23.7 C
Lagos
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Home Blog Page 1972

How climate change, Ebola virus, others can worsen Nigeria’s security crisis

Michael Simire
-
0
How climate change, Ebola virus, others can worsen Nigeria’s security crisis

Over two years ago, the United States listed climate change, use of biological and nuclear weapons, cyber-attacks and transnational crimes as five major events that could change the scope of global security for the worse in the coming decades.

An Ebola patient receiving treatment
An Ebola patient receiving treatment

The 2012 prediction contained in a report by the US National Defence may have been confirmed by recent violent events that have compromised the safety of lives and properties in Nigeria, like the insurgency being perpetrated by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, with current trends showing that it may get worse.

 

Climate change

The impact climate change has on national security is a 21st century fear hinged on predictions that it will cause sea levels to rise, cause severe droughts, melt the polar caps resulting in frequent and devastating natural disasters that will raise demands for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

The US prediction hinted that the warming of the planet will lead to new conflicts over refugees, resources and catastrophic natural disasters, requiring U.S. military support and resources.

The arrival of the team from US to assist Nigeria in finding the over 200 girls that were abducted by the Boko Haram in Chibok, Borno State, may be an attestation to this.

Borno, where the Boko Haram insurgency is rife is bordered by the Lake Chad, a body of water that has been affected by climate change more than any natural landmark in the area.

Lake Chad is a major source of freshwater for irrigated farming and projects in the countries in parts of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon. However, recent satellite images have revealed a lake that has lost a larger proportion of its body within the last three decades.

A report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) disclosed that, since 1963, the lake has shrunk to nearly a twentieth of its original size. This has been attributed to climatic changes and high demands for agricultural water.

Many of the conflicts in the area have been linked to the struggle for control of the water and land areas surrounding it, allegedly fueling the insurgency in North Eastern Nigeria.

Climatologist and senior lecturer at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna, Professor Emmanuel Oladapo, said, “Almost everything is attributable to Climate Change.”

“Poor maternal health, just name the issues and you may not be wrong. It is also true that Climate Change, which has put so much pressure on the vegetation in northern part of Nigeria may be responsible for the incessant migration of the herdsmen Southwards were the vegetation provides better pastures for their herd,” he added, giving another perspective to the rampages of herdsmen across the country.

He, however, said the effect of climate change on activities of the herders could only be remotely linked to climate change.

 

Biological weapons

Fears that biological weapons will become eventual choice weapons for terrorists attack are becoming more real. Experts have said that with timely and accurate insight on potential attacks, a biological weapon could be prevented from being used.

But Nigerian scientists are concerned that the porous nature of the country’s borders pose a huge risk factor in this regards.

This fears manifested in March, when cases of Ebola virus infection were being recorded in by Nigeria’s neighbours.

Renowned virologist and President, Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS), Professor Oyewale Tomori, was first to raise the alarm.

He said, “Cases like Ebola pose serious security risk to the nation, especially that the borders are so porous. Someone with the virus could just walk into the community without knowing he has such.”

Fears that Nigeria could be an easy target for terrorists who choose to use biological weapon are heightened by the country’s lack of diagnostic capacity to handle bio-hazardous substances, as is the case with Ebola.

Registrar of the Medical Laboratory Council of Nigeria (MLCN), Professor Anthony Emeribe, said, “Agreed, Nigeria has the (personnel and space capacity to detect Ebola virus. There is, however, no laboratory in the country that has the safety levels needed for its diagnosis.”

According to the MLCN Registrar, the most advanced laboratories in Nigeria that can handle such cases have a maximum Level 3 Biosafety level as against Level 4, which is the basic for culturing and manipulation of Ebola Virus and similar viruses.

 

Nuclear weapons

The US expressed concern in the National Defence report that black-market trade in sensitive nuclear materials might be building up. As at the time of publishing, the report disclosed that no high-tech sensors existed to help break up nuclear black markets, detect and intercept them in transit.

Nigeria has, in the recent past tinkered with nuclear technology that has not really blossomed. It was one of the issues raised for considerations at the ongoing National Conference.

Former President of the Nigeria Academy of Science, Prof. Anya O. Anya, who was also a delegate at the confab, pushed for Nigeria to endorse the idea of developing capacity in nuclear and other high profile technologies, saying that Nigeria would continue to roll over without the political will to develop science and technology.

