It was launched with such great fanfarereserved for very special ocasions.
For many Nigerians seeking to launch the nationinto the world's fast growing Information Communication Technology(ICT) world,it was time to roll out the drums.
And to accord the activtity the honour it deserved, Alhaji Umar Yar'Adua, then President-elect, was among the Nigerian contingent that witnessed the launch of Africa's first communication satellite, code-named Nigcomsat-1, held in China on May 14, 2007.
Nigcomsat-1 was designed, built and launched by the Great Wall Industry Corporation at a cost of more than 226 million dollars.
Its principal objectives was to fast-track Nigeria's development and bridge the digital divide between Africa and the rest of the world.
Prior to the conception of the idea of a communication satellite, Nigeria had launched an ambitious space technology roadmap that was to climax with the design, building and launching of an indigenous satellite by Nigerian engineers from a launch pad in Nigeria by 2025.
Other programmes captured in the roadmap included sending a Nigerian to space, the design and launching of various satellite with specific mandates, as well as making Nigeria a major player in the global space industry.
The programmes, according to former Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Turner Isoun, ``were developed based on the knowledge that being an active player in the global economy will no longer be determined by the natural resources at your disposal, but by how sophisticated you have advanced technologically''.
Isoun noted that Nigeria, by launching the programme, had registered her determination to advance her economy and fast-track her development process through the application of space science and technology.
Prof. Robert Boroffice, Director General, National Space Research and Development Agency, while supporting Isoun's position, had explained that space technology had the answers to the many problems confronting Nigeria.
``The satellite in orbit is facing the earth, hence it has immense potential of identifying and proffering solutions to man's numerous problems,'' Boroffice explained.
He was optimistic that the nation's ambitious space agenda would not only be achieved, but surpassed, going by the support government had given the sector.
Between 2002 and 2007, for instance, government had invested more than 400 million dollars to design, build and launch two satellites, Nigeriasat-1 and Nigcomsat-1.I
soun had told Nigerians that the satellites would turn around the fortunes of the country, while themassive investments would be recouped in fewyears.
According to him, the programmes will alsoreduce the cost of telephony and internet services, enhance communication services in rural and under-served areas, and raise the status of Nigeria in the comity of nations.
So for the highly expectant Nigerians, the reports last month that the Nigcomsat-1 was missing in orbit was indeed shocking.
After the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting on Nov. 19, Dr Alhassan Zaku, Minister of State for Science and Technology, had told Nigerians that Nigcomsat-1 had packed up after its batteries failed.
Zaku's explanation effectively rested the controversy generated by the lost of signals from the satellite.But for experts, the development had exposed the country's incompetence and unpreparedness to venture into high technology.
Mr Chukwuemeka Obasi, Coordinator, Nigeria CyberWorld, an NGO, while reacting to the Minister's explanation on Nigcomsat-1, said that it was a clear testimony of Nigeria leaders' little knowledge of satellite operations.
He also faulted the Minister's claims that the satellite was packed in orbit, just like one parks a car.Details of the project shows that the ill-fated satellite was built to last 15 years, but failed after 18 months.
``That development proves critics of the programmeright,'' Obasi said, and recalled that many had spokenagainst investing so much in that project.
While faulting the investment, the critics had said that investing in satellites at a time Nigeria was the leading nation with the highest maternal and infant mortality rate in the world was a ``misplaced priority''.
They also spoke of the declining state of education in the country especially when global organisations, including the World Bank, had written off the quality of graduates produced by Nigerian universities, and suggested thatthe funds should have been better channeled there.
Other arguments by the critics included the absence of the culture of maintenance and critical mass of experts in the field of space technology.
The choice of China as the designer, builders and launchers of Nigcomsat-1 also attracted criticisms.A university don, Prof. Adesina Adegoke, said that it waswrong to engage China without asking of their pedigree onsatellite.
``Now the satellite has failed. We saw it coming and alertedthe authorities, but no one listened,'' he said.Ahmed Rufai, Managing Director, Nigcomsat Ltd, has however assured Nigerians that all hope is not lost yet.
Rufai said that the satellite is 100 per cent insured, meaning that government'sinvestments would be fully recovered.According to him, the satellite will be replaced.
To the optimists, Rufai's explanation is soothing, but critics haveexpressed the fear that Nigerians may have to wait for at least three years for a new satellite to be designed, built and launched.
According to Mr Peter Adegoke, an ICT expert, ``a minimum of three years'' is required to build and launch such an ambitious satellite.
``It is sad that Nigeria's dream of effectively launching itselfinto the space has now been dashed,'' he told journalistsin Abuja recently, adding that disappointed Nigerians will have to live with that for sometime.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Mobilising the health sector for Vision 20:2020
By Alex Abutu.
