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A tale of a primary school in distress in Edo State

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A tale of a primary school in distress in Edo State

The flooding situation at the Evbuotubu Primary School has entered its 12th year, but there is nothing to show that help is in sight for these children

It was 10:00am or thereabout. Abies, a pupil of Evbuotubu Primary School, has just been asked out of the class. She had been down with illness and has not been in school for about a week and half now. Her peasant mother said the nurses at the health centre (not too far from the school premises) had diagnosed malaria. But it looks like there is more to it than meets the eyes.

Abies (not her real name) managed to show up in school today but, midway between her classes, she began to throw up. The “Arithmetic Auntie” (subject teacher) had asked the six-year-old girl to go out of the class so as not to vomit inside the jam-packed classroom and possibly infect the other pupils.

...your belle dey pain you? ...your belle dey pain you?
…Your belle dey pain you? …your belle dey pain you?

She had barely reached the corridor when her bosom friend and playmate, Kate (not her real name) also in Primary 2, saw her in an unusual position and gestured curiously. “… your belle dey pain you?” Kate queried her friend in pidgin English, meaning “…is your belly aching?’’ But Abies was busy battling to keep well. She held her stomach a second time in split seconds and resumed her vomiting. “Doe o!” Kate quipped in vernacular, connoting “Sorry!” “Your belle dey pain you?” she asked a second time, inquisitively. “No. E dey turn me and I dey feel cold,” Abies managed to reply at last but instantly resumed the battle for her health.

The day was Thursday, September 27, 2012. The rains have refused to stop and the daily misery, environmental and health hazards and pains borne by inhabitants and indigenes of this expansive community and their immediate neighbours in Egor L.G.A., Edo State are now a normal ritual; and if the predictions by environment and climate change experts were anything to be taken seriously, the following year’s rains and its resultant flooding, erosion menace and health havocs would be worse than the 2012 experience – just as the current year’s rains and its resultant floods had eclipsed the 2011 flood furies in this part of the Edo State.

Here at Evbuotubu Community, the worst hit victims are schoolchildren: the submerged school buildings threaten to collapse on the helpless children and their teachers. Or, at least, an imminent epidemic might break out sooner or later.

Lectures in progress, under the mercy of mosquitoes and water-borne diseases
Lectures in progress, under the mercy of mosquitoes and water-borne diseases

The vice headmistress of the school remarked: “If you are old in this community you will know that the main problem of this school is the community and their leaders. In all my 33 years as a teacher I have been transferred to several communities. I have never seen a community that hates to develop. Here you have a problem that has deteriorated for several years, and yet you couldn’t do anything about it as a community; instead, you are adding to the problems. All they are good and fast at is recklessly selling lands without considering the impacts on the land. They keep selling off lands indiscriminately….”

She continued, “Anywhere in the world whenever you want to sell community lands, you first of all consider three basic things: you consider school, market and hospital – these basic essential needs of the people. But here, the community leaders and the people don’t care about all of these provided they get money. And you were asking me, you want to find out if mosquitoes bite pupils and if teachers are comfortable working under this condition. I think such questions should not arise at all. From my little knowledge of elementary science, we were taught the various reproduction stages of mosquitoes breeding and multiplying and we were taught that pools of standing water is the breeding ground for mosquitoes. How much more this river and lake of erosion that has taken over the entire school compound for several years!”

What is left of the school compound the children have to use for recreation and urination, etc
What is left of the school compound the children have to use for recreation and urination, etc

The flooding situation at the Evbuotubu Primary School has entered its 12th year, but there is nothing to show that help is in sight for these children. Year after year they learn under mosquito-infested environment. Their entire school premises have been overtaken by flood and bushes. The school buildings are gradually submerged in flood water.

More embarrassing is the fact that, without a single rebuke from any teacher or school head, these children daily urinate freely on the flood water and everywhere around the few plain spots of land that show up on the school compound once the flood water wanes a little; and they, in turn, swim in the infected water, eat food and snacks that fall on the infected ground, and inhale all the stench and putrid odors emanating from the accumulated urine (and excreta) all around the undesirable environment.

They have no access to drinking water, no functional latrine and no playing field for recreation. And because children must play, they have turned private properties in adjoining roads and people’s compounds around the community into their playing fields, and play with gadgets without any checks from the school authorities. Obviously out of the view and control of the school authorities, many of these pupils get injured in the process. They are badly-influenced and sometimes even bullied or abused with much impunity by some bad elements in the community.

The negative impact of the situation on the health, psychology, and self-esteem of these children at Evbuotubu Primary School and indeed the overall academic output and effectiveness of both teachers and pupils are undermined by the recurrent cases of pupils’ absentees, truancy, and illnesses like malaria and other water-related diseases such as that which Abies and many other children in the school daily have to contend with.

On Friday, October 11, 2012, I finally met with the Head Mistress of Evbuotubu Primary School, Ogbomo Roselyn Uyi.

Her words: “We are appealing to the comrade governor, Adams Oshiomhole, to please come to our aid here. The community, if I may say, they have really tried their best to make sure that this flood is removed from here. So, a special appeal now, from the head teacher, the staff and the pupils, for the governor to please assist us. We know the work load on him is too much but he should please address our own.”

After about 14 months of worsening environmental and health condition of the school and its pupils/teachers, I encountered with the newly appointed Chairman of Evbuotubu Community, Isaiah Eghobamien, at his residence, one Monday morning in 2014.

He disclosed: “We’ve been crying over this erosion problem over the years, even before we came on board. The State Government did not respond to us at all. There is nothing they did here. All previous administrations promised, and all their promises were in vain – they did not keep to their promise; even the present one. So, you can see by yourself; we’ve been cut off from the city.

