Nigerian Environment Weekly

LAGOS CAUTIONS RESIDENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS

As the environment is becoming dusty and hazy, the Lagos State government has urged residents to be cautious of fire and environmental hazards.
The State commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti, who gave this advice during an interactive session with newsmen in Alausa, Ikeja, stressed that it was necessary to enlighten Lagosians to show utmost love to their environment, even as they celebrate the Christmas and New year.

Durosinmi-Etti, urged Lagosians to respect the environment, bear in mind that a lot of waste would be generated during the Christmas and New Year celebrations and dispose of animal waste properly as well as bag their refuse and put at designated points.

He assured Lagosians that the State Government was redoubling efforts through the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) to ensure a cleaner and healthier state for the benefit of all residents of the state. He urged Lagosians to desist from acts that could have negative impacts on the environment, reduce their waste and think of the environment first as they make their yuletide preparations.

The Environment Commissioner advised Lagosians to guide against the outbreak of epidemics, saying that residents must always ensure that they handle waste in the most appropriate way by properly bagging them and placing them strategically in front of their buildings.

Meanwhile, Durosinmi-Etti also urged Lagosians to be cautious of naked fire in ci******es, firewood, cooking stoves among other sources, in order to reduce the incidents of fire outbreaks, especially during this harmattan season.His words: “as our environment is becoming dusty and hazy with dryness affecting everything including trees, wooden items, leaves and furniture, we urge residents to be extremely careful with fire so as to prevent outbreaks because fire is nobody’s friend.”

He advised Lagosians to take precautionary measures by making sure that they avoid bush and solid waste burning during this period as this may lead to fire outbreak, while urging all to install fire extinguishers in their homes, cars, offices, market places and motor parks.

The Commissioner stated that motorists should ensure that they have fire extinguishers in their vehicles, maintain speed limits and observe road signs.

Durosinmi-Etti advised residents to make use of the Lagos State Parks in their neighborhood but be mindful of their activities in parks and gardens by obeying the Public Smoking Law and avoid bringing inflammable objects to the gardens.

He advised Lagosians against the storage of petrol and other inflammable materials at homes, offices, shops and markets as their storage could aid fire outbreak, especially at this Harmattan period when virtually all objects in the environment are dry.

FG, Cross Rivers government tasked on WASH policy, counterpart funding

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), United Purpose and other stakeholders in water and sanitation projects in Cross River State have appealed to the state government to provide the twenty five percent counterpart fund expected to enable communities benefit from Water, Sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programmes in the state.

They said the government has not done enough in closing the gaps and feared that the people stands to lose if urgent steps are not taken.

The call was contained in a communiqué jointly signed by relevant stakeholders in Calabar during a one- day engagement with the state’s WASH Steering Committee on Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme (WSSSRP) II status.

In the communiqué, the stakeholders called on the state government to establish WASH department in the state.

Speaking earlier, the Director General, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, (RUWATSSA), Ita Ikpeme, said the state government could not raise the counterpart fund to support donor agencies in WASH projects because of the state’s financial situation.

He noted that Governor Ben Ayade has been passionate about providing water and sanitation to communities in all the local government areas, hence his promise to commit $15million to WASH projects despite lean resource.

Meanwhile, a university lecturer, Emmanuel Akpabio, has called on the federal government to formulate a coherent policy for water sanitation and hygiene. He observed that, the lack of such policy has hampered government’s effort to sustain improved WASH performance.

Akpabio who lectures at the University of Uyo made the call during a one day public engagement on a European Union project aimed at improving the capacities of policy makers, scientists and relevant stakeholders for achieving evidence-based policies in WASH held in Uyo.

He noted that roughly 42 percent of the urban and semi urban populations are estimated to have access to safe drinking water as compared with about 29 percent of the rural dwellers.

He said the present ad-hoc arrangement was not good enough, adding that, the entire government system has to be reformed to pave way for innovation and smart ways of project implementation.