When President Umaru Yar'Adua took over the reins of power
in 2007, the global health rating of Nigeria was not encouraging.
The country, for instance, was rated only above Afghanistan,
considered the worst in terms of child and maternal mortality.
The implication of the index is that out of every 1,000 live births,
197 children will die, while 80 women out of 1,000 die during childbirth.
Neonatal mortality rate was put at 53 per
1,000.
The WHO's Country Fact Sheet for Nigeria puts life expectancy at
birth at 46 and healthy life expectancy at birth at 41 years for males
and 42 years for females.
It also says that the probability of dying between 15 and 60 years
is 513 for males and 478 for women per every 1,000.
The sheet further puts life expectancy in Nigeria at 45 years for
males and 46 years for females.
According to the records, there are 34,923 physicians in the country,
while the density ratio is 0.28 per 1,000 Nigerians.
There are 210,006 nurses with a density of 1.70 per 1,000 citizens,
while there are 6,444 pharmacists with a density of 0.05 per 1,000
Nigerians.
Analysts say that the situation is worsened by the total absence of
infrastructure at the various tertiary hospitals across the country.
Dr Ugba Ekon, a private medical practitioner, says the absence of
facilities and equipment at the various teaching hospitals has forced
these facilities to venture into minor cases which health centres
should handle.
''Teaching hospitals no longer undertake research as they are all
saddled with treating cases which health centres should treat,'' he
says.
The deteriorating state of the nation's health sector is further
exposed by the discovery of new cases of polio across the federation.
States in the Southern part of the country where polio were never
heard of are now recording such cases.
The Chairman of the National Population Commission, Chief Samu'ila
Makama, recently raised fears that the situation could worsen with
the nation's population reaching 225 million by 2025.
''At the current fertility rate of 5.7 children per woman, Nigeria's
population will double even faster, reaching 225 million by 2025,''
Makama said.
He said that the country would require an additional N1.4 trillion
to meet the health and educational needs of children by 2025.
''In future, Nigeria will need to invest billions more to immunise
its infant population and government expenditure on primary
education must increase from N350 billion in 2000 to more than
N872 billion by 2025.
''Nigeria has one of the fastest growing populations in the world,
growing at 3.2 per cent per annum,'' he added.
Makama noted that the country's population rose from 56 million
in 1963 to 140 million by 2006 within a period of 40 years.
Analysing the population explosion at current growth rate, he said:
‘‘if a couple decides to have five children and their offsprings follow
suit, by the fourth generation there would be 155 offsprings as
grand-children.''
According to him, positive efforts must be made to influence the
rate of population growth as 5.6 million children are born per year
and 15,342 per day in the country.
He said that a strategic plan, with an ambitious target of reducing
national population growth rate from 3.2 per cent to 2 per cent by
2015, was ready for Nigeria.
''The plan will also lay out the modalities for reducing total fertility
rate by 50 per cent of the current level of 5.7 by 2015 as well as
increase the use of modern contraceptives by at least two per cent
annually,'' he said.
Other strategies contained in the plan, according to him, include
delayed marriage, increased birth spacing, prolonged breastfeeding
and delayed commencement of sexual activity.
Commenting on the plan, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, the Secretary
to the Government of the Federation, says that it will enable the
country to manage its population effectively.
Ahmed says that if the population growth rate is not properly
managed, it can hamper government's effort to fulfil its commitment
to improve the quality of life and standard of living for the people.
But for Dr Dogo Muhammad, the Executive Secretary of the
National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), all hope is not lost.
Muhammad says that in spite of the daunting challenges,
Nigeria's chances of meeting the targets set in the Millennium
Development Goals are ''still very bright and promising''.
He says that ''going by the programmes and projects being
implemented by government currently, the possibility of us
meeting the health component of the MDGs is bright''.
Among such programmes is the NHIS/MDGs Maternal and
Under-5 Child Health care Project (MCH) already launched
in six states.
Muhammad says that the MCH project has received N5 billion
from the MDGs Fund, which will be used to provide free
medicare to under-five children and pregnant women in six
pilot states.
He lists the benefiting states as Bayelsa, Gombe, Imo, Oyo,
Niger and Sokoto.
More states, Muhammad says, are expected to come on board
as soon as more funds are injected into the project.
''We expect that the project shall help eliminate physical and
financial barriers to qualitative health care for 621,386 children
under five and pregnant women in the participating states.
''Our hope is that with the project intervention, we shall
achieve a significant reduction in maternal and under-five
mortality rate in these states,'' he says.
The executive secretary also says that the project will ensure
that the international community recognises the genuine and
concerted effort of the Nigerian government to rise to the
challenge of poor maternal and child health in the country.
