The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has described statements credited to Minister of Environment, Hadiza Mailafiia, blaming the delay in implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Assessment on Ogoniland on the January 2012 protests over fuel subsidy removal as far-fetched, misleading and unacceptable.
Mailafiia, while speaking to State House correspondents after briefing President Jonathan on her ministry’s budget performance last Monday, said the unrest due to the fuel subsidy issue was responsible for the delay, even as she added that the government would commence implementation soon.
But in a statement issued in Lagos, ERA/FoEN said the deferment in implementation of the report was a disappointing turn in the quest of the Ogoni communities and indeed all impacted communities in the Niger Delta to get justice.
The UNEP report, submitted to the Federal Government on August 4, 2011, documented hydrocarbon pollution in surface water throughout the creeks of Ogoniland and up to 8cm in groundwater that feed drinking wells. Polluted soils with hydrocarbons up to a depth of five metres in 49 observed sites and benzene, a known cancer-causing chemical in drinking water at a level 900 times above World Health Organisation (WHO) acceptable levels, among others. The UNEP recommended a $1 billion restoration fund for cleanup.
“No rhetoric justifies the Federal Government’s attempt to shield Shell from justice through delayed implementation of the report or any other actions aimed at pulling wool over the faces of the Ogoni people. The Ogoni and other impacted communities of the Niger Delta reject the minister’s excuse and demand the immediate implementation of the UNEP recommendations,” said ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Nnimmo Bassey.
Bassey explained that rather than embark on the recommended cleanup, the government is looking for excuses to protect oil corporations and keep the people in the dark by engaging in diversionary exercises such as the setting up of a Hydro-Carbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) which it claims will speed up the implementing the UNEP assessment report.
“Our concern is that there was no provision in the 2012 national budget for a project like the HYREP so it is clear that the initiative was hurriedly put up a few days to the one year anniversary of the UNEP report to make the government “seem” like acting on the report. Then, is it not ironic that government is not telling Nigerians what recommendations it wants to implement and which ones it does not want to?”
ERA/FoEN Director, Programmes & Administration, Godwin Ojo, said: “It beats the imagination that in spite of all its mouthing of the Ogoni pollution issue, the government, perhaps, as a result of a convergence of interests between it and the oil companies, is yet to commence the recommended cleanups.”
“It is woeful that Ogoniland has become the emblem of pollution and environmental degradation in the Niger Delta. We reject the government’s untenable and embarrassing excuses on why Shell must not take responsibility for its environmental assault on the Ogoni communities. The UNEP report should be implemented without further delay,” Ojo insisted.
According to Ewah Eleri, Executive Director, International Centre for Energy, Environment & Development (ICEED), the Financing Pro-poor Energy Access project that his organisation is involved in seeks to reverse the declining Federal Government funding of pro-poor energy access by campaigning for the expansion of the scale of government, private sector and donor funding for pro-poor and gender-sensitive sustainable energy options. He spoke with Michael Simire and Tina Armstrong-Ogbonna. Excerpts:
What is the Financing Pro-poor Energy Access campaign all about?
Over the years, government spending on rural electrification has declined. There is no incentive that has been established to encourage the new distribution companies to be able to extend power to communities and households that have not been connected before. So, there is a need to re-launch Nigeria’s rural electrification strategies designed in such a way that is consistent with the power sector reform which has more private sector participation. Secondly, we know that grid connection alone cannot be able to be either technically or financially feasible for most communities that are in the remote areas and that we have the opportunity to be able to meet their needs through upgraded renewable energy sources. It is not really a matter of choice for us, it is something that we have to do if we are going to extend electricity to these remote areas and most of them are in the North. Our campaign focuses on the salient energy crises that we have, that crises is the crises of household, the crisis they face in having access to safe and affordable cooking energy. It brought the focus on rural electrification but also cooking energy for poor household because we have a situation where government has no plans and programmes and no pro-poor policy on cooking energy. The result being that Nigeria is number one on the list of countries that has the largest number of deaths coming from cooking with wood that 95,300 Nigerians should die every year is totally unacceptable. Our campaign focuses on both rural electrification and cooking energy. There is no better way that the government can show its commitment to these areas than through appropriation, providing adequate budget lines to expand rural electrification under a privatised scenario and providing significant resources so different agencies of government can implement policies that allow poor families to have access to clean cook stove especially cooking gas and efficient wood stove. So that is what the campaign is all about.
What is the linkage between this campaign and the concept of renewable energy?
We know that ideally we should connect the grid to all household, to all businesses in the country. The reality is that, quite technically, that may not be feasible, some communities are very far away from the grid making it expensive to reach them, and some community are even impossible to reach, especially solar radiation and small hydro-power and the prices for solar systems have been dropping rapidly over the years, making it much more attractive than it was before. So this is a new situation that we find ourselves, where we need to re-design and re-launch a national rural electrification strategy and back it up with appropriate budgetary funding.
Are you proposing that there should be more grids?
We think that we should pursue rural electrification with the diverse tools that we have. We need to aggressively extend the national grid but even more so we need to pursue low-cost but high impact renewable energy electricity and the opportunities in the solar area are enormous, so also are other renewable energy sources. We should pursue it from all angles, both grid and off-grid. That is the way we can make progress in reaching the target set by the Vision 20:20 target, and the Vision expects us to have at least 75 percent coverage in our country. Today, even though in the past we have up to 50 percent coverage of electrification, but it has declined to under 50 percent essentially because our population has grown faster than our ability to connect communities. So, instead of a growing proportion of Nigerians having access to electricity, it has been in decline and this has happened at a time when people who are already connected have less reliability on power. The fact remains that there is no way we can make progress on the transformation agenda, on the vision 20:20, on the Millennium Development Goals, if we do not provide people and small businesses with electricity that enable them generate income and provide social services and address the poverty that they face.