This was countered by some of the delegates at the conference, one of whom pointed out that Nigeria, which is unable to manage its hydro electricity technology, cannot attempt nuclear technology, a more complex technology to handle.

Some others said a nuclear plant is accident-prone, and far beyond what the country could cope with. So, as it stands, the country is naïve as far as nuclear technology is concern, raising fears that it may just be helpless in case of any nuclear attack.

 

Cyber attacks

The use of internet video streams by the terrorist group, Boko Haram, has raised concerns that the internet could pose serious threat to national security. The White House describes the situation as one where technology becomes a double-edge sword, as it is used for positive empowerment, but could also create a platform to empower individual criminal hackers, organised criminal groups and terrorist networks.

“The cybersecurity marketplace is flooded with products that promise quick fixes but it is becoming clear that the increasing persistence and sophistication of attacks will require solutions beyond the traditional,” the report pointed out.

Dr. Charles Iheagwara, a licensed professional engineer and founder of Unatek, Inc., a US government Information Technology contractor located in Bethesda, Maryland, US, said ICT is yet to be properly deployed in Nigeria.

On how this could be used to tame insurgency in Nigeria, Iheagwara said, “The developed world and some developing countries have been using it for quite a while now for a variety of purposes including tracking and fighting insurgencies. Drones for example that are used to destroy terrorist cells are ICT-operated.”

By Onche Odeh

Vultures in Africa, Europe face extinction, BirdLife warns

Michael Simire
-
0
Vultures in Africa, Europe face extinction, BirdLife warns

Conservation Partnership – BirdLife International – has announced that vultures have rapidly become one of the most threatened families of birds on the planet. In a bid to stop this important family of birds slipping towards extinction in Europe and Africa, they have launched a global campaign asking for public support to Stop Vulture Poisoning Now.

 

Vultures
Vultures scavenging on a carcass. Photo: www.maxwaugh.com

Following recent catastrophic declines of vultures in Asia that left landscapes littered with carcasses, vultures in Europe and Africa may be set to follow unless we act now – warn conservationists from BirdLife International.

Vultures are important and essential for our health: “Vultures play a fundamental role that no other birds do: they clean our landscapes”, said Iván Ramírez, Head of Conservation for BirdLife International in Europe and Central Asia.

Yet they are facing new and massive threats across Europe and Africa.

A veterinary drug that is lethally toxic to vultures has been discovered to be commercially available in at least two European countries. Used to treat inflammation in livestock, this is the same drug (diclofenac) that has wiped out 99% of vultures in India, Pakistan and Nepal.

At the same time, vultures in Africa are facing increasing threats mainly due to poisoning (deliberate and accidental), persecution for body parts to be used in traditional medicine, habitat loss and collision with power-lines.

“Three of every four old-world vulture species are already globally threatened with extinction or Near Threatened according the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species”, said Kariuki Ndanganga, BirdLife Africa’s Species Programme Manager. “Unless threats are identified and tackled quickly and effectively, vultures in Africa and Europe could face extinction within our lifetime.”

The decline of vultures in Asia was shockingly fast – quicker than any other wild bird, including the Dodo.  Within a decade – almost overnight in ecological timescales – species such as White-rumped Vulture fell by 99.9% as a result of diclofenac in India alone. “Where a thousand birds once flew, on average only a single bird survived the carnage,” added Ramírez.

Despite the tragic experience in Asia and the availability of safe and inexpensive drug alternatives, BirdLife has confirmed that, worryingly, veterinary diclofenac is now commercially available in Spain and Italy. Both these countries are strongholds for vultures in Europe.

As well as the impending threat of diclofenac, a multitude of other complex threats need to be unravelled further in Africa, and investment needed to tackle them.

As a result, BirdLife International – the world’s largest Partnership of conservation organisations – is calling for support towards a ‘Stop Vulture Poisoning Now’ conservation campaign.

BirdLife International knows what needs to happen, and with your support we can fight to save the lives of millions of vultures across Europe and Africa. With a Partnership of over 100 independent organisations worldwide, BirdLife has the power and the ability to save vultures.

