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Banning smoking in public in Lagos

Michael Simire
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Banning smoking in public in Lagos

Fashola-296x300Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State last week signed a bill banning smoking in public places in the state into law. By implication, nobody can smoke in public places anymore as offenders would be made to pay fine or go to jail.

The House of Assembly had recently passed a bill banning smoking in public places and placed fine of N10,000, three months imprisonment or both for first offenders.

The bill for a law to prohibit smoking in designated places and vehicles, which was sponsored by Gbolahan Yishawu, the lawmaker representing Eti-Osa Constituency 2 at the House, had lingered since last year.

The law prohibits residents of the state from smoking in public places such as libraries, museums, public toilets, schools, hospitals, day-care centres, public transportation facilities, nightclubs and restaurants.

Section 12 of the 16-section law that was passed to Fashola for assent also instructs owners of public places to place signs with the inscription: “No Smoking” or symbols as part of enlightenment for smokers and would-be violators of the law.

Section 4 of the law says that it shall be the duty of those who own or occupy public places to ensure that approved signs are displayed conspicuously at each entrance and in prominent locations throughout the premises to inform smokers about the prohibition.

In such public places, the owners are mandated by the law to create areas where people could smoke but that it should not be close to the vicinity.

Any person who repeatedly violates the provisions of the law shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine of N50,000 or six months imprisonment or both.

For non-compliance by owners of public places, the law states that such offenders shall be fined N100,000 or six months imprisonment or other non-custodial punishment that the judge may deem fit.

The law further states that any person who smokes in the presence of a child commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of N15,000 or one month imprisonment term.

Where the offence of refusal to place the sign or symbol is committed by a corporate body, the director, manager, company secretary or any person concerned in the management of the affairs of the corporate body would be liable. In this case, he would be fined the sum of N250,000 upon conviction.

The law states that it is an offence to obstruct duly authorised officers from carrying out their duties under the provision of this law. It also gives authorised commissioners of the state the opportunity to designate more places as non-smoking areas for the sake of effective implementation of the law.

The law gives the state Environmental Protection Agency the powers to implement it while giving aggrieved residents who have complaints against officials of the state saddled with implementing it the opportunity to report to the state Ministry of the Environment.

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) and Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC) have described the action as a “timely vote for public health” which should be emulated by the National Assembly that is yet to pass the National Tobacco Control Bill into law.

The ERA/FoEN and CISLAC said the development is welcome and urged lawmakers at the National Assembly to put aside party differences and personal ambitions.

“We salute the courage of Governor Fashola for shunning the rapprochement of British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) which was clearly targeted at thwarting this life-saving bill when the company’s top echelon visited his office last year. The governor has through the signing of this bill sided with the people over and above deadly investments,” said ERA/FoEN’s Director, Corporate Accountability & Administration, Akinbode Oluwafemi.

Oluwafemi explained: “The Lagos State Government must not go to bed now. It must be alert and refuse to be hoodwinked by BATN media hoax about supporting the bill. The tobacco industry is known to double speak on matters if regulation and quick to set in motion groups that counter sound logic behind regulation of its deadly products.”

Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Rafsanjani, commended the expedited action on the bill by the governor, saying that Lagos has again shown it blazes the trail in delivering good governance without prevarication.

“Of particular note is the fact that it took the governor less than a month to sign this pro-people bill into law. It is disheartening that we cannot say same for the tobacco control bill at the National Assembly which has suffered bureaucratic setbacks instigated by tobacco industry misinformation which puts profits before health.”

Rafsanjani urged the National Assembly to follow the example of Lagos by accelerating work on the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) which, he said, would save Nigerians from further trauma inflicted on health and the national economy by products marketed by BATN and other tobacco companies.

CANCER PATIENT

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How petrochemical plant threatens ecotourism in Lagos Free Trade Zone

Michael Simire
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How petrochemical plant threatens ecotourism in Lagos Free Trade Zone

Lekki-Free-Trade-ZoneEcotourism defined in general terms is travelling responsibly to places that promote conservation of the environment and protection of natural habitats. Ecotourism is a global fast growth area of tourism which is growing at a rate of more than 20% annually – more than twice the average growth of the entire global tourism industry.

“Sustainable tourism has proven to be one of the most effective ways of providing economic and employment opportunities for local communities while protecting the world’s natural resources,” said Taleb Rifai, WTO’s Secretary-General.