Unfortunately, the issue of energy for poor people has fallen off the policy ladder of this government and the government seems to miss the link between access to energy, growth and poverty reduction. So we are working in partnership with other organisations to ensure that these linkages are re-established and there will be need to expand energy access. Don’t forget that this is also the Year of Sustainable Access Energy For All declared by the United Nations. So we must have to demonstrate that we are committed to the welfare of the Nigerian people by ensuring that we post adequate budget lines for them by 2013.
Is it that we don’t have enough cooking gas or what is the issue here?
In many ways, we suffer much energy poverty than any country in Africa. For instance, as regards the issue of cooking gas, Nigeria on a per-capita base on the average uses 0.4kg of cooking gas (or the so called LPG gas) per annum. This is one of the lowest in Africa; lower than in Ghana and Senegal. We are one of Africa’s largest exporters of cooking gas. We export more cooking gas than we use annually in Nigeria. The Nigeria LNG and other companies are producing and exporting cooking gas. But we don’t use them at home. So this is an issue the government needs to tackle by enhancing public awareness, by strengthening regulations so people are confident that the use of gas is safe, and also by doing something about prices of cylinders.
Other countries that have made progress including India and Senegal have a subsidy scheme for cylinders. The Lagos State Government has started a project on subsidy for cylinders because one of the reasons why people don’t use cooking gas is because of the cost of buying cylinder which is expensive. The upfront cost is high. It varies according to the sizes of cylinder. Some cylinders are sold at N6,000. Just the ability to pay that upfront cost is a stumbling block and a major barrier to acquiring it. If there was a subsidy scheme or even if there is not a subsidy scheme. If it is a financing scheme that allows people to pay in installment that is one aspect. The other aspect is been able to have lower weight cylinders.
How do you mean? Kindly shed some light on this.
These are cylinders that are like 3kg, 4kg in weight because it allows families to be able to buy gas in quantities they can afford. In some parts of Nigeria now, even if you bring 12.5kg and weigh it, so you know the weight and say I want N1,000 worth of gas, I want 1kg or 2kg. So you don’t have to fill the entire cylinder or as it is being done with phone cards. You can buy N100 or N200, N400. Think of how access to mobile phone cards would have been if all of us can buy N1,000 credits. So it is the same kind of thinking for cooking gas.
Abroad, we have cases where you don’t have to buy cylinders to have access to gas. Can we explore that process?
Lagos State is developing a new law to make it mandatory for estates of some certain sizes not to use cylinders but to have a gas network within their estate where they can only have one central tank and it is metered at the point of use. You pay as you use. In many ways, Lagos State is leading and we think the Federal Government needs to learn from Lagos State and develop a national programme for this and more states also need to follow suit and help develop programmes to address the energy poverty that our people face.
Is gas really cheaper to use and environmentally friendly?
It is cheaper and environmentally friendly than cooking with wood, but it is also cheaper than wood. The cost of the energy is cheaper than the cost of wood and the cost of kerosene, especially liberalised kerosene because only few people have access to the subsidised kerosene which is N50 per litre. But if you are going to buy kerosene like most people in Nigeria buy at N100 and above, then cooking gas is by far cheaper than kerosene and don’t forget we are already flaring a lot of this gas. The quicker we can put the gas to use and assist the poor make progress in their families and businesses the better for us.
How about using electricity? It’s a better alternative, isn’t it?
Today we don’t have enough electricity in our grid, perhaps in the future when the supply of power begins to meet the demand. Then for those poor households that are connected to electricity they can then make their assessment if electricity is cheaper than gas. But today there is no real alternative; people are stuck with using wood including in urban areas. Over 50 percent of all urban dwellers in Nigeria use wood to cook. That is very serious. It is even more so in the North.
For instance, it is not up to one percent of household in the North especially in the North-East that uses cooking gas. It is poverty. It is not only about poverty but more so about the distribution chain of this gas. You don’t want to buy a cylinder when you are not sure the gas would be available or maybe you are so uneducated over handling of gas and thus so afraid of using it because of fear that it may blow up.
A lot of people have this apathy towards using cooking gas. That appears to be a setback to this campaign.
It is the responsibility of the Federal Government and regulatory agencies to promote the awareness about cooking gas. But in promoting the awareness that cooking gas is a safe and cheaper energy alternative, we also need to ensure that we have stronger regulation for cylinders and their nozzles, ensuring that we have good safety standards that we can enforce.
Who are you partnering with?
We have several partners and we are working with the Nigeria Alliance for Energy Cook Stoves which has the Energy Commission of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Environment, Federal Ministry of Health, and Federal Ministry of Women Affairs. We have donors like USAID, the German Government GIZ and banks like the Bank of Industry. On rural electrification, we are working with partners like the Rural Electrification Agency to ensure that there are adequate resources. By the way, we are working with Christian Aid on this, to ensure that we have adequate budget provision in the next budget in 2013 to be able to develop this ambitious programme.
How can this campaign for pro-poor energy access help in achieving the millennium development goals (MDGs) as regard poverty alleviation, for example?
Access to energy strengthens our ability to expand education and health services. The linkage is very strong and if we begin to reduce public investment in this area, we undermine our ability to be able to meet those critical health and education services or even to address the environmental problems that we have pledged in the MDGs. So somehow access to those pro-poor energy services are critically linked to delivering those services without which we would be undermining it.
Environment and social activist, Nnimmo Bassey, describes the formation by government of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) towards the implementation of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report of the assessment of the environment of Ogoniland as a mere propaganda
On the eve of the one-year anniversary of inaction over the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report of the assessment of the environment of Ogoniland, the Nigerian government announced the formation of a Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP).
