The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has unfolded plans to recruit more female drivers for its waste evacuation trucks following the success of an experiment it conducted with the first set of female drivers.
The female drivers and the newly-acquired trucks
According to the LAWMA Managing Director, Ola Oresanya, the 46 female drivers initially engaged to drive the waste evacuation trucks have shown an uncommon tenderness in handling the vehicles that the organisation is now considering hiring more.
Oresanya, who said this during the handover of newly-purchased skip trucks by the state government to LAWMA in Ogudu recently, said the female drivers had recorded zero accidents with the vehicles compared to their male counterparts.
Besides, he said the female drivers were more friendly and considerate of other road users, and enthusiastic about their job of ensuring the cleanliness of the state, noting that the decision to engage them was in line with the Governor Babatunde Fashola’s focus on women empowerment in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
“Three years ago, we brought in ladies to drive our trucks on an experimental basis, I am proud to say the experiment has been a huge success,” he said.
The LAWMA boss said the female drivers were trained for six months at the Lagos Drivers’ Institute before they were given the vehicles to handle, adding that the organisation was using them as model for their male counterparts.
Oresanya said there were 846 waste collection vehicles belonging to LAWMA and the private sector participants in waste evacuation and management, and that the new skip trucks, which are smaller compared to the compactors, were added to the initial 45 bought last year by the state government.
He said the new skip trucks would gradually replace some of the old trucks currently being used for waste evacuation in the state, adding that 100 new trucks were being expected in the coming months.
Commissioner for the Environment, Tunji Bello, who handed over the vehicles to LAWMA, said the skip trucks would be suitable for evacuating waste in inner and narrow streets, and from communal pick spots where compactors could not easily get to.
He said the state government was an equal opportunity employer and would support the female drivers, who would operate the skip trucks, to fulfil their potential with adequate healthcare facilities and insurance packages.
Bello said, “To Lagos residents, this is your tax in action. When we started our environmental revolution efforts, a lot of people doubted us, but we have been waxing stronger. We are not only interested in the highbrow areas, but everywhere in the state.
“The residents owe it a duty to pay for the evacuation of their refuse so that we can reinvest the money in building capacity so as to serve them better.”
Potential impacts of climate change on water consumers and service providers in Lagos State were underlined recently, even as global warming-induced water pressure continues to dominate international discourse.
Scientists say that variability in climatic conditions is constraining access to water in urban and rural areas
There are fears that access to water in urban and rural areas in Nigeria are being constrained, no thanks to variability in climatic conditions. In coastal areas of Nigeria for instance, scientists say rising sea levels may have negative effects on storm-water drainage and sewage disposal and increase the potential for the intrusion of saline water into fresh groundwater in coastal aquifers, thus adversely affecting groundwater resources.
In an apparent reaction, the Africa Adaptation Programme (AAP), through the Bread of Life Development Foundation (BLDF), has embarked on a survey to, apart from establishing the impact of climate variation on water supply and sanitation services in urban and rural areas, determine the available mitigation and adaptation strategies open to water-related institutions and individuals to ensure sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation services in a changing climate.
Titled: “Assessment study on the Impact of Climate change on the Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS) sector in Nigeria”, the survey officially commenced in May and will span two months. Besides Lagos, Osun and Anambra states as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been earmarked as case study cities. Via a random sampling process, additional cases in study will be conducted, disclosed BLDF officials.
At a flagship forum held penultimate week in Lagos, participants examined the adaptive capacity of service providers and consumers to climate change in the state. Ultimately, attempted to fashion out a set of recommendations for mitigation and adaptation strategies for the service providers and consumers.
The event was conducted by the BLDF with the support of Department of Climate Change of the Federal Ministry of Environment, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Government of Japan, sponsor of the AAP.
The 21 participants at the daylong event underlined the need to increase stakeholders’ education and create awareness on the potential impacts of climate change on service providers and users in the water supply and sanitation sector in the state. They also underscored the need to conduct baseline studies to generate data and information on status of water supply and sanitation sector, which they agreed should be updated regularly.
Similarly, they recommended, households and commercial offices should be encouraged to promote environmental greening and reduce pavement of the neighbourhood in order to encourage natural groundwater recharge.
Besides promoting onsite wastewater treatment, encouraging communal boreholes in estates and ensuring an increase in synergy between the government agencies, CSO and consumers to tackle climate change, participants called on the state government to develop a technology for treating/desalinisation of the abundant sea water for domestic consumption in the future.