“For many people, there is an attitude of “we had better see it while it is still there to see” when it comes to visiting threatened forests or endangered wildlife,” said Patrick Durst, a senior forestry official with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), working in Asia.

It is not a new idea to use eco-tourism to help build capacity in poor communities in the developing world, it  should be more about creating a new way to protect our natural environment, create source of livelihood for people and fight poverty in an effective but sustainable manner. This will create a chain of community infrastructures which tourists and visitors have access to and the money generated from these infrastructures stays in the community and help them grow.

Nigeria is blessed with diverse eco-systems, ranging from coastal mangrove swamps and tropical rainforest along the Atlantic coast in the south with rivers flowing into the Lagos lagoon and the Atlantic. Unknown too many, the corridor bordering the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos is richly endowed with resources and areas set aside for environmental conservation such as wildlife sanctuaries, forest reserves and protected wetland.

It is pathetic that numerous efforts   to ensure that sustainable tourism practices are being implemented to bring benefits for wetlands, their wildlife, and people. We would emphasise that tourism business, if well informed and prepared to adapt their operations, can certainly promote and support wetland biodiversity and the natural beauty of wetlands.

The Rural Beach tourism industry in the Lekki and Badagry axis is an example of the success of eco-tourism in Lagos. Although the impact might be minimal for now, but participatory decision making in alleviating poverty through sustainable tourism will cause an Improvement on this developmental strategy and will certainly increase net economic gain to coastal people and the Lagos State Government.  It will be worthy of note that when local inhabitants are made to understand the economic benefits of protecting nature and their environment as a way of bringing economic development to their community, it will be an easy task for the government to develop infrastructures that promotes eco-tourism.

The experience from this initiative will be useful in designing a standard community based tourism agenda for other coastal villages in the state and other states planning eco-tourism and bio-diversity conservation programmes.

Deliberate destruction of this unique expanse of pristine forest with natural habitat for the conservation of biodiversity, nature and diverse ecological landscapes in this region is at the trend which is alarming does not paint the country, especially Lagos, in good colours in the community of tourist destinations.

Blending environmental endowments such as beaches, pristine forest and lakes with its rich and diverse cultural heritage into development projects helps bring closer to the people an experience of modernism or civilisation as many analysts may describe it, but including petrochemical plants and related businesses in the designated tourism zone in the Lekki peninsula axis of Lagos State is like repeating the environmental disasters of the Niger Delta.

In as much as the development initiatives are evidence of progress in economic development, it is a pointer in the direction of environmental degradation  and destruction of natural habitats which will be at the receiving end of toxic wastes from the petrochemical plants in the Lekki Free Trade Zone. Toxic waste management  is an important area that should be carefully planned  because the livelihood of the inhabitants of these areas  are dependent  on the  environment whose major occupations include fishing, farming  boat building and other crafts which major raw material source are products of the immediate natural ecosystem.

It is a good initiative that the beaches along the Lekki Peninsular axis are designated as tourism zone with a number of planned beach resorts, also promoted as eco-tourism. An unexplainable part of these development projects is the fact that this so-called “eco-tourism” is always grouped together with petrochemical industry in the different development plans of Lagos State.

The concept of eco-tourism is not yet understood or is it being redefined by the Lagos State Government and its consultants?  Eco-tourism cannot develop as long as petrochemical industry is located by its side. This is found in the masterplan of the Lagos Free Trade Zone and also interestingly mentioned by Ibukun Akin Fakeye, the managing director of the Lakowe Luxury Golf resort in an interview with Caterina Bortolussi (Italian designer and media consultant). As an international attraction complementing his planned Lekki Golf Beach resort, he wants to build a Techno Park.

A Techno Park is a knowledge-based complex and home for IT companies, petrochemical research, medical research and service-based industry, and also provides eco-tourism opportunities where people study the environment and find means of protecting, preserving and maintaining it. We want to make sure that the community in which we are operating is not left damaged.

The Golf resort, also known as “Lakowe Lakes Golf Resort,” is located just off the Lekki-Epe Expressway, the only major highway that will service a future airport and seaport.

