By Rukayat Moisemhe

Environmentalists, residents and stakeholders across the Lekki-Epe Corridor on Thursday urged the Federal Government to address the effects of ocean surge on the environment.

The roundtable was organised by the leadership of Lekki Estates Residents and Stakeholders Association (LERSA), Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) and the Senator representing Lagos Central District, Sen. Wasiu Eshinlokun.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that properties in communities such as Lafiaji, Owonikoko, Okun Ajah, Okun Alfa, Okun Mopo, and others are currently battling with the challenge.

Dr Joseph Onoja, Director-General, NCF, said that urgent steps must be taken to tackle the problem, as it may have more devastating effects on many Lekki communities if left unattended to,

Onoja said the foundation actively monitoring the development along the axis thought it wise to campaign for coastal communities along the axis.

“From what we know, by the time the erosion continues for another 50 metres, it will be on the flat ground,” he said.

Nigerian Environmentalist, Mr Desmond Majekodunmi, observed that numerous coconut trees all around the coastal areas had been eroded by water.

Majekodunmi, also Chairman of the Lekki State Urban Forest and Animal Shelter, noted that in spite of efforts of the former Governor of Lagos, Mr Babatunde Fashola to fix groyne by the oceans, the erosion was still continuing.

He stressed that urgent action was critical in the face of global warming, to prevent the lash-back nature was waging against mankind.

The environmentalist said that the responsibility was tremendous, but appealed that something be done before it started to have more devastating effects on lives and properties.

Mr Osas Airen, Representative, Lascodal-Orchid Road, revealed that Ocean Bay estate back fence which was about 300 metres from the sea was affected by the surge two weeks ago.

Airen said some other houses, resorts and facilities in the area were also affected by the ecological problem, pleading for urgent intervention by government.

Representative, Lafiaji Community, Elder Alade Balogun, said that many residents no longer slept with their two eyes closed due fear over the problem.

Responding, Senator, Lagos Central Senatorial district, Sen. Wasiu Eshinlokun, committed to presenting a motion about the happenings at the Lekki foreshore before the government.

The Senator appealed to residents to share their expertise, itemise the problems and proffer innovative solutions, provide projected cost implications to drive his prayers to the Senate to address the situation.

“I charge you all to present what must be done to salvage the situation before the Senate resumes in the next four weeks, for a better presentation to the National Assembly.

“We would also begin to engage relevant ministries and agencies such as ministry for waterfront, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and stakeholders to create more awareness and provide short term support to victims.

“Please be assured of my readiness to work with the community in creating lasting solutions,” he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Oluwole Sogunle

By Ruth Oketunde

A coalition under the auspices of Media and Civil Society Climate Action Coalition (M&CCAC) has called for the more collaboration to promote climate change action in the country.

The group made the call at an event tagged “Climate Hangout” organised for journalists and representatives of various civil society organisations, in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the group, founded by Lift Humanity Foundation (LHF), Ecocykle Development Foundation (EDF) and EnviroNews Limited, has the support of the United Nations International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and Connected Development (CODE).

Mr Pius Oko, Executive Secretary, LHF and team lead of the coalition, said it was important for CSOs and the media to collaborate in other to highlight the need for urgent actions around climate change.

According to him, the media and civil society organisations, who are custodians of information and champions for positive change have a responsibility of amplifying the severity of climate catastrophe.

“The convergence of these two vital forces underscores the critical role that each plays in shaping perceptions, influencing policies and mobilising communities for climate justice.

“The theme for this event was carefully selected to highlight the problems that young people encounter when engaging in climate issues and to foster collaborative atmosphere where the seeds of change can be planted, nurtured and grown for greener and more sustainable world for us all.

“In order for young Nigerian activists to effectively influence policies and actions, they must speak with a single voice and demolish the prevalent oppressive biases that have hindered them from making the biggest impact on behalf of their communities,” he said.

For his part, Mr Micheal Simire, Chief Executive Officer and Publisher, EnviroNews, said the collaboration was important to bridge the gap between the media and civil society organisations.

“We will play our part in ensuring that the voices of the voiceless are heard and untold stories are told.

“I want to urge us to remember that the power of our collective voices, united in purpose can move mountains, shift paradigms and drive meaningful change,” he said.

Dr Aminu Zakari, Executive Director, Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Studies (C4CCES) called on the youths to accelerate their participation in global climate talks.

He added that their actions would play a key role in enabling the country meet its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) under the Paris Climate Agreement.

NAN reports that the event which featured various panel discussions, had as theme; “Youth Breaking through the Climate Action Obstacles”.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Sadiya Hamza

By Usman Aliyu

Experts have expressed worries that the agendas of the forthcoming Africa Climate is built on false solutions, rather than being pro-people.