According to the participants, an action plan and a timetable for the implementation of mitigation and adaptation measures in the water supply and sanitation sector in the state should be drawn and strictly followed.
The event was attended by dignitaries such as Professor Lekan Oyebande (Chair, Technical Committee West Africa Water Partnership), Jones Awolowo (Lagos Water Corporation), Adeyemo Adegoke (Lagos Wastewater Management Office), Nornah Awoh (Lagos State Ministry of Environment), Sanni Anibire ( Department of Rural Ware Supply and Sanitation -Lagos state Ministry of Rural Development), Abiola Awe (Federal Ministry of Environment), Prince Lekan Fadina (Centre for Investment, Sustainable Management and Environment – CISME) and Babatope Bablobi (BLDF).
The study was informed by the AAP’s resolve to conduct studies to achieve a better understanding on the potential impacts of climate change as well as vulnerability assessment on key thematic areas/sectors.
The AAP is being implemented in 20 African countries including Nigeria. AAP in Nigeria seeks to promote an integrated approach to adaptation to climate change through building the governance system, empowering children as change agents and demonstrating adaptation benefits in the agricultural sector. AAP activities in Nigeria also entail developing the enabling environment by supporting a coherent policy and strategy development process, led by the UNDP.
The AAP was established under the Japan-UNDP Joint Framework for Building Partnership to Address Climate Change in Africa, and it benefits from a $92.1 million support from the Government of Japan.
The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has decried the alarming rate of deforestation caused by the charcoal business in Ekiti State, even as it demanded prompt action on the part of the state government to stave off crisis between the charcoal merchants and the local communities.
The spate of deforestation in Nigeria is believed to be the highest in Africa
This call was made last week at capacity building/stakeholder forums on strategies for implementing ERA/FoEN logging campaign being implemented by ERA/FoEN in Irele and Oke Ako in Ekiti State and Ogbe, a town in Kogi State that shares boundary with Ekiti State.
In his welcome words, ERA/FoEN Head of Media, Philip Jakpor, described the meetings as a follow-up to a site visit and town hall meeting previously held, and that the thrust was to build the capacity of the locals to engage the loggers in dialogue and to bring all the parties together to map out solutions to the alarming rate of deforestation in the three communities.
Jakpor explained that the site visit and testimonies documented revealed grave violation of the environment and that resolutions reached at the capacity building meeting indicated that all the parties are perfectly aware of the challenges caused by the charcoal business hence solutions must be collective, embracing the communities and the loggers.
Omotayo John Paul of Green Peoples Environmental Network (GREPNET) while speaking with the community folks pointed out that ignorance and selfishness on the part of the leaders of the communities opened the doors for the charcoal business and that the solutions would only be found if they are also brought into the picture rather than a sweeping decision of the ordinary community folks against the loggers and charcoal merchants.
In his submission, Olakunle Omotayo of Community Development and Conflict Management (CEDCOM) suggested that the community folks in concert with the traditional title holders should continue engaging in order to come up with uniform views that can be sent to the government in form of a petition.
Similar views were expressed by Omolade Johnson of the Peace and Development Project (PEDEP) who noted that the petition to the state government must also take into cognisance the fears of the loggers who feel that, without an alternative source of livelihood, they will be left in the cold.
At the stakeholders meeting which held in Oke Ako, a charcoal merchant, Sunday Daniel, revealed that the charcoal business was not all benefits to the merchants and loggers as the locals believe. According to him, the challenges they encounter also include poor sales, health impacts of charcoal smoke, drudgery in the charcoal burning process, among others.
This, Daniel explained, makes the operators open to alternatives if they could be exposed to such.
Daniel’s argument was corroborated by Paul Otu, another charcoal merchant, who said that they would like government to assist them if their trade is halted.
During the site visit, other charcoal merchants who confided in the ERA/FoEN team revealed that their activities are with the consent of the community leaders and forest guards working for the state forestry department. The forest guards, they alleged, collect a yearly fee of N24,000 from them. In addition, they pay N350 monthly to the forest guards. Another N350 is paid for every 60 bags that are freighted out of the forest.
ERA/FoEN Forest and Biodiversity Desk Officer, Rita Iyke-Uwaka, however explained that the massive cutting of trees in the forests in Irele, Oke Ako and Ajowa which ERA/FoEN field monitors documented in an earlier visit would not have happened if the community folks had been educated on the implications of the practice by the government and environmental groups.
