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Fresh flood worries as govt warns of Lake Nyos collapse

Michael Simire
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The spate of flooding spreading across the land may not abate soon. In fact, if recent revelations are anything to go by, the situation is about to worsen.

Lake Nyos

The latest threat is coming from the least expected source: a harmless-looking but notorious lake in neighbouring Cameroon known more for releasing killer gases than causing flooding: the Lake Nyos.

Exasperated officials of the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) disclosed on Thursday in Abuja that the volcanic rock forming the natural dam which holds water in the lake is weak. So weak that it is expected to eventually lead to the failure of the dam.

And, alas, if the dam should fail, the upper 40 metres of water would spill out, leading to an immediate eruption and a major flood extending all the way into Nigeria.

Benjamin Oghenah, NEMA’s Assistant  Director, Planning, Research & Forecasting, disclosed that the collapse of the dam would result into the release of water at an estimated peak discharge of 17,000 cubic metres per second into Kumbi River, discharging into Katsina-Ala River in Nigeria.

“About 50 million cubic metres of water would flow downhill, flooding Northwest Province of Cameroun, frontline states in Nigeria: Taraba, Benue, Kogi, Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Cross Rivers,  Anambra and other Niger Delta states.

Zanna Muhammad, NEMA’s Director of Administration, said that the wall of the dam may fail as a result of gradual erosion from rain , wind and lake waters or as a result of violent volcanic eruption, earthquake or tremor.

“Continuing erosion of the wall in Lake Nyos has put the dam at a point of potential collapse as predicted by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report of 2005,” he disclosed, pointing out that the study further warned of a possible breakdown of the dam within 10 years.

Muhammad’s words: “The eventual failure of the dam will result in the discharge of about 55 million cubic meters of water which will result in flooding downstream. It is estimated that between Cameroon border and River Benue, 50 settlements including Katsina-Ala, Kashimbilla, Waya, Manga, Gamovo, Andie, Terwegh and over 15,000 hectcres of land will be flooded.

“Also over 1 million people and 20,000 herds of cattle and livestock will be caught within the flood part and could perish. The financial losses are estimated to be in billions of naira, comprising crops, residential and commercial structures, utilities and infrastructures, including roads and bridges and other services.”

Oghenah stressed that, besides flooding, the collapse of the Lake Nyos wall could also result in toxic gas emission as well as an epidemic outbreak. As a way out, he called for the establishment of a fully fledged police station and Civil Defense Corps Station around the areas mostly at risk, evacuation of such settlements, more sensitisation of communities in the frontline states, procurement of more early warning equipment, and the authorities expediting the Gormovo Dam Construction work at Kashimbilla district in Taraba State.

Lake Nyos is located in western Cameroon, lying within the Oku Volcanic Field, at the northern boundary of the Cameroon Volcanic Line, a zone of crustal weakness and volcanism. The Lake covers an area of about 1.5 sq.km and is over 200m deep.

In August 21st 1986, a cloud of carbon dioxide bubbled out of the lake and swept down the surrounding valley, killing thousands of animals and an estimated 1,700 people, many in their sleep within a 25km (15-mile) radius of the lake.

The area around the lake was evacuated after 1986 episode but people have started to move back to take advantage of the good grazing land.

Courtesy of NEMA, on 6th January, 2006, former President Olusegun Obasanjo called an emergency meeting of NEMA, Governors of Adamawa, Akwa- Ibom, Cross River, Taraba, Benue, kogi and Ministers of Agriculture, Finance and Water Resources to consider the threat of Lake Nyos to Nigeria. The then President directed the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to consider the option of constructing a dam on River Katsina-Ala.

In September 2006, the Agency and the expert team of the National Technical Committee on Earthquake Phenomena (NTCEP) visited the five identified states (Benue, Adamawa, Taraba, Cross River and Akwa-Ibom).

