Professional chemists, operating under the auspices of the Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria (IPAN), are calling for the establishment of a National Public Analytic Laboratory in the country.
The laboratory, they believe, will give Nigerians the opportunity to analyse materials, food and cosmetic samples in order to ensure there is improve standard and quality in what is offered to consumers.
Registrar of IPAN, Professor David Oluleye, stated this recently in Lagos during the investiture of fellows and induction of new members into the institute.
Professor Oluleye said IPAN was constituted to complement the role of the National Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) in ensuring standards in the country, and that Nigerians are meant to benefit from the synergy between the two bodies.
He charged the new members to abide by the rules governing the activities of member by ensuring standards are maintained at all times without cutting corners and involving in sharp practices.
According to Oluleye, IPAN is charged with improving the provision of healthcare and wholesomeness of consumer goods and services.
President of IPAN, Balogun Ganiyu Sanni, expressed displeasure with members for not setting up new laboratories. He urged them to turn a new leaf to adequately fulfil their roles as stated by the laws establishing the institute.
Sanni underlined the need for IPAN to upgrade and maintain global standards because, according to him, they are competing with analysts from other parts of the world. He also called for specialisation in analysis in the area of biological, chemical and device safety.
Registrar of Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Registration Board and also the guest lecturer at the occasion, Dr. Samuel Ntem, in a presentation noted that professional excellence is needed in every field of life “because it is vital in changing and impacting the society.”
He charged the new fellows and members of IPAN to maintain high standards in their dealings as they owe the society a responsibility.
A total of nine fellows and 21 members were inducted into the institute.
Lagos. What a place! With a population of over 20 million people, the bustling city remains the centre of attraction to not only Nigerians but also to West Africans. It holds about 12 percent of country’s 167 million people.
Traffic congestion in Lagos
Despite its rather limited landmass, the city for several decades served as the administrative capital for the Federal and Lagos State governments. The ensuing institutional land uses such as government secretariats, educational institutions, airports and military barracks competed for space with the spiralling demands for new housing estates, a development informed by the steady flow of migrants into the city.
Under military fiat, governments acquired large tracts of land for such uses, which now seem to constitute major bottlenecks around the areas where they are located. This is attributable to the fact that, due to the city’s rapid growth, most of the acquisitions, previously in fringe areas, had become a contiguous part of the metropolis, surrounded by densely built-up areas. The city grew towards these places and practically wrapped around them.
A colleague in the urban planning profession, Prof. Leke Oduwaye, shares these sentiments, saying that the land area surrounding the institutional land uses are high density residential areas which generate high volume of human traffic as well as private and commercial vehicles during the morning and evening peak periods.
He lists some of the uses to include Federal Secretariat, The Cemetery, Police Barracks, Dodan Barracks, Golf Course (all in Ikoyi); Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos Island; University of Lagos, Akoka (UNILAG); Yaba College of Technology, Yaba (YABATECH); Federal School of Health Technology, Yaba; Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba; Army Barracks, Onike; Army Barracks, Yaba; Army Cantonment, Maryland; Police College, Ikeja; and Murtala Mohammed International and Local Airports (MMIA), Ikeja.
Others are: Army Resettlement Scheme, Oshodi; Lagos State University, Ojo; Navy Barracks, Ojo; Kirikiri Prison Complex, Kirikiri; Army Barracks, Ojo; International Trade Fair Complex, Ojo; Festival Town, Amuwo Odofin; Lagos State Government Secretariat, Alausa; Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja; Old Lagos State Secretariat, Ikeja; and Lagos High Court Complex, Ikeja.
Dr. Oduwaye, who is Dean of Faculty of Environmental Sciences at UNILAG, frowns at the man-hour loss, psychological stress and environmental pollution resulting from the persisting snarl along the Herbert Macaulay Road corridor within the Lagos Central Area, which he believes is due to the presence of a group of institutions like UNILAG, Queens College, YABATECH, Federal College of Education (Technical), Federal Technical College, Federal School of Health Technology, LUTH, Army Barracks (at Yaba-Abule Ijesha and Onike) and Atan Cemetery.
Some of the institutions are considered development and real estate un-friendly because they seem to tie down large, high-priced tracts of land, of which a substantial part could be converted to residential and commercial uses that are in high demand.
