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After cotton and maize, Nigeria to release more GM food – Ebegba

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Sir Rufus Ebegba, the director-general and chief executive officer of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NABMA), at a meeting held in Abuja to review two applications submitted for the release of genetically-modified (GM) cotton and maize, said Nigerians should prepare to see more GM products in the market to serve as alternative to consumers’ choice. In this interview with Etta Michael Bisong, the agriculturist and environmental biologist spoke on the benefits of adopting safe biotechnology practice to Nigeria’s national development goal.

 

Director-General of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NABMA), Mr. Rufus Ebegba
Director-General of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NABMA), Mr. Rufus Ebegba

What are the two GMOs applications about?

We have two biosafety applications which we are reviewing to ensure that the products are safe for human consumption and to environment. These applications are submitted by Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Limited. The first one is to register the gene of cotton that has been genetically modified to resist against a pest, while the other is maize that is encoded with two genes for confined field trail – herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant.

So, the essence of this meeting is to inaugurate the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) in addition to the existing National Biosafety Technical Committee (NBTC) to check the hereditary materials that have been put into the maize and cotton to ensure that they do not cause any allergy to man or animal as well as negative environmental impact. The committees are working and expected to conclude soon.

Already, there are publications in three national dailies informing members of the public of these applications in accordance with the Act establishing the agency. We have done these publications and expect comments or responses within 21 working days either by writing or visit to the agency. We have also deposited these applications and necessary documents at two other locations in addition to our office (NABMA). We have one at the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Zaria and the other at the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA). The essence is for those within the areas of means to be able to access and review these applications.

 

How is Nigeria expected to benefit from this?

What this means is that now that we have a law and an agency to implement this law, it means Nigerians should be expecting new products in addition to others we already have in the market for consumers’ choice. Nigerians should be expecting biotechnology products that definitely will be certified safe before any release. And the farmers should also be expecting better harvests, healthy seeds, more income for their labour and inputs into agricultural activities. Apart from that the farmers can also produce enough for export and through these processes jobs are created, as well as revenue generated through payment of permit fees to enhance economic growth.

 

Aside maize and cotton, what other crop is Nigeria expecting to release soon?

There is another crop that may likely come up very soon and that is the Bt cowpea modified to resist a pest known as maruca which has being on experimental field trail since 2009. The institution that was given the permit is doing multi locational trail across various regions of the country to ascertain the performance of the product.

 

What is your position on media’s role and various campaigns in Europe against GMOs?

The media is the voice of the nation; it is a means to ensure social equity and ensure that our nation is brought to the public so that everyone is aware.

I want the public to know that there are attempts by some individuals to cause unnecessary panic over matters surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMOs). GMOs are not synthetic or manufactured materials; it’s the swap of gene to achieve particular aim.

Europe should not be used as model for the adoption of biotechnology or GMOs. Europe is a self satisfied continent; we shall adopt technologies that are safe for Africa and our nation. Nigeria as a country has planned its programmes and will not be panicked, dissuaded or misled to abandon a safe technology like modern biotechnology. The establishment of the NABMA is not in error, it’s an attempt for Nigeria to diversify the economy and broaden the scope of our national development under a safe technology practice. The agency has come to give Nigerians hope that the adoption of modern biotechnology will be done in safe manner.

And I want to urge the media that it is not everything that is sensational that should be printed or reported. Journalists should not make themselves available for information that is not good for the nation because if misinformation is not published, it will not circulate. Your conscience is where God lays and you will be an accomplice if you join those that don’t want to make Nigerians prosper. Nigeria will adopt modern biotechnology that is safe for our national development.

I have said it severally that a safe biotechnology practice under a legal framework has ability to generate minimum of 25,000 jobs annually. Nigeria is a country with diverse activities and if oil is failing us we must move to other sectors that can help our nation grow. Posterity will not forgive journalists if they connive with those who carry out misinformation, distortion of facts that are not scientific base and dissuade Nigerians from benefiting maximally from this technology. America, Argentina, Mexico, South Africa, Burkina Faso are among countries that have prospered from this technology. We will take what is good about the technology and abandon what is not good.

You must take note that GMOs are not meant to be imported into the country alone; Nigeria scientists have the competence and opportunity to develop varieties that are meaningful to our environment. One thing you must know again when we talk about GMOs is that it is not for food alone, it’s also for environmental sustainability and avenue to move the economy round mostly now that the world is on edge. If our conventional methods of doing things are failing us, we must move for advanced methods of doing that.