The experts raised the concern during a webinar on “How Just is the Transition in Africa?” organised by the Environmental Rights Action/Friend of the Earth Africa (ERA/FoEA) on Wednesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Africa Climate Week (ACW) 2023 is scheduled to take place between Sept. 4 and Sept. 8 in Nairobi, Kenya, alongside Africa Climate Summit, also hosted by the Kenyan Government.

In their submissions, the speakers drawn from South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe and Nigeria argued that the agenda offered nothing, but false solutions to the many climate issues caused by mining on the continent.

These, they said, had remained an albatross pushed by the ‘greed of filthy lucre’ by both African governments and their former colonial masters.

In her remark, Tyler Booth, Energy Programme Coordinator/Friends of the Earth International Climate Justice, listed some of the false solutions to include the calls for cobalt markets and driving regrowth for global energy needs.

She noted as well that pioneering the future of nature through its commodification and the drive for blue economies and lack of specific push for liveable cities are anti-people agendas.

Booth argued that Africa does not need carbon markets; rather the continent needs real climate finance.

“Carbon markets are dangerous distractions and do not offer a financial solution that will reach grassroots communities already feeling the impacts.

“The anticipated blue economy is a commodification of nature while the promotion of liveable cities is focused on African cities to the detriment of Africa’s rural areas.

“Data from the World Bank estimates that 58 per cent of the total population lives in rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa.

“But in Africa, over 400 million people live in rural areas ” she quoted, adding that transforming Africa’s food system requires food sovereignty and agroecology,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ubrei-Joe Maimoni, who is the Coordinator, Climate Justice and Energy Programme Coordinator, FoEA, bemoaned the state of climate justice in Africa, saying 67 years of oil extraction in the Niger Delta of Nigeria still has people living in polluted environments and complete darkness.

Maimoni, who is also the Programme Manager for Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), said the FoEA believes that a Just Recovery Renewable Energy Plan for Africa is urgently needed to address all the impacts of the multiple interrelated crises across the continent.

This plan, he said, must be built on environmental, social, gender and economic justice.

While calling on the global North not to let Africa burn, the climate activist stated that it is obvious that Africa had witnessed the worst cases of climate disasters – such as cyclone, flooding, drought and desertification among others.

The activist maintained that it is essential that Africa moves away from harmful fossil fuels towards a transformed energy system that is clean, renewable, democratic and actually serves its people.

In her presentation, titled: “How Just is the Transition in Africa?” a supporter of the Don’t Gas Africa and Africa Movement of Movements, Lorraine Chiponda from Zimbabwe, stated that Africa with over a billion people and 55 countries is a home to diverse economies, resources, ecosystems and cultures.

Chiponda noted that decades after independence, African countries continue to face famine, energy poverty, regional conflicts, patriarchal oppression, economic insecurity and debt crises.

These, according to her are increasingly exacerbated by climate change, multi-layered, systemic and structural as well as financial and trade systems development, climate and energy justice.

Other speakers at the webinar lamented the dire effects of mining on Africa which include human rights abuses, land grabbing, environmental degradation, gender oppression as well as the inherent health challenges which continue on a daily basis. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

By Felicia Imohimi

Prof. Godson Ana, Dean, Faculty of Public Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, has called for effective environmental sanitation control strategies, and funding to eradicate mosquitoes.

Ana made the call on Tuesday in Abuja, at a symposium organised by the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON), in collaboration with the Pest Control Association of Nigeria (PECAN), to commemorate the World Mosquito Day.

In a presentation titled; `Fighting the World’s Deadliest Killer, War Against Mosquito: Strategies, Gains and Setback”, the don said there was no point dealing with malaria on the surface by pumping money into hospitals, while people continued to die from mosquito related infections.

He however, said the government should rather invest money on sanitation, hygiene, and other environmental sanitation control strategies, to completely eradicate mosquitoes.

“We pump money into hospitals, rather than investing in sanitation, hygiene, and other environmental sanitation control strategies.

“We should invest more on research and documentation. Investment in research and development for malaria and other mosquito related diseases is not enough, there should be more on tackling the menace from its root cause.

“Health and socio-economic effects of mosquitoes are economic loss for health care interventions, cerebral hemorrhage, and liver problems.

“It affects pregnant women, decreases productivity due to man hour loss, leads to school absenteeism, and affects children under five years,” Ana said.

The don identified malaria as a parasitic infection transmitted by ‘Anopheline mosquitoes.

According to him, it causes an estimated 219 million cases of malaria infections globally, and results in more than 400,000 deaths every year.

He emphasised that most of the deaths occurred in children under the age of five years.

The don, who noted that most people were ignorant, or out rightly nonchalant about the benefits of keeping the environment clean and healthy, called for improved sensitisation and advocacy on environmental sanitation.