Volumes can be written about the Niger Delta environmental pollution due to petroleum exploration which has caused the damages and loss of diverse ecological and geographical landscapes of this region, in the form of rivers, creeks, pristine mangrove forests, wet lands, beaches and marine ecosystems.  Had it been there have been a working framework for the preservation of the environment in those areas which nature have provided more than adequate bounties for tourism development.

It will be a slap on the face of our generation if we fail to protect and conserve nature at the expense of cheap economic gains in the light of the numerous global examples in the field of environmental protection and knowledge nature conservation.

 

By Ajibola Oseni

NOSDRA investigates, explains oil spills

Michael Simire
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NOSDRA investigates, explains oil spills

The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has said that the cause of the Ijegun oil spill in Lagos is yet to be determined as the Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) had not been carried out.

Idabor
Idabor

Director-General NOSDRA, Peter Idabor, said currently the agency was chiselling the concrete encasing of the busted pipeline to determine extent and cause of the spill. The response agency has a mandate to detect spills and their causes in the country.

“The situation now is very precarious because the PMS has caused fish-kill in the area and, as we are talking now, the JIV has not been done. We know that in this particular case the pipeline is encased in concrete and attempts are being made to expose the pipeline so as to determine the cause of the spill. So we are not yet ascertain whether it was an act of vandalism as claimed by the PPMC and we do not know on what bases they arrived at
that conclusion.”

Speaking on the harm caused to the environment, he said: “Normally a damage assessment will be done accordingly to determine what effects have been impacted on the lives of the people in that area and also enable us come up with some facts and figures on the proper compensation to be made.”

Idabor also explained the situation that surrounds the 2011 Bonga field oil spill in the Niger Delta region.

“Contrary to the reports that the Federal Government has fined Shell Petroleum some amount of money for the Bonga spill, that issue was discussed extensively in a meeting with the House Committee on Environment recently and what we were asked there was to confirm the actions taken by the agency on the spill. The truth is that, after that spill occurred and we noted that 40,000 barrels had spilled into the Atlantic Ocean as confirmed by the MD of Shell, we followed the trajectory and all that took place up to five days after the spill and
we also noticed the intensity of the dispersals used to make sure that the spill does not get to the shore-line.”

ND1Explaining further Idabor said NOSDRA concluded that the spill of crude oil into the Atlantic Ocean had both acute and chronic impact in the water body, with lots of aquatic lives negatively affected and resulting in loss of livelihood, loss of employment, loss of hunting grounds and times and so many other things.

“The agency then came to the conclusion that an Administrative Fine of $5 billion on Shell be recommended to the Federal Government. So what we have pending now with the House is a recommendation and is subject to approval either by the House Representatives or the Federal Government. And our estimate was based on what we perceived as the destruction that had taken place and how it affects the livelihood of the people. The other component of it is that our sister agency – NIMASA – said they have done their investigation and fined $6.5 dollars which they explained as compensation. But I believe that one should be separated from the other. Our own is not compensation but just an administration fine which we have recommended to the government, and that’s the situation as it stands now,” he concluded.

An environmental activist, Joseph Obialor, in a reaction to the development, remarked that it was unfortunate that Nigerians are being made a scape-goat in matters that arise out of the negligence of foreign individuals who exploit God-given resources in the country.

“Does this not make case for the passage of the amended NOSDRA Act to enable the agency expedite action on defaulting companies in the oil industry?” he queried, adding:

“This is why negative reactions occurred in the past in the Niger Delta region when militants took laws into their hands because they have lost faith in those that govern them to protect their rights. The recommendation by NOSDRA and fine by NIMASA are steps in the right direction. It is time the oil explorers know that they will pay some fines if they default, unlike in the past where coins will exchange hands with locals and that would be it!

“Passage of the amended NOSDRA Bill will bring improved sense of corporate social responsibility in the country and check that every operator in the industry observes the acceptable international best practice. It will also equip the agency well enough to achieve its mandates.”

 

By Nkechiyere Itodo

ERA/FoEN: Why Shell’s profit is declining

Michael Simire
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ERA/FoEN: Why Shell’s profit is declining

ShellThe marked decline in Shell’s global profits in 2013 compared with previous years and the imposition of a N1.8 trillion fine on the company for the December 2011 spill in the Bonga Deep Offshore Oil field are twin indicators that the company’s days of impunity are over, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has said.