Europe is not the best model for Nigeria. Nobody should quote Europe in the adoption of genetic engineering. Go to Europe 60 per cent of their products are GMOs and they have the capacity to diversify their economy beyond Nigeria. How many countries in Europe are producing oil? How do they survive? Ask yourself these questions.  We will not listen to those countries that have failed to adopt technologies that have moved on and want to continue with obsolete technologies and try to delay others until they meet up.

I want to assure you that the NABMA has what it takes to ensure that any product that is derived from modern biotechnology is safe before any release into the market.

 

What is your advice to Nigerians regarding the adoption of this technology?

Nigerians should trust the judgement of the NABMA; the Federal Government is doing everything possible to diversify the economy and everybody must support the government to achieve this for better today and future Nigeria.

Illegal logging negatively impacting IGR, laments Ogun

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The Ogun State Government has solicited the support of stakeholders in the state’s forestry sector to join its efforts in curbing illegal felling of trees in government owned forest reserves in order to enhance its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

Illegal logging
Illegal logging

Commissioner for Forestry, Kolawole Lawal, gave the charge while addressing the Timber Contractors Association, Ogun Waterside Chapter, during a working visit to Divisional Forestry Office, Abigi in Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of the state.

Lawal said that the state’s IGR was very crucial for its development and growth, saying that all ongoing developmental projects are being majorly financed with tax payers’ money.

“It is very pertinent to work together in order to achieve our aims and objectives in boosting the state’s IGR as we are all aware of the dwindling allocation from the Federation Account, therefore all hands must be on deck to achieve this,” he said.

The Commissioner disclosed that the theme of this year’s budget tagged ‘’Budget of Optimisation’’ was aimed at maximising available resources in order to get good results and, in line with this, he charged the stakeholders to carry out their duties in the forest reserves with utmost sense of responsibility.

He urged all stakeholders involved in the forestry sector to join hand in glove with the government in total eradication of illegal felling of trees in the state owned forest reserves, explaining that it makes government lose money through illegal activities in the forest reserves, and negatively impacting the IGR.

Responding, Monitoring Unit Officer, Marine Section, Olameto Gabriel, assured government of section’s unalloyed support to curb illegal acts in the forest reserves, adding that they would act according to the rules and regulations guiding forestry operations in the state.

He affirmed the readiness of timber contractors in the state to collaborate with government in achieving its aims and objectives, especially in the area of boosting the IGR to further provide more developmental projects for the people of the state.

Pitfalls, potential of Great Green Wall project, by group

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A non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Abuja, Connected Development (CODE), has listed drawbacks being experienced by a project aimed at curbing desertification in Nigeria and neighbouring countries. The group however unfolded measures it hopes to undertake to realise the scheme’s potential.

Officials of CODE, Follow The Money, as well as the DG and senior staff members of the NAGGW after the advocacy visit/meeting
Officials of CODE, Follow The Money, as well as the DG and senior staff members of the NAGGW after the advocacy visit/meeting

The Great Green Wall (GGW) scheme brings together Nigeria and several other countries to grow a wall of trees across the continent to literally hold back the Sahara Desert – albeit with a swathe of greenery that will lessen the effects of desertification and improve the quality of life and livelihoods of communities.

CODE’s Chief Executive, Hamzat Lawal, during a recent visit to the offices of the National Agency for Great Green Wall (NAGGW), disclosed that a team of officials of “Follow The Money” – an initiative being implemented by CODE – visited communities in the northern states of Kebbi, Kano and Jigawa in order to ascertain what was obtainable on the ground.

Lawal, who told the Director General of the NAGGW, Goni Ahmed, that the purpose of CODE’s visit to the agency was to discuss the framework of implementation of the GGW project, said: “We visited Bachaka in Kebbi State, Kadandanni in Kano State and Jeke in Jigawa State. All three communities had water challenges, nurseries are dying and this is because either the boreholes are broken, not functioning properly or some parts were missing.”

He further stated that all three communities were quite enthusiastic about the project and the traditional leaders supportive of the project as well. He acknowledged that all the shelterbelts were faring well in all three communities. However, it was observed that all the communities suffered from a high rate of poverty and lacked access to water.

Replying, Ahmed said the office was initially a project implementation unit under the Federal Ministry of Environment before it was formally established as an agency in May 2015, adding that the idea was for it to be a community based agency. According to him, himself and his team started with 92 communities and are currently in 138 communities.