“Honestly, that of the Primary school, we went there several times, even the State Governor went there himself. The Local Government chairman of recent went there. We were to relocate those children now, but God being on our side, we’ve given land out to build another school. We’ve even bulldozed the whole area, graded the whole land where we proposed they should build the Primary School. But, up till now, they’ve not come. So, we are looking up to the State Government, because it’s beyond the Local Government; the way things are now in Evbuotubu, it’s beyond the Local Government, honestly! But let the Local Government on their own do a little bit they can do. Like what you said – that of the road. Honestly, the Local Government gave us N500,000. And we spent well over N5 million in the grading of the roads.

“The rest of the money came through our communal efforts. Because we had to hire graders, we hired pale-loaders, we hired excavators, and we hired tippers. You can see that, in a day, we spent more than N500,000 in hiring grader, pale-loader, excavator, then tippers to sand-fill the whole area.

“Well, the best we can do is that land we’ve given to them. I cannot take them to my house, my house cannot accommodate the children, nobody’s house can accommodate the children. There is no way we can accommodate the children as of now; but all I’m saying is the State Government should please expedite action before the full rainy season steps in.”

In February, 2015, I was at Evbuotubu Primary School on a follow up visit to see the school head over the flooding/health challenges of the schoolchildren and the community leaders’ claim of providing a new land for government to relocate the school.

The new headmistress revealed that the that the parcel of land the Evbuotubu Community leadership claimed to have provided for relocation of the school was rejected by the State Government because it was considered too small and the location is not conducive for a school. According to her, government said if the community provided a better land today they (government) will immediately develop it and build a new school.

By Francis Odupute

China to clone 100,000 cows to address rising beef appetite

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China to clone 100,000 cows to address rising beef appetite

This year, a Chinese company plans to open a massive factory to clone 100,000 cows. Just how far will this mass reproductive technology go?

Cows. Photo credit: telegraph.co.uk
Cows. Photo credit: telegraph.co.uk

Two decades after the birth of Dolly the sheep—the world’s first successfully cloned mammal—the year 2016 will likely see the rise of mass-produced animal clones, thanks to an enterprising and madcap scientist in China.

Sometime in the next year, a company called Boyalife Genomics will open a massive factory in the coastal Chinese city of Tianjin, where it plans to clone 100,000 cattle per year—a way to address the Middle Kingdom’s rising appetite for beef. Eventually, the company aims to clone 1 million cattle a year, as well as other animals like champion racehorses and drug-sniffing dogs.

Cloned humans—or as Boyalife’s founder Xiao-Chun Xu calls them, “Frankensteins”—are not on the menu. Not yet.

Xu’s ultramodern factory—its layout is bigger than three football fields—is the latest manifestation of the sci-fi cloning craze that’s seen members of a Florida nonprofit try to clone a 2000-year-old tree, and a South Korean company clone two puppies in an attempt to reincarnate a British couple’s beloved dead dog.

Of course, scraping bark from a tree or sending in a vial of your dog’s DNA is far different from churning out 100,000 identical cattle. That level of efficiency, and speed is unprecedented, and Xu hopes it will change the future of animal reproduction.

The Chinese-born doctor, with a Ph.D. from Washington University and an MBA from Emory, is part nerdy scientist, part businessman, with that rare combination of brains and street smarts. After working as a project manager at Pfizer, he moved back to China where, in 2009, he founded a massive stem-cell database with the help of seven research institutes.

Three years later, Xu founded Boyalife Group, a $2 billion venture with four locations and 22 subsidiaries—the newest is Boyalife Genomics. While acting as founder and CEO of Boyalife, Xu is also an adjunct professor of molecular medicine at Peking University, where he’s heralded as an expert in everything from arthritis to oncology.

Prior to the announcement of his new cloning factory, the 44-year-old Xu had remained out of the global spotlight. But with the news that his Tianjin venture hopes to clone more mammals in a year than humanity has managed to clone in the previous 200,000, his phone has started ringing off the hook.

Cloning, or asexual reproduction, is a naturally occurring phenomenon in nature. A number of plants, bacteria, and single-celled organisms reproduce this way. Fungi, for example, split in two; strawberries grow clones of themselves on their stems.

Artificial cloning, which Xu’s team will use to make cattle, is decidedly more complicated. The science world recognizes three types of cloning: genetic, therapeutic, and reproductive. It’s the last one that’s used to clone whole animals, through a process called nuclear transfer.

To do this, researchers replace the DNA from a new cell with that of an animal they intend to clone. Eventually the modified egg is placed inside an adult female who later gives birth to the clone. While researchers reportedly cloned frogs as early as the 1950s, scientists weren’t able to successfully clone a mammal until decades later.

It was three scientists at the University of Edinburgh who achieved the feat, with the birth of a cloned sheep in 1996—the only one to succeed out of 277 attempts to live. The clone was named Dolly because it was made from the cell of a mammary gland and the researchers “couldn’t think of a more impressive pair than Dolly Parton’s.

In the next four years, cloning as a science took off, with researchers producing successful clones of a Rhesus monkey, cow, goat, and more. Today a number of companies exist to clone animals, with some focused on farm livestock like bulls and cows, and others on an increasingly big business: family dogs.

The largest of these companies, Sooam Biotech, has reportedly cloned 700 puppies since opening in 2004. The South Korean firm actually paired with Xu to create Boyalife Genomics, but in an email to The Daily Beast, declined to comment on the new venture. But if its devotion to cloning dogs is any indication, it could play a big role in Boyalife’s future.

Yet even as companies like Sooam grow in popularity, anxiety has mounted around the idea of how far cloning could go. One of Sooam’s own researchers, Hwang Woo-suk, once alleged that he had cloned human embryos. The claim hassince been struck down, but the fear associated with it definitely has not.

While the general public weighs the pros and cons of animal cloning, the legal world is doing the same. In the U.S., cloning of farm animals is legal—with the Federal Drug Administration declaring that these clones are as “safe as the food we eat every day.”

The same is true in China, but not everywhere. In August, the European Union edged closer to outlawing the practice all together, with the EU Parliament voting in favor of a sweeping cloning ban that would include farm animals.

