By Vivian Emoni

The Federal Government on Monday inaugurated new programmes to curb air pollution largely caused by the transport sector in the country.

The programmes are: National Emissions Control Programmes (NECP), Generator Emission Control Programme (NGECP) and Vehicular Emission Control Programme (NVECP).

Minister of Environment, Mr Muhammed Abdullahi, who spoke at the unveiling of the programme in Abuja, said the transport sector has been identified as the major source of air pollution in the country.

He said the exercise was being organised by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA).

Abdullahi urged relevant stakeholders to support the Federal Government`s effort for effective implementation of the programmes to ensure cleaner and healthier environment.

According to him, it is worthy of mentioning that road transportation in Nigeria with over 12 million vehicles flying the roads is playing a key role in the socio-economic development of the country.

“Unfortunately, despite significant advances in fuel efficiency and emission reduction, the transport sector remained one of the major sources of air pollution in Nigeria.

“Meanwhile, considering the magnitude of air pollution on the environment and human health, NESREA cannot do the work alone, stakeholders’ involvement is required for effective implementation of the programmes.

“The stakeholders are all key in the implementation process, therefore, we are calling on all of you including the general public to join hands with NESREA in ensuring a cleaner and healthier environment.

“We all stand to benefit from the programmes, environmentally and economically but, we must first cultivate the seeds now so that we, as well as our future generations can reap the harvest.

“Together we ensure sustainable development and make our country great,” he said.

The minister, who expressed concern over the indiscriminate use of power generators for both domestic and industrial purposes, said the trend contributed to the poor air quality in the environment.

He explained that the situation affected negatively not only to the environment but human health by increasing the quantity of harmful pollutants.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the year 2016, ambient air pollution is responsible for 4.2 million deaths worldwide.

“It is estimated to cause about 16 per cent of lung cancer deaths and 25 per cent of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

“Also, about 17 per cent of ischemic heart disease and stroke, and about 26 per cent of respiratory infection deaths,” he said.

Abdullahi also called for more support of the international organisation towards combating air pollution, noting that it was one of the greatest health and environmental challenges.

He said the programmes had been designed to address the emissions from mobile and stationary sources, adding that it also aimed at cutting down emissions of pollutants from generators’ stationary source as well as vehicles’ mobile source.

The programmes, he said, would be implemented under the Public Private Partnership (PPP), and involve periodic testing of the generators and vehicles for toxic and greenhouse gases emissions.

“In this strategy, the responsibility of NESREA will be to set national emission standards and to develop a reliable national database management system for all emissions data generated from the programmes.

“The implementation of the NGECP will be starting with power generating sets of capacity from 10 KVA and above.

“While for NVECP the lowest limit will be Euro III emission standard as agreed at the ECOWAS regional level,’’ he said.

The minister said that part of the NESREA`s mandate was to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement as spelled out in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Abdullahi added that the objectives of the programme was to create public awareness on indiscriminate use of ill-maintained generators and vehicles, their environmental and health implications.

He also said that the programmes among others were aimed at generating data on vehicular and generator emissions to improve the air quality of the country.

The Director-General of the NESREA, Prof. Aliyu Jauro said the Federal Government was concerned with the environmental problems and was not relenting efforts in curbing the threat.

He said the vision of the agency was to ensure a cleaner and healthier environment, adding that NESREA has recorded numerous milestones over decade of environmental governance.

Also speaking, Mr Awwal Nakata, Assistant Director, Directorate of Road Traffic Services, Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO), said that the agency would continue to support the NESREA to ensure effective implementation of the programmes. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Rabiu Sani-Ali

By Gabriel Agbeja

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), says it will boost capacity of Niger and the Gambia in weather forecast for safety and sustainable national socio-economic development.

NiMet`s Director-General, Prof. Mansur Matazu made this known in Abuja on Monday when he received a delegation from Niger and a team from the Gambia for a 10-day technical study visit.

Matazu said the outcome of the technical visit study would increase knowledge of the two teams to advance their countries on meteorology towards safety of lives and properties.