“The communities are the sole beneficiaries of the GGW project, so they have to be involved,” stressed Goni, even as he underlined the importance of having the state governments support the project and provide land as well as funding from their Ecological Fund allocations.

His words: “For example, the Governor of Katsina State assisted the project by giving a directive that GGW should be provided with land.

“The agency identified all the communities they are working in are having high rate of poverty and lack access to water. The idea behind the windmill and solar powered boreholes is because the communities cannot sustain a borehole powered by generator or electricity due to the power challenges in the country.

“The agency is new and we are learning from our mistakes and making amends. We are committing to ensure all three communities as you have reported are budgeted in our plan and water provided within the shortest period of time and we would improve security around the boreholes as we are now putting up lights in all locations.”

The DG further stated that the agency is still in the process of setting up its bank accounts, but that because of the TSA, the process is slow. But he is confident that, by next month (March), the agency would be up and running.

“We promise to be open, transparent and accountable to every kobo received on behalf of the NAGGW. I run an open door policy and would appreciate if you engage us more and do feel free anytime to call on me or visit the office for any information at all on our activities,” he told the visiting CODE team.

Lawal stated: “CODE hopes to work with the agency to hold town-hall meetings with the communities as we are working to provide a platform for interaction between the locals and the agency in order to make the project succeed. To make the communities take ownership of the project, CODE is currently finalising plans with our media partners to air a programme on the GGW and also plans to establish a community radio as well, so that the communities can be reached and get enlightened on the GGW project.

“CODE is also planning to work with the GGW agency to have a stakeholders meeting in Abuja, where different key stakeholders will be invited to discuss how to make the GGW project succeed. Everyone is aware of the budget allocation but no one talks about the releases and constraint around the GGW.

“CODE is also hoping to have an expert meeting where CODE and NAGGW can pull resources together and bring someone from the international community for a one- or two-day workshop on Re-greening Nigeria and the NAGGW can take the lead on that. CODE has identified an expert who has worked on this issue around East and West Africa.

“Lastly, CODE is planning to build a tool in collaboration with NAGGW that will be an independent tracking system on the progress of the project, because CODE has discovered that nobody is talking about the achievements of the GGW project. The plan is to gather data using the tracking system and then use the data to inform both the communities and the general public, and most importantly policy makers, in terms of how we will be able to show the results and then advocate for more budget allocation for this intervention.

“We are hoping that your Agency will own this tracking system and commit to using it; where we can then commission state monitors independently who will send reports and feedbacks. We hope to engage the communities involved in the GGW to document their findings by sending reports via the Tracking system before engaging the larger society/stakeholders. The essence of this initiative is to create a feedback loop between the communities and the implementing government agencies.”

Expressing his appreciation towards CODE, Goni said the visit has reinvigorated his belief in the role of NGOs who, according to him, “play an important role in the society, and when a credible NGO goes out to put up a case, people will believe them more than the government.”

He disclosed that NAGGW is planning to convene a stakeholders meeting probably in March where the President, state governors and other government agencies will be invited to showcase the GGW project. “The plan is to outline the role and responsibility of every institution in respect to the GGW project, which was lauded in Paris during the COP 21 meeting, and Africa was seen to be taking charge of her own problems by herself,” said Ahmed.

In Nigeria, the GGW aims to address desertification, enhance natural resource management and promote ecosystem integrity in the dry-land in the Northern parts of the Country. The Nigerian Project stretches from Zamfara and Kebbi states in the North West corner along the northern border of Nigeria to the extreme eastern border in Borno State. Eleven States are involved in the project.

The GGW, an initiative spearheaded by African heads of state, will stretch about 7,000 from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east and will be about 15 Kilometres wide as it traverses the continent, passing through Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The programme aims to support the efforts of local communities in the sustainable management and use of forests.

Photos: Immunisation campaign kicks off in Lekki community

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The National Immunisation Prevention Diseases (NIDPs) campaign has commenced in Lagos. The campaign is aimed at reaching 95% of children within the age of 0-59 months, notwithstanding their previous immunisation status.

Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Primary Health Care, Dr Olufemi Onanuga, said the children would be administered with the oral polio virus vaccine, which he described as safe and free.

The campaign is expected to last from Friday, February 27 to Tuesday, March 1, 2016. Organisations such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organisation (WHO) and Rotary International are partnering with the Lagos State Government.