“We know what we need to do in Europe – ban veterinary diclofenac”, said Jim Lawrence, BirdLife’s Preventing Extinctions Programme Manager. “We also know what we need to do for Africa – urgently understand fully the threats and extinction risk so we can act quickly, with priority”.

“However you see them, please support the urgent work needed to save Africa and Europe’s threatened vultures by generously supporting our appeal”, concluded Lawrence. “Your support is vital to this work and will make a real difference to its success. So please, dig deep, donate generously now and help us keep vultures flying as high as they should be”.

BirdLife International is believed to be the world’s largest nature conservation Partnership. Together they have 120 BirdLife Partners worldwide – one per country or territory – and growing with 13 million members and supporters.

BirdLife International and the Vulture Conservation Foundation are advocating for a complete ban on the use of veterinary diclofenac in the EU. In parallel, BirdLife Partners are working nationally to inform local authorities and diclofenac distributors of the risk linked to the veterinary use of this dangerous drug.

Diclofenac is a non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) present in many commonly used drugs that are used for treating moderate pain. It is extremely toxic to vultures in small doses. Its use on cattle wiped out 99% of the vulture population in South Asia in the 90’s. Vultures eating cattle treated with a veterinary dose of diclofenac will die in less than two days.

There are 21 species of vultures in the world, five of which can be found in the American continent. The other 16 are distributed across Africa, Europe and Asia. Of these so-called Old World vultures, 75% are globally threatened or near-threatened, with the number of threatened species expected to rise in the next conservation status assessment.

Four vulture species breed in Europe: the Endangered Egyptian Vulture, the Near Threatened Cinereous Vulture, and important populations of Griffon Vulture and Bearded Vulture. Three of the four vulture populations have been increasing steadily (except the Egyptian Vulture), partly due to the intensive conservation efforts funded by European Union budget lines. Since 1996, the EU and national governments have invested significant financial resources on the conservation of vultures, and there have been at least 67 LIFE projects related to these species – between 2008 and 2012, nine vulture conservation projects alone received 10.7 million Euros.

Of 11 vulture species found in Africa, seven (including five of the six species endemic to Africa) are listed as globally threatened. Five of these species joined the Red List of threatened species only in the last seven years. For instance, Hooded Vulture – a species that has historically been widespread in Africa – was listed as Endangered in 2011

Wildlife poaching linked to Boko Haram funding

Michael Simire
-
1
Wildlife poaching linked to Boko Haram funding

Illegal wildlife trade, including poaching has been identified as a major source of funding for the deadly terrorist organisation Boko Haram, a new report by the New Scientists has said.

The illegal trade, it has also been found, rake an estimated $20 billion a year from sale of ivory, rhino horn and tiger penis, part of which the report said is used to fund Boko Haram and their violent ideology.

Poached rhino
A poached rhino. Photo: www.telegraph.co.uk/ALAMY

Writing under the headline ‘How wildlife crime links us all to conflicts in Africa’ in a recent online version, the scientific journal disclosed that 23,000 African elephants were killed for their tusks last year, adding also that, “like many terrorist organisations in Africa, Boko Haram is funded by sales of illegal ivory.”

It also pointed out that elephant poaching, which is usually considered a conservation issue, is increasingly becoming a national security and humanitarian concern. Citing a recent report from Born Free USA and data analyst C4ADS, as stating that “ivory has become the “bush currency” militants, terrorists and rebels use to buy weapons and fund operations. Government corruption is thought to play its part too.”

Most of the ivory, it wrote, ends up in East Asia, where demand is high and rising, with a single tusk being sold at $15,000.

On the link between the abduction of more than 200 girls by Boko Haram in Borno and the 23,000 African elephants killed for their tusks last year, the journal wrote; “On the surface all these crimes have in common is that they happened on the same continent. But there is an intimate connection: like many terrorist organisations in Africa, Boko Haram is funded by sales of illegal ivory.”

“The fact that ivory is used to bankroll conflicts provides yet more ammunition that conservationists should exploit,” the report added.

“Of course, the ivory trade is only one part of a web of wildlife crime that is itself part of a global criminal network dealing in drugs, weapons and people.

