The African continent, regarded as one of the most vulnerable regions to the impact of climate change, has taken up a campaign to utilise climate knowledge to transform agricultural production systems in order to sustainably feed herself and improve the people’s socio-economic wellbeing.
Marrakesh in Morocco, the conference venue
Consequently, key stakeholders will gather next week for three days from Wednesday at the fourth edition of the Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-IV) conference in Marrakesh, Morocco to deliberate on: “Africa Can Feed Africa Now: Translating Climate Knowledge into Action”.
The theme selection is in recognition of 2014 as the year of agriculture, and the spotlight will be on climate knowledge opportunities that can transform agricultural production systems to feed Africa sustainably.
The CCDA conference series is a policy influencing space organised each year under the auspices of the Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Programme. ClimDev-Africa is a consortium of three leading pan-African institutions – the African Union Commission (AUC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
According to the organisers, the overall objective of the conference is to provide a platform for deliberating on how Africa can utilise climate knowledge to transform agricultural production systems in order to sustainably feed itself and improve the socio-economic wellbeing of its people.
To continue on a trend that commenced during CCDA-III, CCDA-IV will lay focus on impacts of climate change on vulnerable groups and also integrate strong participation of civil society groups, with the aim of perceiving the realities, opportunities and challenges faced at the grass-root level, for which policy makers and researchers in attendance can begin to design interventions. The targeted vulnerable groups include farmers, women, the youth and pastoralists.
The promoters describe CCDA as a forum where stakeholders come together to discuss the interrelationships between climate change and development, with Africa as the main focus. “ClimDev-Africa partners, as well as other stakeholders, share their programmes’ achievements as well as challenges they face on key climate change issues and seek new knowledge on ways to better cope with them in the interest of Africa’s development. Further, it builds a consensus amongst policy makers, academicians, researchers, practitioners and other stakeholders on best approaches of integrating climate change opportunities in policies, strategies, planning and practices in Africa,” a source explains.
To realise the overall objective, the following specific objectives will guide deliberations:
To understand the role of climate data and information services and climate knowledge in transforming and managing risk and opportunities across the agricultural value chain.
To examine the implications of recent climate trends and projections on agricultural production systems and related infrastructure.
To better understand the importance of natural capital and ecosystem services in agricultural performance and sustainability.
To identify finance and technology challenges and opportunities for climate resilient agriculture value chains.
To build on CCDA3 recommendations and the Climate Research for Development (CR4D) climate research frontiers identified in the African Climate Conference 2013 (ACC2013).
The following subthemes are the pillars that will guide deliberations during the breakout sessions, and for which presenters will be invited to submit papers:
Sub-theme I: Improving and harnessing climate data, information, and knowledge for agricultural production, water resources management, and food security in Africa.
Sub-theme II: Agricultural opportunities for renewable energy development in Africa.
Sub-theme III: Enhancing Africa’s capacity to mobilize, access, and implement climate finance for agricultural development.
Sub-theme IV: Innovation and technology to enhance agricultural transformation in a changing climate.
Nepal. Ivory Coast, Madagascar and Kenya have requested UN-REDD targeted support on legal preparedness. All are looking to adapt their existing policies, laws and regulations in order to support or put in place national REDD+ processes and strategies, with Kenya having requested the second stage of such support
Activities have been taking place over the past two years with the support of the UN REDD/Cambodia Programme. Whereas Community Forest committee members had benefitted from awareness-raising in the past, this has now been extended to include children from the communities.
Legal preparedness for REDD+ refers to countries’ efforts to establish national and/or sub-national legal frameworks supportive of REDD+. Upon a government’s request, legal support may be provided to UN-REDD member countries to help them analyse and adapt laws governing forests and managing natural resources.
In Nepal, the analysis will help identify legal gaps regarding various aspects of REDD+, whereas work in Kenya will focus on drafting regulations that relate to tenure and REDD+ issues.
In Ivory Coast, one of the objectives of the targeted support is fora regulation to be drafted that improves institutional coordination over REDD+ matters. In Madagascar, efforts will concentrate on the integration of specific REDD+ legal provisions into the country’s new forestry code.
The DRC has also requested support in the form of drafting support on data sharing agreements. This will strengthen institutional mandates and the coordination of data collection and management.