He said the teams would enjoy how NiMet experts observe Nigerian weather and climate to provide meteorological, hydrological and oceanographic services in support of national needs and international obligations.

“The two countries will learn experience in Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) on Tuesday, weather prediction, issue of climate change impact mitigation and adaptation in Nigeria.

“in addition, we will share experience with our Niger team, specifically on database management and applied meteorology,

“For the Gambia team, we want to share ideas with them on impact based forecast feasibility and relevant,“ he said.

Niger team leader, Mr Katiellou Lawan, said his team would gain a lot from NiMet, from the reasonable experts and infrastructure of the agency.

“Africa is one. We just only have the physical boundaries. We have a lot to benefit from one another,“ he said.

The leader of the Gambian team, Mr Lamin Mai, who was the Director, Department of Water Resources of the Gambia, explained that the purpose of their visitation was to upgrade services in meteorology.

“We may have the tools, but we do not have the experts. NiMet will help us in capacity building,“ he stated. (NAN) (wwwnannews.ng)

Edited by Chidinma Agu/Vincent Obi

By Tosin Kolade.

The Nigerian Government on Monday called for more innovative ideas and partnerships that would help to accelerate progress in scaling up sanitation and hygiene in the country.

This was the focus at the National Task Group on Sanitation (NTGS) meeting, a coalition of stakeholders working in the water and sanitation sector in Abuja.

Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu, said the role of innovation could not be overlooked, following recommendations from all experts as a necessity to changing poor narratives in the sector.

While commending NTGS members for their tenacity in validating former open defecation communities to become open defecation – free, Adamu however urged them to be steadfast and credible in their efforts.

According to him, efforts are on to introduce the School, Health and Youth Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme through their parent ministries so as to scale up sanitation in the country.

Adamu said findings from the WASH Normal Routine mapping showed low progress on defecation-free local government areas.

He said with collective efforts, the negative indices would be reversed, for the overall good of the country.

Mrs Chizoma Opara, National Coordinator, Clean Nigeria Campaign Secretariat, said efforts were on to train information officers on its activities so as to promote awareness for the populace.

Opara said Nasarawa State has shown major progress in its implementation of the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) Plus programme, with 11 local government areas currently being supported.

Dr Jane Bevan, UNICEF Chief of WASH, said there was need for introduction of subsidies for most vulnerable persons in communities, so as to improve their wellbeing.

According to Bevan, this could be introduced during the triggering stages of CLTS processes in the communities.

“We are thinking about introducing subsidies to encourage vulnerable people to build their toilets, we are working to do this through introduction of loans in Bauchi and Oyo states,” she said.

Highlight of the meeting was the introduction of new consultants to work on the development of a National Social and Behavior Change Communication Strategy and a Strategy for Scaling Up Sanitation Market in some states.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that
poor sanitation is costing the country the equivalent of $3 billion annually, or 1.3 per cent of its GDP, in productivity losses, deaths and healthcare expenses.

For Nigeria to be on track to achieve SDG 6, new and innovative sanitation solutions must be provided and a whole sanitation economy developed. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Razak Owolabi

By Vivian Emoni

The Women Empowerment Programme (WEP) on Saturday called for the inclusion of vulnerable groups in the implementation of policies and projects on plastic value chain to effectively eliminate plastic pollution across the country.

The Founder, WEP, Dr Priscilla Achakpa, said this at a Validation Workshop for Draft Narrative Report on Social Context Assessment for National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP) in Abuja.

She said that the WEP was consulted by the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) in 2022 to conduct a Social Context Assessment for NPAP.

She said that the assessment was a national gender, equity and inclusion analysis of the plastic value chain and varied impacts of plastic pollution.

She said that the overall goal was to provide clear evidence that would feed into policies, planning and actions of the NPAP, to ensure that outcomes were gender responsive and inclusive.

Achakpa said that the aim of the workshop was to present the draft report for stakeholders to review the assessment findings, identify needs/gaps, and brainstorm possible responses to those gaps from across the communities.