He further called for strict enforcement of sanitation laws and related programmes at the community level by EHCON, the National Environmental Standards Regulations and Enforcement Agency (NESREA), and other environment related agencies.

He said: “We need to up our game in our quest to address the mosquito scourge, the world’s deadliest killer.”

Ana, who explained that there were many species of mosquitoes in different parts of the world, also described the parasite as one of the greatest foes of mankind,

“It is responsible for most of the public health burdens, especially malaria and several methods and strategies have been used in the fight against the disease.

“The war against mosquitoes is far from being won because there are still a lot of setbacks, in spite of the modern techniques.

“Conquering invasion and its impacts require sustained efforts, innovations and commitment from all of us.”

He said the country should imbibe the WHO stipulated integrated approach to vector management, as an environmentally appropriate method.

Ana identified the system as a combination of methods in vector control, by conducting surveys in order to determine the species and position of mosquitoes and monitoring before commencement of control.

He emphasised some of the setbacks in mosquito control and eradication as; lack of effective research and documentation, environmental degradation, loss of tourism potentials, ecosystem structure, loss of manhour, and increase in number of out of school children.

“We are responsible for the destruction of our ecosystem, in the sense that certain places we are experiencing flood because we build on waterways, block water channels with refuse, which consequently provides high breeding places for mosquitoes.

“We lost a lot of tourism potential because places that are infested with mosquitoes will scare tourists away.

“Loss of man hours is very high in endemic regions, notorious for proliferation of mosquitoes and mosquito-related diseases, especially malaria,” Ana said.

Edited by Nyisom Fiyigon Dore

By Felicia Imohimi

Prof Godson Ana, Dean, Faculty of Public Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, has called for effective environmental sanitation control strategies, and funding to eradicate mosquitoes.

Ana made the call on Tuesday in Abuja, at a symposium organised by the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON), in collaboration with the Pest Control Association of Nigeria (PECAN), to commemorate the World Mosquito Day.

In a presentation titled; `Fighting the World’s Deadliest Killer, War Against Mosquito: Strategies, Gains and Setback”, the don said there was no point dealing with malaria on the surface by pumping money into hospitals, while people continued to die from mosquito related infections.

He however, said government should rather invest money on sanitation, hygiene and other environmental sanitation control strategies, to completely eradicate mosquitoes.

“We pump money into hospitals, rather than investing on sanitation, hygiene and other environmental sanitation control strategies.

“We should invest more on research and documentation. Investment in research and development for malaria and other mosquito related diseases is not enough, there should be more on tackling the menace from its root cause.

“Health and socio-economic effects of mosquito is economic loss for health care interventions, cerebral hemorrhage and liver problems.

“It affects pregnant women, decreases productivity due to manhour loss, leads to school absenteeism, and affects children under five years,” Ana said.

The don identified malaria as a parasitic infection transmitted by ‘Anopheline mosquitoes.

According to him, it causes an estimated 219 million cases of malaria infections globally, and results in more than 400,000 deaths every year.

He emphasised that most of the deaths occurred in children under the age of five years.

The don, who noted that most people were ignorant, or out rightly nonchalant about the benefits of keeping the environment clean and healthy, called for improved sensitisation and advocacy on environmental sanitation.

He further called for strict enforcement of sanitation laws and related programmes at the community level by EHCON, the National Environmental Standards Regulations and Enforcement Agency (NESREA), and other environment related agencies.

He said: “We need to up our game in our quest to address the mosquito scourge, the world deadliest killer.”

Ana, who explained that there were many species of mosquitoes in different parts of the world, also described the parasite as one of the greatest foes of mankind.

“It is responsible for most of the public health burdens, especially malaria and several methods and strategies have been used in the fight against the disease.

“The war against mosquito is far from being won because there are still a lot of setbacks, in spite of the modern techniques.
“Conquering invasion and its impacts requires sustained efforts, innovations and commitment from all of us.”

He said the country should imbibe the WHO stipulated integrated approach to vector management, as an environmentally appropriate method.

Ana identified the system as a combination of methods in vector control, by conducting surveys in order to determine the species and position of mosquitoes and monitoring before commencement of control.

He emphasised some of the setbacks in mosquito control and eradication as; lack of effective research and documentation, environmental degradation, loss of tourism potentials, ecosystem structure, loss of manhour, and increase in number of out of school children.

“We are responsible for the destruction of our ecosystem, in the sense that certain places we are experiencing flood because we build on waterways, block water channels with refuse, which consequently provides high breeding places for mosquitoes.

“We lost a lot of tourism potentials because places that are infested with mosquitoes will scare tourists away.

“Loss of manhour in very high in endemic regions, notorious for proliferation of mosquitoes and mosquito related diseases, especially malaria,” Ana said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Nyisom Fiyigon Dore