He noted that the task of securing access to safe drinking water and sanitary services is transferred to the ordinary citizens who have to depend on all forms of unimproved sources mostly dictated by economic, social and environmental circumstances as well as religious and cultural beliefs”.

He further explained that unsafe drinking water; inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene are a major challenge in developing countries with dire consequences of avoidable deaths and diseases.

“WASH has diverse dimension, water (quantity and quality). It is associated with the transmission of water-washed, water borne, water –based and water related disease arising from inadequate supply, poor quality, hosts to aquatic invertebrates and the spread of diseases agents respectively. The sources of water we drink, the storage medium and the way we manage water are fundamental. Sanitation and hygiene carry several elements including personal hygiene, domestic and environmental cleanliness, waste disposal, hand washing, food hygiene, menstrual hygiene, child, safe disposal of human excrement and control of waste water”, he said.

Akpabio bemoaned the impact of water, sanitation, hygiene and public health on children and woman who spend so much of their time and energy to secure water for drinking at the expense of engaging in other productive/study activities.

According to him, a child carry the main responsibility for collecting water with girls under 15 years of age being twice as likely to carry the responsibility as boys’ under15 years pointing out that in Africa, 90 percent of the work of gathering water for the household and for food preparation is done by women.

“Indeed, WASH challenge in Sub South Africa is complicated by the existence of layers of socio-cultural and religious beliefs, attitudes and values across geographic, religion and economic groups, our greatest problem is our inability to disengage WASH matters from socio-cultural behaviour and religious beliefs which in some cases are reproduced at the policy arena,” he added.

EXPERT REITERATE THE URGENT NEED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, PROPER WASTE DISPOSAL AND GAS FLARING.

By Uchegbu Samuel arinze, An Environmental Educator,
Reporting from Abuja.

Environmental experts have called for increased efforts geared towards public awareness on the dangers of poor environmental management systems in the country.

They want government at all levels to shun lip service on implementation of policies that could guarantee healthy waste disposal and pollution management practice.

Leading the call at the 6th edition of the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Mitigation (SETPOM) International Conference and Fellows Award Conferment held in Lagos, President of SETPOM, Dr. Fumilayo Doherty, warned that if nothing drastic is done to mitigate the nation’s current waste disposal and gas flaring pattern, the earth would reach a point of no return summarized by increased temperature, unpredictable climate and inundation of coastal cities.

According to her, there is an urgent need to take responsible actions, to create awareness of the hazards in the environment especially amongst young people so that they can protect against and preferably find solutions or remedies to the hazards.

She noted that the conference themed: “Environmental advocacy, policies and sustainable pollution management”, is coming at the right time when there are lot of issues surrounding the state of waste management in Lagos.

Doherty explained that successful environmental management pattern involves structured planning and resources for developing, implementing and maintaining policy for environmental protection.

Stakeholders, she said, need to come together to find lasting solutions to the problem of waste, sustaining living and changing the orientation of people towards the environment.

“The country is still far in terms of environmental sustainability and waste management, if we don’t have the political will to enforce some of the laws that we have, we will continue to run into problems as waste are being disposed anyhow across the federation without anyone being punished or held accountable. From the point of generation wastes ought to be sorted out, the plastics can be recycled while serving as employment opportunities to the youths”, she said.

CROSSRIVER PARTNERS TARABA ON FOREST CONSERVATION

In an effort to check threat on the country’s ecosystem, Cross River and Taraba States have agreed to partner on forest conservation and sustainability.
The partnership will be through collaborations among civil societies, communities and the media organisations in the two states.

This position was contained in a communique signed by the Chief Executive Officer of Development Concern, Mr. Martins Egot of Cross River State and an Environmental Journalist from Taraba State, Alhaji Lawn Sani kona in Ikom after a two-day workshop on “Cross River and Taraba State knowledge exchange worshop on Forest Governance” facilitated by Development Concern with support from Heinrich Boll foundation.

The two states agreed to share ideas on various methods of farming on forest sustainability so as to create an alternative means of livelihood in forest communities.