Shell had posted a 39-per cent slump in annual net profits, two weeks after shocking the global market with a profit warning. It blamed high exploration costs, pressures across the oil industry and disruption to Nigerian output for the slump.

The company was also slammed a N1.84 trillion fine by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) recently for the Bonga spill incident which occurred on December 21, 2011.

Shell had claimed that some 40,000 barrels of crude leaked into the Atlantic Ocean from its Bonga Deep Offshore Oil Fields while environmentalists and the local communities that were impacted said the spill volumes reported by the company did not represent the actual volumes which were significantly higher. While Shell was busy lying to the global community that the spill had naturally thinned out due to chemicals and dispersants it deployed, fishermen within the Qua Iboe Oil Fields and communities near the spill site reported unusual quantity of oil sheen in their waters.

At a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Environment, NIMASA calculated a total of $6.5 billion (about N1.04 trillion) as compensation to be paid to the communities affected by the spill.

NIMASA boss, Patrick Akpobolokemi, said that Shell tried as much as possible to frustrate the agency’s moves to get to the site of the spill. On its part, NOSREA fined Shell $5 billion (about N800 billion) for the oil spill incident.

In a statement issued in Lagos, ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Godwin Ojo, said: “The fines imposed on Shell by NIMASA and NOSDRA and the drop in Shell’s global profits are victory for all environmental justice groups fighting for justice in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. Shell cannot continue to ruin the environment, violate the rights of local communities, dodge responsibility and then expect to rake in mega profits from the same communities.

“We commend the monitoring agencies for imposing these fines on a company with a track record of dodging responsibility. The imposition of fines on Shell here in Nigeria, and the plummeting of its global profits are interlinked going by the fact that Shell has consistently not owned up to its ecocide in the Niger Delta. It remains cocky, burying its head in the sand and expects mega profits. That era is over.

“We have said it consistently that Shell has refused to be regulated. It has inadvertently arrogated to itself the role of a regulator that wants government agencies that have that statutory responsibility to turn a blind eye to its environmental crimes that have ruined livelihoods. This is totally unacceptable.

“Shell will continue to face problems if fails to respect the rights of local communities to a safe environment. It should promptly pay this fine and stop ignoring the laws of Nigeria. In solidarity with local groups and communities that suffer the impacts of the company’s recklessness we insist that enough is enough. Shell’s days of reckoning are here.”

State of emergency

Michael Simire
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State of emergency
State of emergency on the environment
State of emergency on the environment

 

 

Cartoon by Francis Odupute

Measles vaccine stock-out: Nigeria faces risk of under-five deaths

Michael Simire
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Measles vaccine stock-out: Nigeria faces risk of under-five deaths

MeaslesNigeria faces a renewed risk of losing many children this year to vaccine preventable diseases, arising from potential vaccine stock out.

In 2013, Nigeria experienced a major measles vaccine stock out resulting in the occurrence of 57,892 measles cases with 348 deaths. In 2012, the number of reported measles cases was 11,061, with 126 deaths. This represents more than 500 percent increase in the number of measles cases from 2012 to 2013.

Indeed, the reported number of measles cases in 2013, was the highest in the last six years. Most (78 percent) of the 2013 measles cases occurred in children between the ages of nine and 59 months. Significantly, 88 percent of the children coming down with measles had not received a single dose of measles vaccine. With the measles vaccine stock out in 2013, our national measles coverage rate of 42 percent, about half of the coverage rate of 80 percent for all vaccines, recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO.

Nigeria also has the largest population of people in Africa at risk of contracting Yellow Fever; yet vaccine coverage was at an alarmingly low rate of 35% in 2012; also as a result of stock out of the Yellow Fever vaccine. Vaccine stock outs are regular and frequent features of health care delivery in Nigeria. In 2013, there were stock outs of the BCG, Hepatitis B and Yellow fever vaccines at various times during the year1. According to the October 2013 edition of the Routine Immunization and Logistics Feedback, published by the NPHCDA, the anticipated stock out dates for EPI vaccines are – DTP and Measles (January 2014), BCG and HepB (February 2014), TT (March 2014), OPV (April 2014) and the DPT+HepB+Hib combo (May 2014).

We had exhausted our stock of yellow fever vaccine since December 2013. While some frantic efforts have been made to procure more vaccines, the current stock level of vaccines will be completely depleted by March/April 2014. With the 2014 budget yet to be approved by the National Assembly, the Federal Government may not be able to release funds on time to procure vaccines needed for the rest of the year.

