27 C
Lagos
Monday, May 5, 2025
Home Blog Page 2150

Okonjo-Iweala, NASS team engage diaspora on economic development

admin
-
0
Okonjo-Iweala, NASS team engage diaspora on economic development
Okonjo Iweala
Okonjo Iweala

In response to the long-standing desire of the Nigerian diaspora to support economic development in the country, a high level Executive-Legislative team is currently holding a series of interactive sessions with Nigerians in Europe and the United States. The sessions are organized by the Debt Management Office, led by its Director-General, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo.

 

The delegation is headed by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and includes key members of relevant committees in the National Assembly. The members of the National Assembly are: Senator Ahmed Makarfi Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Senator E. Uzamere, Chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, Senator Ita Enang, Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Honourable Adeyinka Ajayi, Chairman, House Committee on Aid, Loans and Debt Management, Honourable Famurewa Ajibola Israel, House Committee on Diaspora, Honourable Abdulrahman Terab, House Committee on Finance and Honourable Emmanuel David Ombugadu, House Committee on Appropriation.

 

It will be recalled that Nigerians in the Diaspora have been seeking ways and means to contribute more to the country’s development. This interest is backed by substantial capacity: the value of remittances from Nigerians abroad in 2013 was $20.77 billion; for the first half of 2014 it is $10.40 billion. This includes contributions through remittances to their families, friends and communities, medical missions and provision of scholarships.

 

Indeed, the experience of countries such as Israel and India shows that the Diaspora are a force to be reckoned with in the growth and development of any country, through the funding of critical development projects, among other means. The current effort is directed at providing the Nigerian Diaspora similar opportunities.

 

The Meetings which started yesterday in London, will continue in New York, Washington DC and Houston between September 2-4, 2014. The London meeting hosted by the Nigerian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, H.E. Dr. Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, was attended by over 140 invited Nigerian professionals. The meeting provided an avenue for the CME and the other members of the team to update Nigerians in the Diaspora on the developments in the Nigerian economy, the major achievements of the Transformation Agenda under the Administration of His Excellency, President Goodluck E. Jonathan and the opportunities available in Nigeria for Diaspora Nigerians.

 

Nigerians were also reassured of the developments in Nigeria with respect to the Ebola Virus Disease and the Government’s management of the situation. Participants expressed concern about the security situation and urged the government to do more particularly with respect to the return of the Chibok girls. Participants also showed a lot of interest in contributing to development with investments in infrastructure, SMEs and in the housing sector.

 

It is expected that through these Sessions, Nigerians in Diaspora will be better informed about developments in the country and be encouraged to contribute in various ways to the development of the economy and nation-building in general.

How climate change adaptation in Africa is growing

Michael Simire
-
0
How climate change adaptation in Africa is growing

Over the past decade, countries across Africa have shown increasing interest in comprehensive development plans that set ambitious social and economic development objectives. These plans move beyond the narrow objective of poverty reduction to encompass the wider objectives of accelerating growth, creating employment, and providing safe water, sanitation, health care and education within a framework of sustainable development. Moving forward, development planning and practice also needs to reflect the reality of the changing climate, and to ensure that investments consider future climate conditions.

A riverside community in Nigeria, where government is seeking to access the Adaptation Fund
A riverside community in Nigeria, where government is seeking to access the Adaptation Fund

Many African countries have a long-term vision to guide their steps towards ambitious development goals. In many cases, countries are making concerted attempts to mainstream climate adaptation into development planning. Although efforts to date have tended to be isolated, initiatives in disaster risk management, adjustments in technologies and infrastructure, ecosystem-based approaches, basic public health measures and livelihood diversification are reducing vulnerability to climate impacts.

More specifically, a number of African governments have developed National Climate Change Response Strategies or, in least developed countries, National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs). As yet, implementation and integration of these and other strategies and programmes with economic and development planning is limited but growing. The development of NAPAs and early experience with National Climate Change Response Strategies, show that adaptation planning is evolving and becoming more integrated, multi-level and multi-sector. Ethiopia’s Programme of Adaptation to Climate Change, for example, covers sectoral, regional, national and local community issues. Mali integrates adaptation into many sectors. Nigeria’s NAPA was produced a few years ago through a private-public sector collaboration.