On her part, Sen. Iyabo Obansanjo-Bello, the Chairman of the
Senate Committee on Health, sees the country's maternal and
child mortality rating as a reflection of the decay in the health sector.
She, however, gives assurance that ''things can be turned around''.
Obasanjo-Bello says the rate pregnant women and children below
five years are dying in the country is ''`very alarming''.
She stresses: ''We must support efforts to curtail these unwanted deaths.''
According to her, the success of the MCH project will help in
repositioning the health sector.
For Mrs Amina Ibrahim, the Senior Special Assistant to the President
on the MDGs, supporting the health sector's revival with funds
accruing from the debt relief granted the country is one of the best
decisions of the current government.
She says that such support will enable Nigeria to meet goals four
and five of the MDGs.
''We must do everything possible to ensure that the maternal and
child mortality rating of Nigeria is reduced,'' she says.
As government articulates strategies to make the economy one of
the world's best 20 by 2020, analysts emphasise the need for a
healthy population because only a healthy populace can drive the
economy to the desired height. (end)
When President Umaru Yar'Adua took over the reins of power
in 2007, the global health rating of Nigeria was not encouraging.
The country, for instance, was rated only above Afghanistan,
considered the worst in terms of child and maternal mortality.
The implication of the index is that out of every 1,000 live births,
197 children will die, while 80 women out of 1,000 die during childbirth.
Neonatal mortality rate was put at 53 per
1,000.
The WHO's Country Fact Sheet for Nigeria puts life expectancy at
birth at 46 and healthy life expectancy at birth at 41 years for males
and 42 years for females.
It also says that the probability of dying between 15 and 60 years
is 513 for males and 478 for women per every 1,000.
The sheet further puts life expectancy in Nigeria at 45 years for
males and 46 years for females.
According to the records, there are 34,923 physicians in the country,
while the density ratio is 0.28 per 1,000 Nigerians.
There are 210,006 nurses with a density of 1.70 per 1,000 citizens,
while there are 6,444 pharmacists with a density of 0.05 per 1,000
Nigerians.
Analysts say that the situation is worsened by the total absence of
infrastructure at the various tertiary hospitals across the country.
Dr Ugba Ekon, a private medical practitioner, says the absence of
facilities and equipment at the various teaching hospitals has forced
these facilities to venture into minor cases which health centres
should handle.
''Teaching hospitals no longer undertake research as they are all
saddled with treating cases which health centres should treat,'' he
says.
The deteriorating state of the nation's health sector is further
exposed by the discovery of new cases of polio across the federation.
States in the Southern part of the country where polio were never
heard of are now recording such cases.
The Chairman of the National Population Commission, Chief Samu'ila
Makama, recently raised fears that the situation could worsen with
the nation's population reaching 225 million by 2025.
''At the current fertility rate of 5.7 children per woman, Nigeria's
population will double even faster, reaching 225 million by 2025,''
Makama said.
He said that the country would require an additional N1.4 trillion
to meet the health and educational needs of children by 2025.
''In future, Nigeria will need to invest billions more to immunise
its infant population and government expenditure on primary
education must increase from N350 billion in 2000 to more than
N872 billion by 2025.
''Nigeria has one of the fastest growing populations in the world,
growing at 3.2 per cent per annum,'' he added.
Makama noted that the country's population rose from 56 million
in 1963 to 140 million by 2006 within a period of 40 years.
Analysing the population explosion at current growth rate, he said:
‘‘if a couple decides to have five children and their offsprings follow
suit, by the fourth generation there would be 155 offsprings as
grand-children.''
According to him, positive efforts must be made to influence the
rate of population growth as 5.6 million children are born per year
and 15,342 per day in the country.
He said that a strategic plan, with an ambitious target of reducing
national population growth rate from 3.2 per cent to 2 per cent by
2015, was ready for Nigeria.
''The plan will also lay out the modalities for reducing total fertility
rate by 50 per cent of the current level of 5.7 by 2015 as well as
increase the use of modern contraceptives by at least two per cent
annually,'' he said.
Other strategies contained in the plan, according to him, include
delayed marriage, increased birth spacing, prolonged breastfeeding
and delayed commencement of sexual activity.
Commenting on the plan, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, the Secretary
to the Government of the Federation, says that it will enable the
country to manage its population effectively.
Ahmed says that if the population growth rate is not properly
managed, it can hamper government's effort to fulfil its commitment
to improve the quality of life and standard of living for the people.
But for Dr Dogo Muhammad, the Executive Secretary of the
National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), all hope is not lost.
Muhammad says that in spite of the daunting challenges,
Nigeria's chances of meeting the targets set in the Millennium
Development Goals are ''still very bright and promising''.