For some vaccines, it takes up to six months or more between placing an order and delivery. It is therefore crucial that funds are released on time to ensure that we do not experience vaccines stock out and shortages. Delay is not only dangerous but deadly to the 6-7 million annual cohort of Nigerian children, left unprotected in the absence of vaccines. Vaccine preventable diseases still account for about 40 percent of all childhood deaths in Nigeria.

Vaccines are fragile and cannot be kept on shelves like biscuits and pure water. Vaccines are manufactured on demand; the needed quantity ordered and paid for far in advance of the anticipated time or period of use. To compound the problem, Nigeria imports every dose of an estimated 130 million doses of vaccines needed to fully vaccinate our annual cohort of 6-7 million new born Nigerian children. It is indeed a matter of shame and distress for the so called GIANT OF AFRICA to remain so blatantly impotent on this issue of vaccine production.

It is about time for Nigeria to seriously, vigorously and efficiently pursue the manufacturing of some vaccines locally. The current feeble and half-hearted attempts must give way to a purposeful policy. Given the way our government works, it may be more efficient to fully and completely engage the private sector in the production of vaccines in Nigeria.

Government should then play a regulatory role in ensuring that safe and efficacious vaccines are produced. Past government involvement in vaccine production has followed the well-known patterns of vehicle assembly plants and power generation disasters. We dare not involve the ponderous hands and grubby fingers of government in such a delicate project of vaccine production.

Finally, The Federal Government needs to amend the national policy, to put immunization funding on first-line charge in the annual budget; which means that funds for immunization can be accessed directly once the national budget has been passed.

By Oyewale Tomori (President, the Nigerian Academy of Science)

Hello Lagos, Big Brother is watching

Michael Simire
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Hello Lagos, Big Brother is watching

In an apparent bid to curb the spate of crime, the government of Lagos State has activated over a thousand closed-circuit television (CCTV) security cameras, in addition to existing ones.

Babatunde-Fashola
Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN)

By implication, Lagosians will be continuously monitored by in-house television cameras but, thankfully, not by personal audio microphones; as it is the case in Big Brother, the popular reality game show that features a group of people (or housemates) living together in a large, usually specially constructed house.

During their time in the house, Big Brother housemates are isolated from the outside world and are not commonly aware of outside events. However, that is not the case for residents of the overcrowded city of Lagos who are neither housemates nor placed in an enclosure.

Nonetheless, Governor Babatunde Fashola, in collaboration with the Federal Government, has deployed the cameras in strategic places across the state. Additionally, the newly-reconstructed Isopakodowo Market in Oshodi is equipped with 64 CCTVs to provide security for the facility.

On the necessity of CCTVs to the state’s security, Fashola said that besides the fact that it has become a common practice in modern cities such as London in the United Kingdom, the rise in the population of Lagos far outstrips any increase in the number of police officers in the foreseeable future.

“So we are going to continue to rely on about 33,000 police officers spread over eight area commands and 84 divisional headquarters, to police 18 million people,” he lamented, pointing out that, on the average, it amounts to a ratio of one police officer to 600 people.

During the 1990s, CCTV surveillance technology was an increasingly important and visible part of crime and nuisance prevention measures in town and city centres throughout the UK. The Home Office, police forces and many local authorities expressed support for CCTV and they often report reductions in reported crime levels and in the fear of crime following the introduction of the devise.

However, there are concerns about its cost-effectiveness and about a number of legal, personal privacy and civil liberties issues.

The first CCTV system was installed by Siemens AG at Test Stand VII in Peenemünde, Germany in 1942, for observing the launch of V-2 rockets. The noted German engineer, Walter Bruch, was responsible for the technological design and installation of the system.

In the U.S., the first commercial CCTV system became available in 1949, called Vericon. Very little is known about Vericon except it was advertised as not requiring a government permit.

The earliest systems required constant monitoring because there was no way to record and store the information. Recording systems were later introduced, when primitive reel-to-reel media was used to preserve the data, where the magnetic tapes had to be changed manually. It was a time consuming, expensive and unreliable process; the operator had to manually thread the tape from the tape reel through the recorder onto an empty take-up reel. Due to these efforts, video surveillance was rare. Only when VCR (video cassette recorder) technology became available in the 1970s, which made it easy to record and erase information, did video surveillance start to become much more common.