In November 9, 2006, 12 members of the House of Representatives Committee on Emergency and Disaster Management and four NEMA staffers visited the frontline states on a sensitisation tour on the imminent volcanic eruption of Lake Nyos and its disastrous implication.

April 26, 2007, the Federal Executive Council approved the award for the construction of the Kashimbilla Multipurpose Dam across Katsina-Ala River, which is about 10 kilometres up stream of Kashimbilla Village in Taraba State to Messrs SCC Nigeria Limited with a completion time of three years.

On September 2008, The Agency in collaboration with other stakeholders put in place a Search and Rescue and Epidemic Evacuation Plan (SAREEP) for Nigeria. The plan covers flood and other disasters.

The NEMA, in collaboration with UNICEF and other stakeholders, is in the final state of carrying out Vulnerability Capacity Analysis (VCA) for the country. This is to establish the coping capacity of some of the vulnerable communities. Communities in some selected states are being used as pilot projects.

Among the frontline states, Benue is considered most exposed to the Lake Nyos disaster, prompting the state government to intensify preparedness and mitigation planning. As a result of an independent study of risks and vulnerability of the people, the government has identified high ground community’s schools, places of worship, etc, for rapid evacuation of the most-at-risk population in the event of the dam break.

Oyeleke: Flood alerts have helped to save lives, prepare communities

Michael Simire
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Against the backdrop of the cache of floods ravaging the land, moves are being intensified to alleviate the plight of hapless Nigerians via an initiative designed to warn ahead of impending danger.

The scheme, which is already in its fourth year, is basically a flood early warning system, such that a given region or community is alerted of a looming flooding due to, for example, excessive rainfall ,so as to curb damage to lives and property.

Tagged the “Flood Forecasting Management and Control (FFMC)”, the project is being promoted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and domiciled in the Erosion, Flood and Coastal Zone Management Department of the Federal Ministry of Environment.

Programme Coordinator, FFMC, Dr. Keji Oyeleke, stated that since its inception in 2008, the project had been able to successfully forecast numerous potential floods and subsequently avert disaster.

Tracing its genesis, she recalled that it commenced via an inception workshop that brought together relevant stakeholders from the academia, the Ministries of Water Resources and Agriculture, Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other relevant institutions.

“They all met and agreed that, because of the annual loss of lives due to excessive rainfall, which is occurring due to the impact of climate change, there is need to do something about it. Yes, it is good that we can mitigate, put in place flood control measures, but how about the control of flood? How about the pre-emptive part of the flood? That was what informed the workshop, where it was agreed that we need to put such a system in place.

“It was agreed that we should form a National Working Committee to comprise relevant stakeholders. There were about 16 of us from different ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and there we put heads together and we were able to formulate areas of duties and roles. For example what role should NIMET play, and what part should NEMA play? And we now put an institutional mechanism in place for the operation of flood early warning system,” she submitted.

According to her, the forum then set out to determine how the system would operate, what should be in place in form of an institution, giving them their role, “so that everybody is working together to have a synergy, because flood control or flood early system is not what one ministry alone can do.”

Oyeleke went on: “From there, we were able to get some things going and, with UNDP assistance, we were able to establish the flood early warning systems, what we call a web-based flood early warning system. That is, it is based on the World Wide Web, and it enables us to download data (rainfall, humidity, pressure, wind direction, wind speed) and in a model we were able to synthesise the possibility of flood when they occurred based on these different parameters. These are hydrological data. And with the model that we were able to set up, we were able to see or forecast where flooding is likely to occur, five days ahead.”

Describing the concept as information communication technology (ICT) intensive, she submitted that staffers were trained with UNDP assistance. “The establishment of the web was also supported by the UNDP, who have been partnering with us. So when we download from the web, we are able to analyse, we are able to pick areas that flood can occur. And immediately, we inform such areas by sending text messages to the Ministry of Environment in the particular state, to the Permanent Secretaries, to Directors, Zonal NEMAs, in case of flood disaster. They are supposed to take urgent action in case of flood disaster.”