Nigeria, as a member of the Adaptation Fund Board, is working towards accessing the fund and in line with the requirements is the designation of a National Implementation Entity (NIE). Consequently, the authorities have nominated the Bank of Industry (BOI) as an applicant candidate as the NIE, and the application is presently before the accreditation panel of the Adaptation Fund.

National climate-resilient development strategies include Rwanda’s National Strategy on Climate Change and Low-Carbon Development. Niger, Zambia and Mozambique are involved in the African Development Bank Pilot Program for Climate Resilience. Zambia’s Sixth National Development Plan 2011–2015 and Niger’s new Economic and Social Investment Plan are examples of integration of climate resilience measures in national development plans.

Inter-sectoral climate risk management approaches are emerging in integrated water resources management, integrated coastal zone management, disaster risk reduction and land-use planning. Biodiversity planning to guide land use in South Africa incorporates design principles for climate change.

In some African countries, broader policy frameworks, such as Nigeria’s and Namibia’s National Policy on Climate Change, Zambia’s National Climate Change Response Strategy and Policy, and South Africa’s National Climate Change Response Policy White Paper reflect a commitment to climate adaptation. Gabon has proposed a National Coastal Adaptation Law. Lesotho’s coordinated policy framework involves all ministries and stakeholders. Nigeria’s National Policy on Climate Change represents a roadmap for all other sectors to key in; from which, for example, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture developed the Agriculture Resilience Framework. Ten countries were developing new climate-change laws or formal policies in 2012.

Managing for climate-related risks may involve experimenting with larger scale, new or more transformational adaptation measures than those already tried, and additional planning and investment. Adaptation measures that also deliver development benefits, now and in the future, offer significant opportunities. Moreover, people and societies may come to perceive or rank risks and potential benefits differently, thus decision-making processes should also allow for debates around diverse values and goals.

The IPCC reports a growing understanding of potential limits to adaptation in Africa. Climate change, combined with other stressors, may overwhelm the ability of people to cope and adapt, especially if there is a failure to address the root causes of poverty and vulnerability. Evidence is growing of the need to design new development trajectories that will reduce vulnerability, spread risk and build capacity to adapt.

Scientists to UN: Improved rainwater management will eradicate hunger

Michael Simire
-
0
Scientists to UN: Improved rainwater management will eradicate hunger

The world is missing a chance to eradicate hunger and poverty for billions of people living in regions with variable and scarce rainfall. Without improved management of rainwater, the future development goals currently being discussed are unrealistic, say leading scientists.

rainwater-harvesting-tank-systemSome of the world’s leading water, environment and resilience scientists and experts on Sunday in Stockholm, Sweden published a call to the UN, saying that rain, and the way it is managed, is what will determine whether hunger and poverty can be eradicated in the world. The call was made at the onset of World Water Week in the Swedish capital – the leading annual meeting place for water and development issues.

The scientists, including Professor Malin Falkenmark of Stockholm International Water Institute/Stockholm Resilience Centre and Professor Johan Rockström of Stockholm Resilience Centre, are “deeply concerned that sustainable management of rainfall in water scarce regions of the world is missing in the goals and targets proposed by the UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on Poverty (Goal 1), Hunger (Goal 2) and Freshwater (Goal 6).

More than two billion people live in some of the driest and poorest areas of the world, also home to the fastest growing populations. These regions depend on highly variable, unreliable and unpredictable rainfall. When it rains, it pours, making agriculture extremely challenging. However, over time these areas do receive enough rain, and with better methods of using the rainwater, food production could be drastically improved.

Attempting to eradicate global poverty and hunger without addressing the productivity of rain “is a serious and unacceptable omission”, and the Sustainable Development Goals as currently proposed “cannot be achieved without a strong focus on sustainable and resilient management of rainfall for resilient food production” the scientists say.