Perhaps this was the thinking when, several years ago, the Nigerian Army collaborated with a team of investors to build “The Arena,” a shopping complex located within the confines of the Maryland Cantonment, but with its main access from the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway by Oshodi. To some extent, the complex encouraged a Maryland-Oshodi through traffic, but recent insecurity challenges appear to have put that development to rest.
Similarly, the impression was that the new residential use that the old Federal Secretariat in Ikoyi would be put to could be a relief by enabling through traffic. However, the project has stalled following a face-off involving federal and state officials.
While the exorbitant toll charged by the airport management on the road linking the Lagos-Abeokuta Highway with the Isolo/Ire-Akari area has discouraged through traffic within the MMIA, the combination of LASUTH/Old Secretariat/High Court complex appear to be the cause of an extensive traffic congestion, which is routed through the Oba Akinjobi Road.
Observers are suggesting that such massive, non- thoroughfare tolerant land uses should either be pulled down, trimmed or opened up to allow for through streets in order to improve spatial interaction within Lagos.
Oduwaye wants ring roads to be constructed to collect traffic around the metropolis for those who have nothing to do within the central areas of the city, to connect areas where they intend to visit in the city.
“This is particularly required around the south-western end to link Apapa to Ojo, Igando, Abule-Egba, and Sango-Abeokuta Expressway. The construction of the Fourth Mainland Bridge at the Lekki-Ibeju end to link Ikorodu will serve as part of the Lagos Ring Road project,” he says.
A poser: do some of the military facilities still require so much land today, when war equipment and warfare now come in compact, computerised and remote-controlled packages?
Commissioner for the Environment in Lagos State, Tunji Bello, has restated the state’s commitment towards addressing the scourge of climate change, which he described as the defining environmental challenge of the world.
Bello
He noted this at the close of the three-day climate change summit hosted by the state government. The summit, the fifth in the series, had “Vulnerability and Adaptability of Climate Change in Nigeria: Lagos State Housing, Transportation and Infrastructural Sectors in Focus” as its theme.
The commissioner noted: “The previous summits have clearly shown that the state’s commitment to the development and evolvement of a climate change-conscious society so as to lay the foundations necessary to counteract the global threat.”
He said that the choice of the themes for the summits have been propelled by the policy thrust of the present administration in the state.
Bello expressed satisfaction at the successful hosting of the summit, saying that the different sessions and panels engendered productive interactive discussions which have contributed “in no small measure” to the building of national and international understanding of climate change and its impact on transportation, housing and infrastructural sectors of Lagos State.
He added that the discussions from the summit would assist the state government as well as world policy makers in making timely policy decisions in the fight against climate change, adding that the state would continue to improve on the hosting of the summit with fresh and strategic arrangement.
He charged all present, including members of the National Assembly and Lagos State House of Assembly, traditional rulers, senior civil servants from Federal, State, and Local Governments, political office holders, members of the academia, people from the private sector, national and international experts in climate change, NGOs and environmentalists to pass on the message and ensure that “our people in all sectors make use of the best practices”.
He also expressed appreciation to participants and resource persons, who endorsed the communique that emerged at the close of the event.
As we approach the rainy season, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) has warned of possible heavy rainfall this year. Last year NIMET also warned, but this seemed not heeded. The cost in terms of human and materials losses were very severe, and we are still studying to understand the dimensions of the loses in health, housing and infrastructure, human lives and livelihood, man hours in terms of work and schooling, and losses to Gross Domestic product, hence compromising human welfare, worsening poverty and health.
Flooded parts of Lokoja, Kogi State, in 2012
Recent experiences
In 2012, flooding occurred along the inland valleys around the Niger and Benue Rivers, down to the low lying planes of the Delta and coastal areas of Nigeria. Changes in rainfall regimes in the savanna regions of West Africa, including Nigeria’s neighbours posses challenges for the management of water resources, including dams on major West African waters. Human settlements, cities, and industrial/commercial properties and infrastructures, as well as agricultural production were impacted adversely. In the same year 2012 in Lagos, severe wind storms led to the fall of telecommunication masts which caused the death of humans and the destruction of infrastructure.
In 2011, the Lagos extreme rainfall events, with precipitation per unit time beyond naturally geologically tolerable thresholds led to severe negative impacts on human settlement, infrastructure, and livelihood.. Ibadan in the same year 2011 experienced a similar extreme rainfall event, with more losses in human lives, though with less significant precipitation volume.