“Cutting demand for ivory won’t on its own defuse Africa’s conflicts. Militants will simply plunder other resources such as hardwood or the mineral coltan, which may end up as furniture in your house or electrical components in your cellphone,” it noted, while highlighting other products that could be illegally traded for terrorism sponsorship.

By Onche Odeh

GEF beefs-up support for Small Island Developing States

Michael Simire
-
0
GEF beefs-up support for Small Island Developing States

CEO of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Naoko Ishii last week announced at a gathering of global leaders in Apia, Samoa, the largest amount of GEF resources ever provided for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in its new four-year funding cycle.  For the period 2014-18, the GEF will make available a total of $256 million for projects to improve the environment, equivalent to an increase of 9% compared to the previous four-year period.

Naoko Ishii, CEO of GEF
Naoko Ishii, CEO of GEF

In addition to the dedicated country allocations, GEF resources are available from a special window on Chemicals and Waste, from the GEF’s International Waters programmes, its Sustainable Forest Management incentive programme, and its Capacity Development programme.  Specific support to SIDS countries to fulfil their reporting obligations under international environmental conventions is also available.

“The challenges that SIDS face are global challenges.  Namely, how can the globe’s ecosystems continue to sustain the world’s aspirations for economic growth and prosperity? However, nowhere is a healthy environment and prospects for growth and prosperity linked as closely as in SIDS”, said Ishii. “The long-term prospects for SIDS—in some cases, even their existence—are threatened by climate change and associated sea level rise and stronger and more frequent storms.  SIDS’ challenges are further exacerbated by its vulnerable and interlinked ecosystems, natural resource depletion (including marine resources), soil degradation and land and costal pollution.  In SIDS countries, sustainable development is not a choice, but a necessity.”

Aligned with the Apia Summit’s focus on “partnerships”, the GEF highlighted several new initiatives that are being prepared in support of SIDS countries.  One under development is the $22 million Pacific Islands Regional Oceanscape Program (PROP) where Pacific Islands are working with the World Bank, regional organisations and the GEF to support smart limits on tuna fishing that will increase their economic gains while helping stem losses of marine biodiversity, declines in fish stocks and threats to marine ecosystem health and services for the benefit of the people of the Pacific Region. It will empower coastal fishing communities to conserve critical habitats such as mangroves and coral reefs that support the fisheries and biodiversity.  And it will facilitate regional collaboration among Pacific Island Countries by harmonizing regional management approaches and facilitate effective sharing of market intelligence and other actions to advance the economic interests of countries.  The PROP is a phased engagement, with early participants in PROP including the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Solomon Islands.

The GEF is also ramping up its investments in renewable energy for the SIDS, and reiterated its commitment to support SIDS in this crucial sustainable development priority.  “Energy represents a major expense for many SIDS”, noted Ms. Ishii, “but SIDS counties have huge opportunities to tap their abundant renewable energy potential.  Both solar and wind are suited for both larger islands and remote corners of archipelago nations.”

The GEF is seeking to partner with a broad array of players, including for example the Clinton Climate Initiative, SIDS Dock and others, to put programs in place to assist SIDS in moving towards renewable energy.

For more than two decades, the GEF has supported SIDS countries to tackle their most pressing environment and development challenges.  In the past two decades, the GEF has provided close to $1 billion in support for sustainable development in SIDS.  The small size of SIDS, remoteness, and limited natural resource base means that successful development requires an integrated approach. The GEF is working with island countries in the Pacific, Africa and the Caribbean to tackle the food, water, energy and ecosystem nexus, through an ecosystem based approach known as Ridge to Reef. This approach is designed to reverse the degradation of coastal resources by reducing flows of harmful chemicals, nutrients and sediments from agriculture and forestry in catchments.

Essentially, under Ridge to Reef, Integrated Water Resources Management and Integrated Coastal Management plans come together to inform long-term sustainable use of the natural resources while limiting the impact on the fragile environment.  The Ridge-to-Reef Program was one among many projects highlighted in a joint UNDP-GEF publication “Island Innovations – UNDP and GEF: Leveraging the Environment for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States” that was launched at the Summit.  The publication showcases outstanding results from a series of environment and sustainable development projects from SIDS across the world.