Considering that it took 12 months before government made this announcement, it is not surprising that the major reason why this was made at all was, according to sources, to calm frayed nerves in Ogoniland by demonstrating “government’s commitment to implement the harmonised recommendations of UNEP report.” There is no public information so far about what these “harmonised recommendations” are. What we do know, however, is that the reviewers of the UNEP report consider some of the recommendations as not being “actionable.” It is not clear how the classification was arrived at.
UNEP was commissioned to assess the environment of Ogoni land in 2009 and completed the assessment and submitted a report two years later on August 4, 2011. On receiving the report, the president set up a Presidential
Implementation Committee (PIC) headed by the Minister of Petroleum Resources (although public information then was that it was to be jointly headed by the ministers of Environment and of Petroleum Resources) to study it and advice government and what steps to take.
In addition, there has been an Industry Action Group led by the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and possibly including the gamut of polluting companies, who also reviewed the UNEP report and made recommendations to the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
There is no information as to whether any arm of the Ministry of Environment independently reviewed the report in order to advise its minister. When the Minister of Petroleum Resources announced the setting up of the HYPREP, the impression was given that the Ministry of Environment heads this project. However, investigations suggest that it may be the Ministry of Petroleum Resources that will actually be in charge.
In a sense, it is not surprising that the Ministry of Environment is playing a less than significant role in the tackling of this environmental disaster. We reach this conclusion because when the damning UNEP report was issued – outlining the fact that Ogoniland was a major environmental disaster – the Minister of Environment reportedly claimed she could not comment on the UNEP report because she saw it as a matter of national security that was too sensitive to speak on. With that laid back attitude, many observers are not surprised that a major polluter in Ogoniland, which is also a more assertive ministry, would take the driving seat. Note that the NNPC is a major polluter and is deeply implicated in the devastation of the Ogoni environment.
The HYPREP is set to implement an “aligned” version of the “harmonised report”- which is a cross between the PIC report and the in-house report of the NNPC. The alignment of the harmonised report was achieved on July
18, 2012 when, under the auspices of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, stakeholders in the oil and gas industry further interrogated this harmonised report for “alignment.” The baseline for this alignment is also
not in the public sphere.
It was the outcome of the “alignment” meeting that was then presented to the PIC, followed by the announcement of the setting up of the HYPREP. In all these steps, the impacted communities were conspicuously left out. This
says a lot about how transparent the HYPREP is, and will perhaps be.
Whereas the UNEP recommendations are in the public realm, the public does not know the contents of the harmonised or aligned recommendations the government wishes to implement. The Ogoni people whom the process is meant to pacify do not have information on all of these. Yet the HYPREP announcement was timed and hyped to blunt the perceived “increasing restiveness” in their communities with regard to the delay in implementation of the UNEP report.
Information on the details of the HYPREP is hard to come by but it is expected to develop and initiate work programmes aimed at restoring Ogoniland and other impacted host communities. One of the steps the HYPREP will take will be to “put in place a Security strategy to facilitate access to polluted areas and dismantling of illegal activities (crude oil theft and artisanal refining) that will stop deterioration of the impacted host communities.”
In a press statement made shortly after the Minister of Petroleum announced the setting up of the HYPREP, Ogoni Professionals dismissed it as a “mere gimmick.” Their statement said, “The professional body of all Ogonis in the United States and indeed the entire Ogoni people are appalled that, almost one year after the UNEP Report was released and President Goodluck E. Jonathan assured the Ogoni people and the world that his administration will promptly act on the report, no practical steps has been taken by the government to implement the UNEP Report except this latest gimmick.” They are also “concerned that the HYPREP established to specifically ‘look into the Ogoniland degradation from oil spills’ as well as ‘implement the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme’ does not have any inputs from the Ogoni people, the immediate beneficiaries and the UNEP that is unbiased and professionally equipped to coordinate the implementation of the report.”
The Ogoni Professional regretted that, since the release of the UNEP Report, “the Ogoni leadership has not been able to secure any audience with President Jonathan and others to discuss how the report will be fully implemented.” They then went on to say that the timing of the announcement raised “serious doubts about the seriousness and real intentions of the government. In fact, the news conference unveiling the HYPREP by the
Petroleum Minister is nothing short of a failed public relations blitz by the Jonathan Administration to give the public, especially the International Community the false impression that the government is taking steps to implement the UNEP Report.”
The implementation of the HYPREP will require huge budgetary outlays. Surprisingly the HYPREP was not anticipated in the 2012 national budget even though the UNEP report was submitted a full four months before the
end of 2011. The plan appears to be that government and the oil and gas industry will devise a collaborative funding strategy to ensure the execution of the projects under HYPREP. Government’s contribution will likely come from a supplementary budget where an allowance would be made for the operation of the HYPREP.
It must be noted that the lack of clear financial plan before the announcement of the HYPREP is a recipe for inaction or at best delayed action that could see another one year or more before initial practical steps are taken.
As designed, the HYPREP has an advisory or steering committee, a technical work group and a monitoring group. The technical work group would presumably have members drawn from environment, water, health and other relevant ministries/sectors. The monitoring and sustainability group will probably be a partnership with United Nations agencies such as the UNDP and one would expect, UNEP. It is expected that the monitoring group will be the compliance enforcement arm of the project. It is not clear at this point what the “sustainability” label would translate to in reality besides given the group a nice sounding name.
The UNEP has issued a statement applauding the setting up of the HYPREP. UNEP must be relieved to see that at last, after twelve months there is a flicker of life from official quarters after all. This endorsement from UNEP should cheer the government. For people whose environment has more or less been killed, this mere announcement of an intention to set up HYPREP gives little reason to cheer.