The workshop was specifically organised for Taraba state to learn from the rich knowledge of Cross River state on forest conservation.

The participants agreed that there should be community organising, stakeholder participation, grievance redress/benefit sharing, transparency and accountability, harmonisation of policy and legal framework in the two states.

The workshop identified serious challenges of forest protection in Taraba noting that there is much pressure from herdsmen, poor funding of park by government, and rangers .

It was also suggested that Taraba learn from the Cross River experience of forest management with enabling laws put in place by government as well as adequate funding from government and individuals in managing the forest and national parks in both states.

On the issue of moratorium, the workshop called on the Cross River State government to lift the ban which is over 10 years now since people are logging recklessly.

One of the facilitators and a consultant on Environment, Mr. Tony Atah said, “Cross River is unique because we have vegetation cover as all vegetation in Nigerian can be found in the state.”

“We have the National park which alone constitutes 50 per cent of forest in Cross River, 17 forests reserves, wildlife sanctuaries community forests (lowest size because of pressure from farming etc), local government forests and private forests”

He said over 140,000 hectares of forests is lost even with moratoriums and “there is a lot of political influence and corruption. A lot of illegal logging going on in the state”.

UN to investigate banned ozone substances emissions

Few weeks after a study released in Nature indicated that emissions of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)-11 had unexpectedly increased in recent years – despite a global ban on production since 2010 – investigations by the independent Environmental Investigation Agency and the New York Times are pointing to eight factories in China as a primary source of these new emissions.
In response to these latest findings, UN Environment issued the following statement: “Illegal production of CFC-11 is nothing short of an environmental crime, which demands decisive action. At the same time, we must continue to dig deeper.

Based on the scale of detected emissions there is good reason to believe the problem extends beyond these uncovered cases of illegal production.

“These investigations are part of a wider body of scientific verification taking place with all parties to the Montreal Protocol.
These, taken together, will establish a clear and actionable picture of the quantities and precise locations of violation, as well as the possibility of other scientific explanations.

“It is in these moments that the mechanisms of the international community are more valuable than ever. The focus on this issue is intense, and thankfully we have strong support from all member states.

We are engaged in an ongoing dialogue with all parties to the Montreal Protocol, including close collaboration with China, to ensure any illegal activities so far detected are investigated and immediately halted.”

CFCs, which were once found in aerosols, refrigerants, solvents and other products, were banned in 1996 under the Montreal Protocol. Aside from their ozone impact, they are potent global warming agents.

The scientific assessment panel of the Montreal Protocol (SAP), which monitors the state of the ozone layer, is set to examine the findings and report to national representatives by the end of the year.

“We know it is coming from East Asia,” said Paul Newman of NASA and co-chair of the SAP.

But Newman warned against leaping to the conclusion there had been illegal production. The emissions could be a byproduct of an industrial process or leaked from transit or waste sites.

Li Shuo, a campaigner with Greenpeace China, told Climate Home News it would be hard to produce CFC-11 illegally.

“You do need a proper factory with sizable upfront investment for its production. It is not a business you can shut down overnight, hide, and pop up tomorrow.”

He added: “There were only a handful of installations in China, concentrated in the wealthier eastern side of the country which tends to have a better compliance record. These installations were regularly inspected.”

Researchers are expected to narrow down the rogue sources within the next year.

“What needs to happen is that countries in the region (and the most obvious being China as a major producer) need to do some studies to pinpoint the source of the emissions,” said Clare Perry, climate campaigner at the Environmental Investigation Agency.

After the SAP has reviewed the evidence, it will be for countries signed up to the Montreal Protocol to negotiate what to do about it.

Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, said the country responsible for the emissions needed to find the source and shut it down.

If that did not happen, other countries could impose trade sanctions, starting by cutting support available through the Montreal Protocol, he added.

“The (Montreal Protocol) regime is our hero. It has solved the first great threat to the global atmosphere, and put the stratospheric ozone layer on the path to recovery by 2065.