The signatories call upon the United Nations to add a target on rainwater management to any Hunger Goal in the Sustainable Development Goals, which are to be agreed on in 2015.
The signatories of the declaration are: Malin Falkenmark, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI); Stockholm Resilience Centre; Johan Rockström, Stockholm Resilience Centre; Torgny Holmgren, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI); Mohamed Ait Kadi, Global Water Partnership (GWP); Tony Allan, King’s College, Stockholm Water Prize Laureate 2008; Naty Barak, Netafim, Stockholm Industry Water Award winner 2013; Jeremy Bird, International Water Management Institute (IWMI); Fred Boltz, Rockefeller Foundation; Peter Gleick, Pacific Institute; David Grey, University of Oxford; Jerson Kelman, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; Roberto Lenton, University of Nebraska; Julia Marton-Lefévre, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); and, Lisa Sennerby Forsse, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).

IPCC’s AR5: Adaptation is fundamentally about risk management

Michael Simire
-
0
IPCC’s AR5: Adaptation is fundamentally about risk management

In Africa, the primary concern is adapting to the negative impacts of climate change. This means taking both short and long-term approaches to managing climate risks. In the short term, integrating climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction will help withstand shocks to human security and economic development from which recovery can be costly.

Irrigation in Eritrea. Photo: Courtesy www.treehugger.com
Irrigation in Eritrea. Photo: Courtesy www.treehugger.com

African governments, businesses and communities can do much to anticipate and reduce risk, rather than reacting after impacts have occurred. Support for effective disaster relief and recovery needs to continue, along with proactive efforts to reduce risk, such as integrating comprehensive risk assessments and risk reduction measures into national economic and development policy.

In the longer term, governments, businesses and communities need not only to prepare for the kinds of climate impacts experienced up to now but also for different and more intense climate impacts and extreme events. Measures may include providing adequate housing, infrastructure or services, or mainstreaming climate change into urban planning processes.

There are good reasons to start now in the process of adapting to these longer-term risks. The IPCC cautions against overemphasising short-term outcomes or insufficiently anticipating consequences. Given that climate change cuts across sectoral boundaries, poorly conceived development programmes or sector-specific adaptation strategies could lower resilience in other sectors or ecosystems. Some development pathways, like rapid urbanisation of coastal zones, can increase the vulnerability of certain groups to future climate change – known as ‘maladaptation’. This is a particular challenge for Africa where economies are growing rapidly and societies are undergoing significant demographic shifts.

More ‘transformational’ changes may be needed in situations where there are high levels of vulnerability and low capacity to adapt, as is often the case in Africa. Such adaptations entail major economic, social, technological and political decisions and actions, rather than incremental changes to existing structures and processes. They involve, for example, changing agricultural practices, integrating climate change into education, providing useful climate services, diversifying livelihoods or introducing social and technical innovations. Recent success stories from smallholder systems in Africa illustrate the potential for transforming degraded agricultural landscapes into more productive and sustainable systems by integrating trees into annual cropping systems. However, it should be noted that transformational adaptation can result in either positive or negative outcomes, as the greater level of investment and or shift in fundamental values and expectations required for transformational change may create greater resistance.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to adaptation. The IPCC stresses that no single adaptation strategy will meet the needs of all communities and contexts in Africa. Moreover, the characteristics of a community or society’s capacity to adapt to climate change will differ from place to place, and depend largely on specific contexts. A range of actions that address underlying vulnerabilities, implement specific adaptation measures and instigate transformations may be necessary to reduce climate risks.

There are challenges to adaptation. First, African countries lack climate data and information, which creates difficulties in assessing the overall risks and vulnerabilities triggered by climatic and non-climatic factors. Data and information are vital for countries to develop robust climate-resilient strategies and policies, and national and sectoral development plans. In some cases, adaptation may require additional resources in terms of funding, skills and capacity beyond ‘business as usual’ development.

Second, development planning tends to take place at a national scale and so may not take account of the impacts of climate change and variability in particular localities. National policies can inadvertently disregard or undermine cultural, traditional and context-specific practices that support local adaptation to climate change.