By 3.00 am last Wednesday in Dutse Alhaji, a district of Abuja, it happened yet again. A building collapsed, albeit with fatalities.
The unsuspecting victims were fast asleep when the two-storey building under construction experienced a massive structural failure, killing three persons while nine others were left critically wounded.
Most of the casualties were commercial motorcycle (okada or achaba) riders who had turned the uncompleted structure into a home. Observers say the seeming sub-standard materials being used in constructing the building could have been responsible for its collapse.
However, as it is the case in previous occurrences, the expectation is that investigations would remain inconclusive and, then, followed by a short wait for the next collapse.
Building industry practitioners are worried that “this evil has transcended the Nigerian landscape unabated and it is, visibly, gaining momentum.”
The professionals, made up of town planners, architects, engineers, land surveyors, estate surveyors, quantity surveyors and builders, seem exasperated with the development, saying that rhetoric and mere promulgation of laws alone would not address it.
They echoed last week in Lagos that they had evolved a practical approach to solve the building collapse problem, which they claim has cast aspersions on their professional integrity.
Based upon the premise that someone should be held responsible for the failure of a project, the experts disclosed that the multi-disciplinary Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) had emerged to keep errant operatives in check
“Professionals in the built environment sector have chosen to embark on a voluntary, humanitarian and free service under the umbrella of the BCPG, which is a child of necessity in the quest for normalcy in Nigeria’s construction sphere. The need to lay emphasis on mitigation of losses, and promotion of preemptive measures that will avert collapse of buildings aroused this initiative. The superiority of prevention to nursing effects of calamity, in economic sense, is obvious,” submitted the building industry experts in a presentation endorsed by Kunle Awobodu (of the Nigerian Institute of Building and BCPG chair), Ladipo Lewis (Nigerian Institute of Architects), Tijani Lasisi (Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors), Makinde Ogunleye (Nigerian Institute of Town Planners), Afolabi Solesi (Nigerian Institution of Surveyors), Jelili Akinpelu (Nigerian Institute of Building), Sola Fatoki (Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers), Bola Bido (Nigerian Society of Engineers), Busola Awojobi (Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers) and Ade Omopeloye (Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers).
Having chosen Lagos (because it has recorded the highest incidence of building collapse nationwide) for the commencement of their “experiment,” the state was divided into various localities or cells.
Additionally, the names and addresses of interested professionals from all the seven professional bodies were collated. The structure also features zonal coordinators and team leaders. Where a member frequents such as residence or place of work determines the cell or locality he or she belongs.
They stated: “Our monitoring activities would adopt persuasive and non-confrontational approach. We are more or less observers that should show interest in the construction activities in our localities. We shall endeavour to know the construction professionals handling sites in our localities. Number of sites in each cell, type of building foundation related to soil test report and other factors will be determined and reported.
“Building construction is where we derive our source of income. We intend to give back to the society through this united act of social responsibility. The greater danger lies within the sites managed solely by artisans and building owners’ representatives. Professional advises that can assist building production at such sites would be provided free of charge or a communication link will be established between the site managers and government officials.
“Buildings that are unlikely to stand the test of time, when identified, will be brought to the notice of the authorities.”
It was gathered that members would, in their localities, partner with the executive bodies of Community Development Associations (CDAs) and Residents’ Association for greater achievements.
“The Obas and Chiefs should also be of great assistance to our cause. On the danger inherent in substandard construction, religious leaders will help preach to their congregations. Enlightenment campaign can help overcome ignorance and sharp practices. Any interested member of the public is free to be part of our initiative at curbing the spate of building collapse.”
Described building artisans and crafstmen as very important in the production of building, they stressed that the sector was being organised and that the artisans and craftsmen were being given better orientation and training.
“These tradesmen are expected to bring to our knowledge inappropriate activities on sites,” noted the building industry practitioners, adding that studies carried out on some collapsed buildings revealed brittleness in the concrete debris. They believe that this amplified the importance of the concrete casting teams “that had been neglected in the equation of solving the problem of building collapse.”
They went on: “Over 90 percent of buildings constructed in Nigeria, especially in Lagos State, were products of these concrete casting gangs. Having recognised their importance, we began to organise that sector for close to four years now. Today, all concrete casting teams have come under the umbrella of BCPG for better site concrete production.
“Now, they are proposing a day for a rally to commence zonal practical concrete training. That day, no concrete gang will work in the whole of Lagos State. These people are indeed many and committed. They are passionate about this initiative of raising the standard of concreting, their means of livelihood. They have produced BCPG vests and caps to be worn at the rally by their members.
“Results of material tests from laboratories are a testimony of prevalence of substandard construction materials in Nigeria. This is an area we believe will necessitate our working with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory, importers and manufacturers of building construction materials.
“Lagos State as a case study; rapid development and vastness of the developed area make it impossible for the government officials to monitor building construction work constantly. Some years back when Lagos was of a manageable size, government officials monitored sites regularly. Then rare occurrence of building collapse was recorded.
“Today, it is obvious that government does not have the staff strength to adequately monitor building construction sites adequately. Conversely, construction professionals are in thousands and are found in nooks and corners of the State. This is why it is necessary for us to complement government’s efforts at curbing the incident of collapsed buildings in Nigeria.
“The government on its own part should recognise the advantage of construction professionals’ knowledge and ubiquity and provide the necessary supports that can enable us achieve results in this voluntary and non-money making exercise. If we remain focused and with sincerity of purpose, what appears a herculean task will become achievable.
“If a building is primarily constructed to protect man and his belongings, it is ironical when it now turns 180 degrees to endanger same. A safe environment is a cause worth sacrificing time and other resources for.”