Meanwhile, laws surrounding the cloning of humans remain murky. In the U.S., there is no federal law explicitly banning human clones—which is not to say that the practice is wholly legal. At least 15 states have passed legislation regarding human cloning—eight of which prohibit it entirely. The UN General Assemblybanned the practice in 2005 and the science world as a whole rejects it as unethical and unsafe.

Leaders at The National Academy of Science have been petitioning for a worldwide ban on the practice since 2002, calling it “dangerous and likely to fail.” Among other outspoken organizations are the American Medical Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the FDA.

During a 2002 congressional hearing on human cloning, a researcher named Rudolf Jaenisch spelled out why he believed animal cloning was too dangerous to mimic in humans. Successful animal clones, he said, are preceded by many failed attempts. Those that make it are often plagued with health issues.

Indeed, reproductive cloning in animals—the same type that could in theory be used on humans—comes with immense risk. The percentage of cloning efforts that succeed is generally between 1 and 4 percent. In the few clones that survive, birth defects abound—ranging from brain deficiencies to drastically shortened life spans.

And even though he plans to clone 1 million cows one day, Xu, like the majority of his scientific peers, says he is gravely against the concept of human clones. “No, we don’t do human cloning, we won’t make Frankensteins,” Xu told NBC. “The technology we have is very advanced… [but] every technology has to have a boundary.”

By Abby Haglage (The Daily Beast)

From Paris to the field: Amina Mohammed assesses more impacted sites

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From Paris to the field: Amina Mohammed assesses more impacted sites

Fresh from attending the UN Climate Change Conference in France (that produced the famous Paris Agreement), Environment Minister, Amina Mohammed, embarked on a nationwide tour of environmentally infamous locations in an apparent bid to assess the gravity of the challenges and interact with the concerned communities. The tour took her to states such as Lagos (South West), Imo/Anambra (South East), Rivers (South South), Kano/Jigawa (North West) and Yobe/Borno (North East). This piece highlights her trip to the North West and North East regions.

On lands encroached by the desert in the North
On lands encroached by the desert in the North

Kano

On the 18th December, Minister of Environment, Mrs Amina Mohammed, and the Minister of State, with a team made up of the Permanent Secretary, Director General, Great Green Wall, CSOs representative and other staffers of the ministry embarked on an assessment of the environmentally impacted locations the North West Zone of Nigeria. The team was received by the Deputy Governor of Kano State Prof. Hafiz Abubakar. The Minister stated her mission to conduct a rapid assessment to the state of environment to enable her have a first-hand information, for informed decision making, planning and designing intervention strategies at all levels while seeking partnership with the State and Local Government Authorities towards the Change agenda. She underlined the need for genuine collaboration of all stakeholders that will ensure ownership and the sustainability of the investments being made now and in the future that will set the course for empowering people, tackling climate change and protecting the environment.

Prof Abubakar informed his guests of the challenges faced by the state ranging from desertification, industrial pollution and solid waste management as well as the heavily polluted Jankara Dam, which has been a source of livelihood to many.

 

Inspecting the Sharada industrial pollution site in Kano
Inspecting the Sharada industrial pollution site in Kano

Sharada Industrial Site

On 19th December 2015, the team visited Sharada Industrial Area and the dump site where there is direct discharge of effluents from tanneries into bodies of water. Most of these wastewaters are extremely complex mixtures containing inorganic and organic compounds. The tannery operation consists of converting the raw hide or skin into leather, which are used in the manufacturing of a wide range of products. Consequently, the tanning industries are potentially pollution-intensive. Aside from the industrial waste, another major environmental issue is the resultant effect from improper disposal and poor management of solid waste which are also dumped on the same vast land in Sharada in Kano and, because of poor management, the waste emits dangerous gases into the atmosphere and bacterial which contains bacteria. The team was informed that though most of the industries are Lebanese, Chinese and Nigeria owned and have primary treatment plants, only few were however functioning and therefore the need for a secondary treatment was of paramount importance and this can only be done with the partnership of federal and state governments, and the industries. The team also visited the tributaries of River Challawa, which is a source of livelihood for millions of people engaged in fishing activities but now heavily polluted with the industrial and solid waste.

 

Fata Tanning Industry

The team visited the Fata Tanning Industry, one of the biggest industries in Challawa industrial area and was informed that the company was set 10 years ago and deals mostly with skin, and gets its raw materials from Nigeria and the neighbouring countries of Niger, Cameroon and Chad. The team inspected the primary treatment plant but observed the need for the secondary treatment as the effluents from the primary treatment are also discharged directly into the Sharada dump site. It is apparent that so much needs to be done towards ameliorating the industrial and solid waste problems in Kano.

 

Galadi Desertification Project

Desertification is one of the most serious environmental and socio-economic problems of our time. Desertification describes circumstances of land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions resulting from the climatic variation and human activities. In other to address the problem of desertification, the Federal Government of Nigeria along with other countries, put together a programme called the Great Green Wall initiative, the fundamental goal of this programme is to assess the effects of desertification, design and implement projects that would comb the effects of desertification, empower people, build and strengthen the capacity of the communities and enhance their adaptive and indigenous technological ways of addressing the problems in the 11 frontline states in the northern region of Nigeria and the neighbouring countries.

It is to be noted that the present threat of desertification in the Sahel has reached an alarming stage where crops cultivation and animal rearing/grazing are no more productive, soil has lost its nutrient/fertility, various infrastructure have given way because of windstorm from the neighbouring Niger Republic and sand dunes have taken over. The team visited one of the GGW projects located in Galadi, Jigawa State to access the level of implementation.

 

Hadejia Nguru Wetland

The Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands is a part of the flood plain of the Komadougou-Yobe River Basin in the Lake Chad basin in the north-east of Nigeria and is considered to be a source of livelihood to probably about 25 million people to an internationally shared water whose management has an important bearing on diplomatic relationships between Nigeria and four neighbouring countries that share the Lake Chad Basin (Niger, Cameroon, Chad and Central African Republic).