Third, interventions need to cross sectors. The cross-sectoral approach requires institutional integration and collaboration. The practice of working across sectors in Africa, and indeed in many parts of the world, does not come naturally, as it challenges entrenched institutional and sectoral behaviours. Overall, African countries’ adaptive capacity and institutional framework to manage complex social and ecological change, especially at local government level, needs strengthening.

Climate change in Nigeria: Any impact?

Michael Simire
-
0
Climate change in Nigeria: Any impact?

Climate change has become a new reality and a worldwide phenomenon but a second look at the topic suggests that Nigeria may be immune from it.

In effect, climate change will mean a change in such weather condition for a particular location over time.

Idowu
Idowu

Impact as used may be negative or positive or a combination. A literal definition of climate states that a significant time variation in weather patterns occurring over periods ranging from decades to millions of years and area such as Nigeria over a period of time.

What therefore is climate change; can Nigeria be affected; what impact has it on Nigeria? How can we mitigate the negative impact and ensure that climate change/global warming does not have disastrous consequence on Nigeria?

Giving answers to these questions are at best guesstimate as no one can be definitive about them, but we still need to start thinking about them today to find answers to tomorrow’s challenges.

What then is climate change? This can be looked at as the continuing change of the earth’s climate, which, in time past, was seen to be caused by natural causes.

However, the term ‘climate change’ today is generally used when referring to the change in our climate which has been observed since the early part of the 20th century.

The changes which are seen over recent years and those which are predicted over the next century are thought to be mainly due to human behavior rather than due to natural changes in the atmosphere.

What causes this change cannot be treated in isolation without looking at greenhouse effect which is caused by the release of destructive gases by human action which in turn brings about the warming of the earth surface by increase in the earth’s temperature.

The increase in temperature in turn causes the melting of ice which contributes to the rise in sea level among other disastrous consequences.

Arising from this, is the question: “Climate Change in Nigeria: Any Impact?” In this regard an example may suffice.

According to the report complied in 2010, investigations revealed that over 200 people were killed by meningitis in Nigeria and Niger Republic in one week. There were outbreaks in 76 areas. There were 25,000 suspected cases and 1, 500 deaths in the first quarter of 2009. Although meningitis is a disease caused by an infection of the meanings, which is the thin lining that surrounds the brain and the spinal cord, experts have found a correlation between the weather and this disease. It is generally known that the disease attacks more people during the dry season because of dust, wind and cold nights. There were indications in the past one month that many people were treated for acute pneumonia in some hospitals as a result of the erratic and unpredictable weather which has also confused farmers about planting seasons raising fear about food production and security.

Apart from the reign of diseases as a result of harsh weather conditions in Northern Nigeria agriculture has been affected as a result of erratic weather patterns. The dryness has led to dry waterbeds and movement of people and their pasture to the southern regions thus causing tension and conflicts between the original inhabitants and the new comers. Experts at the United Nations and other global bodies have found over the years that the world’s climate has changed.

The drought of the 1970s that swept most of the Sahel region of Africa left the region, including Nigeria, with general water resources issues. The consequence of that are the low agricultural output, limited water supply and inadequate water reserve for power generation which the region is associated with.

Again the increasing flooding in the coastal and non-coastal regions of the country is indicative of the expected effect of climate change.

There are two extremes of the expected challenges of the climate change in Nigeria, viz, increase in rainy and dry seasons with each lasting approximately six months on the average, that is, April to October and October to March, respectively.

Nigeria daily temperature average differs according to location and period of the year. Average temperature ranges from 25oC in the southern coast to 40oC in the north.

A rise in temperature of between 1.4oC to 5.8oC by 2100 according to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will have serious negative effect on the socio-economic wellbeing of the country in the following ways:

  • Increase in amount of rains and number of rainy day-flooding in the coastal areas, higher risk of 100years flooding occurring at shorter intervals;
  • Deforestation as a result of relocating of people from the flood affected areas of the coast;
  • Change in land use in the coast may have drastic effect on agricultural output and hence livelihood;
  • Desertification will increase and more droughts which encourage locusts and white flies, which in turn will affect food and water supply;
  • Wildlife will also be affected with possible effect on the entire food chain;
  • Landslides especially in erosion prone areas;
  • High temperature in the north will cause increase health issues such as meningitis, cataracts, malaria and yellow fever, etc;
  • High cost of construction especially in the coastal areas.