Environmental science writer, Tina Armstrong-Ogbonna, relates her experience as the controversial Makoko demolition saga unfolded in Lagos
I recently participated in the filming of a documentary on flooding and erosion in Lagos State sponsored by a non-governmental organisation. The focus of the documentary in Lagos was to highlight people, places and communities adversely affected by flooding and erosion. The first of the shootings featured residents of the Makoko waterfront community were protesting against the forceful eviction and demolition of their homes by the state government. We decided to include this in the documentary and followed the protesters from the Government House in Alausa, Ikeja, where Governor Babatunde Fashola addressed the Makoko community. On the 16th of July, the demolition of the lagoon-side settlement commenced after a 72-hour eviction notice was given to the community.
When I received a call on Saturday 14th July of the notice and looming eviction, I set out to do a story reminding Lagosians how, some 22 years ago, slum settlement Maroko was demolished and the area converted to choice property for the rich. I was able to contact a youth leader and teacher in the only school In Makoko. Noah Shemede, a young, intelligent and vibrant-looking youth, explained the plight of his people to me. According to Shemede, their homes, livelihood and heritage are at risk of being lost. True to the words of the state government, officials went ahead with the first phase of demolition that lead to the killing of a community leader.
On the day of the protest against the eviction and subsequent killing of the Makoko leader, the people in their hundreds marched peacefully but angrily to the Alausa Government House. As I marched along and spoke with some of them, I saw – and felt – fear and dashed hopes visibly written on the peoples’ faces.
We wont go without a fight…
A teacher in the community, Princess Loveffans Alfredo-Durugo, told me how the children she teaches who are mainly from poor homes would be further devastated by this eviction. Alfredo- Durugo noted that her love for the children led to her commitment to teaching the children who pay their little teaching fee daily.
“Their parents are not educated but they want their children to be educated and that is why they sent them to school. And now Governor Fashola wants to shatter the dreams of these bright and prospective leaders. Can’t the poor live in this Lagos?” she asked me.
I was moved by this simply question but I had no answer for her. Among the protesters were female fish sellers. These women explained to me that the bulk of dried fish eaten by Lagos residents come from Makoko.
“Our men fish in the water and we process the fish which we sell to Lagosians,” she said. “Governor Fashola is talking about mega city but don’t want the poor in the megacity. Before the general election in 2011, they came to us to campaign for votes but did not tell us then that we are foreigners, miscreants and thieves. Now that the governor has succeeded in winning election into office for the second term, he is now using our votes against us.”
An Ilaje businesswoman in Makoko, Stella Sohe, also told her story.
Her words: “I am 46 years and was born in this Makoko and my parents are late. My husband married me in this place and my first daughter is also married but stays in Okokomaiko with her husband. Where does Fashola want me to go because my parents never told me we have land anywhere. Aunty (addressing me), will you ask Fashola where he wants me and my family to stay? This is wickedness.”
While addressing the protesting residents at the government house, Governor Fashola pointed out that certain quarters were taking advantage of the Makoko people and situation to make money by collecting grants on their behalf without the money getting to the people. He was apparently referring to civil society organisations.
Governor Fashola addressing the crowd
He explained to them that he had their interest at heart, that some illegal immigrants were living with them, and that the continuous expansion of shanties on the water front would not be tolerated.
According to Fashola, the Lagos Lagoon is the only natural drainage that serves the city and the continuous expansion of the shanties is reducing the size of the lagoon and does not befit the megacity status of the state. He said his administration is working on improving the aesthetic view of the Makoko water front to make it the Venice of Africa.
Well, if the governor is saying that homes in Makoko are shrinking the Lagos Lagoon which is the major drainage that serves the state, what about the on-going Eko Atlantic City that is being built on the Lagos coastline and is expected to accommodate 250,000 persons? Is it not also shrinking the Atlantic Ocean that also drains neighbouring communities in the state?
The governor requested a meeting with representatives of the community leaders for further consultations. But Felix Morka of the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC) alleges that a senior government official had once told him that government was committed to the destruction of the Makoko and that government had no intention of compensating or resettling the evictees. According to Morka, the official pointed out that Makoko residents are not indigenes of Lagos State and that they should return to their states of origin. Morka said government’s decision to demolish Makoko implies pushing the poor deeper into poverty but seizing their lands in favour of the rich and powerful in the society, a situation he tagged economic violence and a recipe for urban strife.
Makoko is well documented and globally recognised as an ancestral fishing settlement that has flourished since the 1860s. It comprises predominantly of Yorubas, Eguns, Ilajes and Ijaws, whose lifestyles, occupation, culture and identity are intricately connected to access and use of open water for fishing and transportation of wood from the hinterland to Lagos.
The people of Makoko have co-existed peacefully despite the community’s ethnic and religious diversity. Its domestic economy is equally vibrant as over 40 percent of all smoked fished consumed in Lagos is processed in the community. The tourist potential of Makoko is immense and can be harnessed through thoughtful and participatory planning.
Some 22 years ago, a poor urban clustered community called Maroko was demolished by the then Lagos Military Administration and the residents were never relocated nor compensated. But the area was converted to a choice property location for the rich, called Victoria Island Extension.
Environmental lawyer and lecturer at the Nigeria Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Professor Lanre Fagbohun, said it is shameful that such a development was re-occurring in a democratic government. He stressed that the Makoko evictees would increase the number of homeless people in Lagos and that there could be a rise in the wave of insecurity in the state since their source of livelihood has also been taken from them.