In September 1968, Olean, New York was the first city in the United States to install video cameras along its main business street in an effort to fight crime. From the mid-1990s on, police departments across the country installed an increasing number of cameras in various public spaces including housing projects, schools and public parks departments. Following the September 11 attacks, the use of video surveillance became a common occurrence in the country to deter future terrorist attacks.

The CCTV later became very common in banks and stores to discourage theft, by recording evidence of criminal activity. Their use further popularised the concept. The first place to use CCTV in the United Kingdom was King’s Lynn, Norfolk.

In recent decades, especially with general crime fears growing in the 1990s and 2000s, public space use of surveillance cameras has emerged, and Lagos in Nigeria is not an exception. Experiments in the UK during the 1970s and 1980s, led to several larger trial programmes later that decade.

These were deemed successful by the government, and paved the way for a massive increase in the number of CCTV systems installed. Today, systems cover most town and city centres, and many stations, car-parks and estates.

In fact, a report, which claims that the average person on a typical day would be seen by 70 CCTV cameras, estimates that the number of cameras in the UK is 1.85 million. A survey of Scottish local authorities identified that there are over 2,200 public space CCTV cameras in Scotland.

Against the backdrop of strong anecdotal evidence that CCTV aids in detection and conviction of offenders, and plays a crucial role in tracing the movements of suspects or victims, it is expected that the device will be widely utilised in the coming years not only in Lagos, but also in other parts of the country.

Giving Ife varsity a face-lift

Michael Simire
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Giving Ife varsity a face-lift

Left to Right: Dean, Faculty of Law, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Prof. Ade Adediran; Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Prof. Ayobami Salami; Principal Partner, Femi Olomola and Company, Dr. Femi Olomola; Prof. (Mrs.) Ebunoluwa Adejuyigbe; Chairman, Committee of Deans and Dean, Faculty of Science, Prof. Wasiu Muse; representative of the Director, Physical Planning and Development Unit, Mr. Adebayo Owolabi; and Provost, College of Health Sciences, Prof Adesegun Fatusi, during the inauguration of a Stakeholders’ Forum on the university’s master plan review project, in Ile-Ife, Osun State …recently
Left to Right: Dean, Faculty of Law, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Prof. Ade Adediran; Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Prof. Ayobami Salami; Principal Partner, Femi Olomola and Company, Dr. Femi Olomola; Prof. (Mrs.) Ebunoluwa Adejuyigbe; Chairman, Committee of Deans and Dean, Faculty of Science, Prof. Wasiu Muse; representative of the Director, Physical Planning and Development Unit, Mr. Adebayo Owolabi; and Provost, College of Health Sciences, Prof Adesegun Fatusi, during the inauguration of a Stakeholders’ Forum on the university’s master plan review project, in Ile-Ife, Osun State …recently

The spatial configuration of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State, is set for a comprehensive overhaul, courtesy of a 15-year project that will see a more effective landuse pattern in the show-piece Ivory Tower.

Designed by Israeli architect, Arieh Sharon, the 52-year-old institution that boasts of 13 faculties and two colleges is endowed with modernist architecture. The campus has an eye-catching landscape built on about 5,000 acres (20 km2) of a total of 13,000 acres (53 km2) of the land owned by the university.

The existing master plan of the university was prepared in 1981 while the first master plan was done in 1961. Then, the main core of the university’s master plan focused on campus development and its original plan was modified in 1963 and 1969 to accommodate growth of new facilities and increased density. The university’s existing land use system comprises 11,855 hectares of land. Out of it, 5,605 hectares was captured in the first master plan and additional 6,250 hectares was acquired sometime in 1973 for further development.

Its halls of residence include: Awolowo Hall, Angola Hall, Alumni Hall, ETF Hall, Fajuyi Hall, Ladoke Akintola Hall, Moremi Hall, Mozambique Hall and Murtala Muhammed Hall.

However, the university authorities have inaugurated a 200-member stakeholders’ forum to review the institution’s master plan, a venture that will expose the extent of existing development, while assessing the adequacy and physical condition of residential, academic, commercial and recreational environment.