I will stop by saying if we don’t put all this in mind, then what will our future be?

According to Nigerian environmental activist, Nnimmo Bassey: “Climate change in Nigeria is a ticking time bomb and it exists little or even nothing to mitigate its effects.”

By Olumide Idowu (Climate Wednesday/UNISDR Youth Champion Africa Youth Engagement Officer/Nigerian Youth Climate Coalition

EBOLA IN NIGERIA

admin
-
0

B

2015: Forum urges President Jonathan to contest

admin
-
0
2015: Forum urges President Jonathan to contest
President Goodluck Jonathan
President Goodluck Jonathan

The Transformation Agenda Solidarity Forum (TASOF), a socio-political group, has urged President Goodluck Jonathan, to respond to calls by Nigerians and contest re-election in 2015.

 

Briefing newsmen on Friday in Abuja, Alhaji Muhammadu Ari-Gwaska, the Chairman of the forum, appealed to Jonathan to declare his interest without further delay.

 

“We appreciate what he is doing and what he is determined to do.

 

“We join millions of Nigerians to urge him to respond to calls by genuine Nigerians to declare his interest in the election of 2015.

 

“We would like to remind Nigerians again and again that President Goodluck Jonathan, by constitutional provision (1999) is qualified to contest election for a second term,’’ Ari-Gwaska said.

 

He described the leadership style of the president as “wonderful’’ and called on Nigerians to rally round him, saying that he meant well for the country.

 

The chairman said that the claim by some politicians that Jonathan had agreed to do one term or was already doing his second term in office was “a misleading information”.

 

“We made it clear to those people, who claim to have had discussion with the president and that he told them he was only prepared for one term, that that was a private discussion which is not lawful or binding on Nigerians.

 

“The take-over of the government by President Goodluck Jonathan after the death of the late president was a constitutional issue.

 

“The provision of the constitution is such that when the president dies, automatically his Vice will take over for the rest of the tenure,’’ he said.

 

According to Ari-Gwaska, Jonathan got his first mandate from Nigerians in the election held on April 16, 2011, during which he emerged victorious.

 

He also said that the insinuation that some politicians in the North did not want the president to contest the 2015 presidential election was a “political gimmick’’.

 

Ari-Gwaska said that the president got 60 per cent of the total vote cast in the 2011 presidential election from the Northern region.

 

“Those of us, who were alive at the time of Sir Ahmadu Bello, are witnesses to the fact that the then Eastern minorities, now South-South zone co-operated with the late Premier of Northern Nigeria.

 

“The campaigns for elections in 1959 were carried out in cooperation with this people, they are very loyal, respectful and cooperative; they assisted the North to bring unity to this country.

 

“Northerners, a lot of them are aware of this and they feel that our support for Jonathan is a return for the loyalty and cooperation by his grandfathers, some years back.

 

“We will continue to remind northerners, who are ignorant of this fact that it is not out of the way to support this leader to bring about peace and harmony,’’ he said.

 

Ari-Gwaska also urged Nigerians to eschew primordial sentiments and support the president in the fight against terrorists who were threatening the unity of the country.

 

“The surest way we can defeat terrorism is to support our government and its security forces at all times,’’ he said.

 

Ari-Gwaska commended the president for his steadfastness and the achievements he had so far recorded in all sectors in spite of orchestrated distractions and vilification. (NAN)

Senegal confirms first Ebola case

admin
-
0
Senegal confirms first Ebola case

Senegal’s health ministry has confirmed a first case of Ebola, making it the fifth West African country to be affected by the outbreak.

  Health Minister Awa Marie Coll Seck told reporters on Friday that a young man from Guinea was confirmed to have contracted the virus.

 The man was immediately placed in quarantine, she added.

  The current outbreak, which began in Guinea, has killed more than 1,500 people across the region.

  At least 3,000 people have been infected with the virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned it could get much worse and infect more than 20,000 people.