He says that ''going by the programmes and projects being
implemented by government currently, the possibility of us
meeting the health component of the MDGs is bright''.
Among such programmes is the NHIS/MDGs Maternal and
Under-5 Child Health care Project (MCH) already launched
in six states.
Muhammad says that the MCH project has received N5 billion
from the MDGs Fund, which will be used to provide free
medicare to under-five children and pregnant women in six
pilot states.
He lists the benefiting states as Bayelsa, Gombe, Imo, Oyo,
Niger and Sokoto.
More states, Muhammad says, are expected to come on board
as soon as more funds are injected into the project.
''We expect that the project shall help eliminate physical and
financial barriers to qualitative health care for 621,386 children
under five and pregnant women in the participating states.
''Our hope is that with the project intervention, we shall
achieve a significant reduction in maternal and under-five
mortality rate in these states,'' he says.
The executive secretary also says that the project will ensure
that the international community recognises the genuine and
concerted effort of the Nigerian government to rise to the
challenge of poor maternal and child health in the country.
On her part, Sen. Iyabo Obansanjo-Bello, the Chairman of the
Senate Committee on Health, sees the country's maternal and
child mortality rating as a reflection of the decay in the health sector.
She, however, gives assurance that ''things can be turned around''.
Obasanjo-Bello says the rate pregnant women and children below
five years are dying in the country is ''`very alarming''.
She stresses: ''We must support efforts to curtail these unwanted deaths.''
According to her, the success of the MCH project will help in
repositioning the health sector.
For Mrs Amina Ibrahim, the Senior Special Assistant to the President
on the MDGs, supporting the health sector's revival with funds
accruing from the debt relief granted the country is one of the best
decisions of the current government.
She says that such support will enable Nigeria to meet goals four
and five of the MDGs.
''We must do everything possible to ensure that the maternal and
child mortality rating of Nigeria is reduced,'' she says.
As government articulates strategies to make the economy one of
the world's best 20 by 2020, analysts emphasise the need for a
healthy population because only a healthy populace can drive the
economy to the desired height. (end)
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Preparing the youth for the future
By ALEX ABUTU
In May, 500 youths from 37 countries converged in Abuja to dialogue with policy makers on issues militating against a smooth transition of young people into adults.
Among issues tackled at that meeting, which was attended by researchers and scientists, were reproductive health and growth processes.
Sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the conference, tagged ''Investing in young peoples' health and development,'' provided a platform for youths to express their opinions on their welfare and how best to maximise their potential.
According to Prof. Oladosu Ojengbede, the National Chairman of the Conference Steering Committee, the forum became necessary following findings that the youth were ''very vulnerable'' to issues plaguing the society today.
''What we are creating is a unique gathering of researchers and policy makers to freely share knowledge that will promote and prepare the youth for a new world,'' he said.
Ojengbede declared that the youth formed 40 per cent of the world population and ''cannot be neglected by any responsible government''.
Nigeria's First Lady, Hajia Turai Yar'adua, who shared Ojengbede's call for proper attention to the youth, challenged policy makers and leaders to ensure a ''very meaningful investment'' in young people.
''Without proper development of young people, society is doomed as there will be no future,'' she said.
''A youth who will effectively deliver on the future is the one that has been adequately prepared for it; one in whom the society has sufficiently invested and provided relevant opportunities to optimise potential.
''With over one billion young people between the ages of 10 and 24 living today, the need to confront the challenges facing them in various areas of development -- health, education and employment -- has never been greater.''
In her remarks, Ms Elizabeth Lule, of the World Bank, said that the current global youth bulge provided an unprecedented opportunity to take advantage of the largest pool of children and youth in record history.
''The youth can be a positive force for change for the future,'' she observed.
But perhaps the most crucial aspect of the conference was when researchers and organisations presented their findings concerning the youth.
Reports from the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised an alarm over the growing number of youths hooked on tobacco.
In its paper presented by Dr Elizabeth Mason, Director, Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development, WHO revealed that 150 million adolescents use tobacco.
According to the paper, 80 per cent of those youths started smoking before the age of 18.
''If the pattern of tobacco use today continues, a lifetime of tobacco use would result in the death of 250 million people alive today, most of them in developing countries,'' the organisation stated.
Besides tobacco, another major cause of death among young people is road traffic accidents.
The WHO director suggested a ban on adverts promoting tobacco usage, and also advocated high tariffs that would increase the prices of cigarettes.
Another paper, presented by Akinrinola Bankole, of the Guttmacher Institute, New York, acknowledged that today's youths are confronted with the risk of HIV and AIDS, as well as unplanned pregnancy.