In 2010, extreme rainfall in the Sokoto and Maiduguri axes, accompanied by flash floods, resulted in losses in human lives and livelihood, as well as infrastructure, including the well publicized collapse of the intra- University of Sokoto Bridge.
The locations impacted by these events in 2010, 2011, and 2013, recommend that Nigerians should prepare ahead, and take the warning by NIMET very seriously.
Prof. Nwajiuba
What science tells us
Studies under the Building Nigeria’s Response to Climate Change (BNRCC) project by NEST with support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), tells us that climate change is manifesting in changing rainfall patterns all over Nigeria among other parameters of climate change. These manifest as increased frequency of occurrence of extreme rainfall with heavy amount of precipitation occurring in a relatively short period of time. Reduced number of rainy days in the southern rainforest and coastal states but with little or no change in total annual precipitation portends risks all over the country. The National Adaptation strategy and Plan of Action on Climate Change for Nigeria (NASPA-CCN) developed under the BNRCC charts the pathway for the country, defining sectoral priorities and roles for various stakeholders including the Federal, State, and Local Governments, as well as non-state actors. As common in Nigeria, this deeply and elaborately developed guide is asking for serious and sincere attention from those who should.
What we should be doing now
All stakeholders, including governments at every level, and Non-state actors should commence awareness campaigns and keep citizens at alert.
Media houses should engage in creating awareness on the challenges of extreme rainfall events, and areas very much at risk.
Attitudinal changes in waste management are required of the citizens. This is especially to keep drains (where available) free from refuse.
Water channels need to be freed of all blockages. Dredging and de-silting of streams and rivulets are required now. Private sector operatives can support these as part of social corporate responsibility.
There should be demolishing of structures illegally constructed which blocked drains and access roads in case of emergencies. Building approving agencies should update and enforce regulations.
The lessons of the Lagos and Ibadan floods recommend that unless under immediate danger, citizens should remain where they are when floods commence rather than risking unsure and unsecured paths that expose them to flood and drowning.
The emergency management agencies such as the National Emergency management Agency (NEMA), and the state counterparts, the Red Cross and Red Crescent, the fire service, and security agencies need to be sensitised and equipped and be ready to go when requested.
Ministry of Health has to have ambulances, and emergency supplies and needs handy and ready.
Professor Chinedum Nwajiuba is the Executive Director, Nigerian Environmental Study Action Team (NEST), Ibadan, Oyo State
The Lagos State Government is to spend a whopping N27 billion to protect choice properties lined along its restive Atlantic Ocean shoreline from Oniru Estate to Alpha Beach area within the next three years.
Over the years, extensive ocean surge and coastal erosion have collaborated to wash away acres of coastal land, threatening the array of real estate and tourism/hospitality functions close by.
But Governor Babatunde Fashola, in a presentation on Wednesday in Victoria Island while officially opening the state’s 5th Climate Change Summit, said the authorities have so far committed about N6 billion to the project that is already ongoing. He added that the initiative is aimed at finding a lasting solution to the frequent ocean surge and protect the state’s shoreline from being washed away.
Recalling the ocean surge that hit Kuramo Beach last year, he said that government was taken unawares, as there was no budgetary provision to mitigate its effects.
“In the implementation of last year’s budget, we did not conceive that the uncompleted part of the Eko Atlantic City would be overrun by the ocean. The Kuramo surge late last year came and took away walls of properties from the end of Ahmadu Bello Way, right down to Alpha Beach,” he said.
The governor called for a change of attitude in the way things are presently being done so as to protect the planet. According to him, the cost of adapting to the challenge is huge.
Fashola said climate change is not new but that what is new about it is the knowledge. He stated that modern trends such as innovations in air transportation and air conditioning interfere with nature.
“We must slow down some things. It requires all of us to be flexible to protect our houses and the entire planet.
The governor described the Eko Atlantic City project one of the adaptation and mitigation programmes of the government to protect properties and inject fresh life into Victoria Island.
He noted that government had consistently hosted the climate change summit in the past couple of years as part of its commitment to continuously break new grounds in order to save mother earth from further destruction from the scourge of climate change.
Fashola went further: “These summits have availed us great opportunity to share experiences and better practices to the transboundary challenges that require our collective effort. The deliberations have impacted on our policies and have contributed a great deal to our efforts at achieving a sustainable environment in our state.”
Environment Commissioner, Tunji Bello, described this year’s summit as a continuation of the review of the vulnerability and adaptability of various sectors to climate change in the state, which commenced at the last event when focus was on agriculture, industry and the health sectors.