 Senegal had previously closed its border with Guinea in an attempt to halt the spread of Ebola, but its frontiers are porous.

 It had also banned flights and ships from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – the three worst-hit countries.

 But the Guinean health services reported on Wednesday “the disappearance of a person infected with Ebola who reportedly travelled to Senegal,” according to Senegal’s health minister.

 A young Guinean student later turned up at a hospital in the capital, Dakar, said Ms Seck, but he did not reveal that he had had contact with Ebola patients in his own country.

 Senegal, a major transit hub for aid agencies, has a large Guinean population.

 Separately on Friday, residents of Guinea’s second largest city, Nzerekore, rioted after its main market was sprayed with disinfectant in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus.

 The exact cause of the riot is not clear – some people reportedly feared the spray would spread Ebola. Police responded by firing tear gas.

 A 24-hour curfew is currently in place in the city, which is the capital of the Forest Region, where the Ebola epidemic has its epicentre.

 However the BBC’s Alhassan Sillah in Guinea says the town has miraculously remained free of Ebola so far.

 There have been relatively few cases in Guinea recently, with far higher infection rates in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and six deaths in Nigeria.

 On Thursday, the WHO unveiled a plan aimed at stopping transmission of the virus in the next six to nine months.

 Among its recommendations, it said countries affected should conduct exit screening to prevent the disease from spreading to a further 10 countries.

 The plan calls for $489m (£295m) to be spent over the next nine months and requires 750 international workers and 12,000 national workers across West Africa.

FG orders recall of 16,000 sacked doctors

admin
-
0
FG orders recall of 16,000 sacked doctors
Onyebuchi Chukwu
Onyebuchi Chukwu

‎Perhaps due to the raging Ebola scourge or as a result of pressure from several quarters, the Federal Government has just announced the lifting of the directive sacking 16,000 doctors across the country.

The order, which signifies a change of the stance expressed by the Presidency all along, is in contrast to the widely-criticised directive terminating the appointments of resident doctors at Federal.
Upon the suspension of the strike action embarked upon by the Nigerian Medical Association days ago, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu insisted that the doctors would have to notify the ministry through a letter but the latest directive has changed all that.

August heavy rainfall good for farmers, says NiMet

admin
-
0
August heavy rainfall good for farmers, says NiMet

Mr Joseph Alozie, General Manager, Climate Services, Nigerian Metrological Agency (NiMet), on Friday said that the heavy rainfall recorded since the beginning of August would increase farm yields in 2014.

 

Alozie made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

 

He said that the new rainfall pattern being witnessed would assist farmers to replant seedlings of short duration and boost their harvest.

 

He allayed fears of negative effect of the rains, saying that the August rainfall was not a phenomenon to be worried about in upland areas like the Federal Capital Territory.

 

“The new rainfall trend in August is good news for agriculture and we will expect a positive outcome in the long run for farmers.

 

“If farmers heeded NiMet’s forecast early this year, and with the new rainfall trend, which is positive, there is the possibility that seedlings of short duration can be replaced to improve yields.

 

“NiMet, through its daily, weekly and monthly monitoring of the weather, including the seasonal rainfall predictions, observed that at the end of July, 2014, there was a “water stress” in and around FCT,’’ Alozie said.

 

According to him, water stress means that in 30 years, there was normal rainfall in FCT but since the beginning of August the rains have picked up.

 

He said that from NiMet’s projection, the rainy season in the northern part of the country was expected to stop towards the middle of October “instead of end of October in areas like Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa and Borno.”

 

“This is a projection and it is built around probability. Now, there is a high probability that this will happen and every time the climate changes, NiMet will also re-issue a statement based on the changing climate.

 

“For the rest of the country, like Abuja down to the South, the normal season is projected in August and September; these are the peak periods of the rainy season,’’ he said.

 

He said that 2014 rainy season would likely end earlier than expected across the country. (NAN)

1...2,1492,1502,151...2,208Page 2,150 of 2,208

TV Report

Archives

2025 EnviroNews Nigeria. All Rights Reserved.

×