It also has done more to protect the climate than any other agreement,” said Zaelke.

“The world cannot afford to have the MP fail.”

Lagos wastewater plants pack up, spark epidemic concerns

Fears that the planned new dawn for Lagos wastewater plants will remain an illusion heightened last week with information that the needed funds are yet to be released for the revamping of the moribund plants.
Wastewater Management in Lagos State as the case in other parts of Nigeria is minimal, with only a fraction of wastewater being treated. Sanitation systems currently used in Lagos State include both government and private facilities.

A small number of publicly owned plants are available to treat wastewater before it is released into water bodies.The existing facilities serve only a limited part of the population. It has been estimated that about 94 percent of people in Lagos have no access to sanitary toilets.

With the increasing rains, residents are worried that they will suffer some environmental challenges witnessed last year as a result of the despicable state of the plants.The Guardian gathered that none of the existing waste water plants has received any new equipment for its rehabilitation, leaving residents in trepidation.

This is years after the Lagos state government promised to rehabilitate existing waste water treatment plants in the mega city. Specifically former Commissioner for the Environment in the state, Dr. Samuel Adejare, had in an occasion to commemorate the one year in office of the current administration in the state disclosed plans to rehabilitate all the existing wastewater treatment plants.

According to him, discussions on the modalities, especially structured institutional capacity development, legal, regulatory and institutional reforms aimed at improving compliance, management and economic viability in the sector as well as funding and investment strategy may soon be worked out between officials of the state and federal government.

He listed the affected plants to include the Federal – owned wastewater treatment plants located in FESTAC / Satellite towns, Gowon Estate, Trade Fair Complex, 1004 Estate, Nigerian Law School, PHCN Thermal Station (Egbin), University of Lagos, School of Nursing (Obalende) and Muritala Mohammed airport.This, also include the Lagos State Waste Water Management Treatment Plants at Abesan, Oke-Afa and Iponri.

The then commissioner has noted the realities of the insufficient waste water treatment infrastructure in the state coupled with the non –compliance of individuals to the required standards of waste water management and drainage channelization in the construction of buildings were brought to the fore.

In line with this, he said the ministry is issuing a new directive to stop the direct channelization of waste water of any category into ‘soak away’ systems, public drains or water bodies. �“It is wrong for you to channel your waste water directly, to use pit latrine, to dispose anti-bacterial soaps, bleaches, paints, solvents, pesticides, other toxic chemicals and harsh cleaning products into the septic tanks and all wastewater from the showers, sinks, dishwasher or washing machine should be re-directed into the septic tank now,” he stated.

He further revealed that the state-owned wastewater treatment plants, four in number, is inadequate to cater for the state’s population strength which he said is in the range of 22 million and as such the state government plans to boost capacity by integrating this number with federal government-owned waste water treatment facilities in Lagos State.Also the State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has in a recent function said his administration is poised to surmount the underlying challenges confronting wastewater management in the state is as well as unveil the business opportunities embedded in acceptable wastewater management practices.

He has stressed that the vision of a Smart City which his administration had keyed into required global best practices in wastewater management through the use of modern methods to collect, transport and treat waste water to acceptable standards prior to reuse or discharge into the environment.Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment, Mr. Abiodun Bamgboye at the Lagos State Wastewater Summit held at Ikeja, the governor, said the summit provided a platform for stakeholders in the wastewater sector to examine existing frameworks, identify limiting factors, proffer sustainable solutions and chart a new vision for the sector.He also called on investors and practitioners in the wastewater sector to collaborate and partner with the government to ensure that wastewater management in the State is at par with global practices.

He maintained that the current state of wastewater management in the State indicates that the huge potential in the sector remains untapped, adding that the multi-billion-naira potential in the sector needs to be properly harnessed.

But, an official of the Lagos State Wastewater Management Office (LSWMO), who confided with The Guardian, said despite promises made by the government to rehabilitate the existing waste water treatment plants in the state nothing has changed.The official expressed sadness that no new step has been taken or equipment acquired despite requisitions and public outcry.