SIDS need significant support to strengthen adaptation to climate change.  Sea level rise and more frequent storms will require significant preparatory planning and investments.  In addition, with more unpredictable weather, decisions about what and when to plant become more difficult.  “The GEF is putting strong emphasis on supporting adaption across SIDS”, Ms. Ishii noted.  “For example, we are pleased to support the GEF’s Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC ) regional project , for instance , is enhancing the capacity of 13 Pacific SIDS to adapt to climate change in selected key sectors by integrating climate change risks and adaptation measures into relevant development policies and plans”.

Ecocide emerges to tackle crime against environment

Michael Simire
-
0
Ecocide emerges to tackle crime against environment

A new era in environmental protection has emerged in Nigeria and 94 other countries, where environmental violations by Transnational Corporations, especially those involved in oil and mineral exploration are rife, as new laws that stipulate stringent punishments for crimes against the environment in these countries are being worked out.

Dr Uyi Ojo of ERA/FOEN
Dr Uyi Ojo of ERA/FOEN

This may put an end to the era when multinational oil and other companies in the extractive industry that pollute the environment where they work, would rather than take responsibility by cleaning up the mess, preferred to engage in divide-and-rule as a strategy of evading justice as seen in Nigeria’s Niger Delta area.

It followed a resolution through an overwhelming vote by the United Nations Human Rights Council at a recent in Geneva against Transnational Corporations’ (TNC) voluntary mechanisms. The participants instead voted for an international legally binding mechanism to regulate the activities of TNCs relating to the protection of human rights.

The resolution was supported by over 610 organisations, 400 individuals, and 95 countries while 13 states abstained.

Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo, Executive Director of the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), who was at the meeting, gave insight on the resolution shortly upon arrival in the country, saying modalities are being worked out to domesticate the treaty in Nigeria.

He, however, said this victory ushers in a period to play up ecocide, as a crime that should go with a minimum life jail term for perpetrators.

Speaking in Lagos, Ojo said, “While we celebrate this victory we call on the United Nations to recognise the crime of ecocide being perpetrated at the sites of extraction on a global scale.”

Should ecocide become embedded in Nigeria’s law, he said, “TNCs and their Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) who repeatedly and fragrantly take operational and managerial decisions that have repeatedly resulted in ecological destruction, loss of lives and livelihoods are guilty of ecocide or crime against humanity that must be punished.”

Ojo said a uniform binding mechanism would ensure that “environmental racism as practiced by TNCs, Shell and other oil companies in Nigeria will come to an end because the same standards deployed in Europe and America will be the same standards to be applied in Nigeria and elsewhere.”

He also disclosed that the new legal regime would end the disdain of Shell against national oversight agencies such as National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

“Recall that a fine of N1.84 trillion was imposed on Shell by NIMASA for compensation for lost livelihoods for over five million affected fishermen and women, and US$5 billion for administrative fine imposed by NOSDRA.

“Unfortunately till date Shell holds both institutions in disdain in the manner it has dismissed them and refused to pay up these fines,” Ojo said, adding that the non-implementation of the UNEP report and failure to set up $1 billion fund for the clean-up and restoration of the Ogoni were part of the evidence supporting the case for a legally binding mechanism.

“The Nigerian situation of resource violence worked seriously against TNCs and Shell’s activities in Nigeria, and Chevron refusal to pay over $9 billion by the Ecuadorian Supreme Court judgment were major evidences that swayed the votes in favour,” he said.

Meanwhile, it has also emerged that the UN treaty will ensure that production costs cannot be externalised to third parties, but fully paid for in the production process including environmental remediation, compensation and risks management.

Meanwhile The ERA/FoEN boss has said ecological devastation and destruction of rural livelihood sources could be responsible for armed conflicts emanating across parts of Nigeria.

He said, “Since oil extraction has destroyed rural livelihoods in the Niger Delta, the environment of northern Nigeria is not less in devastation due to desertification. Western Nigeria is also faced with deforestation while eastern Nigeria is ravaged by gully erosion.

“In all these, rural people throughout Nigeria have been impoverished and sentenced to slow deaths thereby resulting in reactive tendencies that can no longer be ignored.”

Consequently he has recommended that a social security in the form of National Basic Income Scheme (NaBIS) of about N10,000 payable to all Nigerians who are unemployed could be the solution to the spate of resource conflicts and violence.