The high point of the meeting was when representatives the three communities agreed to belong to the Community Forest Watch, an ERA/FoEN initiative, which Iyke-Uwaka said is to monitor, report and protect as well as mobilise forest communities to build alliance and resistance against sharp practices that could result in forest ecosystem degradation.
She told the participants that the group would also synergise with other forest community watch groups that ERA/FoEN had established in Iguobazuwa in Edo State and others in Cross Rivers State.
At the end of the meeting, participants resolved to petition the state government on critical agreements reached during the capacity building and stakeholder meetings. Some of the decisions are: that cutting of the trees in their forest must be halted promptly; that a reforestation scheme be initiated in the affected forests; massive awareness campaigns using local language to create awareness on the dangers of deforestation, and that the loggers and charcoal merchants are exposed to alternative and sustainable agricultural programmes to wean them off logging.
If the Global Water Partnership, West Africa (GWP-WA) were to have its way, governments of the 13 member states in West Africa would earmark more funds for the management of water resources.
Diallo
This appeared to be the stand of the GWP-WA chairman, Hama Arba Diallo, during the opening session of the Fourth Assembly of Partners of the organisation held recently in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.
According to Diallo, an increase in budgetary allocations towards managing water resources in the sub-region would demonstrate the political commitment of the various governments.
He told the Burkinabe Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Burkina Faso, who presided over the ceremony, to urge colleague ECOWAS ministers in this regard.
“Convince the respective governments to make concrete (their) political commitment by the increase in national financial resources budgeted by each country for management of water resources,” submitted Diallo
He noted that the challenge of the West African region in terms of water issue boils down to the implementation of the regional water policy developed by ECOWAS, whose objective is to enable the region to achieve water security.
“GWP West Africa is firmly in that logic and acts besides governments of the region so that the countries with all the environmental challenges and harsh climate can resolve the multiple problems of access to water and the sanitation and thus achieve the goals of meeting the needs of populations, “ he said, adding that he recognises the efforts made by governments in the region, even if “challenges remain particularly in the context of climate change which undermine all efforts and jeopardise the availability of water resources in the sub-region.”
Speaking of the work done by Country Water Partnerships (CWP) in the 13 ECOWAS countries, which makes it one of the most extensive of the whole network of GWP, Diallo expressed the belief that these platforms are available to national authorities of each country to assist in the sustainable management of water resources.
“If the high number may be a source of strength it can also be our weakness if we do not take advantage of all opportunities available to us in the country to make the organs work better and make our actions visible and sustainable,” he stressed.
Diallo therefore advised the CWP to work with national authorities in charge of the management of water resources, “to improve the lives of people who are the ultimate target of all actions.”
The Fourth Meeting of Partners of GWP-WA coincided with the 10th anniversary of the official launching of the regional organisation established in March 2002 at the constitutive assembly in Bamako, Mali.
Poised to step up the campaign against climate change and its disastrous effects on the environment across Nigeria, a host of top Nollywood stars are set to hit location for a documentary titled, “Battle for Life”.
Jide Kosoko
The documentary, spearheaded by foremost actor, Jide Kosoko, is expected to dramatically examine core issues in climate change as it relates to Nigeria’s peculiar setting.
Kosoko recently led his colleagues including Director for the documentary, Tunji Bamishigbin, Rachel Oniga, Antar Laniyan, Segun Arinze, Ngozi Nwosu, Chinedu Ikedieze aka Aki and a host of others on a courtesy visit to the Lagos State Ministry of Environment, one of the major sponsors of the documentary drama.
Kosoko, who spoke to newsmen, said “Battle for Life” would enlighten Nigerians about climate change, its causes and effects on the environment, human existence, well being and the economy.
“It will examine both traditional and modern human practices that have significantly contributed to global warming and ozone layer depletion and dramatically proffering workable steps that can be taken to mitigate or reduce incidences of global warming bearing in mind the peculiarities of the Nigerian society and cultures”.
He said the docudrama would employ English Language, Pidgin and other indigenous languages as medium of communication to enhance acceptability and effectiveness as a public enlightenment, education and sensitisation tool.
Giving an insight to its synopsis, Kosoko said it would chronicle the great threats climate change poses to Nigerians with desertification in the North, soil gully erosion in the East and flooding in the West and how the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) through collective activities are responsible for it.