In Honduras and Guatemala, legal assistance is being provided to analyze the legal frameworks related to REDD+ in these countries. Laws related to forestry in the two countries are currently under revision in order to identify gaps or inconsistencies related to REDD+. The expected result in Honduras is for the forest law (2007) to be amended to include REDD+ provisions, while Guatemala aims to reinforce its recently-adopted climate change law by introducing a focus on REDD+ aspects. A comparative analysis with legislation on payments for environmental services in Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru is also being developed and national validation workshops will take place in November 2014.
Part of the regional UN-REDD Programme workshop organised in Quito on REDD+ national strategies from 30 July to 1 August covered the legal challenges addressed by countries in the region. Participants discussed issues related to financial and economical mechanisms for obtaining funds and share benefits, institutional arrangements requiring a legal framework, the recognition and security of REDD+ related rights and legal issues related to safeguards.
Effective and supportive legal frameworks are crucial for REDD+ to work successfully. Legal preparedness not only strengthens governance structures in the long term – it also helps prepare the ground for REDD+ implementation and attracts investment for concrete REDD+ activities.
The service provides opportunities for building investor confidence through participatory law development approaches that involve national and local stakeholders, as well as the strengthening of law enforcement capacities.
Regular washing hand and use of sanitisers would eradicate polio, prevent pneumonia, typhoid fever, Hepatitis B and water born diseases, says Dr Rilwanu Mohammed.
Mohammed, who is the Executive Secretary, FCT Primary Health Care Board, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday.
He said that the awareness created on Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) prevention had made schools and other corporate organisations to provide fever testing kits and hand sanitisers.
“The use of hand sanitisers by schools will address the common problems of eating bacteria and jams due contamination on the children’s hands.
“This would prevent diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid fever, polio, Hepatitis B and other water born diseases,” the expert said.
He explained that malaria, pneumonia and any form of fever would be contained at the point where more students or pupils would not be affected by the disease any longer.
“Most of the communicable diseases enter our system through our hands; therefore, regular washing of hands would reduce these risks,” he said.
Mohammed said that sustained habit of regular washing of hands and use of sanitisers would control the chemical transmission into our body.
He advised mothers to prevent growing babies from taking particles into their mouth arbitrarily.
“The child exploring the environment would like to take everything to his mouth to test and see whether it is milk.
“It is there they get polio easily. It is the duty of the society to control open defecation and save our children from polio and other communicable diseases,” Mohammed said.
Besides, he said that infant mortality had decreased from 70 to 69 per 1,000 deliveries, while maternal mortality had increased from 545 to 645 per 1,000 live births.
He said that when women delivered they should be admitted for three days to check for blood pressure, bleed and other clot of blood, but it is not being done now due to over stretch of health facilities in the FCT.
A recent report said that the primary healthcare (PHC) facilities in the FCT are not working according to the WHO standards.
“We found out that only 30 per cent are working. The 215 healthcare centres had 1,002 staff against 4,098 required under the WHO standards.
“Eighty per cent of the PHCs in the FCT need to be renovated due to long term disuse, while 27 per cent are working,’’ Mohammed said.
According to him, the proposed national health fund would strengthen PHCs with 50 per cent funding.
“It (the special fund) will enable us to provide basic primary health care services such as provision of staff, essential drugs, ambulances, training and re-training of staff, among others,’’ he said.
Mohammed said that the fund is aimed at reaching pregnant women, children under the age of five, disable and other vulnerable groups who don’t have access to healthcare services monthly.
Over 30 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), including the Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev) Nigeria, have signed a declaration calling for Africa to be the first continent on the planet to end the use of mercury in dental care.
Amalgam fillings are 50% mercury, a major neurotoxin. According to the activists, its continuous use is not justified because alternatives are now affordable, effective and available in Africa. The restriction of its use is demanded worldwide in the new Minamata Convention on Mercury, adopted by more than 140 governments and the EU in 2013, in Kumamoto Japan signed by 120 nations as at today (including Nigeria) and pending ratification.
Leslie Adogame of SRADev Nigeria said:“We are calling on Africa to be the first continent in ending the use of mercury-based dentistry. In the whole world, amalgam use is lowest in Africa, so we are nearer to the finish line than any continent.”
The CSOs say that the toxic trade in dental mercury – which can be diverted into illegal gold mining uses – needs to be ended. The surest route is to have a ban on the use of dental amalgam in all countries of the continent, and have mercury-free dentistry, they insist.