One of the United Nation Millennium Development Goal is reduction of extreme poverty and hunger by the year 2015. How would Lagos the economic capital of Nigeria and Africa most populous nation, help in achieving this target since the residents of the Makoko water front are indispensable in providing fish consumed in the state? Would this not affect the food security of the over fifteen million residents in the State? The question most residents of Lagos are asking is, can’t Lagos attain its megacity status without the eviction and demolition of the Makoko water front community, and since there are other infrastructural development that the State Government should be more concerned with that can improve the status and lives of the people?
Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia, has said that all Park Rangers in National Parks nationwide will be upgraded to paramilitary status.
She made the disclosure recently in Abuja during the inauguration of the Steering Committee on the Commercialisation of National Parks.
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organisation are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state’s formal armed forces.
Welcoming the members of the committee, Mailafia explained that the establishment of the committee is an important milestone in the commercialisation process which began over a decade ago, when National Parks were listed on Section 6 (Part1) of the Privatisation and Commercialisation Act 28 of 1999.
She charged the committee to work assiduously within the terms of reference (TOR), which include: reviewing and updating any policies existing on forestry, wildlife and ecotourism; articulating fresh policies on the conservation and protection of National Parks; reviewing and updating the legal and regulatory frameworks governing the National Parks services; reviewing and agreeing on the role of the National Parks Services and other stakeholders within the framework of commercialisation, and subsequent introduction of Public Private Partnership (PPP) where viable in the National Parks; coordinating the interface between the National Parks Service, Park operators and other stakeholders in the unfolding partial commercialisation of the National Parks; and, ensuring the successful implementation of the partial commercialisation of the National Parks.
The minister noted that the membership, spread across relevant government agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), was deliberately designed with a view to articulating a commercialisation framework that would ensure active participation of communities’ stakeholders in the sustainable management of the parks.
She congratulated the members of the committee and pointed out that the tasks ahead are enormous, urging them to work consciously in tackling challenges like inadequate and poor infrastructure, land use conflict, low capacity and security that bedevil the parks.
The minister urged them to fashion out policies that would encourage biodiversity conservation which provides the main attraction in the national parks rather than concentrate all efforts on the commercialisation of the park.
She enjoined them to work hard to reposition National Parks to contribute substantially to the country’s economy in line with transformational agenda of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration.
Earlier in her speech, the Director-General of Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), Bolanle Onagoruwa, expressed gratitude to the minister for inaugurating the steering committee that was constituted four years ago by the National Council on Privatisation
The United Nations General Assembly, at its 66th session a week ago in New York, adopted a draft resolution by the President of the General Assembly endorsing the outcome document of the Rio+20 Conference entitled “The future we want”.
The resolution comprised of only two main paragraphs. The first paragraph expressed “profound gratitude to the government and people of Brazil for hosting the Conference from 20-22nd June in Rio de Janeiro and for providing necessary support” and the second paragraph endorses the outcome document which was annexed to the resolution.
Following the adoption of the General Assembly resolution, Venezuela, Canada, Bolivia and the United States reiterated their reservations which they had expressed in Rio de Janeiro after the outcome document was adopted at the Summit on 22 June. Several other countries also expressed their views on the outcome document.
In presenting the draft resolution for adoption, the President of the General Assembly (PGA), Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser, said that Member States had their work cut out for them and that by adopting the resolution, a new chapter was opened.
He said that the outcome of Rio+20 was not an end but presented a new beginning and had defined a new vision of development for the future, which would be equitable and inclusive and take into account the limits of the planet. He said further that what was important now was implementation (of the commitments made at the June Summit).
The PGA said that a number of processes had been launched in Rio and that the General Assembly (GA) will continue to play a central role in sustainable development.
Referring to the decision in the outcome document to establish an inclusive and transparent intergovernmental process on sustainable development goals (SDGs) to be agreed to by the GA and for an open working group to be constituted no later than at the opening of the 67th session of the GA, the PGA said that the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the UN in New York (Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro) will lead this process.
Apart from the SDGs, the PGA also outlined other important outcomes from the Rio+20 Conference including decisions to establish a universal intergovernmental high-level political forum to follow up on the implementation of sustainable development; to establish an intergovernmental process under the GA for an effective sustainable development financing strategy; for a facilitation mechanism that promotes the development, transfer and dissemination of clean and environmentally sound technologies; and the adoption of modalities at the 67th GA for the convening in 2014 of a third international conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
Ion Botnaru, Director of General Assembly Affairs, told Member States before the adoption of the resolution, that the Rio+20 Conference outcome could give rise to additional resource requirements. He said that consultations would begin with all stakeholders to determine how the decisions would be implemented, following which the Secretary-General would submit a detailed report on programme budget implications to the GA at its upcoming session.
Following the adoption of the resolution, several countries took the floor to make explanatory statements, express their reservations or make general statements.
Nauru, representing the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), welcomed efforts to assist the SIDS and said that the next SIDS conference would provide an opportunity to take stock of what has been achieved and what more needs to be done. It also suggested that SIDS be adequately represented in the working group to develop the SDGs.
Land degradation from oil spill in Ogoniland, Nigeria
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has welcomed the Federal Government’s decision to proceed with a major oil contamination clean-up of Ogoniland in the Niger Delta. Twelve months ago, UNEP presented its scientific assessment of oil pollution in Ogoniland to President Goodluck Jonathan, underlining serious public health and environmental impacts.
The report emphasised the need for swift action to prevent the pollution footprint from spreading further and exacerbating the already tragic legacy for the Ogoni people.
Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, announced recently that the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project had been established to “fully implement the United Nations Environment Programme’s Assessment Report on Ogoniland”.
The clean-up will reportedly be conducted under a new Nigerian government initiative tagged the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project. Government has reportedly indicated that it will now define the scope, actions and financing of the project.
The “UNEP Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland” had proposed an initial sum of $1 billion to cover the first five years of clean-up operations.