This year’s forum examined transportation, housing and infrastructure. Bello said the issues are in tune with the policy thrust of the present administration.
He said: “There is no gainsaying that climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time. Receding forests, changing rainfall patterns and rising sea levels have exacerbated existing economic, political and humanitarian stresses, thereby affecting human development in all parts of the world.”
The British Deputy High Commission to Nigeria, Peter Carter, commended the Lagos State Government in her leadership role in the country to address the challenge of climate change. He declared Britain’s readiness to work with Lagos to address the climate change challenge.
Former Minister of Energy in Sierra Leone, Professor Ogunlade Davidson, in a lead paper, commended state officials and urged them to continue to devise means to mitigate and adapt to the climate scourge.
Fast food outlets or eateries have become a major feature of urban centres in the country. The development has considerably impacted the real estate sector and, of course, the environment.
In Lagos, the phenomenon has in the past decade been pronounced, signalling an increase in demand for apartment space and landed property, thereby pushing up rental and sale value. The operators seek vantage positions, such as petrol stations and a highly commercialised area, or where there is a back-up residential population that will impact on products’ demand.
While increasingly becoming a notable employer of labour, they now compete with banks in the demand for space in the desire to be located along major roads.
However, the business is contending with issues related to the outlets’ location, car parking, land use and waste disposal. The authorities are worried that the cluster or location of several outlets within an area as well as a disturbing tendency towards inadequate provision for parking is recipe for vehicular congestion. They also frown at the indiscriminate conversion of hitherto designated residential property for commercial use, along with the disposal of liquid and solid waste.
A government official in Lagos alleges that some of the operators develop and renovate properties illegally, adding that even when applying for approval, they (fast food operators) do not wait for the final verdict before commencement of work but build while approval is still in progress.
Also, they are supposed to prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study meant to address some of the problems their location and activities are likely to constitute. But, in most cases, they do not do so, says the official.
The parking standard provides for a car slot for every 60 square-metre (m2) of eatery space, or a minimum of 20 car slots for an average size eatery. But a staff of a popular eatery claims that his firm provides even much more than that.
“We’ve been building on vacant land to solve some of the problems. When cost is high, we lease for about 30 years. We addressed the issue of waste disposal by having a central kitchen at Oregun, where everything is done. The products are then sent to the outlets. At Oregun, there is a proper waste disposal, and water treatment process, among others. That is why we have smaller outlets,” he discloses.
A consultant to one of the eateries insists that the eateries should be given physical planning permit, prior to ensuring that each eatery submits its EIA report. It is on the basis of this EIA that the ministry will decide if the place is good for eatery business or not, he adds.
He stresses: “The permit will have to come with conditions. A lot of these joints have problems of parking and others. These conditions on how such problems will be tackled must be attached to the permit, which is renewable annually.
“If the eatery does not comply with the condition, then the permit should be withdrawn the following year in order to ensure that the company will not operate there again. The permit should not be issued without an EIA report.”
The Lagos State Government several years ago put a halt to change of use on plots, apparently to ensure that developments conform to the existing master plan provision. But cities are dynamic and changes in their structure are bound to occur. The realisation of this fact was somehow reflected in the recent emergence of some Model City Plans in the state, which seem to reflect current realities.
The Model City Plans are planned as a foundation to development of a functional city of Lagos. Plans are being prepared for areas like Lekki, Alimoso, Ikeja, Victoria Island, Apapa, Ikorodu, Badagry and Mainland Central.
Apart from the utilising of petrol stations, eateries are now adopting the drive-through (or drive-thru) service, which allows customers to purchase products without leaving their cars. The format was pioneered in the United States in the 1930s but has since spread to other countries including Nigeria. The cars create a line and move in one direction in drive-throughs, and do not park. A popular American fast-foodchain is popularising this concept in Lagos.
Government is providing for free a service whereby an aspiring investor or developer can obtain information on a landed property’s so as to make the most reasonable decisions as regards the development of the property. This is can be helpful to fast food chain operators seeking to remain profitable and environment-friendly.
The Bayelsa State Government has announced its readiness to support the commencement of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study of communities devastated by oil pollution in Bayelsa and other states in the Niger Delta region by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources with the donation of an office complex in the state capital.