This was how the campaign went at OtodoGbame community in Lekki, Lagos where over 25 children died from an infection in the last one month.

Immunisation in progress
Immunisation set to begin
Spreading the word
Spreading the word…
Bracing up for the task ahead
Bracing up for the task ahead…
Meeting the people...
Meeting the people…

By Augustina Armstrong-Ogbonna

China to close over 1,000 coal mines in 2016

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China will aim to close more than 1,000 coal mines over this year, with a total production capacity of 60 million tonnes, as part of its plans to tackle a price-sapping supply glut in the sector, the country’s energy regulator said.

A coal mine in China. Photo credit: bloomberg.com
A coal mine in China. Photo credit: bloomberg.com

China is the world’s top coal consumer but demand has been on the wane as economic growth slows and the country shifts away from fossil fuels in order to curb pollution.

In a notice posted on its website (www.nea.gov.cn) on Monday, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said the closures would form part of the plan released earlier this month to shut as much as 500 million tonnes of surplus production capacity within the next three to five years.

China has a total of 10,760 mines, and 5,600 of them will eventually be required to close under a policy banning those with an annual output capacity of less than 90,000 tonnes, the China National Coal Association has estimated.

China has promised to stop approving all new coal mine projects for three years in a bid to control capacity. The country produced 3.7 million tonnes coal last year and has an estimated capacity surplus of 2 billion tonnes per annum.

Last year, the supply overhang dragged down domestic coal prices by a third, but there has been some recovery this year with thermal coal at the port of Qinhuangdao up 2.7 percent at 380 yuan ($58.29) per tonne.

Apart from coal, China will also aim to tackle overcapacity in the thermal power sector this year by controlling new builds and cancelling projects in regions with the biggest capacity surpluses, the notice said, citing administration head Nur Bekri.

Utilisation rates in the power sector last year fell to their lowest since 1978, with demand failing to keep up with the rapid expansion in capacity.

As part of its power market reforms, China will further promote a scheme allowing suppliers to enter into direct power sales agreements with consumers, and also work to reduce power prices this year, it said.

Togo, UK ratify Nagoya Protocol

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Ratifications by Togo and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have brought the total number of ratifications to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation to 72.

Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Secretary General, Convention on Biological Diversity
Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Secretary General, Convention on Biological Diversity

The Governments of Togo and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland deposited their
instruments of ratification with the Secretary General of the United Nations on 10 February and 22 February 2016 respectively. As provided for in its article 33(2), the Nagoya Protocol will enter into force in Togo on 10 May 2016. For the United Kingdom, entry into force will take place on 22 May 2016, the International Day for Biological Diversity.

With the ratification by Togo, 31 African countries have now ratified the Nagoya Protocol. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s ratification follows suit with the European Union’s accession to the treaty in October 2015, and the ratification by nine other European countries. Both countries have now ratified all treaties related to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

“With the actions by Togo and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, we are moving
closer to our goal of reaching 100 ratifications by the second meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol (COP-MOP 2), being held in December 2016,” said Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity. “I count on the support of Parties and our partners to promote ratification of the Protocol, and I encourage countries to maintain this momentum by joining this comprehensive, international agreement on access and benefit-sharing.”

In December 2015 these views were echoed by the United Nations General Assembly by inviting Parties to the Convention to ratify the Nagoya Protocol in resolution 70/472.

Ratifying the Nagoya Protocol prior to COP-MOP 2 will enable countries to participate in decision-making
at this meeting and to further advance the global implementation of this landmark treaty.

Considering the 90-day delay for entry into force of the Protocol, countries that wish to fully participate at
COP-MOP have been advised to take measures to deposit their instrument of ratification before September 2016.

The 2010 Nagoya Protocol is a key element in the global framework for sustainable development. It builds
on one of the three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity: the fair and equitable sharing of
benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources. The Protocol is also vital to creating value for traditional knowledge by requiring users to obtain permission to use it, and to share any benefits that result
from its use with the communities who hold it.

Abducted wife of environmental activist regains freedom

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The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has announced the release of Justina Ojo, wife of its Executive Director, Godwin Uyi Ojo, who was abducted by unknown gunmen last Monday.

Godwin Uyi Ojo
Godwin Uyi Ojo

Justina was kidnapped in front of her residence around 8pm on February 22, 2016 in Benin and was only released last night (Friday, February 26) to her family in Benin City, the Edo State capital.