The stakeholders are expected to make inputs into the proposed master plan review project being undertaken by the project consultant, Messrs Femi Olomola and Company (FOC). The town planning and development consulting firm has commenced an inventory of the existing services, facilities, utilities and the changes brought by trends in development activities. The outfit is also formulating concrete proposals aimed at evolving harmonious and aesthetic environment conducive to various activities taking place within the university community for a period of 15 years.

Essentially, FOC is expected to highlight the challenges and potentials of the sectors and sub-sectors in the campus, carry out detailed studies of physical, economic, socio-cultural, engineering, aesthetic and ecological components and other subjects relevant to the development of the university.

Speaking at the inauguration of a Stakeholders’ Forum and the Presentation of Findings in the on-going master plan review project, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Prof. Ayobami Salami, urged the participants to contribute meaningfully to ensure that the university produces an enduring master plan.

He said the project has been on along the vision of the founding fathers but, because of the dynamics of the time, “there is a need to review the master plan to see what can be taken or re-modified to ensure that Ife, remains Great Ife.”

Director, Physical Planning and Development Unit (PPDU), James Ayodeji, who was represented by Adebayo Owolabi, explained: “With rapid population growth and changes experienced by the university over the years as well as pressure which has led to the overstretching of academic, social, economic and infrastructural facilities, it became a necessity to undertake a review that will accommodate changes besieging the old plan.

“Our expectation is that after these stakeholders’ consultations, accelerated actions will be taken by the consultant to conclude the project. These include recommending strategies, policies, actions and concrete proposals aimed at improving the existing situation taking into cognisance of the university strategic plan, the university environment policy and the National University Commission (NUC) minimum standards for preparing master plan of universities.”

According to the Principal Partner at FOC, Dr Femi Olomola, the firm is adopting citizens’ participatory approach in the project. “The entire university community will have a say at every stage of the project so that they will see the end product as our master plan and not their master plan,” he said.

Olomola disclosed that members of Stakeholders’ Forum were selected from all the sectors/units within the university such as Head of Departments, Provosts, Directors of units and representative of the Vice Chancellor office, Academic Staff Union of Universities, Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Regional Centre for training in Aerospace Surveys.

He added that the forum members are expected to comment on findings from the studies conducted on all existing land use systems and infrastructure within the university, which will form the basis for other stages of the project. The forum will also offer recommendations on the sources of assistance in terms of funding to implement the revised master plan.

Olomola further said the project was delayed due to some unforeseen circumstances such as getting the survey plan of the 6,250 hectares of land acquired for OAU in 1979, delay by consultants to conclude studies, trade union strikes, and getting copies of the university’s up-to-date base map.

According to him, while preparing a campus master plan, his firm is fond of:

  1. Laying emphasis on the choice of primary access and approach roads to the core of the institution;
  2. Locating the institution’s academic/administrative core as a central focus sufficiently remote and protected from highway traffic nuisances;
  3. The use of open spaces and green verges as connectors and separators of buildings and land as well as to create openness and screening effects on some activity areas and building; and,
  4. Minimising potential traffic conflicts between pedestrian and vehicular movements and ensuring a safe and relaxed environment for the academic/administrative core of the campus.

The firm had previously prepared master plans for: Chariot University, Osi, Kwara State; Elim University of Education, Imo State; South Western University, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State; Kings Polytechnic, Ubiaja, Edo State; Interlink Polytechnic, Ijebu-Jesha, Ilesha, Osun State; and Heritage Polytechnic, Eket, Akwa Ibom State.

Others are Fidei Polytechnic, Gboko, Benue State; Allover Central Polytechnic, Sango-Ota, Ogun State; Ronik Polytechnic, Ejigbo, Lagos State; Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Ogba, Lagos State; Grace Polytechnic, Surulere, Lagos State; and Lagos City Polytechnic, Ikeja, Lagos State.

The university was founded in 1962 as the University of Ife by the regional government of Western Nigeria, led by late chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, and was renamed Obafemi Awolowo University on 12 May 1987 in honour of Chief Obafemi Awolowo (1909-1987), first premier of the Western Region of Nigeria, whose brainchild the university was.

Between the BRICSs and the MINTs

Michael Simire
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Between the BRICSs and the MINTs

Goodluck Jonathan, President of Nigeria
Goodluck Jonathan, President of Nigeria

MINT is a neologism referring to the economies of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey. The term was originally coined by Fidelity, a Boston-based asset management firm, and was popularised by Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs, who predicted that the MINT countries that would be the world’s economic giants in the next decade. These four countries are also on the Next Eleven countries list.