Mercury-free dentistry is growing in Africa. Recent studies in Côte d’Ivoire and Tunisia show that, already, almost 30% of dentists are using alternatives to dental amalgam.
African countries are requested to declare that the children of Africa – and all the people of Africa – have a basic human right to mercury-free dental care and a mercury-free environment.
The request follows the existence of sound scientific evidences that mercury can damage children’s developing brains and nervous systems even before they are born.” In addition to the literature, the Minamata Convention on Mercury adopted in October 2013, noted that the world recognises dental amalgam as a major environmental pollutant which requires each participating nation “to phase down the use of dental amalgam.”
Similarly, the CSOs are clamouring for Africa to become the first continent to phase out the dental amalgam.
The call is contained in the CSOs’ declaration made in Abuja in May 2014 towards Mercury-Free Dentistry for Africa. The declaration highlights that mercury, which is used in dental amalgam, is a restorative material that is approximately 50% elemental mercury, and is a notorious heavy metal of global concern that is known to be a potent poison of the human nervous system.
The CSOs’ concern is raised based on the fact that dental mercury accounts for 10% of annual global mercury consumption and 260-340 metric tons of mercury pollution around the world each year.
The dental amalgam mercury enters the environment via many pathways, polluting air via cremation, dental clinic releases, and sewage sludge incineration; water via human waste and dental clinic releases to septic systems and municipal wastewater; and soil via landfills, burials, and fertilizers. Once dental mercury is in the environment, bacteria in soils and sediments may convert it to methylmercury, a highly toxic form that builds up in fish, shellfish and animals that eat fish, thereby making fish and shellfish the main sources of methylmercury exposure to humans.
In the dental workplace, uncontrolled mercury vapours are a major occupational risk, especially to young women of childbearing age.
The CSOs are also reminding the African countries on their efforts during negotiations of the Minamata Convention. They worked hard to make sure that reduction in dental amalgam use specifically be included in the treaty, forcefully arguing for the phase out of amalgam generally and for an end to amalgam in milk teeth specifically. In the African Regional consultation held in Pretoria on 9th May 2012, the African Region adopted a plan for dental amalgam – the phase-down steps – that, coupled with subsequent amendments, was enshrined into the treaty. The reference is also made to the Libreville Declaration on Health and Environment in Africa (August 2008).
The phase down is possible since Mercury-free dental restorative materials are far less expensive than dental amalgam when environmental and societal costs are factored in.The costs of using mercury-free options (including retreatment) is about half the cost of amalgam without retreatment, making this mercury-free technique significantly more affordable in low-income communities, particularly in areas without electricity or dental clinics.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) report Future Use of Materials for Dental Restoration, says that “recent data suggest that RBCs (resin-based composites) perform equally well” as amalgam – and offer additional oral health benefits because adhesive resin materials allow for less tooth destruction and, as a result, a longer survival of the tooth itself.
The CSOs call the African countries to work together and make Africa the first continent with mercury-free dentistry – considering that the current amount of dental amalgam used in Africa is much closer to zero than in any other continent. In 2010, the sub-Saharan African region used just six tons of dental mercury.
In addition, the CSOs call the countries to adopt effective amalgam phase down strategies that have been proven in nations that have already phased out or significantly reduced dental mercury use by raising awareness about dental mercury to parents, consumers, dental workers, health professionals, and educators, promoting the benefits of non-mercury dental restorative materials, considering government programmes and insurance policies that favour non-mercury dental restorative materials among others.
Furthermore, the CSOs call African countries to reject the double standard mentality which infers that Africans must accept toxic chemicals that the rest of the world rejects.
In a bid to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, experts have urged government to increase access to family planning commodities on this year’s World Contraceptive Day.
The need to increase contraceptive use among sexually active people in Nigeria is critical to reducing unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion. According to the Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS 2013), about 23 percent of teenage girls between ages 15 and 19 are already mothers or pregnant with their first child, while half of the women between ages 25 and 49 years were already married by age 18 and 61 percent were married by age 20.
Also, the sexual and reproductive behavioural pattern of Nigerians show that women and men tend to initiate sexual activity before marriage. These lifestyle, coupled with high fertility and low contraceptive prevalence rate, typically lead to unintended pregnancies, close births spacing and high-risk births.