The wetlands have formed where the waters of the Hadejia and Jama’are rivers meet the lines of ancient sand dunes aligned northeast-southwest. An area of confused drainage has formed here, with multiple river channels and a complex pattern of permanently and seasonally flooded land and dryland. The wetlands are nationally and internationally important for migratory waterfowl. The wetlands support extensive wet-season rice farming, flood-recession agriculture and dry-season irrigation. The flood plain also supports large numbers of fishing communities most of whom also farm, and is grazed by very substantial numbers of Fulani livestock, particularly cattle, which are brought in from both north and south in the dry season. There is also an important dispatch from the wetlands of fuelwood and fodder for horses. In view of the importance attached to this wetland which is being heavily impacted by the climate change effects, the Minister and her team felt, it was important to visit the area.

Head of the Great Green Wall project explained that over the years the wetlands have been affected by developments some attributed to the construction of the Tiga Dam on a tributary of the Hadejia River in the early years of the 1970s which has exacerbated the effects of the low rainfall of the last two decades. The result has been a reduction in the extent of flooding in the wetland. The growth of human population throughout the region is a reality that has led to increased agricultural activity to feed the teeming population, combined with changing climatic patterns over the years, the result has been an increased pressure on water resources in the basin.

One consequence to changes in the flow pattern of the river is increased siltation, particularly around the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands areas. Invasive Typha grass, which has flourished in the regulated river, has compounded the problem, leading to flooding of the major road linking the six states. Poor management of the dams also often results in excessive flooding of farmlands, schools and villages, leading to loss of lives and properties. The problems in the Nguru Wetland are also part of the broader regional problems with managing water resources, Lake Chad itself is in critical condition, and has shrunk to just a tiny fraction of its historical size.

 

Karasawa LGA

Fajanari community has an estimated population of 1,000 and, based on the population and in order to ameliorate the sufferings of the community people, the GGW decided on a project site where a borehole powered with solar was sunk to serve the community. However, the leader of the Association stated that the water in the borehole is not enough to cater for livestock, crop cultivation, household chores as well as other domestic purposes. The farming programmes including planting of economic trees such as jatropha, mangoes, guava and local tobacco which is used for cosmetics.

According to the leader of the Karasawa Garina Guna Development Association, there is an urgent need for extensive training for the maintenance of the borehole as well as extension service workers, but most importantly provision of staff salaries. The journey to the the highest point of sand dunes took the team approximately three hours without any direct access road.

The minister said: “I really want to know the coping and adaptive initiatives of the communities especially women that have lived long with the menace of sand dunes and how I can enhance their indigenous technology and coping strategies.”

Yobe State Deputy Governor Abubakar Aliyu receiving Mrs Amina Mohammed in Damaturu
Yobe State Deputy Governor receiving Mrs Amina Mohammed in Damaturu

Yobe State

On the 20th December 2015, the team visited the Yobe State seat of power in Damaturu and was received by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Ibrahim Gaidam. Stating her mission to see, hear, feel and understand the adaptive strategies of the people, the minister informed Dr Gaidam that her objective stems from the fact that her ministry cannot do it alone but must partner with the state and local governments, CSOs, media, private sector and all other stakeholders in addressing the challenges and the change agenda of the government. She commended the people of Yobe State for staying strong despite the numerous environmental and socio-political challenges on ground.

Responding, the Deputy Governor thanked and applauded the ministers, stating that it was the first time a minister dared to travel to the desert encroached areas of Yobe despite the insecurity in the state. He enumerated some of the programmes that the state has designed to assist the people to include: tree planting, afforestation and reforestation, siblings and nursery production, distribution free of charge to CSOs, CBOs community members, woodlot production, shelterbelt production to protect farm lands and degraded soil, building capacity of farmers on wind erosion harvesting, boarder line farming and natural rejuvenation farming, oasis, a term used for shifting cultivation, gum Arabic, alternative sources of energy-briquetting stove, kerosene stove, saw dust stoves, gas cookers, and short term embankment along the tributaries of Lake Chad. According to him, the state also has programmes that specifically target women and these include working capital, enterprises training for young girls, including those out of school and illiterates.

An historic visit to Baga, Borno State
An historic visit to Baga, Borno State

Baga Community

On the 20th December, 2015, the team in the company of the Deputy Governor of Borno State (Usman Durkwa), the Senator representing the area, the General Officer Commanding (Gen. Adesoun), journeyed to Baga community to see the Lake Chad tributaries and what has really become of it and what measures can be taken to address the situation.

The three-hour journey from Maiduguri took the team to Baga but could only stop by one of the tributaries as the entourage was warned against going any further from the point reached. Baga is a community that has been sacked by the Boko Haram insurgency and has since become a war zone involving the Nigerian Army and Boko Haram.

 

Findings

  • Desertification, which is affecting the 11 northern states, is considered as the most pressing environmental problem and accounts for about 73% out of the estimated total cost of about $5.110 billion per annum the country is losing arising from environmental degradation
  • Millions of Nigerians have lost their source of livelihoods due to climate change and environmental problems. However, some of them are man-made.
  • For decades the people from the northern Nigerian have lived with the menace of desertification and have used different mitigation and adaptive strategies which needs to be researched and promoted.
  • The activities of Boko Haram and indeed the violent conflicts in the region has hindered development, as development cannot strive in an environment that is not conducive.
  • The tributaries from Baga leading up to Lake Chad which in the past was a source of livelihood for millions of people is severely affected by the impact of climate change. It is drying up and has displaced many, thus forcing them to migrate to greener pastures with its attendant consequences.
  • The problems in the Nguru Wetland basin are part of a broader regional problem with managing water resources; Lake Chad itself is in critical condition, and has shrunk to just a tiny fraction of its original size.
  • The Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands – not only is it the premier Ramsar site in Nigeria but also a place of enormous economic and ecological importance to millions of people.
  • The result of the human factor has remained the major cause of desertification. Most of the arable land had been over-cultivated and also the land reserved for animal grazing had been subsumed by farmers leaving no portion for animal grazing. Most of the trees are either cut down for crop cultivation or for cook fuel.