The assessment of the impacted communities of Bayelsa State and others is expected to be conducted under the National Hydro Carbon Restoration Project (HYPREP) led by the National Coordinator, Joy Nunien-Okunnu.
Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Rear Admiral John Jonah, while speaking in Yenagoa during a call on him by top members of the HYPREP which also coincided with the handing over of the office complex, said though the state government and the people have longed for a detailed assessment of the environmental effects of the incessant pollution caused by oil spillages and illegal oil bunkering in communities in the state, the decision by the Petroleum Ministry to set up the HYPREP is timely and will put an end to controversies between communities and oil multinationals over spillages and pollution.
According to Jonah, aerial tour of impacted communities showed massive oil spillages on waters and farmlands in various Bayelsa Communities. “The Bayelsa environment is highly polluted with lots of oil residue on waters and farmlands. They are mostly caused by spillages and illegal oil bunkering. We drink from these rivers. But when you fly helicopter over the sites, you will see heavy layers of oil. The resultant effect won’t be felt now but later with generations coming behind.”
Nunieh-Okunnu explained that the decision of the Federal Government, through the office of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, to conduct a detailed and professional impact assessment of devastated communities in the Niger Delta was based on the need to redress some past anomaly and improve the socio-economic and health standards of indigenes of oil producing communities.
Her words: “The assessment to be conducted by experts from all over the world is to ensure that the environmental rights of indigenes of oil bearing communities are protected and improved upon. The assessment will cover the socio-economic and health lifestyle of the people. We will work directly with communities along the land and the coastal shorelines. We will ensure the re-vegetation of the mangrove of the impacted communities.
Similarly the Bayelsa State Government has expressed concern over the 2013 Nigeria Meteorological Agency’s (NIMET) weather forecast and stressed the need for residents to take precautionary measures towards preventing a recurrence of the 2012 ugly experience.
The NIMET in its forecast, predicted heavy rain in 2013, higher than the one experienced last year, which rendered some families in some states of the federation homeless while farmlands were washed away. Bayelsa State was severely affected. Disturbed by this trend and in order to avert a recurrence of such experience despite the prediction of NIMET, the state governor, Seriake Dickson, met with the leaders and members of relevant committees including Post Flood Management Committee and Infrastructure Advisory Committee (PFMCIAC) set up in the wake of the crisis to nip in the bud the likely occurrence of such incident in the state.
Dickson called on the committees represented at the meeting to carry out more technical assessment to identify the flood level, saying this would assist his administration in ascertaining the foundation height of public infrastructures.
“We are here to discuss the subject matter that is of interest to the people of our state. We are all aware of the devastating effects of the flood last year on our state and we have reason as a result of the magnitude of the damage and destruction that we suffered to set up a committee of our very best hands to come up with ways and means of effectively managing the aftermath of the flood in several ways.
“I am aware that the committee has swung into action. Let me on behalf of a grateful state government thank its chairman and members of the committee for their sacrifices and contributions. I summon this meeting firstly to have a report of how far the two committees have gone and their work plan. We have cause to summon this meeting based on the weather forecast for 2013 and knowing what we suffered in this state last year when we were notified about the weather forecast by NIMET.
“The forecast reveals that the rain fall projection by this year will be higher than that of last year with the likelihood of flood, I got very worried as your governor, and this is the reason why we gather here to see that we do everything possible to prevent a recurrence of last year’s flooding that ravaged the entire state. It has already started raining and that is worrisome. You are aware that the entire state has been turned into a construction site. We are not through yet. We are very worried with the weather forecast this year,” the governor said.
Meanwhile, the PFMCIAC says about N20 billion is required to solve flooding problems in the state, and stresses the need for government to supply more relief materials such as food and cement to affected communities.
An environmental expert and rights activist in the Niger Delta, Alagoa Morris, has expressed dissatisfaction over the level of sensitisation on climate change education in the Niger Delta, warning that it would be catastrophic should the trend persist.
Morris says there is low sensitisation in the region especially at the grassroots level, adding that workshops and seminars should be conducted to campaign against the burning of economic trees, raffia palm, timbers as well as other valuable components in the forest.
“The issue of climate change, apart from discussing it in workshops and seminars, I don’t think we have gotten enough sensitisation especially at the grassroots otherwise we wouldn’t allow the incessant destruction of our ecosystem especially burning of forest; when there is an oil spill, sometimes agents of some unscrupulous persons are used by some oil companies to go and set fire on such places and burn off a whole forest of economic trees,”’ he says.