Nigeria’s maternal mortality ratio currently stands at 576 per 100,000 live births and a World Health Organisation (WHO) report titled ‘Trends in Maternal Mortality’ had reported in May this year that Nigeria lost about 40,000 women due to child birth in 2013, a figure which is second to India’s.
In a statement released by Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI), the Advocacy Advisor, Mrs. Charity Ibeawuchi, said, “The young persons who form the majority among the women of reproductive age should be encouraged to space pregnancies and childbirths. The adolescents and youths in Nigeria are faced with gross challenges of sexual and reproductive ill-health as a result of their inability to access relevant information and services. In particular, adolescent girls are more vulnerable to health problems arising from under-age child bearing, unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortion, sexual exploitation and abuse which consequently contribute to the high maternal morbidity and mortality.”
With low contraceptive prevalence rate of 10% and high fertility rate of 5.5, there is strong indication that only a few Nigerian women are using modern family planning methods for spacing or limiting pregnancies. ”A woman’s ability to space and limit her pregnancies has a direct impact on her health and well-being as well as on the outcome of each pregnancy,” said the WHO.
Ibeawuchi urged the Nigerian government and other key stakeholders to take cognisance of the challenges associated with being an adolescent and young. “We must increase commitment to such investments that effectively equip and increase the potential of young people to safeguard their future,” she said.
Furthermore, access to contraceptives should be corroborated with appropriate information, policies and commitments that would encourage young people to make important decisions concerning their lives, wellbeing and future.
The World Contraception Day (WCD) is celebrated around the world each year on September 26th. It is a worldwide campaign whose vision is a world where every pregnancy is wanted. Launched in 2007, its mission is to improve the awareness of contraception and to enable young people to make informed decisions on their sexual and reproductive health.
CustomMade, an online marketplace, discloses in this treatise that though illegal logging costs the global economy an estimated $30 to $100 billion in lost revenue annually, the mass exodus of our forests has more devastating, long-lasting implications, putting the environment, politics and social stability at risk
Many of us make daily choices to try to live more environmentally conscious lifestyles. But there’s an element probably present in everyone’s home that’s contributing to the destruction of the natural world: items made from illegally sourced wood. The paper sitting in your printer, the toilet paper in your bathroom, and the coffee table in your living room may all come from illegal logging operations. Each year, more than 32 million acres of forest are illegally and unsustainably logged.
Illegal logging – the harvesting, transporting, processing, buying, or selling of timber in violation of national laws – is a global issue, affecting most forested countries. The term also includes wood harvested from protected areas or threatened species of plants or trees as well as the falsification of official logging documents, breached license agreements, and corruption of government officials. Because of the natural of illegal logging, it’s also difficult to measure the scale of the devastation. “Most of it is selective logging, not big clear cuts,” says Dr. Matt Finer, Amazon Conservation Association’s research specialist. The pick-and-choose method makes it extremely difficult to spot missing trees in aerial pictures or satellite imagery.
Illegal logging runs rampant in poorer nations and is dominated by organized crime. A 2012 U.N. report estimated organized crime groups were to blame for up to 90 percent of tropical deforestation. It takes place primarily in the tropical forests of the Amazon basin, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia. Currently, Indonesia is the hardest hit country; 40 percent of its 6.02 million forest hectares have been lost to illegal logging. Though a short-term law enforcement effort in the mid-2000s temporarily slowed the loss, illegal logging has increased in scale over the last three to five years.
The main, most obvious reason for illegal logging the high global demand for timber, paper, and other wood-derived products. But not all logged trees are turned into flooring, paper, and plywood. Around40 percent of removed wood is used as fuel for energy needs, including cooking and heating; in some tropical regions, that figure skyrockets to as high as 80 percent.
Corruption, economic and political instability, a lack of democracy, insufficient regulations, and weak governments all contribute to illegal logging. There are also insufficient penalty systems in place: A low risk coupled with high profit incentive makes illegal logging all the more enticing to those who need or want the money. Because illegal timber is generally less expensive and revenues are up to five-ten times higher, it’s hard for legal timber operations to compete.
The source of the wood is only part of the problem. Consumer countries contribute by importing wood without always knowing or checking if it’s been legally sourced. For example, the U.S. is ranked as the largest wood products market in the world. Translation? Many of us unknowingly purchase items made from illegally logged wood and keep the demand for inexpensive goods strong.