“And we get approval to issue such an alert to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), and as well as other print and electronic media channels to help us to publicise the information. Besides SMSs, we also send emails. But we found out that SMSs are more effective. Also, we follow up with phone calls to ensure that the alerts are received. Whether it is the one that happened in Plateau or Ibadan or elsewhere, we always send ahead of time.

“The system started operating as far back as last year. This year, we have upgraded the website. Last year when we started, we were forecasting for 72 cities, but now we have almost 400 cities all over the country.”

She said that the project website can be accessed to a certain level.

“The issue of flood forecasting is technical and sensitive, and needs to be carefully handled so as not to create unnecessary panic. But, of course, the website is open and you can get our maps and some other information.

She insisted that despite constraints, FFMC has been able to successfully forecast accurately on several occasions.

“For example was a very recent one in Plateau State, where flooding occurred and many areas were washed off due to heavy rainfall of long duration. We sent the alert and actually followed up with a telephone call, and immediately the message was received, they went on air to begin to warn people that, look, we are expecting flood, please move away from there, and they did that. But, unfortunately, some people were reluctant to move away from their ancestral homes.

“Another example is in Katsina when we sent an alert to them and they took it with a pinch of salt and when the rain and flood came there was disaster and it was reported that a child actually died. So the next time they received our alert they were on their toes. The alerts have helped us to save lives and property and also enabled communities and whole states to be prepared. It is what we call flood preparedness plan. It has really helped them. Once they get our alert, they go ahead and prepare. We heard that now, in a particular state, all local government chairmen are involved in clearing their drainages, and removing encumbrances from waterways.”

Gari: Nigeria engages further in forest conservation and green development

Michael Simire
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Nigeria, Cross River State and the United Nations sign Nigeria’s UN-REDD National Programme, with an innovative two-track approach, and gear up to implement it, says Josep A. Garí, Environmental Finance Specialist (UNDP) and Regional Advisor for Africa (UN-REDD), who is based at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya

 

Gari (left) with Salisu Dahiru, Nigeria’s National UN-REDD Programme Coordinator

Nigeria’s UN-REDD National Programme was signed on 28 August 2012, in Abuja, by the Federal Minister of the Environment, the Governor of Cross River State and the UN Resident Coordinator, with the presence of senior government officials, representatives of the diplomatic community and the media. The signing ceremony started with a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the terrorist bombing of the UN House in Nigeria, which happened just a year before.

Nigeria’s REDD+ programme intends to be a catalytic endeavour in the country, part of a new vision for green development. As the Minister of the Environment, the Honorable Mrs. Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia, stated, “The Federal Government considers REDD+ as a national development priority which forms an essential component of President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda.”

Part of the programme will have an operational focus in Cross River State, which is home to more than 50 per cent of the tropical high forest remaining in Nigeria. The Governor of Cross River State, His Excellency Senator Liyel Imoke, praised the signing as, “a significant event in the manifestation and actualization of our big dreams for the protection of Nigeria’s last remaining tropical high forest and the mangrove forests found predominantly in Cross River State.”

The signed programme, with a budget of US$4 million from the UN-REDD Programme and an implementation span of 2.5 years, will allow Nigeria to craft the REDD+ mechanism, which is part of the set of policy and financial instruments of the UN climate change convention. Nigeria’s REDD+ programme has an innovative, two-track approach consisting of actions at both federal and state levels. At the federal level, the Programme will create technical capacities, develop strategic and policy frameworks for REDD+, and support the alignment of the country with international climate change and environmental negotiations and agreements. At the state level, the Programme will conduct strategy-development and demonstration activities on REDD+ in Cross River State, as this state has shown a determined political commitment for green development.