To minimise the effect of such dangers, Bankole said that the young people must be supported and empowered to successfully confront the challenges of Sexually Transmitted Infections, especially HIV.
''Because of the unique dual protection it offers for sexually active people, the use of condom must be promoted among the young people,'' he suggested.
Bankole said that findings from years of research had shown that youths in the West African sub-region did not use the condom satisfactorily.
''Education, especially practical education, is a major determinant of knowledge of correct condom use and must be taught,'' he said.
Another study, presented by Ann Moore from the same institute, showed a prevalence of exchange of money and gift for sex among unmarried adolescents in Africa.
The study thus blamed promiscuity in the African region on poverty and particularly cited another research conducted in four African countries.
''The research by Nyovani Madise of the University of Southampton, UK, said that poverty appeared to influence early sexual debut, especially among females.
''That study also showed that the poor were less likely to use condom, which means that poverty, by influencing sexual behaviour, could influence the transmission of HIV infection,'' the study stated.
Giving credence to youths' claims that they had suffered neglect over the years, Mrs Saudatu Sani, the Chairman of Nigeria's House of Representatives Committee on MDGs, said that government had not done enough to improve the youths' fortune.
She, however, blamed the executive arm of government, noting that the legislature had always done its part by passing laws to protect the rights to education, shelter and equal opportunities.
''As legislators, we have always done our part by passing these laws and appropriating monies for their pursuit.
''But we are always surprised that such appropriations as contained in the budget are not implemented even when the National Assembly has passed them,'' she said.
To force government to listen to them, she advised the youth to ''be more active'' and monitor the implementation of the budget, especially in areas that affect them.
''You as youths should have a strong voice on issues that concern you, especially when appropriated resources to address your critical needs are not implemented,'' she said.
In his remarks, the Minority Leader of the Senate, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora, blamed the neglect of the youth on the communication gap between them and their leaders.
He called for more interactive fora that would provide leaders and the youth the opportunity to converge and discuss issues.
Prof. Uche Onwudiegwu, of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife-Ife, however, disagreed with Mamora that there was a communication gap.
''I think government has always deliberately left out the youth in all its programmes.''More than one million youths take the UME every year which has provision for only 200,000, but no one cares what happens to the rest 800,000 who cannot make it to the universities,'' he said.
He said that the continued approval of private universities charging outrageous fees was another pointer to the fact that government was not interested in what happened to the youth.
For Master Hassan Mohammed, a youth, the government is paying lip-service to issues affecting them.''We are fondly called the leaders of tomorrow but no one prepares for that tomorrow; today most of us are out of school for reasons beyond us, while many others are roaming the streets.''
Muhammad called on government to plan ahead if it was really sincere about positioning them to take over the reins of power. At the end, the conference called for more attention to youth programmes by government, NGOs and donor agencies.
It suggested closer linkages between research programmes and policy development.
The participants also called for improved laws and policies as well as their prompt implementation, while advocating attention to adolescent girls who are among the most vulnerable of all the groups.
For many analysts, youths deserve special attention as they are always the victims of child marriage which impedes their right to education and robs them of every economic opportunity.
Such a marriage subjects the girl-child to sexual violence, they argue.
One such analyst, Dr Laura Laski, of the UN Fund for Population, calls for concerted efforts to check the trend as 100 million girls are anticipated to be married as children in the next 10 years.
''If we do not address this issue by getting the attention of governments through the UN, it will be difficult to achieve the MDGs as they affect the young people,'' she notes.
In May, 500 youths from 37 countries converged in Abuja to dialogue with policy makers on issues militating against a smooth transition of young people into adults.
Among issues tackled at that meeting, which was attended by researchers and scientists, were reproductive health and growth processes.
Sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the conference, tagged ''Investing in young peoples' health and development,'' provided a platform for youths to express their opinions on their welfare and how best to maximise their potential.
According to Prof. Oladosu Ojengbede, the National Chairman of the Conference Steering Committee, the forum became necessary following findings that the youth were ''very vulnerable'' to issues plaguing the society today.
''What we are creating is a unique gathering of researchers and policy makers to freely share knowledge that will promote and prepare the youth for a new world,'' he said.
Ojengbede declared that the youth formed 40 per cent of the world population and ''cannot be neglected by any responsible government''.
Nigeria's First Lady, Hajia Turai Yar'adua, who shared Ojengbede's call for proper attention to the youth, challenged policy makers and leaders to ensure a ''very meaningful investment'' in young people.
''Without proper development of young people, society is doomed as there will be no future,'' she said.
''A youth who will effectively deliver on the future is the one that has been adequately prepared for it; one in whom the society has sufficiently invested and provided relevant opportunities to optimise potential.
''With over one billion young people between the ages of 10 and 24 living today, the need to confront the challenges facing them in various areas of development -- health, education and employment -- has never been greater.''