Way out

  • There is also an urgent need to have a tripartite programme of dealing with the industrial waste which is a time bomb for the majority of the Kano residents.
  • Need to conduct research into the adaptive strategies of the communities especially in the desert prone areas of Yobe where sand dunes have taken over most parts of the state is urgently needed. This would provide information on how best to enhance the indigenous technology of dealing with the situation, while devising different strategies of solving the problems.
  • Public participation generates tangible benefits, by fostering cooperation in developing and implementing strategic actions.
  • Good political will involving the countries affected by the Lake Chad impact is imperative to back up sustainable development in the basin
  • To stop tree felling as a means of cooking fuel the government and indeed the private devise alternatives sources of renewable energy such conversion of animal waste into biogas, briquettes, fuel efficient stoves and cooking gas at a very subsidized rate for the people to be able to afford.
  • Afforestation and reforestation programmes are vital. In addition to producing fuelwood, the forest reserves and bushland of the flood plains yield important non-timber forest products that are significant to the livelihoods and subsistence of local communities. Some, including leaves, are important marketed commodities that generate substantial income.

 

Conclusion

It is globally acknowledged that environmental problems such as greenhouse warming, ozone depletion, soil erosion, desertification, chemicals management, acidic rain and water pollution, among others are directly or indirectly caused by the creation, operation, or disposal of the built environment undertaken by man. Climate change stress is leading almost directly to social stress; as resources decrease and human populations increase, migration and social fragmentation accelerate. These problems cannot be solved by government alone, but with the inclusion of all stakeholders.

By Priscilla Achakpa (Executive Director, Women Environmental Programme)

North Pole reaches same temperature as Chicago

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North Pole reaches same temperature as Chicago

A freak storm system – the same one that brought tornadoes to the U.S. last week – has caused the North Pole’s temperature to rise by 50 degrees, bringing it up to the freezing point over the course of Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning the North Pole even surpassed 32 degrees, meaning the frozen Arctic was about as warm as Chicago.

A powerful winter cyclone — the same storm that led to two tornado outbreaks in the United States and disastrous river flooding — has driven the North Pole to the freezing point this week, 50 degrees above average for this time of year.

Its freezing cold in Chicago. Photo credit: Jim Young/Reuters
Its freezing cold in Chicago. Photo credit: Jim Young/Reuters

From Tuesday evening to Wednesday morning, a mind-boggling pressure drop was recorded in Iceland: 54 millibars in just 18 hours. This triples the criteria for “bomb” cyclogenesis, which meteorologists use to describe a rapidly intensifying mid-latitude storm. A “bomb” cyclone is defined as dropping one millibar per hour for 24 hours.

NOAA’s Ocean Prediction Center said the storm’s minimum pressure dropped to 928 millibars around 1 a.m. Eastern time, which likely places it in the top five strongest storms on record in this region.

“According to the center’s records, the all-time strongest storm in this area occurred on Dec. 15, 1986, and that had a minimum central pressure of 900 millibars,” Mashable’s Andrew Freedman reported on Tuesday. “The second-strongest storm occurred in January 1993, with a pressure of 916 millibars.”

As this storm churns north, it’s forcing warm air into the Arctic Circle. Over the North Sea, sustained winds from the south are blasting at 70 mph, and gusting to well above 100 mph, drawing heat from south to north.

Although there are no permanent weather stations at the North Pole (or really anywhere in the Arctic Ocean), we can use weather forecast models, which ingest data from satellites and surrounding surface observations, to estimate conditions at Earth’s most northern location.

On Wednesday morning, temperatures over a vast area around North Pole were somewhere between 30 and 35 degrees Fahrenheit, and for at least a brief moment, surpassed the 32-degree threshold at exactly 90 degrees North, according to data from the GFS forecast model.

“Consider the average winter temperature there is around 20 degrees below zero,” wrote the Capital Weather Gang’s Jason Samenow on Monday. A temperature around the freezing mark signifies a departure from normal of over 50 degrees, and close to typical mid-summer temperatures in this region.

In other words, the area around the North Pole was about as warm as Chicago on Wednesday, and quite a few degrees warmer than much of the Midwest.

Meanwhile in habitable areas around the North Atlantic, winds are howling and waves are rocking the coastline. In Britain, a week of excessive rainfall has pushed rivers and streams well beyond their banks, stranding vehicles and buckling bridges.

In a blog post on Monday, the U.K. Met office said that December has been a record-breaking month for rainfall in parts of the United Kingdom. A Christmas weekend storm brought up to 8 inches of addition rainfall on saturated soil. The Met Office listed just a small portion of the December records that were set this weekend, in some cases blowing away the previous December records by 10 inches.

By Angela Fritz (atmospheric scientist and Deputy Weather Editor, The Washington Post)

13 dead in Missouri floods as Mississippi is closed to vessels

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13 dead in Missouri floods as Mississippi is closed to vessels

A five-mile (8km) section of the Mississippi River near St Louis, Missouri, has been closed to vessels as rising water levels caused “hazardous conditions”, the US Coast Guard said.

Cars stranded in the flood
Cars stranded in the flood

Storms and tornadoes have lashed the region in recent days, swelling rivers and causing flash flooding.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said 13 people in the state had died in the floods.

He said the National Guard had been called in to help local authorities.

Aerial footage showed water from the Mississippi River engulfing buildings in the evacuated town of West Alton, north of St Louis, on Tuesday.

In the town of Union, about 50 miles (80km) west of St Louis, buildings were partly submerged by severe flooding from the Missouri, Meramec and Bourbeuse rivers.