“The lessons learned in Cross River State will be used to roll out REDD+ in other States,” said the Federal Minister of Environment, adding that eight additional states have so far indicated interest in joining the national REDD+ process, namely Taraba, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Lagos, Enugu, Katsina, Yobe and Oyo states. The Governor of Cross River State acknowledged the value of this two-track approach on REDD+ and stated, “We will do all that is within our powers to ensure that Cross River State remains a credible model for REDD; this is a demonstration of our appreciation for the choice of Cross River State as the pilot state for REDD in Nigeria.”

The journey of Nigeria towards REDD+ started in 2009 with a growing effort of policy dialogue among stakeholders at different levels, preliminary capacity building with UN-REDD Programme’s support, field visits, UN missions and joint strategic planning. The signature of this Programme signals the beginning of a new stage. Nigeria’s UN-REDD National Programme was first presented at the sixth UN-REDD Programme Policy Board meeting, where it was praised for taking an innovative approach. It was subsequently approved at the seventh UN-REDD Programme Policy Board, in October 2011, after which it underwent further design improvements along with capacity building and national dialogue efforts. In particular, Nigeria organized a three-day “REDD+ University”, which was a major training and dialogue event on REDD+, held in Calabar, Cross River State, last March, with more than 150 participants from federal officials to community delegates.

A REDD+ Programme is highly pertinent in Nigeria, as the country suffers a deforestation rate of 3.7 per cent, one of the highest in the world. The country urgently needs to preserve and recover its natural resource base to sustain a population of more than 150 million people, most of them holders of rural livelihoods whose prospects depend on resilient ecosystems and recovering degraded landscapes. The UN-REDD National Programme is perceived in Nigeria as both a means to halt the deforestation trends and a gateway for promoting a green development path. As the UN Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Daouda Touré, stated during the signing ceremony, “The implementation of this Programme is likely to be a vanguard effort (that) we hope will be followed by many other national programmes for low-carbon and climate-resilient development.”

Western states collaborate to tackle environmental challenges

Michael Simire
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A framework document that will assist the six South-West states to address the various environmental challenges confronting them is underway. The document, when completed, would be inculcated into the all-encompassing Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN).

Lagos, western Nigeria

DAWN is the blueprint document put together by all the six states early this year on how to integrate, as a region, towards bringing back economic, industrial, agricultural, educational and other fortunes that the region was well known for, and led to its sterling growth in the First Republic.

This was one of the major decisions taken at the end of a two-day high-level regional meeting held in Oshogbo, capital of the State of Osun, address climate change, environmental conservation and sustainable development in South-West Nigeria.

The meeting, attended by top government officials from Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Lagos and Osun (the host) states, was convened by the Federal Ministry of Environment under the Africa Adaptation Programme (AAP) managed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with the HEDA Resource Centre.

Governor of the State of Osun, Rauf Aregbesola, while declaring the conference open, said the Yoruba race has common identities, hence should come together had address the challenges facing the region together.

He said the problem of climate is transboundary, and that no state within the region should be isolated as if they can tackle it alone.

The governor said the time had come to jointly address environmental issues that are affecting the region, saying that it could become a harbinger of ill health to the people.

He noted that a lot of people are now being affected by environmental health because of the abuse of the environment.

He said: “Greening is a task for all. It is to promote environmental health, and everybody must be concerned about it.”

While urging participants to develop a framework on how to tackle the challenge, he stated that the governors are ready to implement it and ensure that all the major environmental and conservation measures are followed.

Deputy Country Representative, UNDP, Janthomas Hiemstra, said environmental challenges cut across lines between states, adding that borders are made by man. He said that, consequently, the issues have to be discussed among states as a group.

Hiemstra reiterated the UNDP’s willing to partner through regional integration to address inherent challenges. He added that the concept can be replicated in other regions of the country.

The UNDP boss advised that states in the region, particularly Osun and Ekiti, should conserve the forests which can earn the states money through carbon trading.
There were also presentations from the states on their activities to address climate change. The workshop was attended by the academia, media and environment stakeholders.