She added that the assessment was conducted following the qualitative interactions with diverse categories of stakeholders through interviews and information from the experts.

She said that the assessment was focused on Lagos, Anambra, Kano, Benue and the FCT, between October and November 2022, which was based on the activities of plastics taken in those states.

The founder said that the WEP discovered during the assessment that the vulnerable were not really supported, adding that they needed financial assistance and should be involved in decision making.

According to her, “we discovered that lots of the vulnerable groups that are cleaning the streets and our government offices were not recognised while making decisions on the plastic value chain project.

“The activities of waste management or waste pickers are being done by the vulnerable, but when policies for waste management are enacted, these groups of people are not involved.

“Even the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are not conscious of the fact that we have these vulnerable groups that are into this circular economy activities.

“So, we have done the study on the activities to know what is happening among the vulnerable communities.

“We will re-examine these reports from the states.

“We have discovered that there is nothing like Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) policies on waste management. It is completely silent, so we want their voices to be heard.

“When we are talking about vulnerable groups, we mean people with disability, women and the youth and when decisions on plastic value chain projects are being made, these people are not inclusive.

“These groups are the major key people that eliminate plastic pollution in the society,’’ she said.

Achakpa said that the workshop was organised by WEP, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and GPAP, a multi-stakeholder platform at the world economic forum.

She said that the GPAP aims to shape a more sustainable and inclusive world through the eradication of plastic pollution.

She explained that the GPAP supports each NPAP in conducting the assessment to develop tailored action roadmaps and other knowledge products to transition toward a sustainable and inclusive circular plastics economy.

Mrs Jummai Vandu, from the Department of Pollution Control and Environmental Health, ministry of environment, said that the ministry is committed to ensure that the aim and objective of the programme were achieved.

Vandu thanked the WEP for its effort in ensuring that the assessment was achieved effectively.

She said that the ministry is ready to partner with any relevant stakeholders that engage in innovative programmes that would promote safety of the environment.

The Executive Director of the WEP, Mrs Anne-Marie Abaagu, said that the research was an analysis of the needs, priorities, roles, discrimination and experiences of diverse women and men from marginalised communities.

Abaagu called on relevant stakeholders to support the plastic value chain project, adding that it would improve in addressing environmental challenges in the country.

The Creative Director, Ecobarter, Mrs Mahmoud Hauwa, called on governments of all levels, relevant stakeholders to support the organisation to achieve its objectives.

Mahmoud said that the Ecobarter was a waste solution company that provides waste management solutions through recycling and offering waste free alternatives through its Eco Shop.

She said that the Ecobarter was a sustainable waste management organisation, aimed at making it possible for households and organisations to conveniently choose responsible consumption and recycle their wastes. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Vincent Obi

By Vivian Emoni

The Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation (GIFSEP), an NGO, has called on Nigerians to vote a presidential candidate that will care and understand environmental issues.

Mr David Terungwa, Executive Director/Team Lead for Climate Action Campaign, gave the advice on Thursday at a vote for Climate Campaign Walk, organised by GIFSEP, in Abuja.

Terungwa said the purpose of the walk was to sensitise the public to the need to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and ensure they voted during the Feb. 25, election.

“We are calling on all citizens to collect their PVCs, look beyond empty campaign promises, and other forms of inducements, vote for candidate that understands climate change issues and have a clear climate action plan.

“We are calling Nigerians to vote for climate, a special presidential candidate for us. Climate is an important candidate because it affects all of us.

“It will be a dangerous mistake if we elect candidates who are climate denials.

“There is the need to vote for candidate that cares about the environmental issues.

“So far, the campaign is having little talks about climate change, knowing the importance of climate change to our lives, economy, food, security, gender, water and to everything.

“Climate change is a real electoral issue and voting a candidate who is a climate change denial will take the country backwards,” he said.

Terungwa said that at Niger Delta regions, there were devastation going on in oil companies and coal disasters.