Coast Guard spokesman Capt Martin Malloy said the high water levels and fast currents had led them to close the section of the Mississippi near St Louis – a busy route for commercial shipping.

River levels are forecast to peak on Thursday and Mr Nixon warned that the situation could get worse before it gets better.

He said the National Guard would provide security in evacuated areas and direct traffic away from closed roads.

“These citizen soldiers will provide much-needed support to state and local first responders, many of whom have spent the last several days working around the clock responding to record rainfall and flooding,” he said in a statement.

Nr Nixon added that three new flood-related deaths had been discovered on Tuesday, raising the death toll in the state since the storms began over the weekend to 13.

Many of the victims have been trapped in vehicles swept off flooded roads.

South-west of St Louis, a section of Interstate 44 was closed by flooding near the town of Rolla while part of Interstate 70 was also closed in the neighbouring state of Illinois.

Many other smaller roads were also closed across the two states, where flood warnings were in effect.

Floods also inundated a wastewater treatment plant south of St Louis on Monday, causing sewage to flow directly into rivers and streams.

The flooding in Missouri and southern Illinois began over the weekend after as much as 10ins (25cm) of rain fell in some areas in a matter of hours.

It came after severe storms over the Christmas holiday claimed at least 49 lives across southern and western states of the US.

Parts of eastern Oklahoma, Arkansas and Illinois are still subject to flood warnings.

Courtesy: BBC

Nigeria committed to Paris Agreement, says Amina Mohammed

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Nigeria committed to Paris Agreement, says Amina Mohammed

Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed, has said the new universal agreement reached at the recently concluded 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris, France offers a brighter future for Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.

Nigeria's Environment Minister, Mrs Amina Mohammed. Photo credit: i.vimeocdn.com
Nigeria’s Environment Minister, Mrs Amina Mohammed. Photo credit: i.vimeocdn.com

Mohammed, who stated this recently while interacting with a team of journalists in Abuja, hinted that nearly 200 countries have committed to the new legally binding deal to address climate change and to serve as a pivotal role for humanity as the world agrees to turn words into actions.

She said: “The Paris Agreement has created a veritable global platform for President Muhhamadu Buhari’s bold change agenda that focuses on a new roadmap with emphasis on green and inclusive growth at its heart. Nigeria’s ambitious Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) aims at reducing emissions by 20% by the year 2030 with support from the international community.

“The agreement provides a framework for delivering the ambitious emission reductions that the world needs, recognises the importance of keeping average global temperature below two Degree Celsius (2.00 C) and, crucially, confirms that developed countries must continue to increase their financial support for developing countries as the world embarks on this transition.”

She further explained, “We now have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the way we do things, and Nigeria will be at the fore-front, demonstrating what initiatives can work. Nigeria is willing to take a regional lead by implementing its bold and courageous INDCs that seek to ensure that our economy continues to grow while reducing our carbon emissions.

“We have shown that we are willing to work with our neighbours, such as those in the Lake Chad basin to restore the once fertile land and well stocked fisheries so that peace and security can return.”

Courtesy: Today

Why Lagos is working, by Steve Ayorinde

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Why Lagos is working, by Steve Ayorinde

As the administration of Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, marks its seventh month in office, Steve Ayorinde, the State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, lists several reasons that suggest that the Epe-born cerebral technocrat may be an overnight success.

Akinwunmi Ambode, Governor of Lagos State. Photo credit: ecomium.org
Akinwunmi Ambode, Governor of Lagos State. Photo credit: ecomium.org

 

Security

As Nigeria’s economy suffers a near recession due to the falling oil prices, with 27 out of 36 states in the country needing bail-out funds to offset salary arrears, Lagos has been witnessing an unprecedented influx of people from far and near, thereby putting pressure on social infrastructure and security. Crime rate naturally increased momentarily but Governor Ambode rose to the occasion with an unprecedented donation of assets worth about N4.8 billion to the Nigeria Police. With three patrol helicopters, two gun boats, drones, patrol vehicles and powerbikes, armoured personnel carriers, bullet-proof vests and other security gadgets while also rebranding the Rapid Response Squad as the “good guys” with insurance schemes against incidentals. Ambode’s gesture has returned confidence to Lagosians and investors alike. He has taken the state’s Security Trust Fund to a new height and has smartly shifted the burden of responsibility in terms of policing Nigeria’s most-populated and prosperous state to the Police, which is no longer expected to offer excuses of being ill- equipped.

 

Roads

One of Ambode’s greatest assets is that he listens and is very responsive. He inherited a state whose inner roads were in a very bad shape. In an election year, road infrastructure tends to suffer since attention is usually given to political campaigns. The rains also compounded the woes in a state that is already below the sea level. There were complaints and they got to Ambode. Rather than fret, however, he responded swiftly, first through Operation Zero Tolerance for Potholes across the states and then by reconstructing hitherto abandoned roads. He has fully delivered the Ayobo-Ipaja Road and Ikotun-Ejigbo Road. Brown Street at Oshodi is half-way done; while a lane of the Okota-Ago Palace Way is ready for use this week, preparatory to its full completion in February 2016. More than 300 roads have already been repaired and rehabilitated across the states through the Public Works Corporation, thereby easing off traffic. Nowhere is neglected, from Akilo Road in Ogba to Opebi Road in Ikeja and then all the way down to Oyinkan Abayomi Drive in Ikoyi, Ambode’s “roads to greatness” are visible. Together with the 57 Local Council Development Areas, a total of 114 inner roads – two per LCDA – have been awarded for completion next year and to crown it all, the governor has approved the construction of flyover bridges at two of Lagos’ most problematic traffic zones – Ajah and Abule Egba.