Rotary commits $75 million to end polio

Michael Simire
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Rotary International has announced plans to contribute $75 million over three years to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative as part of a worldwide effort to close a $945 million funding gap that threatens to derail the 24-year-old global health effort, even as new polio cases are at an all-time low.

Victims of polio

Rotary, which already has contributed more than $1.2 billion to stop this crippling childhood disease, announce its new funding commitment in New York City on Thursday, September 27, 2012 during a special side-event on polio eradication convened by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during the 67th Session of the UN General Assembly.

Secretary-General Ban, who has made polio eradication a top priority of his second term, issued a strong call, urging UN member states to ramp up their support for the polio eradication initiative, launched in 1988 by Rotary, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The partnership now includes the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Nations Foundation.

The New York event included two panel sessions with remarks by Wilf Wilkinson, chair of The Rotary Foundation; Bill Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation; and top leaders and heads of state from the remaining polio-endemic countries and key donor countries.  The wild poliovirus is now endemic only to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria, although other countries remain at risk for re-established cases imported from the endemics.

“It is imperative that governments step up and honor their commitments to polio eradication if we are to achieve our goal of a polio-free world,” said Wilkinson. “We are at a true tipping point, with success never closer than it is right now. We must seize the advantage by acting immediately, or risk breaking our pledge to the world’s children.”

The urgency at the UN follows action taken in May by the World Health Assembly, which declared polio eradication to be a “programmatic emergency for global public health.” Although new polio cases are at an all-time low – fewer than 140 worldwide so far this year – the $945 million shortfall has already affected several scheduled immunisation activities in polio-affected countries and could derail the entire program unless the gap is bridged. If eradication fails and polio rebounds, up to 200,000 children a year could be paralysed.

Polio cases have plummeted by more than 99 percent since 1988, when the disease infected about 350,000 children a year. Fewer than 700 new cases were reported in 2011. Rotary and its partners have reached more than 2.5 billion children with the oral polio vaccine, preventing more than five million cases of paralysis and hundreds of thousands of pediatric deaths.

Rotary’s chief responsibilities in the initiative are fundraising and advocacy, a role of increasing importance as the end game draws near. In early September, Rotary launched a new, interactive website http://www.endpolionow.org intended to educate, activate and inspire visitors to actively support the polio eradication effort. Visitors are encouraged to sign a petition calling for world leaders to commit additional resources to close the funding gap. The e-signatures will be presented to Secretary-General Ban in New York. Site visitors can also estimate the potential dollar value they can generate by sharing the polio eradication message through social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Earlier this year, Rotary raised $228 million in new money for polio eradication in response to a $355 million challenge grant from the Gates Foundation, which promptly contributed an additional $50 million in recognition of Rotary’s commitment.

Makurdi flood zone becomes tourist haven

Michael Simire
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The Makurdi floods have become some sort of a tourist attraction for many residents of the Benue State Capital.

After much persuasion from family members to pay a visit to the worst hit part of the town by the floods, I drove my two boys, cousin, uncle, aunty and an in-law through the grid-lock Wurukum Roundabout area where they started their sightseeing from the flooded motor parks.

We gradually braved the tortuous but useful bumps along the Makurdi-Gboko Road area of the Benue State University and made our way to Gyado Villa, also known as Ichar Ihyar. From that point, my family members became dumbfounded on the extent of damage caused by the floods.

As we alighted from the car at Kutcha-Utebe to join the horde of sightseers at the new River Benue Bank (pedestrian way) opposite former RCC Camp, I saw the sign boards around Kyabiz Hotel submerged along with the hotel.

We crossed over the highway to the other side and, behold, a large boat came rowing towards us with passengers who had gone on a trip from the new River Benue Bank through the flooded streets of the area. When they dropped anchor, I decided to go on the trip too. My six-year-old son quickly opted to go along with me when my uncle and cousin wanted to tag along but were scared. As for my aunt and in-law, they dreaded the idea of going on the boat ride and stayed back. At that point, my four-year-old son who was initially scared, mustered courage and said, “Daddy, I want to go too.”