“It will also show real time images of climate change induced disasters and how our future hangs in the balance if simple, efficient and cost effective mitigation and adaptation measures are not urgently embraced by all and sundry,” Kosoko said.
Receiving the Nollywood stars, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Dr. Mrs. Titi Anibaba, said the state government was not relenting in its effort to ensure that residents do not suffer the consequences of climate change, especially through flooding.
She commended the initiative of the docudrama which, according to her, would go a long way to spread the gospel of shunning activities that leads to climate change as well as embrace measures to mitigate it.
She assured of the support from the state government to provide logistics, urging the Federal Government to be more proactive and carry all states along to ensure that every Nigerian joins the fight against climate change.
The project is being supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the African Adaptation Programme (AAP). Indeed, it is being executed under the overall guidance of the Department of Climate Change (of the Federal Ministry of Environment) and the National Coordinator for AAP Project Monitoring Unit (PMU), Dr. Adejuwon, with day-to-day supervision of the AAP Project Coordinator in close collaboration with the UNDP’s Sustainable Development Unit.
The implementation of the Nigeria REDD+ Readiness Programme has received the go-ahead, following a recent stakeholder-wide reassessment of the plan in Abuja.
Chairman, Cross River State Forestry Commission, Odigha Odigha (left); United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country Director, Ade Mamonyane Lekoetje (middle); and National Coordinator, Nigeria REDD+ Programme, Salisu Dahiru (right), during the REDD+ Readiness Plan Local Project Appraisal Committee (LPAC) meeting, in Abuja
Having previously undergone an intensive check to incorporate the comments of the UN-REDD Policy Board, the approved national programme, in line with the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) management procedure, required a critical analytical review of its design and formulation before the commencement of implementation.
Consequently, government, UN and civil society officials gathered at a daylong forum that featured Local Project Appraisal Committee (LPAC) as well as Technical Review meetings, aimed at assessing the REDD+ document.
During the LPAC gathering, UNDP Country Director, Ade Mamonyane Lekoetje, said that the event functioned to validate the REDD+ report prior to project implementation. She reiterated the UN body’s support for the nation’s REDD initiatives, expressing the hope that, besides being successfully implemented in Cross River, other states would eventually adopt the programme.
National Coordinator of REDD+ Programme, Salisu Dahiru, disclosed that Nigeria would attempt to unify the two REDD+ Programme implementations tracks – UN-REDD and Forest Carbon Partnership (FCP) – under a single platform. He added that a Readiness Preparation Proposal (RPP) requested by the FCP was being attended to.
Currently, the Nigeria REDD+ Readiness Programme, which seeks to build the REDD+ mechanism in the country using Cross River State as a demonstration model, is being promoted under the UN-REDD track, which comprises the UNDP, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).
Nigeria has secured a $4 million funding for the two-and-half-year project, which will officially commence in September 2012 and come to a close in February 2015.
Dahiru, a forester, stated that co-financing would be sought to ensure a robust REDD+ readiness process and to expand REDD+ across other interested states, such as Taraba.
Chairman, Cross River State Forestry Commission, Odigha Odigha, emphasised that the state government has since 2009 consistently budgeted for REDD+ to, essentially, address the sacrifices arising from locking up the forest as well as measuring its carbon.
While expressing satisfaction with the report, participants however suggested the inclusion of areas related to further research, training of government officials and local people, and how other states can key into the project. The separation of REDD+ from the Federal Ministry of Environment’s Forestry Department was also questioned.
At the Technical Review meeting, participants underlined the need for emphasis and clarifications on awareness creation, role of civil society organisations (CSOs), separation of training from research, monitoring and institutional arrangements, as well as domestication and scaling down of issues and processes.
The gathering likewise appraised the objectives, outputs and activities; log frame indicators; management arrangements; as well as endorsement of: the project’s budget, management structure and terms of reference (TOR) for key project staff.
To develop and finalise the REDD+ proposal, the country had launched work on REDD+ streams like those on socio-environmental safeguards, multiple ecosystem benefits, participatory governance assessment for REDD+, and enhanced capacities for UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) reporting. Several months ago, a “REDD+ University” forum held in Calabar (capital of Cross River State) as part of the process of finalising the programme document, by building capacity and providing the basis for the programme’s public inception.
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.”