 

Economy

One key antecedent of Governor Ambode is the fact that he was instrumental to the frog-leap of the state’s Internally Generated Revenue from a paltry N600 million to N6 billion while he was Accountant General. And so, a competent manager of resources is expected of this Fulbright scholar. In seven months, he has sufficiently demonstrated his mettle in this regard, by first restructuring the state’s exposure to commercial banks, thereby saving the state about N3bn monthly in debt servicing. He has re-jigged the Lagos Internal Revenue Service to do away with multiple taxations but expand the tax net instead so that those hitherto not captured will be brought on board. He has sent to the House of Assembly the Employment Trust Fund Bill through which the newly created Ministry of Employment and Wealth Creation will administer a yearly N6.3 billion intervention soft loan to stimulate to economy, sustain small businesses and create jobs. Lagos Global, the office saddled with investment drive in the state has demonstrated capacity in making Lagos the bride to which every global investment suitor is attracted. Ambode has paid more than N11 billion in pension arrears and benefits to retirees and has streamlined the issuance of Certificates of Occupancy to land owners. And, in ending the year, the governor practically wowed Lagos with a budget proposal of N665.588 billion with a capital to recurrent ratio of 58:42 that proposes N383,678 billion for capital expenditure. No other state, not even the Federal Government, has been this proactive with capital expenditure ratio in their budget forecast.

 

BRT Expansion

Social infrastructure has always defined the success of successive administrations, particularly in Lagos State. Ambode is on a smooth ride here with the commissioning of Bus Rapid Response (BRT) extension from Mile 12 to Ikorodu. Through the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Ambode in November commissioned a project that included the widening of the 13.5km road with two additional lanes and the placing of BRT lanes in the middle of the road with over 400,000 passengers now being transported daily on the more than 400 brand new, high-capacity buses (which residents now joyfully call Ambode’s Buses) which now ply the corridor from Ikorodu to CMS.

 

Street Light Projects

When words filtered out that Governor Ambode might not approve the staggering N500 million for Christmas decoration contract this year since the economy is such that requires prudent management, many thought he would be seen as not keeping faith with his promise of continuity. But it has turned out that not only is the governor a prudent manager of resources, he is also getting his priorities right. He encouraged corporate players like banks to beautify Lagos with Christmas decorations as their own Corporate Social Responsibility while he chose to focus on an enduring beautification project for Lagosians – to light up the city-state. And to fulfill his promise, the Lagos metropolis has been lit up in the past week with Ambode’s street light project brightening up major parts of the metropolis from Victoria Island to Ikoyi, all the way down to Third Mainland bridge, down to Alapere, Berger and Ikeja-Ogba environ.

 

One Lagos Fiesta and inclusive government

One of the campaign promises of Governor Ambode is to run a government of inclusion and bring governance back to the people. He demonstrated this in September when he flagged off his quarterly town-hall meetings that saw him render account of his stewardship directly to the people. He has promised that the town-hall meetings will move from one senatorial district to another in order to constantly feel the pulse of the electorates. But the governor has added to the layer in this yuletide season by expanding the erstwhile Lagos Countdown Concert to a five-day, five-venue all-inclusive celebration tagged One Lagos Fiesta. Rather than have it in one day and at the Bar beach as was previously the case, Ambode has creatively decentralised the concept of fun, entertainment and culture. Each division in Lagos-Epe, Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja and Lagos Island – are now experiencing simultaneous end-of-the-year merriments with local as well as popular artistes sharing the state. Even politicians, traditional rulers and every stakeholder are now taking ownership of the project in their zones. ‘One Lagos’ has since become the buzzword all over town with the governor, who has now finally taken up residence in his official Alausa, Ikeja abode, personally witnessing the flag-off of the fiesta on Sunday at the Agege stadium where the Ikeja zonal fiesta is holding.

 

Healthy Lagos, healthy workforce

Governor Ambode recognises that health is wealth and here is one area where his impact is being felt in spite of the huge challenges occasioned by the influx of people from other states and neighboring countries on Lagos hospitals. The governor has improved on healthcare facilities in the state by injecting additional 46 ambulances to the existing pool with an additional 14 new ambulance points thereby bringing existing ambulance points to 25 all in a bid to reduce maternal mortality and tackle emergencies. The governor has brought peace to the lingering crisis within the medical circle. He has stopped the contentious casualisation of medical doctors who were employed some years ago as casual workers by regularising their employment status in the state civil service. But he’s also aware of the need for a healthy and motivated workforce which is why he has also extended the Accident Insurance Policy for its workforce to cover accidents recorded outside working hours.

Bonga North West project wins global industry awards

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Bonga North West project wins global industry awards

The Bonga North West deep-water development has won prestigious awards in the United States and Qatar. It was named Engineering Project of the Year 2015 at the Platts Global Energy Awards in New York, and it also picked up the silver prize for the Project Integration Excellence Award of the International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC) in Doha, on 6 December. The project, which Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) and its partners brought on stream in August 2014, is an important milestone for Nigeria’s deep-water industry and has generated jobs and businesses.

The Bonga Floating Production, Storage and Offloading Vessel
The Bonga Floating Production, Storage and Offloading Vessel

“We are pleased that the achievements at Bonga North West have been accorded global recognition,” said SNEPCo Managing Director, Bayo Ojulari. “Bonga North West is a testimony to an effective approach to project delivery with focus on safety, cost and an efficient contracting process.”

Bonga North West ties into the existing Bonga vessel, one of the largest floating production, storage and offloading vessels in the world. The project team safely drilled and connected new wells in a highly-challenging environment more than a kilometre below the ocean’s surface. Through close collaboration – including with co-venturers, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and industry regulators – the project has unlocked new energy resources to help meet the world’s growing demand.

In some of the highlights on Nigerian content development, 90% of the people who worked on the Bonga North West project during its four-year development were Nigerians. SNEPCo awarded the major engineering and construction contracts for the project to companies that were either indigenous, have local staff, or possess domesticated capabilities in the country. And a number of new production manifolds, subsea umbilical systems, oil production and water injection flowlines and subsea tree systems were installed on the seabed around 1,000 metres below the surface.