Before coming up with MINT, O’Neill, in 2001, had predicted the rise of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). After a while, he added South Africa, therefore, making BRICS. According to O’Neill’s prediction, these five countries witnessed huge economic growths, especially China and Brazil. With this economist’s prediction that global economic growths would be more visible in the MINT countries in the next decade, it is good news for Nigeria and Nigerians

Nigeria is a middle-income, mixed economy and emerging market, with expanding financial, service, communications, and entertainment sectors. It is ranked 30th (40th in 2005, 52nd in 2000), in the world in terms of Gross Domestic Product at purchasing power parity as of 2012, and 3rd largest within Africa (behind South Africa and Egypt), on track to potentially becoming one of the 20 largest economies in the world by 2020. Its re-emergent, though currently under-performing, manufacturing sector is the third-largest on the continent, and produces a large proportion of goods and services for the West African region.

Observers believe that, this year the MINT countries will surpass the BRICS in the world race for millionaires. In fact, a study predicts that the MINT countries as a whole will perform better than both the BRICs and the G8 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK and the U.S.).

In the list of countries set to create the most millionaires this year, the MINTs are posed to rank within the top eight, WealthInsight said. Led by Indonesia, which is expected to see a 22 percent increase in the number of millionaires this year, the list is followed by Nigeria with a 10 percent increase, Turkey with a 8.5 percent increase and Mexico with a 7 percent increase.

Nigeria‘s geographical advantages are less immediately obvious, although it does have the potential to become the hub of Africa‘s economy at a time when the continent is enjoying a sustained period of strong expansion.

Strong growth in Asia has pushed up demand for the fuel and raw materials needed for industrialisation and three of the MINTs – Mexico, Indonesia and Nigeria – are leading commodity producers. Of the four, only Nigeria is not already a member of the G20 group of developed and developing countries.

Even so, financial markets are wary about treating what is actually a disparate group of countries as a bloc. If the BRICSs are now a bit old hat, it is in part because their reputations are a little tarnished.

Putin, Russian President
Putin, Russian President

For instance, when Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, Vladmir Putin of Russia, Manmohan Singh of India, Xi Jinping of China and Jacob Zuma of South Africa met sometime last year under the aegis of BRICS in the South African coastal city of Durban, the leaders explored the creation of a development bank, in follow up from the previous summit.

Focused on establishing an infrastructure-focused bank, the heads of states fashioned out what it would do and how it would provide an equitable return on the initial investment of about $10 billion.

The media described the bank as a way to bypass the IMF and the World Bank. The criticisms did not end there. Environmental activists also picked holes in the activities of the group in the area of climate change and sustainable development.

Nigerian Nnimmo Bassey, who is of Oilwatch International, recalled that when BRICS collectively gave $75 billion to the IMF in 2012, “it was not Europe or the US which lost voting power – but Africa.”

He went on: “When BRICS (minus Russia) signed the ‘Copenhagen Accord’ with Washington in 2009, this deal confirmed that the fossil-fuel addicted economies could continue polluting unabated while the rest of Africa is cooked by climate change. The governments of the BRICS pretend that they are standing up against neo-colonial and imperial forces. They also suggest that their countries’ corporations compare favourably to the global North’s. These claims have little foundation in reality. The BRICS’ infamous power, oil and other fossil-fuel companies (whether private or state-owned) engage with impunity in the same misbehaviour that foreign transnational companies in the same fields do. They aid repression, drive environmental destruction and harm local livelihoods.”

According to Bassey, Brazil’s Petrobras, Russia’s Gazprom and Lukoil, India’s CoalIndia Ltd., China’s CNPC and Sinopec, and South Africa’s Sasol, among others, are all extending their reach deep into their continents and beyond, taking advantage of each country’s role as regional hegemon.”

The MINTs all have big and growing populations with plentiful supplies of young workers. That should help them grow fast when ageing and shrinking populations will lead inexorably to slower growth rates in many developed countries (and China) over the coming decades. Additionally, they seem nicely placed geographically to take advantage of large markets nearby.

But, just like the BRICSs, they face numerous challenges and it will be interesting to see, in the coming years, how they overcome them.

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