In a statement issued in Lagos, the environmental justice group thanked Nigerians, religious organisations, local and international groups for their solidarity, prayers, encouraging words and actions throughout the period of Justina’s abduction.

ERA/FoEN Deputy Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said: “Words cannot express our joy at the reuniting of Justina Ojo and her family. We are happy she was returned unhurt and in good condition to her family.

“We particularly want to thank our allies both local and international for their show of solidarity, unity and encouragement all through the period of trauma for the Ojo’s and the entire ERA/FoEN family.

“Justina has been re-united with her immediate family and they prefer to spend coming days for quiet reflections on the events of this traumatic week.”

Oluwafemi, however, added that, with the release of Justina, “we expect the Nigerian Police to carry out its statutory responsibility of identifying those responsible for the reprehensible act and bringing them to book.”

ERA/FoEN also called on security agencies to rise up to the responsibility of providing security for all citizens given the rising wave of violent crimes in the country.

“It is a primary responsibility of government is to guarantee the safety and security of all citizens. At times like this, people in power should work towards security for all and not security for a few and the affluent. The present government must do all that is needful to keep this country safe for all,” Oluwafemi added.

Lagos adopts processes to phase down dental amalgam

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Observed high mercury levels in dental clinics may have prompted the Lagos State Government to take up a campaign to phase down dental amalgam, which scientists say is injurious to health and the environment.

Participants at the workshop: L-R: Leslie Adogame, Executive Director, SRADev; Dr Olabode Ijarogbe, President Nigerian Dental Association (NDA); Prof Awele Maduemezia, Member, Board of Directors, SRADev Nigeria; Prof. Arotiba, Dean, Faculty of Dentistry, LUTH; Dr Adolphous Loto, Consultant Restorative Dentistry, LASUTH/LASUCOM; and Dr. Mrs Okoisor, Chairperson, NDA Lagos branch
Participants at the workshop: L-R: Leslie Adogame, Executive Director, SRADev; Dr Olabode Ijarogbe, President, Nigerian Dental Association (NDA); Prof Awele Maduemezia, Member, Board of Directors, SRADev Nigeria; Prof. Arotiba, Dean, Faculty of Dentistry, LUTH; Dr Adolphous Loto, Consultant Restorative Dentistry, LASUTH/LASUCOM; and Dr. Mrs Okoisor, Chairperson, NDA Lagos branch

In applying the Minamata Convention on amalgam provisions to Nigeria, the state’s Ministry of the Environment (MoE) is collaborating with the Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev Nigeria) and the USA-based World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry (WAMFD) to curb the use of amalgam, a pollutant which is 50% mercury.

At a daylong stakeholder workshop on Phasing Down Dental Amalgam Use with the theme: “Towards Mercury-Free Dentistry in Nigeria”, officials representing organisations such as SRADev Nigeria, WAMFD, MoE, Nigerian Dental Association, Federal Ministry of Health, NAFDAC and the Federal Ministry of Environment set in motion processes to ensure that Lagos blazes the trail in moving in the direction of modern mercury-free dentistry.

In a welcome address, Executive Director of SRADev Nigeria, Leslie Adogame, described mercury as one of the world’s most ubiquitous heavy metal neuro-toxicant.

“It is a toxic substance of global concern that causes significant harm to human health, wildlife and ecosystems. Once in the body, mercury acts as a neurotoxin, interfering with the brain and nervous system. Exposure to mercury can be particularly hazardous for pregnant women, especially lactating mothers who expose their children to mercury during breast feeding,” he said.

According to him, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Health Organisation (WHO) have acknowledged the dangers posed by the product such that global efforts to address the development culminated in the establishment of an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to prepare a global legally binding instrument on mercury which came to effect in October 2013. Nigeria is a signatory to the convention named as Mercury Treaty (or Minamata Convention).

The Convention requires each participating nation “to phase down the use of dental amalgam” and perhaps ultimately phasing it out and switching to mercury-free alternatives.

“Throughout the Minamata Convention negotiations which took place from June 2010 until October 2013, the African Region through Nigerian delegates led the movement to get the strong dental amalgam reduction mandate into the Minamata Convention. At the crucial Pretoria regional consultation, the African Region boldly adopted a plan for dental amalgam – the phase-down steps – that was subsequently enshrined into the treaty. Therefore, it is only necessary that Nigeria sets the pace in the implementation of this Convention in the region,” he said.