By Onche Odeh

Danger! Wild global weather looms

Michael Simire
-
0
Danger! Wild global weather looms

In what looks like a doomsday prediction, meteorologists have said the weather is preparing to go wild before the end of this year, as the tropical climate system is primed for a big El Niño. Unfortunately, the world may be at its mercy, as they say no adequate preparation is on ground to contain it.

The El Niño, a splurge of warm water in the Pacific Ocean, as predicted by a cross section of Climate and Weather experts, will wreak havoc and deaths around the globe later this year, as it is set to unleash floods in the Americas, while South-East Asia and drought in Australia.

Prof. Olukayode Oladipo
Prof. Olukayode Oladipo

Although the effects have been predicted for South-East Asia and Australia, Nigeria may also get a bit of its effect, according to Climatologist, Prof. Emmanuel Olukayode Oladipo.

Oladipo said the consequence of the predicted wild weather events may have been captured by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) already.

“NIMET has noted in its annual predictions that Nigeria will witness shorter period of rainfall this year with droughts in parts of the north.

“This may force the herdsmen to move forward downwards. Unless urgent steps are taken to prepare ahead of time, this may still cause tension between them and the crop farmers,” Oladipo said, while also advising the government of Nigeria to immediately commission renown researchers and scientists to study the prediction, with a view to proffering steps to prevent and cope with any likely weather event.

“On occasions like this, the best approach would have been to get scientists and researchers to do studies on the prediction and also to hear from them how to get around the situation. Unfortunately, in Nigeria we are only interested in spending money on immediate situations.

“Why wait for a catastrophe before we act, when we can actually do a long-term preparatory programme?” he queried.

A big El Niño that occurred in 1997-98 killed not less than 20,000 people and caused almost $97 billion of damage. This year, it has been predicted that the weather would go wild causing floods, storms and droughts around the Pacific.

An El Niño begins when warm water near Indonesia spreads eastwards and rises to the surface of the Pacific. The warm water carries rain with it, so El Niño takes rain from Asia and Australia and dumps it on the Americas.

Meteorologist with Australia’s national research agency, in Melbourne, Wenju Cai, was quoted as saying the more heat in the Pacific, the bigger the El Niño, and that right now, 150 metres below the surface, a ball of warm water is crossing that ocean.

On May 5, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the odds of an El Niño would exceed 50 per cent this year.

It is expected that Asia and Australia will see less rainfall as a result of El Niño, leading to drought and wildfires. But, reports have said many impacts depend on how El Niño affects the monsoons, which is hard to predict. El Niño also brings warmer weather, which melts ice.

Lagos, Abuja host roadshows to promote clean energy financing

Michael Simire
-
0
Lagos, Abuja host roadshows to promote clean energy financing

Roadshows in connection with the launching of the proposals for the Second Cycle of the West African Forum for Clean Energy Financing (WAFCEF 1) will take place in Abuja and Lagos on the 9th and 11th of September 2014.

Prince Lekan Fadina
Prince Lekan Fadina

The events are designed to share the successes of the WAFCEF 1 and to promote WAFCEFI 2 with the objective of increasing the pool and quality of applications for WAFCEF to project developers and prospective applicants.

The event will provide guidance on the essentials of project proposals as well as highlight the benefits of the WAFCEF programme to prospective applicants. The events are organised by the CTI Private Financing Advisory Network, USAID, Sustainable Energy Fund Africa and Winrock International.

According to the organisers, the events will assist participants to have better understanding of the necessary requirements for project development and financing.

Prince Lekan Fadina of the Centre for Investment, Sustainable Development, Management & Environment (CISME) added that, after the roadshows, participants would be better placed to access the Clean Energy Financing facility.

Fashola advocates citizens’ right to vote out non-performing government

admin
-
0
Fashola advocates citizens’ right to vote out non-performing government
Fashola
Fashola

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, has said that the citizens should have the courage to vote out any government that is non-performing to their expectation and should reward the performing one by keeping it in office as long as the constitution allows.

 

The governor gave the advice during the 15th Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture series with the theme, “The Power of Your Vote: A catalyst for A Stable and United Nigeria”.

 

The event was part of the Lecture and Awards Ceremony for the Mike Okonkwo Educational and Youth Initiative Essay Competition (MOEYI) which took place at the Shell Hall of the MUSON Centre, Onikan.