Only recently, residents of Jakande Housing Estate, Isolo, where Oke -Afa Wastewater Plant is located had raised fears over a possible outbreak of epidemic in the area.The plant built in 1982 was to serve over 40, 000 people through activated sludge process, with the capacity of doing primary, secondary and tertiary treatment, while the Oke-Afa Canal is the receiving point.However, no major rehabilitation was done on the plant, which serves about 50,000 people living in and around Jakande Estate, apart from a minor repair in 2010.

The only visible trademark of the plant is the effluent from the pipes overflowing into the streets and drainage system. These effluents normally find their ways through available space crisscrossing several residential homes before emptying into the canal.A resident, Emmanuel Akiri said, he has abandoned his borehole because of contamination caused by the effluents mostly feaces, which now run through their homes for onward discharge to the Oke-Afa canal.He wants the state government to live up to its promise by changing the ugly narrative in the area.According to him, the wastewater plants need total replacement of equipment and key materials to work optimally.

Oil exploration threatening 6.5 million fishing population in Niger Delta

No fewer than 6.5million people involved in fishing-related activities in the Niger Delta have been threatened by the oil exploration. Renowned environmentalist, Nnimmo Bassey, disclosed this in a paper delivered at a summit in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
The summit themed: “”Key Indices for Visionary Leadership, Good Governance and Sustainable Development in Bayelsa State”, was organised by the G24 Embasara Foundation, an Ijaw group committed to new leadership and governance initiative in Bayelsa and Ijaw land.He highlighted that the debilitating impact of oil and gas exploration and production had distorted the bio-diversity of the region.

According to him, the region had suffered adverse degradation resulting in “ecocide” due to lack of leadership as well as weak regulatory environmental institutions.Bassey stressed the need for re-ordering of priorities and adoption of new approaches to environmental sustainability by political leaderships.He said, “Oil production depletes environmental resources; for every barrel of oil, there is over 13 barrels of toxic effluents that come from the oil wells and nobody gives account of these wastes, which the oil firms discharge into the environment.

“We have about 6.5 million people involved in fishing-related activities threatened by the oil industry, which employs some 5,000 people. Our leaders should think of the jobs of the majority and channel resources to developing renewable energy”, he added.He rationalised that there is no future for fossil fuels which would be depleted in a few decades since the world had advanced with cars that run without oil.

Bassey called on the Niger Delta people to change their attitude and refrain from pipeline vandalism, oil theft and illegal oil refining which further pollute and degrade their environment.

Some stakeholders at the summit including the Convener and former Commissioner for Environment in Bayelsa, Mr. Iniruo Wills, expressed concerns over issues of poor leadership and bad governance by public office holders in the state over the years.

They called for a review of recruitment process for political leadership in order to make public office holders answerable and accountable to the people.So pecifically, Wills said the group was developing Ijaw nation code of ethics, which prospective political office-holders must subscribed to.

The chairman of the occasion, Amba Ambaiowei, said the group is worried about the under-development in Ijaw land resulting to lack of access to basic social amenities.Ambaiowei, a former Commissioner for Education and Labour in the old Rivers State, said the group would scrutinise the competences of Ijaw people seeking public offices.

NIGERIA SET TO SUBMIT GREEN HOUSE GAS INVENTORY

Towards fulfilling the reporting obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Federal Government has concluded plans to submit Nigeria’s Biennial Update Report (BUR).
The BUR covers information on natural circumstances and institutional arrangements, National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Reports (NIR), information on mitigation actions and their effects – methodologies and assumptions, constraints and gaps, and related financial and technical capacity needs.

The Conference of Parties (COP) to UNFCCC adopted in 2010/COP16 the Biennial Update Report (BUR) for the purpose of enhancing reporting of climate change mitigation actions and their effects.