“There is very limited awareness of mercury in medicines and generally in healthcare sector in Nigeria and yet the dangerous poison is causing a lot of health problems unknown to the public,” he said, lamenting that while the health care sector around the world is moving to replace mercury-based medical devices with affordable, accurate and safer alternatives, the Nigerian government is yet to take any serious policy initiative in this direction.

The WAMFD president, Charles Brown, while acknowledging the role of the African region towards making the Convention a reality, opined that ratifying the treaty is a “great” opportunity for Nigeria to lead, even though four other African nations (Gabon, Guinea, Djibouti and Seychelles) are already Parties to the Convention.

“We want to leapfrog past the amalgam stage to mercury-free dentistry. There are really no opposing views to the Convention in Nigeria, we are simply experiencing institutional delay, and I’m positive that that will be resolved shortly and it will be ratified,” said Brown.

Dr O.A. Ijarogbe, President, Nigerian Dental Association (NDA), disclosed that mercury is a hazardous substance that can be absorbed through the skin, by ingestion or inhaling the vapour. According to him, chronic mercury poisoning is difficult to identify, even as it is characterised by tiredness, fatigue and lethargy.

“Damage to foetus in pregnant women undergoing mercury fillings have been reported and mercury is implicated in common brain and kidney diseases,” added Dr Ijarogbe, listing severe symptoms to include excessive salivation, metallic taste and slurred speech.

Consultant Restorative Dentist, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Dr Adolphous Loto, stressed that the phase-down of the use of dental amalgam in restorative dentistry requires a coordinated holistic and multi-sectorial approach by stakeholders.

While describing the phase-down as an acceptable option as opposed to outright ban on dental amalgam, he added that it is feasible and desirable, and that it should be given a national attention.

“A National Strategic Plan (NSP) should be developed and implemented in order to meet the deadline or time-line at which amalgam should cease to be used as a restorative material in dentistry in compliance with the provisions of the Minamata Treaty or Convention,” stated Dr Loto.

Dr Idris Adamu Goji, Deputy Director, Department of Pollution Control and Environmental Health, Federal Ministry of Environment, stated that, as a follow-up to the signing of the convention, processes are on-going process to ratify the Minamata Convention on Mercury in the country.

Besides forging a partnership with UNITAR to implement a project on Ratification and Early Implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, government will also collaborate with GEF and UNIDO to implement the project on “Minamata Convention Initial Assessment in Nigeria”.

He added: “There should also be collaboration with relevant stakeholders and NGOs to sensitise health institutions on the need to phase down/phase out dental amalgam.”

Stakeholders review flood response profile ahead 2016 rains

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As the nation awaits this year’s Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) courtesy of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) as well as the Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) by the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), stakeholders have attempted an appraisal of last year’s flood response profile in order to ensure a hitch-free 2016 preparedness.

Director-General of NEMA, Alhaji Muhammad Sani Sidi. Photo credit: elombah.com
Director-General of NEMA, Alhaji Muhammad Sani Sidi. Photo credit: elombah.com
UNICEF Country Representative in Nigeria, Ms. Jean Gough
UNICEF Country Representative in Nigeria, Ms. Jean Gough

Both the SRP and AFO are analysed to make forecast for flood early warning, early dissemination and action to flood-prone regions and high risk states in the country. The SRP, specifically, gives early warnings to reduce the risk associated with the nation’s two extremes of flood and dry spells.

At a three-day forum from February 22 to 24, 2016 at Akwanga, Nasarawa State, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), NiMET, NIHSA and State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs) attempted to fashion out a fresh early warning and early action mechanism for the nation.

This, they set out to do by reviewing last year’s flood prediction, determining what was done right and devising ways to improve on it in the 2016 Annual Flooding Season.

Kayode Fagbemi, Deputy Director (Planning, Research & Forecasting), NEMA
Kayode Fagbemi, Deputy Director (Planning, Research & Forecasting), NEMA

Director-General of NEMA, Alhaji Muhammad Sani Sidi, underlined the need to embark on flood prevention and mitigation measures that, according to him, would ensure free-flowing drainage systems, operation and maintenance of hydraulic structures such as dams and reservoirs which are being adequately controlled by the various dam management institutions in the country.

Sidi, represented by Kayode Fagbemi, Deputy Director (Planning, Research & Forecasting), NEMA, said: “This is yet another occasion for dialogue and in-depth deliberation geared towards improving flood early warning and early action mechanism in Nigeria. With the backdrop of the 2012 unprecedented flood that caused widespread devastation in several states of the country, we can no longer wait until we witness another catastrophe.”