As I and my family clambered into the solid boat that was hitherto used to convey sharp sand from the river, the boat finally pulled out into the river for the ride that cost N50 per person. I then made my way to the other end where the boatman was steering, so that I would get to chat with him.

On enquiry, the boatman, who simply identified himself as Zaki (Alias Mai Engine), told yours truly that, although he is a fisherman, he is also into several other trades, especially water-related ones. He went on to tell me that, contrary to the belief that they are making brisk business by ferrying people across the flooded areas, the floods have rather affected their previously booming fishing business.

According to him, a litre of fuel costs N130, so it is still difficult for him to conveniently make much gain. However, he plies the trade to make ends meet as well as satisfy the curiosity of people eager to take boat rides across the flooded areas. He added that he has been ferrying people and even ferried cars from the flooded areas since the floods came.

A look at the depth of the water and the strong current as we rowed past former occupied homes which were submerged up to the roofs, I asked Zaki if he thinks the water would recede anytime soon and he warned, “Oga, this water fit dey here till January next year o.”

As we made our way back to the new River Benue Bank, I wondered how the flooded areas which used to thrive with residents and businesses now thrive on a different form of business – a tourist attraction. That brought one thought to mind: that one man’s woe is truly another man’s fortune.

The beehive of ferrying activity there is not without the usual patronising hawkers of sachet water popularly known as “pure water” and other little edibles such as nuts.

In a chat with one of the tourists, Helen Ikyarsha, she said although she was scared, she had wanted to see the hippopotamus and crocodiles said to have been sighted in the area at the beginning of the floods. Six-year-old Jesse Daga too, after the trip, expressed disappointment on not seeing a hippopotamus.

Another tourist, who stood at the edge of the river, Mrs. Juliet Agbo, told this writer that she thinks the boat rides will help people to come to terms with the extent of damage caused by the floods and thereby learn to appreciate future warnings of impending disasters.

“It is frightening how a once inhabited place has suddenly been wiped off by water,” she added.

Meanwhile, a tourist who pleaded anonymity stated in a lighthearted manner that, with the amount of money collected by the boatmen as charge for a sightseeing ferry, the Benue State Internal Revenue Service (BIRS) may as well come in handy to collect tax.

It will be recalled that the Makurdi floods, which came early September when the Lagdo Dam in Cameroun was opened for excess water to escape and besides the Benue State capital, it wreaked havoc in its path, stretching from River Benue to River Niger, among others.

Approximately, tens of thousand people have been rendered homeless with properties worth billions of naira and over 2,000 homes lost to the flood reminiscent of the Biblical 40 days and 40 nights flood. The question on everyone’s lips is: When will the waters recede? Will the flooded areas continue to be a tourist attraction and a source of income for the likes of Mai Engine?

By Damian Daga

Experts gather in Lagos for ‘ARTing Climate Change’

Michael Simire
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All roads will on Thursday 27th September 2012 lead to the University of Lagos, Akoka, venue of the “ARTing Climate Change” event being organised by Zero Carbon Africa (ZCA).

The initiative is a green carpet event tailored to showcase climate change impacts on different sectors of the Nigerian society using art – music, interpretative dance performance, poetry, sharing of real experiences and video documentary with local content. It is aimed at raising awareness about climate change and inspire positive actions among young people during the “National Day of Action on Climate Change” on 25th October.

Zero Carbon Africa (ZCA) is an alliance of youth-led/focused organisations and young people committed to championing grassroots solutions to climate change and empowering young people on environmental sustainability issues across Africa. We hosted the first ever Nigerian Youths Teleconference in the history of youth participation at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, and an online radio broadcast campaign “Echoes from Rio” live from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil during the Earth Summit (Rio+20) in June, 2012 to increase the quality of African youth participation at the conference.