Consequently, Nigeria as one of the non-Annex1 Parties under the UNFCCC has the obligation to prepare and submit every two years, reliable, comprehensive, consistent, comparable and transparent BUR to COP.The consortiums that handled the thematic sectors of the BUR namely: National Green House Gas Inventory – Triple “E” Systems Associates Ltd; Mitigation Analysis – E &Y; Domestic Measurement, Reporting and Verification – Millcon and Millcon Consult as well as other key national experts and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the strategic partner.

Since the inception of joint global actions on climate change arising from the Rio Conventions of 1992, Nigeria has been active on many fronts. It has submitted the First National Communication (FNC) in 2003, the Second National Communication (SNC) in 2014 to meet the country’s obligations to the UNFCCC.

The Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) was submitted in 2015 within the framework of the Paris Agreement, while the third National Communication was the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment, Dr. Shehu Ahmed who opened a Stakeholders validation meeting for the Nigeria’s First BUR in Keffi, Nassarawa State, organised by the Department of Climate Change (DCC) with the support of the United Nations Development Programme, recently, said that Ministry is committed to implementing the overall mandate of the Climate Change Convention and its Protocol.

Represented by the National Project Coordinator, Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), Mr. Salisu Dahiru, he said that Nigeria, like many developing nations, is strongly predisposed to severe negative impacts of climate change due to its fragile economy, weak resilience and low adaptive capacity. Much of the economy is dependent on climate-sensitive resources.

“With the realization of the potential dangers of global warming and the consequent socio-economic implications to the whole world, the United Nations adopted the Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992. The objective of the Convention is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with climate system,” he said.

Director, Department of Climate Change, Dr. Peter Tarfa explained that the document gives Nigeria an opportunity to communicate low carbon development efforts in a transparent manner.

Following the National Stakeholders Validation of the document, Tarfa said, the endorsed document will be submitted for the commencement of the ICA process, where it will be reviewed and analyzed, upon which, if meeting the requirement and approved, it will be published and made available on the UNFCCC website.

ONDO GOVERNMENT ADVOCATE TREE PLANTING TO HALT CLIMATE CHANGE

To further reduce the effect of climate, Ondo State government has urged all residents to cultivate the habit of planting trees in their homes.The Commissioner for Natural Resources, Alhaji Rasheed Badmus, stated this while declaring open the training workshop on “National Forest Inventory Techniques and Data Collection” in Akure.
The five-day training workshop was jointly organized by Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO-UN) and the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) towards ensuring an end to deforestation.

Badmus lamented the visible climatic change as a result of deforestation, saying the need for proper management of forests in the state and country should be encouraged.

“The way forests are being managed has strong ties with climate change. Deforestation and forest degradation through agricultural expansion, conversion of land and infrastructure development account for about 20per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

“Thus, as consensus grows on the serious impacts of global climate change, the role of forest in carbon storage is increasingly being acknowledged. Given the crucial role played by forest, gradual decrease of deforestation is seen as a practical approach to mitigate climate change,” he said.He noted that state government had expended appreciable resources to the development of the forestry sub-sector, adding that forestry is the bedrock for economic survival and development.

The Commissioner assured that the state would continue to support the efforts of World Bank, FAO at expanding REDD+Readiness activities, saying Forest Reference Emission Levels (FRELS) and National Forest Monitoring Systems (NFMS) are huge successes.Badmus further maintained that ban had been placed on logging activities in Ose River Park and Akure Forest reserves to enable the conservation and sustainable management of the forests.


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“The state government has entered into partnership with Wewood Company and West Africa Plantation Limited to plant over 33,000 hectares with gmelina, teak and some indigenous species.

“This project has commenced and planting of the plantation is progressing. This project would employ at least 1000 jobless youths,” he said, listing other measures taken to conserve the forests.While the National Coordinator of REDD+ Programme, Moses Ama, said the workshop was put together in order to have a National Forestry Inventory in the country.

Ama stated that two states of the federation, Ondo and Nassarawa, were selected out of the nine states that applied for the programme as a result of their compliance with the procedures.