SNEPCo operates Bonga North West in partnership with Esso Exploration & Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited, Total E&P Nigeria Limited and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited under a Production Sharing Contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Misery as torrential rain causes devastating floods in Britain

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Misery as torrential rain causes devastating floods in Britain

Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in York after flood gates protecting the historic city were deliberately opened by the Environment Agency – sending raging torrents through the streets.

Cars were submerged as flood water made its way through Guildford Surrey. Photo credit: www.express.co.uk
Cars were submerged as flood water made its way through Guildford Surrey. Photo credit: www.express.co.uk

The authority took to the decision to open the Foss Barrier – a flood defence which protects the city – amid fears water had got inside the main building, putting pumps in danger of suffering electrical failure.

It was feared that if the electrics stopped working, the Environment Agency would not have been able to pump floodwater out of the town – potentially putting even more lives at risk.

There were also fears the flood barrier could have become stuck in the “down” position, which would have made it impossible to discharge excess water into the River Ouse.

The gates were lifted Saturday night prompting Army personnel and mountain rescue teams to evacuate thousands of people from their flood-hit homes, with up to 3,500 properties now at risk of further flooding.

While York is among one of the worst-hit areas in the latest wave of flooding to reach northern England, communities across Leeds, Greater Manchester, Cumbria and Lancashire are also suffering.

More than 7,500 homes in Greater Manchester and Lancashire were without power on Sunday, and some properties are expected to be without electricity until Monday. Engineers have restored power to around 14,500 homes in Rochdale alone, but almost 6,000 more remain without electricity.

Residents have now been asked to switch off their Christmas lights and not use household appliances to conserve power and help the network cope with the power demands.

While 40 generators have been sent out across the region and staff from Electricity North West work to repair damaged substations, around 300 homes have lost power in the last few hours due to demands on the network.

Mark Williamson, operations director for Electricity North West, said: “Our engineers have worked through the night and will continue to work today in extremely difficult conditions to restore power to the remaining 7,800 customers in Lancashire and Greater Manchester.

“We are asking our customers in Rochdale to reduce their energy use to prevent further power outages while our engineers repair the damage. Simple things like turning off your Christmas lights or not using your washing machine or dishwasher for a while would make a huge difference.

“We are doing everything we possibly can to access our substations, assess the damage caused by severe flooding and restore supplies.

“I’d like to thank customers for their understanding and their goodwill to our teams during what continues to be an enormously challenging time for everyone involved. We are immensely proud of the area and the people we serve in the way they have dealt with this incident.”

The company on Sunday sent out food vans to provide hot food for customers who have been left without electricity, with vans due to visit Radcliffe, Padiham, Rochdale and Bury.

Between subsidising polluters and thieves

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Between subsidising polluters and thieves

The movement against subsidising the fossil fuel industry continues to grow and is an integral part of the keep-it-in-the-ground struggle. However, in places like Nigeria, contentious subsidies are those related to the importation of petroleum products. The debate is yet to fully focus on the cost of production and related malfeasances.

Nnimmo Bassey
Nnimmo Bassey

The last mass national mobilisation in Nigeria happened in January 2012 when the pump price of petrol was raised from N65 to N141 per litre. The reasons given by the government then was that the increase in pump price of petroleum products was necessitated by a removal of subsidies.

The mobilisations lasted a full week and literally brought the government to its knees. The debates during and after the protests threw up many questions:

  • Why should Nigeria export crude oil only to import refined products?
  • Why are the refineries not functioning as they should despite heavy investments in their maintenance?
  • What is the value of the subsidies and would government need to subsidise if the products were refined in Nigeria?
  • Is there in fact any subsidy?
  • What volume of products actually imported into Nigeria?
  • What quantity of petroleum products are consumed in Nigeria?

Official responses to the questions were varied – depending on which official was speaking. The public believed there was an unbridgeable gap between the amount of money spent on subsidies and the volume of products actually imported. The questions still remain to be answered.

Eventually the pump price of petrol was brought to N97 (then about $0.60) per litre. The price hike was moderated to N87 per litre in January 2015 due to a downward slide in the price of crude oil.

When President Buhari announced the 2016 national budget on 22 December 2015, he told the nation that the pump price of petrol would remain at N87 per litre in the new year. If there is already a negative subsidy due to the drastically reduced price of crude oil it appears that right now the Nigerian people are the ones doing the subsidising. Put it another way, the people are being taxed for what they are not consuming.

Keeping the pump price of petrol price at N87 per litre and still paying subsidies in a situation when crude oil price hovers around $36 per barrel compared to about $90 at January 2012 and $47 by January 2015 is not easy to explain. To add to the consternation of many, an official of the NNPC recently stated that the pump price of petrol is higher than it ought to be and that there are many inefficiencies in the system.

The Group General Manager, of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) told journalists in Abuja on 18 December 2015 that petroleum products were overpriced in Nigeria and that subsidies would not find a space in the 2016 budget. According to him, “Our review of the current PPPRA (Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency) template suggests that there are significant inefficiencies in the current template.”

Earlier in that week the Minister of State for Petroleum spoke of similar inefficiencies but announced that the Nigerian government plans to revert to the old pump price of N97 per litre for petrol in 2016. What are we to believe?

True cost of crude

It is obvious that crude oil is cheap because the true cost of crude oil is not being paid. The environment and the people continue to subsidise crude oil extraction, refining, transportation and consumption. This subsidy manifests in extreme pollution as land, sea and air, including as evidenced in the Niger Delta, the Amazonia, the Alberta oil sand fields and the fracking fields of the USA. The environment and the people have absorbed enough beating by the petroleum sector. Lives have been decimated and now the planet is being set on fire.

This mother-of-all-subsidies can only be halted by keeping the fossils in the ground. The challenge is for all humankind. Mother Earth deserves a Sabbath of rest to recover from the abuses that continue to be inflicted on her.

By Nnimmo Bassey (Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation – HOMEF)

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