The Impact
Illegal logging costs the global economy an estimated $30-100 billion in lost revenue annually – 10 to 30 percent of the total global timber trade. But the mass exodus of our forests has more devastating, long-lasting implications. It puts the environment, politics, and social stability at risk.
Clearing trees haphazardly decreases the chances for ecosystems to adapt to climate change and human contact. Research shows that for every commercial tree removed, 27 other trees are damaged, 40 meters of road are created, and 600 square meters of canopy is opened. Once trees are cut down, they are transported by tractor along the newly formed roads, which double as easy-access hunting routes.
Without dense forests to filter water and hold soil in place, soil erosion increases, and rivers and streams fill with sediment and debris, which has destroyed coral reefs and other aquatic habitats. Degradation of forests also destroys wildlife habitats on land, threatens populations of some of the most endangered primates, and jeopardizes plant biodiversity.
Logged areas are also susceptible to changing weather patterns as lost forest can make rainfall more erratic and consequently lengthen dry periods. Forest fires are another known environmental effect of logging: Clearing areas emits large amounts of carbon dioxide, which in turn becomes fuel for intense blazes. Many major forest fires worldwide were either started or worsened by logging or other agricultural development in otherwise pristine environments.
Illegal logging can also result in political conflict and clashes over land and resources. When the law is disregarded, community values are strained. “(It) undermines the entire landscape-level conservation strategy,” Finer says.
For many tropical countries, the conservation of forest cover focuses on the establishment of protected areas and indigenous territories, he explains. Once illegal logging bulldozes its way through these formerly protected areas, the system is destabilized. Local villagers and indigenous tribes are driven from their homes, face murder and violence, and are subjected to uncontrolled colonization. In July 2014, Amazon Indians – previously unconnected with the outside world – emerged from a Brazilian rainforest due to illegal logging.
For the forest-dependent locals that have thrived on tropical forestland for thousands of years, logging near and through homeland can result in scarcer quantities of food, building materials, and medicinal plants. Meat and fish have been compromised by hunting, habitat destruction, and polluted conditions. Logging companies have even bulldozed through gardens and other edible plants and trees that provide nutrients for native peoples. Oil runoff from machinery and chemicals used to treat timber also pollute the land and water supply.
Putting a Stop to Illegal Logging
Even if timber sports a single producer label, it’s often been traded many times during transport and could have come from an illegal location. For a logging operation to be legal, there are a number of guidelines a company must follow to cut, extract, transport, and sell timber. Along that supply chain, there are countless methods of breaking logging laws. Even timber marked as certified – and with a higher price tag – may not be.
Some laws, such as the Lacey Act, control logging in certain areas in an attempt to halt illegal trade. Unfortunately, they’re often broken. Even in countries like Peru where forests are protected by a modern forestry law as well as a free trade agreement with the U.S., some logging operations still operate illegally. “This mostly comes from providing false information in the annual management plant and claiming the presence of trees that don’t actually exist within the concession, so they can then use those permits to log timber elsewhere outside,” Finer says.
Most legal logging initiatives focus on promoting sustainable logging, with incentives for legal trade (like REDD+); they don’t address the widespread extortion, fraud, laundering, and bribery. For instance, the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan (FLEGT) was developed to reduce illegal import to the European Union. The key to the program is voluntary partnership agreements that ensure only legally sourced timber and products are imported into the EU from participating countries. Other major players in the legal logging game include the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), which helps enforcement agencies prevent and detect illegal logging and other forest offenses as well as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), with around 2,000 delegates representing more than 150 governments, indigenous peoples, non-governmental organizations and businesses. Other regional partnerships, such as the recent one between Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, have been put in place to improve customs at borders and ports and bolster enforcement.
Smaller efforts are working to make big changes, too. Rainforest Connection, a San Francisco-based non-profit (check out the Kickstarter campaign here) converts old phones and parts of old solar panels into devices to detect illegal logging and poaching. The recycled devices pick up real-time sound of chainsaws and notify conservationists, who can then put a stop to the damage before it continues. But even with these efforts, both big and small, illegal logging continues at an alarming rate.