While some on-the-ground results could be immediate, overall the report estimated that countering and cleaning up the pollution and catalyzing a sustainable recovery of Ogoniland could take 25 to 30 years and will require long term financing.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said last week: “On the anniversary of the Ogoniland assessment there are now clear and encouraging signals that the government is keen to move on the recommendations – this is a welcome development for the people and the environment of this region who have suffered, and continue to suffer, the legacy of some 50 years of unsustainable oil exploration and production.”
“UNEP stands ready to assist the government and its agency with expertise for getting the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project up and running so as to improve the lives and livelihoods of the Ogoni people,” he said.
Over recent weeks, UNEP has held discussions with Sir Peter Idabor, the Director-General of the National Oil Spill Detection Agency (NOSDRA), and is engaged with the government to chart transformative pathways forward in order to realize the assessment’s recommendations.
“The immediate need is for the necessary funds to be mobilized and to be deployed to take the Project forward at a scale and speed commensurate with the challenge. Everyone has a part to play in realizing significant and positive results from the Government of Nigeria, local authorities and the oil industry to NGOs and local communities,” said Ibrahim Thiaw, Director of UNEP’s Division of Environmental Policy Implementation, who on August 4 last year presented the UNEP report to the government.
In compiling its two-year scientific assessment, the UNEP team examined more than 200 locations, surveyed 122 kilometres of pipeline rights of way, reviewed more than 5,000 medical records and engaged over 23,000 people at local community meetings.
Altogether more than 4,000 samples were analysed, including water taken from 142 groundwater monitoring wells drilled specifically for the study and soil extracted from 780 boreholes.
In one community, at Nisisioken Ogale, in western Ogoniland, the report found that families were drinking water from wells that was contaminated with benzene – a known carcinogen – at levels over 900 times above World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.
The Rivers State Government introduced alternate water supplies to the affected communities at Nisisioken Ogale, immediately following the release of UNEP’s report, with trucks delivering safe drinking water.
Youthful Abuja-based Information Technology analyst and advocate for change, Hamzat Lawal, makes a case for the National Climate Change Commission, urging the Presidency to give the proposal a second look
Over the last four years, I’ve poured my energy into helping design and enact Africa’s first national climate change legislation for my country, Nigeria. While this enormously important task isn’t yet complete, I want to share how things have gone so far and where we need go from here and need for young people around the world to take actions most especially in Africa to tackle our climatic threats.
Nigeria’s development is climate constrained. From rapidly expanding desert in the North to recurrent floods, erosion and ocean surge in the South, climatic change represents a clear and present danger to Nigeria’s national interest.
There has been a fundamental shift in weather patterns all over the world, most especially in my country. Rivers are drying up; erosion is causing an ecological emergency in the South-east; and the vast investment along Victoria Island and Lekki Peninsula are under threat from rising sea levels.
Nigeria requires powerful coalitions to promote the development of policy instruments, enforcement and implementation of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in order to stimulate change at individual, social, policy and corporate level – with the view to better position Nigeria in the international climate change arena.
Over time, I helped identify influential partners and individuals to help advocate for a clear policy frame work on environmental policy in Nigeria.
In 2010, a Bill was introduced to the floor of Nigeria’s National Assembly (House of Representatives and Senate) which seeks to establish the National Climate Change Commission. The Commission would provide leadership, coordination, resources and information to fully respond to climate change.
Nigeria needs a champion to tackle the climate threat to agriculture, diversify the economy away from oil and gas flaring in the Niger Delta. Gas flaring is emitting of excess hydrocarbons gathered in an oil gas production flow station sites to waste the un-utilised quantities and separate the resultant unwanted chemicals used in the process of extracting the oil and gas from the natural reservoirs to the air. To this effect, environmentalists in Nigeria, especially in the Niger Delta region, have been raising the alarm. They say if the threat of global warming stemming from gas flaring is not checked and controlled in the tropical zones of sub-Sahara Africa, Nigeria may experience heat wave health hazards worse than that of France, which claimed the lives of over3000 people in 2003.
The proposed climate commission will be a strong and more independent body under the Presidency and charged with the coordination of existing institutions, policy priority setting, and development of action plans and expansion of international cooperation among others.
It would also bring together several agencies of government currently working on climate change, reducing the cost of governance.
On the brighter side, the gas flaring issue, among others, provide enormous opportunities for Nigeria to benefit from international finance schemes like the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), but these opportunities are being lost to other countries as a result of the absence of institutional, legal framework and clear policy by the government. The absence of a defined legal framework has contributed greatly to the limited number of CDM projects in Nigeria, despite the vast carbon credit potentials in the oil, gas, coal, cement, electricity and agricultural sectors. Investors are wary about laws determining ownership of any carbon credits generated from these projects, what taxes are chargeable on the credits and the foreign exchange/financial obligations linked to this new commodity and Nigeria itself.
Beyond opportunities for international finance and support, we have a moral imperative to address climate change. Changing rainfall patterns, increased desertification and flooding are today’s greatest challenges to Nigerian farmers, and continue to deepen rural poverty. These challenges put 42 percent of the GDP currently contributed by agriculture at a great risk, which is a matter of life and death for millions of Nigerians.
Civil society organisations (CSOs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), youth activists and the media working on climate change and sustainable development activities are putting lots of pressure on the leadership of the Nigerian government to establish clear policy frameworks for these issues.
The world’s leading economies are taking actions on climate change by reducing their use of fossil fuels, mostly petroleum products and exploring other alternatives by using clean energy for consumption and power generation. As the international community rises to tackle climate change, Nigeria must diversify its economy away from fossil fuel dependence and explore other sectors like tourism, information and communications technology and agriculture in an effort to meet the Millennium Development Goals and Nigeria’s “Vision 2020.”