In her remarks, Ms Elizabeth Lule, of the World Bank, said that the current global youth bulge provided an unprecedented opportunity to take advantage of the largest pool of children and youth in record history.
''The youth can be a positive force for change for the future,'' she observed.
But perhaps the most crucial aspect of the conference was when researchers and organisations presented their findings concerning the youth.
Reports from the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised an alarm over the growing number of youths hooked on tobacco.
In its paper presented by Dr Elizabeth Mason, Director, Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development, WHO revealed that 150 million adolescents use tobacco.
According to the paper, 80 per cent of those youths started smoking before the age of 18.
''If the pattern of tobacco use today continues, a lifetime of tobacco use would result in the death of 250 million people alive today, most of them in developing countries,'' the organisation stated.
Besides tobacco, another major cause of death among young people is road traffic accidents.
The WHO director suggested a ban on adverts promoting tobacco usage, and also advocated high tariffs that would increase the prices of cigarettes.
Another paper, presented by Akinrinola Bankole, of the Guttmacher Institute, New York, acknowledged that today's youths are confronted with the risk of HIV and AIDS, as well as unplanned pregnancy.
To minimise the effect of such dangers, Bankole said that the young people must be supported and empowered to successfully confront the challenges of Sexually Transmitted Infections, especially HIV.
''Because of the unique dual protection it offers for sexually active people, the use of condom must be promoted among the young people,'' he suggested.
Bankole said that findings from years of research had shown that youths in the West African sub-region did not use the condom satisfactorily.
''Education, especially practical education, is a major determinant of knowledge of correct condom use and must be taught,'' he said.
Another study, presented by Ann Moore from the same institute, showed a prevalence of exchange of money and gift for sex among unmarried adolescents in Africa.
The study thus blamed promiscuity in the African region on poverty and particularly cited another research conducted in four African countries.
''The research by Nyovani Madise of the University of Southampton, UK, said that poverty appeared to influence early sexual debut, especially among females.
''That study also showed that the poor were less likely to use condom, which means that poverty, by influencing sexual behaviour, could influence the transmission of HIV infection,'' the study stated.
Giving credence to youths' claims that they had suffered neglect over the years, Mrs Saudatu Sani, the Chairman of Nigeria's House of Representatives Committee on MDGs, said that government had not done enough to improve the youths' fortune.
She, however, blamed the executive arm of government, noting that the legislature had always done its part by passing laws to protect the rights to education, shelter and equal opportunities.
''As legislators, we have always done our part by passing these laws and appropriating monies for their pursuit.
''But we are always surprised that such appropriations as contained in the budget are not implemented even when the National Assembly has passed them,'' she said.
To force government to listen to them, she advised the youth to ''be more active'' and monitor the implementation of the budget, especially in areas that affect them.
''You as youths should have a strong voice on issues that concern you, especially when appropriated resources to address your critical needs are not implemented,'' she said.
In his remarks, the Minority Leader of the Senate, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora, blamed the neglect of the youth on the communication gap between them and their leaders.
He called for more interactive fora that would provide leaders and the youth the opportunity to converge and discuss issues.
Prof. Uche Onwudiegwu, of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife-Ife, however, disagreed with Mamora that there was a communication gap.
''I think government has always deliberately left out the youth in all its programmes.''More than one million youths take the UME every year which has provision for only 200,000, but no one cares what happens to the rest 800,000 who cannot make it to the universities,'' he said.
He said that the continued approval of private universities charging outrageous fees was another pointer to the fact that government was not interested in what happened to the youth.
For Master Hassan Mohammed, a youth, the government is paying lip-service to issues affecting them.''We are fondly called the leaders of tomorrow but no one prepares for that tomorrow; today most of us are out of school for reasons beyond us, while many others are roaming the streets.''
Muhammad called on government to plan ahead if it was really sincere about positioning them to take over the reins of power. At the end, the conference called for more attention to youth programmes by government, NGOs and donor agencies.
It suggested closer linkages between research programmes and policy development.
The participants also called for improved laws and policies as well as their prompt implementation, while advocating attention to adolescent girls who are among the most vulnerable of all the groups.
For many analysts, youths deserve special attention as they are always the victims of child marriage which impedes their right to education and robs them of every economic opportunity.
Such a marriage subjects the girl-child to sexual violence, they argue.
One such analyst, Dr Laura Laski, of the UN Fund for Population, calls for concerted efforts to check the trend as 100 million girls are anticipated to be married as children in the next 10 years.
''If we do not address this issue by getting the attention of governments through the UN, it will be difficult to achieve the MDGs as they affect the young people,'' she notes.