He described the event as an informed stakeholder’s forum designed to “review our progresses, the challenges we faced and come up with a wise decision as a way forward.”

His words: “I would like to note that we need to invest more in Disaster Risk Reduction and gather evidence to enable well-informed decisions to reduce disaster and climate risk as a central element of sustainable development. We also need to recognise the need to work together to achieve the set goals.”

The UNICEF Country Representative in Nigeria, Ms. Jean Gough, recalled that, following the 2015 SRP by NiMET, NEMA had constituted a multi-stakeholder committee to examine the implications of the SRP on various vulnerable groups and communities in the country. According to her, UNICEF was part of the committee and also part of the team that supported the Flood Contingency Plan for 2015 for all Flood High Risk States in the country.

“It is in line with such activities that NEMA and the stakeholders have decided to review the Flood Response Profile for 2015 ahead of the 2016 SRP in order to ensure that lessons learnt from the previous preparedness and early warning activities are not lost in the 2016 preparedness,” she added.

Gough, represented by UNICEF Nigeria’s Monitoring & Evaluation Officer (Emergency Preparedness for Response), Olusoji Adeniyi, stressed that the UN body remains committed to its mandate of protecting the rights of children and women in humanitarian situations “in which flood remains one of the most challenging and the most devastating in terms of nature-induced disasters as it often affects women and children more than any other group in the affected population globally.”

UNICEF Nigeria’s Monitoring & Evaluation Officer (Emergency Preparedness for Response), Olusoji Adeniyi
UNICEF Nigeria’s Monitoring & Evaluation Officer (Emergency Preparedness for Response), Olusoji Adeniyi

UNICEF’s commitment to Disaster Risk Reduction(DRR), she noted, is unwavering and remains one of the core elements of its humanitarian policy. The workshop, she stressed, provides an opportunity for all stakeholders to review their roles and responsibilities, identify challenges and make recommendations towards improved preparedness in the future.

“It is important to note that such recommendations, especially after the serious nationwide floods of 2012, led to several improvements by National and State governments in the high risk states by the introduction of both structural and non-structural risk mitigation and risk control measures in their states resulting in lower casualties and lower disaster loss in the year 2015. This workshop is expected to further make recommendations that will assist the policy makers to further make improvements to processes and assign resources towards improved disaster risk reduction measures,” Gough added.

Dr. Emmanuel Adanu, Executive Director, National Water Resources Institute (NWRI)
Dr. Emmanuel Adanu, Executive Director, National Water Resources Institute (NWRI)

In a presentation, Dr. Emmanuel Adanu, Executive Director, National Water Resources Institute (NWRI), urged government to focus more on preventing disasters than managing it in order to save human, material and financial resources.

For instance, he called on the authorities to actualise the Dasin Hausa Dam, a multi-purpose facility designed to cushion the effect of the Lagdo Dam flooding. Since 1982 when the Lagdo Dam was built in Lagdo town on the Adamawa Plateau in the Northern Province of Cameroon along the course of the Benue River, lowland communities in north-eastern Nigerian states (of Borno, Adamawa and Taraba) especially those located downstream within the River Benue drainage basin are usually flooded whenever water is released from the reservoir.

Following an agreement involving Nigeria and Cameroon in 1980, the Nigerian government was supposed to embark on a similar venture along the course of the river, ostensibly to contain the gushing water released upstream from Lagdo Dam and curb flooding and attendant destruction of property and loss of lives.

Designed in 1981, the site of the proposed dam is the Dasin Village of Fufore Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

Marine Meteorologist at NiMET, Glory Onyegbule
Marine Meteorologist at NiMET, Glory Onyegbule

It will be recalled that the release of water from Lagdo Dam in 2012 caused extensive flooding across the border in Nigeria, submerging hundreds of settlements in Adamawa State, killing people and displacing thousands of families. Many were reportedly missing. The entire upper and lower Benue River basin was extensively flooded.

Worst hit areas were in Fufore, Girei, Yola South, Yola North, Demsa, Numan, Lamorde, Shelleng, Michika, Guyuk and Ganye Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state. Additionally, LGAs in Taraba State such as Jalingo (the state capital), Ardo Kola, Ibbi, Karin Lamido, Wukari, Takum and Lau were affected.