 

Fashola said it was no longer democratic when the people have allowed a bad government to serve out its full terms before saying it should be changed.

 

Base on this, he charged that just as the voting public must be ready to change a bad government, it must also work vigorously to keep a good one in government, adding that that is where the choice is inherent and embedded in a democracy.

 

The governor explained that the United States of America and the United Kingdom have had several scores of Presidents and Prime Ministers in position but no one can easily recall the names of at least a quarter of them off hand because in those countries the voting public have been quick to remove those who perform below expectation and also kept those who performed very well for as long as the constitution allowed it.

 

Noting that there was a connection between politics and what happens in the day to day life of every individual, Fashola said people who are fond of saying they cannot participate in politics fail to realize the fact that everyone is a political animal stressing that everybody should show interest in who and how they are governed.

 

While quoting from a Social Scientist: Berthold Bretch to buttress his point, he said: “The worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he hears nothing, and he sees nothing. He takes no part in political life, he doesn’t seem to know that the cost of living, the prices of beans, flour, rent, medicine and all depend on political decision. He even prides himself on his political ignorance, sticks out his chest and say he hates politics, he doesn’t know that from his political non- participation comes the prostitute, the abandoned child, the robber and worst of all corrupt officials- the lackeys of exploitative multinational corporations”.

 

He stressed that after several voting exercises and the results were released, it is often observed that not more than 35 percent of the registered voters come out to exercise their voting rights, saying another opportunity now beckons as it does once in four or five years period for citizens to exercise such rights.

Man, 23, found bleeding in street after being stabbed several times

admin
-
0
Man, 23, found bleeding in street after being stabbed several times
The man was found on Oldham Road, Ashton-under-Lyne, in the early hours of this morning.
The man was found on Oldham Road, Ashton-under-Lyne, in the early hours of this morning.

A man was found bleeding in the street after being stabbed repeatedly early this morning.

The 23-year-old was taken to hospital following the attack, on Oldham Road in Ashton-Under-Lyne, at around 5am on Friday.

He had suffered multiple stab wounds to the leg, and separate head and chest injuries, police said.

Officers believe he was attacked by a group of men near the junction of Cranbourne Road, north of Ashton town centre, in the early hours.

A spokesman for the North West Ambulance Service confirmed that three teams – an ambulance crew, rapid response vehicle and separate paramedics – were sent to Oldham Road at 5.01am.

They found a man in his 20s with stab wounds to his legs and other chest and head injuries. The man was taken to the Manchester Royal Infirmary by ambulance. Hospital staff were notified in advance that the victim was on his way.

It is not yet known how seriously he was injured.

Lufthansa pilots hold another strike

admin
-
0
Lufthansa pilots hold another strike

Lufthansa airplaneLufthansa said a pilots’ strike later on Friday will mean cancelling 200 flights and hit the travel plans of about 250,000 passengers.

 

The German airline has been locked in a dispute with the Vereinigung Cockpit union over an early retirement scheme.

 

Lufthansa said short-haul and medium-haul flights leaving Frankfurt airport, Europe’s third largest, will be hit.

 

Pilots at Lufthansa’s budget carrier Germanwings went on strike last week over early retirement.

 

Friday’s strike will involve a six-hour stoppage from 1500 GMT.

 

“We will continue to strike until Lufthansa brings an end to the confrontational way in which they deal with staff,” union official Joerg Handwerg told the Reuters news agency.

 

The pilots, who staged a three-day nationwide strike in April over the same issue, want Lufthansa to retain a 50-year old scheme that allows pilots to take early retirement at 55 and still receive up to 60% of their pay.

 

The carrier, which had wanted to scrap the scheme entirely, wants to increase the average age at which its pilots retire to 61.

 

Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr has said changes are necessary to keep the airline’s costs down.

 

Although Friday’s strike will not cause as much disruption as April’s industrial action, it coincides with the end of the summer holiday period in some German states.

 

Last Friday’s Germanwings strike meant the cancellation of more than 100 flights, hitting the plans of about 15,000 passengers.

1...1,9711,9721,973...2,033Page 1,972 of 2,033

TV Report

Archives

2024 EnviroNews Nigeria. All Rights Reserved.

×