The event will be graced by representatives and dignitaries from both the State and Federal Government, leading environment experts including Nnimmo Bassey – Environmental Rights Action; Christine Kay – Heinrich Boell Foundation; Tunde Ojei – Oxfam Nigeria; directors of Committee for Relevant Art (CORA); youth environmentalists; renowned photographers; movie-makers; and over 1,000people from difference states across
Nigeria.

Climate change, food security: African Water Facility supports new Zambia dams

Michael Simire
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The African Development Bank has approved a African Water Facility (AWF) grant of €950,000 to support a project to help the Government of Zambia develop, test and adopt updated guidelines, which will be used as framework for programming as well as designing the financing, construction and operations of multi-purpose small dams.

The dams are expected to directly improve the lives and livelihoods of an estimated 90,000 people, and indirectly benefit about a million people living in rural areas, thus enhancing water security in more vulnerable parts of the country.

Specifically, the AWF funding will be used to modernise and update the guidelines that govern and promote investments in multi-purpose small dams, with the aim to give greater relevance to the selection of potential dams using criteria based on community interest and environmental protection, as well as to build confidence of potential development partners. This project should ultimately result in attracting the massive investments required to proceed.

The urgent need for building additional small-purpose dams in the country comes as increasing hydro-climatic variability due to climate change has intensified water stress, particularly in the drought-prone areas of the Eastern, Central and Southern provinces.

The small dams would help sustain the lives and livelihoods of local communities through multiple uses, by securing access to water: for domestic use; for agriculture, with the aim of increasing the agriculture yields of smallholder farming; for fish farming; for livestock; and, for various water-dependent activities such as mini hydropower systems, brick-making, tree growing, and food processing.

The small dams will also be beneficial instruments for climate change adaptation by attenuating the impact of flooding.

“The AWF is fully committed to supporting projects such as this one that propose water solutions poised to build resilience to climate change, increase food security and support socio-economic development,” said Dr. Akissa Bahri, Coordinator of the African Water Facility. “Heavily hit by climate change, Zambia will greatly benefit from improving its water storage capacity as a way to adapt to increasingly unpredictable rainfalls – one of the main sources of water for people living in the regions targeted by this project.”

In addition to the delivery and testing of the guidelines, another important attribute of the project is its contribution to design planning and mobilisation of funds to serve as a springboard to scale up water development program, such as the national Integrated Water Resources Management and Water Efficiency Implementation Plan (2007-30).

The project will be implemented over a period of 36 months from the date of grant signature. The Zambia Ministry of Lands, Energy and Water Development and the Department of Water Affairs will be the Executing Agency.

Mailafia tasks environmental health officers

Michael Simire
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Environment Minister, Hadiza Mailafia, has tasked Environmental Health Officers to rededicate themselves to their work by inspecting at least 50 houses per day to remove environmental nuisance and reduce the incidences of communicable diseases, diarrhea, cholera and malaria.

Mailafia

She said in Abuja on Monday during the inauguration of Environmental Health Practice Monitoring Committee that the officers should “abate the nuisances consisting of business as usual, low work output, compromise of professional responsibility and integrity, corruption and loss of impact on the society to ensure that they impacted positively and perceptibly in their operational areas.”

She restated government’s determination to reverse the ugly trend in Environmental Health Management through the recruitment and proper training of a formidable sanitation workforce and the promotion of their relevance and impact.  She appealed “to various employers of environmental health officers at state and local governments, and large private establishments and industries to consider as a matter of urgent priority the increase of Environmental Health workforce through recruitment and training, and also equipping them for greater performance.”

She appealed to the office of the Head of Service of the Federation to grant needed waivers to the Federal Civil Service Commission and other relevant Ministries to employ more environmental health officers to maintain the minimum required number of the cadre to support environmental health practice.