The Future of Logging
The only effective way to combat illegal logging is global collaboration. It will take more effectively monitored trade methods, harsher punishments, and smaller-scale efforts, such as consumer awareness campaigns, to hinder the exploitation of our natural resources. The U.N. says the three most important law enforcement efforts would be to “reduce profits in illegal logging,” “increase the probability of apprehending and convicting criminals at all levels involved including international networks,” and “reduce the attractiveness of investing in any part of production involving high proportions of wood with illegal origin.” But, like we’ve discussed before, it’s not just the people in charge that matter. Everyone – government, corporations, investors, and consumers – will all have to play a part in reducing the viability of the illegal timber trade.
Though it’s difficult for consumers to determine where their paper towels or kitchen cabinetry actually came from, it’s a good idea to look for products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. The certification means the wood was sourced in compliance with local laws and with respect for the rights of indigenous peoples. It’s not fool-proof but it’s a start. And ask your go-to stores to carry FSC-certified paper goods and other wood products.
Illegal logging will not cease completely soon. “Until the legal system shifts the focus away from transit documents and toward verifying extraction of wood at the source and the subsequent chain of custody,” Finer says, “widespread illegal logging will likely persist.” The problem is too big. But with more initiatives, tougher penalties, and stronger global collaboration, the social, environmental, and economic effects of illegal logging may slowly and steadily decline over time.
Mr Oliver Wolugbom, Rivers State Director of the National Orientation Agency ( NOA), has stressed the need to maintain high sanitary standard in order to check the spread of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
Wolugbom who spoke on Friday in Port Harcourt at a sensitisation programme organised by the Agency for youths, said high sanitary standard was essential in the fight against Ebola spread.
The director noted that though Ebola was not a death sentence, people should be careful in order to boost the eradication of the virus.
The NOA boss said that there were on-going efforts to find a permanent cure for the virus but no classified vaccine had been discovered for it.
He advised people not to eat improperly cooked meat and cultivate a permanent habit of washing hands always.
Wolugbom also urged stakeholders to discard traditions that had to do with drinking of water used in the washing of dead bodies.
He called on the people to stop the habit of crying and falling on dead bodies of loved ones as a sign of affection.
The director said if people could adhere to positive norms of society relating to good sanitary conditions, Ebola would soon be a thing of the past. ( NAN)
A 42-year-old man, Adebisi Oluranti, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment by an Ibadan Magistrates’ Court on Friday for stealing musical instrument from a church.
The Magistrate, Mrs Munirat Giwa Babalola, said that Oluranti should serve the term with hard labour.
The convict pleaded guilty to the offence before the court.
Oluranti was arraigned on a two-count charge of unlawful breaking and stealing.
The Prosecutor, Cpl. Oluseye Akinola, said that Oluranti broke into the Victory Evangelical Ministry Church at Aroro Makinde in Ojoo, Ibadan.
Akinola said the convict stole a speaker valued at N15, 000, one Elemax generating set, valued at N30, 000 and Deck engine, valued at N25, 000.
The convict also stole a wireless engine valued at N5, 000; two wall clocks value at N1, 200, all totaling N76, 200.
Akinola said that the stolen items belonged to one Adekunle Oludele , the Pastor of Victory Evangelical Ministry Church , Ojoo.
He said the offence was committed on Sept .17, at about 9:20 p.m. at Aroro Makinde area at Ojoo in Ibadan.
The prosecutor said the offence contravened Section 415 and 416 of the Criminal Code Cap. 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State, 2000. (NAN)
Nigeria came into being on January 1, 1914 with the formal amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates of the British Territory. The country has therefore been in a festive mood this year to celebrate 100 years of existence.
The Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Faculty of Public Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, in collaboration with the Nigerian Environmental Study/Action Team (NEST), joined in observing the landmark via a stock-taking symposium on “The Nigerian Environment – Past 100 Years and the Future” that focused on the nation’s total environment.
Prof Emeritus David Okali celebrating his birthday during the symposium
Prof Margaret Okorodudu-Fubara of the Obafemi Awolowo University, le-Ife
Prof Daniel Gwary of the University of Maiduguri
Prof Adeniyi Osuntogun (right) and Prof Chinedum Nwajiuba
A two-day forum that explored environmental implications of 100 years of Nigeria’s existence came to a close on Thursday in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Conference banner
The Nigerian Environment Centenary Symposium (1914-2014), which had “The Nigerian Environment: Past 100 years and the future”, held at the University of Ibadan, courtesy of the institution’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences (in the Faculty of Public Health of the College of Medicine) as well as the Nigerian Environmental Study Action Team (NEST).