Checking Rising Child Mortality Profile in Nigeria
By Alex Abutu,
Last year's National Population and Housing Census put the country's population figure at 140 million.
The figure further confirms Nigeria as the most populous black nation in the world.
Development partners such as WHO and UNICEF say the country has one of the worst child mortality rates in Africa. According to the UN agencies, for every 1,000 live births in Nigeria, 194 die before they attain the age of five.
By this figure, the country ranks 14th globally with the highest child mortality rate. However, a 2005/2006 publication by the Federal Ministry of Health puts thechild mortality rate at 98 per 1,000 live births.
Comparatively, it says that Ghana and South Africa have 59 per cent and 53 per 1,000 live births respectively.
Nigeria is thus in the league of disaster-ridden countries, including Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire.
The government publication also says that Nigeria's life expectancy at birth is 43.3 years, while it is 56.7 years in Ghana and 49 years in South Africa. India and China, with populations greater than Nigeria's, have their mortality rates put at 85 per 1,000 and 31 per 1,000 respectively.
Considering Nigeria's West African neighbours, Benin Republic has 150 per 1,000; Togo, 139 per 1,000; Ghana, 122 per 1,000; and Niger 259 per 1,000.
But more worrisome is the fact that Nigeria's per capita expenditure on health is almost double that of Niger Republic. The fourth Millennium Development Goal prescribes a two-third reduction in under-five mortality rate in 15 years between 2000 and 2015.
It, therefore, implies that Nigeria must reduce its child mortality rate to less than 70 per 1,000 live births by 2015.
With seven years into the target year, the country is faced with the urgent need to fast-track activities to meet the goal.
But what are the factors responsible for the country's rising infant mortality profile? Experts met recently at a forum organised by the Nigerian Academy of Science to x-ray the situation.
Prof. William Ogala, of the Department of Paediatrics, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, says that though child mortality is a global problem, Africa bears the greatest brunt.
Ogala says there are 10.8 million global child deaths annually, with most of them being preventable.
According to him, global statistics on child mortality show that sub-SaharanAfrica accounts for 41 per cent, while South Asia has 34 per cent. The rest of the world, he says, accounts for 25 per cent.
Ogala says it will take Africa the next 70 years to reduce its under-five mortality by two-thirds, going by current efforts to address the problem.
For Dr Ndi Onuekwusi, a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, mismanagement of the nation's healthcare system is a major reason for the rising child mortality rate. ''The country's health care system is a monumental failure.
''The system has succeeded in creating unnecessary agencies which are drain-pipes, even as Nigerian children die from preventable and treatable diseases.''
Onuekwusi says the country's healthcare system lacks both input and output indicators. Besides, it lacks the database as well as a monitoring and evaluation mechanism to efficiently measure the impact of policies and programmes.
''An efficient health system is characterised by integrity which cannot be breached easily. ''It must have inter-connectivity, allowing for robust relationship with stakeholders, and give room for self-appraisal. ''But all this is lacking in Nigeria,'' he says.
Onuekwusi notes that the nation's health care system discountenances the contribution of experts and is devoid of community involvement.
He identifies other areas of inadequacy to include absence of aconducive environment and the lack of collaboration among agencies involved in various policies and programmes.
Prof. Theodore Okeahialam, of the Imo State University, Owerri, says that the rising child mortality profile is caused by the absence of social infrastructure and high level poverty.
He adds that it also lacks sustained environmental sanitation. ''We cannot reduce the number of children who die from malaria, diarrhoea and measles when they do not have access to potable water, clean environment and electricity,'' he argues.
A former Commissioner for Health in Lagos State, Dr Leke Pitan, agrees that the poor child mortality record is a cause for concern.
Pitan says that low birth weight and infections such as asphyxia, malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea, HIV and HIV,measles and malnutrition are some factors responsible for the problem.
Mrs Yetunde Olumide, Professor of Medicine, University of Lagos, says that the infant mortality rate is unacceptable.
The time has come, she says, for the country to take a critical look at the funding pattern in order to reduce child mortality.
She calls for judicious use of funds. ''We cannot fold our hands and watch our children die from preventable infections.''
What, therefore, should be done to reduce child mortality rate in the country drastically?
Experts say that if every baby were exclusively breast-fed from birth, an estimated 1.5 million lives would be saved every year.
Pneumonia which kills some 500,000children can be prevented with vaccine, they note. Measles also can be prevented with vaccines at a cost of less than N50 per child.
The use of insecticide-treated bed nets, the experts say, is a vital strategy for controlling malaria.
Studies have shown that under-five mortality rate can be reduced by about 25 per cent to 30 per cent if all young children in malaria-prone areas are protected by treated bed nets.