Alagoa Morris, who is also the Project Officer, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria(ERA/FoEN), notes that when all the vegetation are cleared out it would become bare and empty causing extreme heat.
He urged the governors especially those of the Niger Delta region states as well as the civil society to embark on serious sensitiaation programmes on the need to plant trees and stop activities of bush burning and gas flaring in the different communities in the region.
According to Morris, “We have continued to flare the gas; one major characteristic of Bayelsa State is that as you enter from Igbogene down to Government House, you won’t see trees. We should not remove these trees from our environment, we should leave them as if we are still in the Garden of Eden, where you hear the parrots talking.”
He added that oil companies in the region would be held responsible and accountable for their continued gas flaring and setting spills sites on fire and also the local refineries which he said generates smokes from those areas which worsens the level of pollution.
‘We should encourage people not to be burning bush, if we have enough sensitisation from the community people will not be burning anyhow; they would not be clearing for nothing and the oil companies should be held responsible and accountable,” Morris lamented.
The Niger Delta region cuts across nine states in southern Nigeria which include Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo ,Ondo and River states. The region has emerged as one of the most ecologically sensitive regions in Nigeria. Oil and sas are the main source of revenue from the region, accounting for about 97 perecnt of the country’s total export.
Oil was first discovered in the region in 1958 in a tiny community known as Oloibiri in present day Bayelsa State and, since the early 1970s, oil has dominated the country’s economy. The region spans over 20,000 square kilometres and it has been described as the largest wetland in Africa and among the three largest in the world. About 2,370 square kilometres of the Niger Delta area consist of rivers, creeks and estuaries. Stagnant swamp covers about 8,600 square kilometres.
The Federal Ministry of Environment has stepped up environmental education and advocacy campaign across the country, ahead of the predicted heavy rainfall and floods in 2013.
Addressing the management staff of the ministry in Abuja on Monday, Minister of Environment, Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia, warned against complacency and directed that the tempo of activities relating to erosion, flood, environmental sanitation and awareness creation be stepped up to avert another round of flood related disasters in the country.
She urged that resolutions of various stakeholders meetings, as well as the recommendations of various committees set up after the 2012 floods should be implemented without further delay.
Mailafia commissioning the GIS-Remote Sensing Laboratory at the Forestry Department, Abuja.
She emphasised that educational jingles which had already been produced in English, Pidgin and three widely-spoken Nigerian languages be broadcast on national, regional and state television and radio stations to reach the broadest spectrum of the populace with appropriate messages. The jingles are on the environmental issues of flooding, desertification, sanitation, erosion and land degradation, and will run for one quarter, to be followed by documentaries in the second quarter. The programmes are billed to run on the 36 Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) stations, Channels Television, NTA Network News breaks, and select zonal and state radio stations across the country.
Out-door billboards displays in strategic places across the country will follow to reinforce the messages in the electronic media.
The national environmental education and advocacy campaign which is being pursued for the first time in the country is to give effect to the vision and passion of the minister for a national green environment movement involving all persons and groups in the country.
More proactive programmes to keep the nation on top of environmental challenges are to be unfolded in due course by the ministry with the objective of starting and sustaining a mass movement which harnesses and transforms the nation’s environmental threats into positive assets and development opportunities for job and wealth creation.
On Thursday, Mailafia commissioned the Forestry Geographic Information System (FGIS)/Remote Sensing laboratory at the Department of Forestry, Utako in Abuja.
The minister said the Department of Forestry in association with GIS/Remote Sensing which dates back to 1976 has successfully used the techniques to produce the first comprehensive Land Use and Vegetation (LUV) maps for the country under the Nigeria Radar Project (NIRAD) which provided the necessary baseline information that guided not only forestry management practices in the country, but other land-based development sectors.
The LUV Map production which was repeated in 1997 by the Forest Department provided the change matrix for land use and vegetation for a period of 21 years and the land use statistics submitted by Nigeria to international agencies within the period were based on these maps.
The facility also houses the web-based National Forestry Information System (NFIS) which is a platform where relevant information from the forestry sub-sector in Nigeria can be accessed freely through online networking as well as the sensing laboratory alongside NFIS which are interrelated through the data/information.
The minister commended the Ecological Fund Office for providing the resources for setting up the FGIS/Remote Sensing Laboratory, and also commended Forestry Association of Nigeria (FAN) for collaborating with the ministry in setting up the NFIS, which will enhance inter-sectoral cooperation and contributions of forestry to the socio-economic development of the country.