Acknowledging the significant of mitigating against the effects of climate change, Nigerian youth joined their peers around the world to call on their leaders and policy makers to take quick and adequate action in tackling this menace. Their efforts led to the formation of a strong youth coalition, bringing young people from different fields and backgrounds together to put pressure on the lawmakers, knowing the importance of having this bill passed into law.
We shared ideas on best practices on how to influence the change we want and the role of our policy makers. We drafted an action plan on a youth mobilization/advocacy programme on the National Climate Change Commission Bill in Nigeria (NCCC). We successfully influenced lawmakers (in both houses) to pass the NCCC Bill using various social media platforms and by partnering with the media. We are currently working on an advocacy strategy aimed at lobbying the President to sign the NCCC Bill into law. This will be championed by various youth leaders in the country.
We have identified innovative entry points and resources that assist in mainstreaming climate policies and programmes into the broader development agenda by focusing on concrete issues around policy, awareness raising and international networking. We also achieved greater clarity on the legal framework and roles & responsibilities of government, organisations, institutions, youth and influential individuals with regards to climate change, so as to improve Nigeria’s capacity to respond to climate change issues.
We have also successfully used the social media as a tool to reach out and send our message to policy makers and senior government officials. I remember during our advocacy work, some members of parliament had to close their Facebook accounts due to pressure from the youths regarding this bill.
I had a fantastic experience working with environmental reporters and other passionate young activist in reaching out to massive numbers of people in the rural communities on the present danger we face and how to tackle it together, as this is a fight for all.
Among other social economic problems we are facing in my country, unemployment rate is high, but having this bill would make room for more investment in “green jobs” among others which would empower young people and keep them away from crime.
Nigerian youth represent 65% of our country’s 160 million residents. This is an important factor in tackling the effects of climate change. Women, children and young people are most greatly affected by climate change.
Among others, I have recently facilitated discussions on ‘Oil Spillage in the Niger Delta region’ and the role of policy makers, CSOs, NGO’s, international communities, private sector as well as youth in addressing the issue.
Our leaders in Nigeria have to live up to expectations for good governance by showing commitment to climate change issues in the country and they should develop a clear agenda on policy issues facing environmental degradation.
Prior to the Rio+20 Summit, during our Abuja+20 event using the mycity+20 concept which was attended by over 1500 children and youth, we also used the opportunity to call on our President using various media platform to take the lead on putting Nigeria on the fore front on transforming our Economy by showing examples of how to tackle these challenges, starting with signing the Climate Commission Bill into law.
It has been an exciting experience working with other passionate youth on climate change activities as we all represent our environment, I believe that the future is now! And today is tomorrow! So let’s all come together as one, rise up to face this challenge before our environment would be no more! Together we can all make our environment better and safer for the generations unborn.
Nigeria should play its Big Brotherly role as she has always done by getting this right so other African countries would follow suit on institutionalising climate and environmental policies.
President Goodluck JonathanEnvironment Minister, Hadiza Mailafia
Nigeria has adopted the use of an integrated modelling for linking economic, social and environmental factors to reduce the negative impacts of climate change and promote sustainable development.
Threshold 21 (or T21), as the modelling is tagged, is a dynamic simulation tool designed to support comprehensive, integrated long-term national development planning. It supports comparative analysis of different policy options, and helps users to identify the set of policies that tend to lead towards a desired goal.
The country formally commenced a two-year T21 programme penultimate week in Abuja, where stakeholders at a two-day brainstorming session offered suggestions as regards critical elements that should go into the model. The event was supported by the Africa Adaptation Programme (APP) of the Department of Climate Change in Federal Ministry of Environment, as well as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The forum shared with participants how T21 helps policy makers deepen their understanding of the dynamics within their countries and provides an insight into how funds can be allocated to have the greatest impact on climate change strategies, poverty reduction, economic growth and reducing economic inequality.
According to a source, T21 was developed from more than 20 years of extensive research and application carried out in consultation with the World Bank, UN agencies, developing country governments, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
“T21 is transparent, collaborative, interconnected, robust, and customisable, and includes many critical features that support an inclusive, comprehensive, and integrated development planning process. Models that are customised for countries are based on the ‘T21 Starting Framework’, a set of interconnected sectors combined into a rigorous macroeconomic framework. The sectors and their interrelations represent the fundamental mechanisms that are responsible for socio-economic development,” disclosed the source.
The National Population Commission, in conjunction with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is believed to have developed a similar model. It is, however, now being applied to climate change dynamics.
Professor of Climatology, Olukayode Oladipo, while stressing that more sectoral analysis needs to be done, urged the Federal Government to see the initiative as a national project.
He said: “The T21 is a 21st century model using economic, social and environment sectors and how they are looped together to see how they influence and determine the impact of climate change. We know that any change in climatic condition would affect agriculture, which contributes 40 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). It will affect education and housing, among others. It is important to capture a lot of elements that that country can use in planning. It may take up to two years for it to be completed.”
The source spoke further on the initiative: “The most important application of T21 is contributions to the national planning process: once a country identifies its vision, and key goals are determined, T21 generates scenarios describing the future consequences of the proposed strategies.
“Broadly, T21 is an especially useful tool for preparing Poverty Reduction Strategies that emphasise the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and for monitoring progress towards the MDGs or other national goals. More specifically, T21 supports stakeholder consultations, preparing strategy documents that address sectoral or industrial interests, preparing data and analyses for loan negotiations, and monitoring and evaluating national plans.
“To date there are more than 15 unique, customised T21 models with applications in less-industrialised countries such as Malawi, Mozambique and Bangladesh, and industrialised countries such as the United States and Italy.”