“The Northern areas are being faced with land degradation, thereby affecting the farmlands in the areas,” he said.

He said that the organisation had stakeholders across the country, sensitising the public to the need to collect their PVC’s and ensure they voted.

He said that stakeholders, both national and international, were having various discussions and deliberations on how to address climate change challenges.

According to him, there is the need for green economy, not just in Nigeria but across the world; there is also need for transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy as it affects the world at large.

“It is not just enough having the discussions and deliberations, it is also important to ensure that such deliberations are implemented effectively.

“We are seeking candidates who will implement some of this discussions, deliberations and agreements already on ground,” he said.

He said the organization was working with different people in different communities, with traditional rulers and community leaders on climate related issues.

“We are also working with the media and also online on the need for enlightening the people to vote for a candidate who will take care of the environment,” he said.

The executive director said that Nigerians were being faced by serious climate change.

He alleged that floods had caused the death of over 600 Nigerians; displaced millions of people; washed away hundreds of farms and farmlands and other critical infrastructure across the country.

“No one is immune to climate change impact. Our country is very vulnerable to climate change,” he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Idris Abdulrahman

By Vivian Emoni

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) under the umbrella of Climate and Sustainable Development Network (CSDevNet) have deliberated on outcome of COP27th climate change conference for effective implementation of climate issues across the country.

The Network called on government at all levels and relevant stakeholders to intensify efforts to ensure that issues deliberated at the COP27 conference, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in 2022, on climate change challenges were strongly implemented.

The organisations said this at a Post COP 27 Multi-Stakeholders National Consultative Dialogue, organised by the CSDevNet, on Wednesday in Abuja.

The Chair Board of Trustees of the CSDevNet, Prof. Ibrahim Choji, said the essence of the meeting was to view the outcome of the COP27 and to proffer a way forward as a country.

Choji, who expressed worry over slow implementation of climate change issues, called all relevant stakeholders and government agencies to put more effort into addressing the climate challenges in the country.

According to him, the implementation of climate change is a bit slow in Nigeria compared to other African countries such as Egypt, South Africa and Kenya among others.

“So, the essence of this meeting is to engineer more actions so that we can pressurize the government on its toes to be able to tackle climate change challenges in our various communities across the country.

“The President, Muhammadu Buhari, in 2022 signed the Climate Change Bill into law, it is a good move, it shows that the implementation will be effective.

“But the CSOs, the Non-Governmental Organisations and other stakeholders should work together and pressurise the government to think of further actions on the issues,” he said.

Choji said heavy floods which destroyed property and lives in 2022 should properly be addressed, adding that the issues would continue in frequency, if the trend could not be reversed by building climate resilience.

The National Network Coordinator, CSDevNet, Mr Atayi Babs, said the organisation meets every year with relevant stakeholders and government officials after attending the COP to deliberate on the outcome of each COP and make public its findings and recommendations.

Atayi said after the deliberation, the stakeholders would provide a strong communique, which would be presented to the Federal Government to know the outcome of the negotiation and ways to advance.

“We usually meet with some civil society stakeholder’s representing six geo-political zones every year after the conference, we deliberate on the issues already discussed at the COP.

“The essence of the meeting is to bring back to Nigeria the issues that relate to our government, the CSOs, the private sectors and Nigerians at large, to enable them know how to address such issues.

“The effort will help Nigerians to really be aware of what happened at the conference and how it affects Nigeria, what are the key activities of the conference and how can Nigerians derive benefit from it,” he said.

He said that the CSDevNet is the leading coalition of the CSOs, working on climate and sustainable development, adding that their key objective is to facilitate climate-resilient and sustainable Nigeria.

Also Dr Sam Ogalla, Climate Finance Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat, said that the secretariat had engaged various programmes to support the countries for effective implementation of climate issues.

According to him, for us at the commonwealth secretariat, we have our common climate programmes across the 36 countries around the world.

“Under our climate change programme, we have a lot of initiatives to support our member countries in terms of accessing climate finance to help them access the resources that they need.