She lamented that the workforce of 7,000 registered Environmental Health Officers was far from the World Health Organisation  (WHO), recommendation of one Environmental Health Officer to eight thousand people, as this has left the country with a shortfall of 23,000 personnel, according to the WHO figures.

The minister observed that Environmental Health Officers had a crucial role to play in maintaining a healthy and sustainable environment and assured that the Ministry would continue to give them every necessary support.

The Registrar of the Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria, Augustine Ebisike, commended the Federal Government for the huge efforts already made to enhance Environmental Health Profession in the country.  He stated that the inauguration of the Practice Monitoring Committee would further improve the standard of practice in the country.

Flood: 5,000 homes submerged in Kogi, 370,000 homeless in Edo

Michael Simire
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Lokoja, the Kogi State capital city, is one of the numerous locations severely flooded as a result of torrential rainfall and release of water from the Kainji Dam along the course of the River Niger.

A flooded community

Banda, a town which is about 30 minutes from Lokoja, is also one of the worst hit, with the Lokoja-Abuja Expressway cut into two at this point, making the nation’s capital largely inaccessible by road, a situation made dire by the crisis in the domestic aviation sector.

Residents have resorted to using the canoe to travel to adjoining villages.

Lokoja, Koton Karfi, Idah and Dekinah are among the nine affected Local Government Areas.

In Kogi West Senatorial District, no fewer than 500 houses have been submerged. To ameliorate the effect of the disaster on the people, over 10 camps have been set up. It was learnt that cash and material donations are being received in the camps.

A source close to government described the disaster as frightening, adding that he is more scared as the flood has refused to subside.

About 370,000 persons in over 20 communities have been rendered homeless in Etsako Central, Etsako East and Etsako South East Local Government Areas of Edo State after the River Niger overflowed its banks.

The ravaging flood destroyed everything in its path, including buildings and farmlands.

The affected communities were: Udochi, Osomhegbe, Udaba, Agbavu, Ofukpo, Anegbete, Ukpeko all in Etsako Central LGA; Agenegbode, headquarters of Etsako East LGA and its surrounding villages have been taken over by flood, while Ilushi, Urho, Urhowa and Inyelen in Esan South Esat LGA have been completely destroyed by the flood with the entire people moving to Ubiaja, the council headquarters.

Secondary and primary schools in the affected areas are now housing the people, who were moved down by their various local governmrnts where they are now living as refugees.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole on Sunday flew over the affected areas in an helicopter to assess the situation.

Speaking at Ekperi Grammar School in Ekperi, where over 10,000 persons are camped by officials of the Etsako Central LGA, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Oshiomhole on Security and Surveillance, Emmanuel Oshiogbhele, called on the Federal Government to urgently come to the aid of the affected communities by providing make-shift shelter, food and drugs to avoid outbreak of epidemics.

Oshiogbhele, who described the disaster as monumental, noted that the situation had gone beyond what the state government could handle.

Similarly, Senate President, David Mark, urged the Federal Government to provide intervention fund for states that are affected by flood to enable them meet the current challenge of relocation of the victims.

Mark stated this after visiting the flood prone areas of Kabawa and Ganaja areas of Lokoja. He donated N500,000 to the victims of the flood, who have been moved to a primary school.

He said: “The effect of this flood is devastating although we thank God that the number of casualty in Kogi is minimal. Notwithstanding, you are entitled to your descent living.

“The Kogi State Government will collaborate with the Federal Government to ensure that you return to your homes as soon as the flood recedes and the rain subsides. But I urge you not to be in a hurry to return home so that you do not develop water borne diseases.

“What I have witnessed in the state as a result of the flood is saddening. I never thought the situation was this unimaginable. I had earlier visited Benue State too. I can say that nobody has seen anything near this in the last 30 years.

“I have seen the effect of the flood and I will contact the agencies responsible for situation like this so that they can come up with what could be done to help salvage this.”

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