Adanu, erstwhile Director of Dams in the Ministry of Water Resources, said: “Apart from building the Dasin Hausa Dam, government should consider daming some of the tributary rivers feeding the River Benue because this wing contributed most of the water that led to the infamous nationwide 2012 flooding. If such rain falls again, we are going to have a repeat of that situation.”

A Marine Meteorologist at NiMET, Glory Onyegbule, described adaptation and/or mitigation measures as the response by disaster managers to tackle the ever increasing frequency and intensity of natural weather and climate hazards such as floods.

She explained that NiMet provides SRP as a critical early warning tool to encourage good planning and assist early action for any predicted extreme weather and climate events during the year.

“The use of the SRP is now known to reduce the impact of these extreme weather and climate events by about 35%, and this can rise further reduced with massive publicity as is being done today,” Onyegbule stated.

At the end of the day, participants made observations on issues bordering timely and effective 2015 forecast/prediction, hydrological data gaps, inadequate meteorological data, timely but inadequate dissemination of information, vandalisation of equipment, reduction of instruments’ sensitivity to measurements, non-functioning of some data measuring equipment, inadequate coverage of density of hydro-met network of station and untimely release of operational funds by state governments to SEMAs during response activities.

Consequently, the gathering recommended that, amid an enhancement in information dissemination that utilises the new and emerging media, stakeholders should improve its strategies in identifying and involving relevant stakeholders in information dissemination.

While state governments were urged to timely release operational funds to SEMAs, host communities and security agents were on the other hand charged to be involved in the protection of equipment.

Apart from a regular review, update and implementation of contingency plan by NEMA and SEMAs, as well as improve capacity building of stakeholders, the gathering recommended that, besides NEMA, NIHSA and NiMET, the existing task team should be expanded to include critical stakeholders like NWRI, Federal Ministry of Environment, and the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA).

World bicycle ownership going downhill, says report

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Bicycle ownership around the world is declining amid rising wealth levels and increased use of motorised vehicles in developing countries, a study has found.

Marc Shotten of the World Bank
Marc Shotten of the World Bank

Four out of 10 households on the planet own a bike, according to a paper based on surveys from 150 countries between 1989 and 2012. But the growing popularity and affordability of motorised transport, such as cars and scooters, “have disfavoured bicycle use”, the researchers say.

China in particular experienced a collapse in bike ownership rates since 1992, when 97 per cent of households had bikes. However, this dropped to 63 per cent by 2009, the study shows, with ownership rates in most other countries either flat or decreasing.

In Togo, bike ownership has remained stable at around 34 per cent of households between 1998 and 2010, but in Paraguay ownership rates dropped from 57 per cent of households in 1996 to 39 per cent in 2002, the paper states.

These trends could be expected as the number of motor vehicles per person has increased over the past decade at a rate “never seen before in human history”, in particular in China, India and parts of Africa, says Marc Shotten, a transport specialist at the World Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility in the United States.

Shotten, who was not involved in the study, points out that the data underlines the importance of policies and funds that protect vulnerable road users, including bicyclists and pedestrians, in the face of growing car numbers.

The paper, published in the Journal of Transport & Health last December, found that bicycle ownership is most common in developed countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands, where around four-fifths of households have at least one bike. But in West, Central and North African countries, bicycles are more uncommon, with less than a fifth of households owning one, the study says.

While motor vehicles are often well documented, this study is the first to gather global data on bicycle ownership, the researchers say. Understanding bike numbers could help governments in developing countries devise bicycle-friendly policies that promote better health, less congested cities, safer roads and cleaner air, they add.

The researchers spot wide disparities within regions and several outliers. Peru and the Philippines were found to have extremely low bicycle ownership rates compared with their neighbours. In contrast, Burkina Faso in West Africa is the only non-European country in the top tier, with 84 per cent of households owning a bicycle in 2010.

According to the researchers, this is due to the country’s investment in cycling infrastructure and a “positive attitude” towards cycling among the population.

“Compared to its surrounding countries, Burkina Faso has an astonishingly high level of cycling infrastructure such as physically separated bike lanes or road lighting for cyclists at intersections,” says lead author Jimi Oke, a civil engineer at Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

While cycling patterns are well studied in countries such as China and the Netherlands, the study sheds light on other interesting countries — such as Burkina Faso — that have been less studied, Oke adds.

“We can learn from what happens elsewhere and it’s better to have a bigger pool to widen the evidence base for policy,” he says.

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