“We are also supporting the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which is the key in the mitigation of climate change challenges.

“The purpose of the NDCs was to ensure that each of the member counties work toward reducing national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change,” he said.

Dr Priscilla Achakpa, Founder and Executive Director, Women Environmental Programme (WEP), commended the government and other stakeholders for their commitment and strong participation at the COP 27, in 2022.

“From the Nigeria perspective and their participation, they really did very well this time around, the participation was interesting even African CSOs participated fully.

“We mobilised ourselves and had our own demands even before we reached the conference.

“One of our demands was the establishment of a fund for loss and damage, which was adopted and some of the gender issues presented, we were able to get them into the final outcome.

“Even though we did not get enough of the demands that we wanted. But, I will say that Nigerians put up their very best at the COP 27.

“Yes I will say that the conference was fair even though we cannot rate it 100 per cent fair,” Achakpa said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Isaac Aregbesola

By AbdulFatai Beki

The city of Ilorin, the Kwara capital, recorded its first rainfall of the year on Wednesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the heavy downpour, which lasted over an hour, was a welcome relief for residents who had experienced hot weather condition in the past few months.

Some of the areas which witnessed the heavy downpour are Gaa-Akanbi, Danlialu, Muritala Mohammed road, Post office area, Unity road and Maraba.

Others are Okoerin road, lbrahim Taiwo road, Sawmill, Oloje, Adewole, Adeta and Omoda, among others.

Some of the residents who spoke with NAN expressed happiness over the commencement of the 2021 raining season.

Commenting on the first rain, Funsho Olorunfemi, a Professor of Geography at University of llorin, said the early commencement of 2021 rain was an indication that there would be bumper harvest this year.

He advised farmers to start preparation of land for the new planting season.

“The implication of the first rain was that we have to prepare for the new planting season and if there was no other kind of disturbance on farms, we shall have bumper harvest,” the don said. (NAN)

By Tosin Kolade

WASH MATA Initiatives, a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) with support from Bank of Industry (BOI) has donated one motorised water scheme to five communities each in the FCT.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the benefiting communities are; Shape, Shishipe II, Nunkuchi, Sumpe (GidanGogo) and Shere Nomadic in Bwari area council of the FCT.

Dr Boluwaji Onabolu, Chief Executive Officer WASH MATA Initiatives, noted that the group identified some communities that have not been reached in the FCT.

”If Nigeria will achieve the Sustainable Development Goal six on improved access to water and sanitation, she must be intentional by not leaving anyone behind.

“One of it is a nomadic community where their cows had to drink water first; you will see the women queuing to get water from dirty streams in 2021 in FCT here.

“We used a vulnerability risks assessment to find out which communities are vulnerable, to ensure that services rendered to those who really needs them are not just constituency project’’.

Onabolu listed difficult terrains, insecurity and issues of kidnapping as challenges encountered while intervening.

She stressed the need for data to be available to help in evidence based interventions to select communities needing support.

“There is need for measures to be put in place from project formulation to implementation stages to help sustainability in interventions’’.

She said another challenge in the communities was a gap in rehabilitation of broken down water infrastructure, saying that with training of community members on operation and maintaining through little contributions, it would go a long way.

“We need evidence based intervention; the same people are getting the water while those that are in hard to reach communities will be left with no water.

“With sustainability comes the need for training, provision of tools to be integrated into water supply plans from the beginning.”

Analysis from the World Bank Sanitation Programme estimates that inadequate sanitation costs Nigeria 3 billion dollars annually, about 20 dollars per person and 1.3 per cent of its Annual GDP.

The cost of inadequate water supply is also estimated to be within this amount due to the health care costs and productive time lost from water related diseases.

The bank said safe drinking water provision is one of the most critical environmental health interventions used to prevent water and sanitation-related diseases.

NAN reports that WASH MATA Initiatives also rehabilitated 3 hand pump boreholes (HPBHs) and two motorised boreholes, with no fewer than 12,500 people in the communities having access to safe drinking water. (NAN)