The symposium and book concept, chaired by Professor Emeritus Akin Mabogunje, took stock of Nigeria’s total environment as regards what has been achieved so far and the directions to move forward.
Prof Emeritus David Okali (middle) celebrates his birthday during the symposium. He is flanked by Prof Chid Ibe, Prof (Mrs.) Margaret Okorodudu-Fubara and Prof Adeniyi Osuntogun
Speakers were invited based on their expertise, past scientific contributions and vision for the nation’s growth and development. They reviewed the trend, major developments and lapses in safeguarding the Nigerian environment over the past century, and drawing a blueprint for future development.
The papers presented will be compiled into a book that will form a standard reference point for future generations.
Prof Okali celebrating with colleagues
The thematic topics were: Land Resources, Water Resources, Atmosphere, Biosphere, Coastal and Marine Environments, Energy and Environment, Environment and Health, Urbanisation, Industry, Waste Management, Environmental Education and Awareness Raising, Environmental Disasters and Emergencies, Environmental Governance and the Economics of Managing the Nigerian Environment.
The resources persons were: Prof E. E. Okpara of NEST (Land Resources and Erosion), Prof Emeritus N. M. Gadzama and Prof H. K. Ayuba of the University of Maiduguri (Desertification), Prof Daniel Gwary of the University of Maiduguri (Land Use), Dr D. T. Gowon (Evolution of Water Resources Management and Development in Nigeria: Possible Future Trajectory), Babatope Babalobi of USAID (Water Supply), Dr Elizabeth Oloruntoba and Prof M. K. C. Sridhar of the University of Ibadan (History of Sanitation and Hygiene Practices in Nigeria), Dr Godson Ana of the University of Ibadan (Air Quality in Nigeria), Prof Olukayode Oladipo of Kado Consult and Dr Ibidun of University of Ibadan (Changing Climate in Nigeria), Prof Emeritus David Okali of NEST and Prof A. O. Isichei of Obafemi Awolowo University (The Nigerian Environment: Past 100 Years and the Future Ecosystems), Prof Labode Popoola of the University of Ibadan and Prof E. C. Nzegbule of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture (Trends in Development of Forestry in Nigeria), Prof B. A. Ola-Adams (Biodiversity), Dr Gloria Ujor of the Federal Ministry of Environment (Historical Perspectives and Domestication of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nigeria), Alade Adeleke of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (Assessment of Policy and Practice of Biodiversity Conservation), Prof Chidi Ibe (The Coastal and Marine Environment), Prof Chris Ikporukpo of the University of Ibadan (The Environment of the Niger Delta), and Huzi Mshelia of Huzi & Associates (Expanding Renewable Energy Access for Environmental Sustainability).
Others included: Joanna Maduka of Friends of the Environment (Gender, Energy and Environment), Prof O. O. Kale of the University of Ibadan (The Environment and Health), Bolarinwa Olowe of Konsadem Consultants (Urbanisation, Industry and Waste Management), Prof Moses Inyang-Abia of the University of Calabar (Evolutionary Trends in Environmental Education), Michael Simire of EnviroNews Nigeria (Awareness Raising), Dr Babatunde Lawal of the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (Environmental Education and Awareness Programme), Ako Amadi of the Community Conservation & Development Initiatives (Reducing the Risk of Environmental Disasters), Dr A. C. Anuforom of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (Weather and Climate Services for Environmental Disaster Management), Dr Ngeri Benebo of the National Environmental Standards & Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) (Evolving a New Institutional Mechanism for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development in Nigeria), Prof Matt Ivbijaro of Mattivi Nigeria Limited (Environmental Governance in Nigeria), Prof Margaret Okorodudu-Fubara of the Obafemi Awolowo University and Dr Tope Ako of the University of Hull, UK (Environmental Justice, Equity and Rights in Nigeria), Prof Olanrewaju Fagbohun of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (Law and Ethics from Pre-Colonial to Post-Colonial Era), Prof Anthony Ikpi of the University of Ibadan, Prof Adeniyi Osuntogun of Resource Integrated Development Foundation and Prof Chinedum Nwajiuba of the Imo State University (Economics of Managing the Nigerian Environment).
