife-friendly

Representatives of governments, industry, development banks, UN agencies, NGOs and scientists met in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from 24 to 28 August to find solutions to ensure that steppe animals are able to cross roads, railways and fences.

Bradnee Chambers, Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)
Bradnee Chambers, Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)

The growing exploitation of the natural resources in the Gobi-Steppe ecosystem has led to a dramatic increase of transportation networks, required to meet increasing consumer demand for minerals. The existing roads and railroads have proven to be a significant barrier for wildlife migrations.

“Addressing barriers to migration is a key priority for the conservation of many migratory ungulates in Central Asia and in particular in Mongolia. CMS has been working to reduce the impacts of the rapidly growing network of roads, railways and fences on migratory mammals that rely upon the vast, interconnected landscapes of Central Asia,” said Bradnee Chambers, Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

The new action plan discussed at the inter-governmental workshop in Ulaanbaatar is an important step forward in further implementing the guidelines which are designed to mitigate the impact of linear infrastructure and related disturbance on mammals across Central Asia.

“The workshop has been a joint effort to tackle the issues facing migratory species in Central Asia. Mongolia contains some of the most important habitats for the Mongolian gazelle, khulan, saiga antelope, Bactrian camel and other CMS-listed species. The fast pace of mineral extraction and infrastructure development is having a significant negative environmental effect. To minimise such changes, standards and regulations are necessary and the timing of this workshop is crucial,” said the State Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment, Green Development and Tourism of Mongolia, Mr. Tsengel Tsegmid.

The new “Ulaanbaatar Action Plan on Wildlife-friendly Infrastructure” makes strong recommendations for oversight and planning of roads and railroads in Mongolia. It aims to maintain one of the largest remaining mammal migrations in the world through strengthening the application of international guidelines adopted under the UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

The State Secretary of the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, stated: “The mining of raw materials is a Mongolian economic interest. However, we are jointly aware of potential damage to nature including endangered migratory species. With this common responsibility, we work closely together to avoid, minimise or compensate for negative impacts.”

In November 2014 new guidelines on mitigating the impact of linear infrastructure and related disturbance on mammals in Central Asia were adopted at the 11th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CMS (COP11) in response to the expanding infrastructure in the region fuelled by the boom in the extractive sector. The guidelines are one of the tools for strengthening conservation action on the ground under the CMS Central Asian Mammals Initiative (CAMI), which was also adopted at COP11.

The Mongolian Ministry of Environment, Green Development and Tourism hosted the meeting, which was jointly organised by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, the associated Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, the Mongolian office of the GIZ (German Development Cooperation Agency) and CMS. The Mongolian Academy of Sciences and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) provided scientific expertise and support to the meeting.

The CMS aims to conserve terrestrial, aquatic and avian migratory species throughout their range. It is an intergovernmental treaty, concluded under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), concerned with the conservation of wildlife and habitats on a global scale. To date, 121 Parties including the European Union are members of the Convention.

Newsdiaryonline Abuja office burgled, vital items removed

Michael Simire
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0
Newsdiaryonline Abuja office burgled, vital items removed

Unknown persons have burgled the office of Newsdiaryonline located at Extension D-49, EFAB Mall in Garki district, Abuja.

Mr. Danlami Nmodu
Mr. Danlami Nmodu

A statement by Mr. Danlami Nmodu, publisher/editor-in-chief of Newsdiaryonline, said those who burgled the office forcefully broke the doors before gaining entrance. They also ransacked some drawers and made away with some vital office items, the statement said.

The publisher said some items removed from the office include laptop computers, one generator, one LCD television set and electric kettle, among other items.

Mr. Nmodu said: “Surprisingly, the burglars left the internet router and the satellite TV decoder behind apparently because these two items could have made it easier to trace the location of whoever broke into our office”.

He said further that “we find the removal of our laptop computers particularly unsettling.”

The editor–in-chief however assured readers and followers of Newsdiaryonline, which he described as the fastest growing Nigerian online news organisation that, in spite of this setback, ”we shall continue to serve and provide you with credible news, opinions and analysis without fear or favour.”

Shell to empower 150 Niger Delta youths

Michael Simire
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0
Shell to empower 150 Niger Delta youths

Another 150 youths from the Niger Delta are to benefit from the 2015 LiveWIRE programme of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) operated Joint Venture, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to over 6,000 since the launch of the programme in 2003. LiveWIRE is a flagship youth enterprise development programme which provides access to training, business development services and start-up capital.

Empowering youths in the Niger Delta
Empowering youths in the Niger Delta

“LiveWIRE presents a good opportunity for bright young people to bring their ideas to fruition,” said SPDC’s General Manager External Relations, Igo Weli. “We are pleased to see the youths transform to employers of labour after going through intensive business training that is reinforced with theoretical and practical sessions.”

The two-week training slated for September will be held for the selected youths in Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa states. Media Relations Manager of Shell, Mr. Precious Okolobo, said in a statement on Monday that the programme is open to university and polytechnic graduates with innovative business ideas from the three states.

The curriculum includes Business Planning and Management and post start-up Mentoring, incubation and market linkages. Successful candidates will be linked to third parties such as NGOs, banks, and allied financial institutions and provided a volunteer mentoring programme.

In 2014, the Livewire scheme was broadened to include a specific focus on people with physical impairments. Some 180 disabled people had already benefited from training and grants by the end of the year.  Shell Companies in Nigeria work with government, communities and civil society to implement programmes that have a lasting impact on lives in the Niger Delta and beyond. Social investment activities are focused in particular on community and enterprise development, education and health.

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