The minister in her speech said Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer-based system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage and present all types of geographical data, while remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, adding that both technologies have revolutionised forest resources assessment worldwide.
She urged the staff of the Forestry Department to ensure the facility is put to good use as well as protect and maintain it. The minister also planted a tree to commemorate the occasion.
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment, Taye Haruna, who was represented by Dr. Bukar Hassan, Director, Drought and Desertification Amelioration, highlighted some benefits of the laboratory, saying it would enable the Department of Forestry to obtain up-to-date information and data on Nigeria’s forest resources for the purpose of planning and sustainable management, enable the ministry to meet the regular forest resource information about Nigeria needed by international agencies; provide the much-needed information on vegetation and land use changes essential to monitoring of climate change and the GIS information produced would help to provide remedial measures to forestall or reduce adverse effects of environmental problems in Nigeria.
The Permanent Secretary also advised staff of the department trained in the use of the GIS/Remote Sensing and data management not to relent on their oars but should strive to broaden their knowledge and skills in the use of the modern techniques for national development.
In this era of erratic power supply, getting home at night after a hard day’s work and retiring to darkness could be depressing. For most women, the culture of buying gifts or appetizers for the kids is a time of joy and celebration as they would gladly eat whatever you present to them.
A Lassa fever patient
But if you happen to get home and there was no power supply, endeavour to make adequate lighting available as this could save your children’s life.
In my neighbourhood I have a regular customer where I purchase most of my household needs such as toiletries, provisions and even sachet drinking water.
On this particular day, on my way to work because I knew I would work till late, I decided to buy a loaf of sliced bread which I intend to share with a colleague in the office.
I took the bread without much inspection believing it was in a good condition as I usually noticed when I buy. On getting to the office and I was about to share the bread with my colleagues, I was shocked to discover the bad state of the bread. Upon thorough inspection, I observed the bread was already eaten by rat as bite marks by the rat were visible.
The first six slices of the bread was eaten off by the rat attack. I gently repacked the bread and returned immediately to the shop, where I expressed my displeasure on why the shop owner would sell a loaf of bread in such a bad state.
He seemed shocked that the bread had been attacked by rats and replied that the bread was supplied to him like that. I took photo shots of the bread and decided to contact the company producing the bread.
I got the phone numbers written on the wrapper of the bread and made effort to call but none of the two numbers were available as I tried several times.
Many persons have been victims of contaminated packaged food or drinks with some not reported to prevent others from falling into the same situation.
It is necessary for the National Food and Drug Administration Commission (NAFDAC) with other relevant agencies to monitor and inspect the state of food and drugs being sold.
Since the beginning of the year there has been an outbreak of Lassa fever with numerous persons dying from the infection.
Lassa fever is an acute viral infection that was first discovered in Lassa Village of Borno State, North-East Nigeria, in 1969.
It is caused by infected rodents that transmit the virus either through faeces or urine droppings, or biting on exposed foods.
It has also been found to be predominant in the West African region in countries like Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra-Leone, Guinea and some parts of East Africa.
According to reports, careless and unhygienic method of preserving food has increased the level of vulnerability in densely-populated residential areas.
The old method of preserving food crops in rural communities in some parts of the country has increased its spread.
Along the highways in rural areas it is noticed that many households preserve their food crops by drying them in the sun on the expressway. Most times these food items are left for days to dry properly before they are removed.
An indigene of Edo State, Mr. Lucky Osaro, stressed that Lassa fever is more endemic in the state because of the method of preserving food produce along major roads.
He stated that, with the dry season and bush burning in preparedness for the new planting season, the rats are chased from their homes and then take refuge in people’s homes.
He advised parents to be on the lookout for avenues that would allow for free entrance of the rats. Furthermore, he urged mothers to wash and watch what they feed their families with as the rats could have infected the food either by eating or urinating on them.
The worst hit states are Ebonyi, Nasarawa, Plateau, Benue and Ondo, with increased advocacy/awareness campaign in Lagos and some other states.
Those rats lurking around your neighbourhood could be carrying the Lassa fever virus. So, watch before you put that food or drink in your mouth.
The laboratory, they believe, will give Nigerians the opportunity to analyse materials, food and cosmetic samples in order to ensure there is improve standard and quality in what is offered to consumers.