Concerned citizens say that government's intervention programmes are not reaching enough children.
Experts, therefore, say that there is a compelling need to scale up such intervention programmes.
''All we hope to do at this conference is to find ways of scaling up the already known interventions for these conditions,'' says Okeahialam.
The experts suggest that governmentshould intensify its immunisation campaigns to cover at least 90 per cent of the country.
They also recommend that efforts be made to eradicate religious and traditional beliefs that discourage the use of vaccines.
The campaign on exclusive breast feeding and the use of insecticide-treated bed nets should equally bestepped up.
Government's intervention should have a specific budget for the control of all preventable diseases rather than wait on donor funding, the experts suggest.
They agree that the country's child mortality rate can be reduced if the right policies and programmes are put in place and religiously executed.
The diseases killing the children cannot only be treated but are also preventable, the experts reason.
Government should, therefore, articulate policies and programmes, and take informed decisions that can ensure that more children celebrate their fifth birthday. Such measures must be geared toward ensuring that Nigerian children grow up to adulthood.
Last year's National Population and Housing Census put the country's population figure at 140 million.
The figure further confirms Nigeria as the most populous black nation in the world.
Development partners such as WHO and UNICEF say the country has one of the worst child mortality rates in Africa. According to the UN agencies, for every 1,000 live births in Nigeria, 194 die before they attain the age of five.
By this figure, the country ranks 14th globally with the highest child mortality rate. However, a 2005/2006 publication by the Federal Ministry of Health puts thechild mortality rate at 98 per 1,000 live births.
Comparatively, it says that Ghana and South Africa have 59 per cent and 53 per 1,000 live births respectively.
Nigeria is thus in the league of disaster-ridden countries, including Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire.
The government publication also says that Nigeria's life expectancy at birth is 43.3 years, while it is 56.7 years in Ghana and 49 years in South Africa. India and China, with populations greater than Nigeria's, have their mortality rates put at 85 per 1,000 and 31 per 1,000 respectively.
Considering Nigeria's West African neighbours, Benin Republic has 150 per 1,000; Togo, 139 per 1,000; Ghana, 122 per 1,000; and Niger 259 per 1,000.
But more worrisome is the fact that Nigeria's per capita expenditure on health is almost double that of Niger Republic. The fourth Millennium Development Goal prescribes a two-third reduction in under-five mortality rate in 15 years between 2000 and 2015.
It, therefore, implies that Nigeria must reduce its child mortality rate to less than 70 per 1,000 live births by 2015.
With seven years into the target year, the country is faced with the urgent need to fast-track activities to meet the goal.
But what are the factors responsible for the country's rising infant mortality profile? Experts met recently at a forum organised by the Nigerian Academy of Science to x-ray the situation.
Prof. William Ogala, of the Department of Paediatrics, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, says that though child mortality is a global problem, Africa bears the greatest brunt.
Ogala says there are 10.8 million global child deaths annually, with most of them being preventable.
According to him, global statistics on child mortality show that sub-SaharanAfrica accounts for 41 per cent, while South Asia has 34 per cent. The rest of the world, he says, accounts for 25 per cent.
Ogala says it will take Africa the next 70 years to reduce its under-five mortality by two-thirds, going by current efforts to address the problem.
For Dr Ndi Onuekwusi, a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, mismanagement of the nation's healthcare system is a major reason for the rising child mortality rate. ''The country's health care system is a monumental failure.
''The system has succeeded in creating unnecessary agencies which are drain-pipes, even as Nigerian children die from preventable and treatable diseases.''
Onuekwusi says the country's healthcare system lacks both input and output indicators. Besides, it lacks the database as well as a monitoring and evaluation mechanism to efficiently measure the impact of policies and programmes.
''An efficient health system is characterised by integrity which cannot be breached easily. ''It must have inter-connectivity, allowing for robust relationship with stakeholders, and give room for self-appraisal. ''But all this is lacking in Nigeria,'' he says.
Onuekwusi notes that the nation's health care system discountenances the contribution of experts and is devoid of community involvement.
He identifies other areas of inadequacy to include absence of aconducive environment and the lack of collaboration among agencies involved in various policies and programmes.
Prof. Theodore Okeahialam, of the Imo State University, Owerri, says that the rising child mortality profile is caused by the absence of social infrastructure and high level poverty.
He adds that it also lacks sustained environmental sanitation. ''We cannot reduce the number of children who die from malaria, diarrhoea and measles when they do not have access to potable water, clean environment and electricity,'' he argues.
A former Commissioner for Health in Lagos State, Dr Leke Pitan, agrees that the poor child mortality record is a cause for concern.
Pitan says that low birth weight and infections such as asphyxia, malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea, HIV and HIV,measles and malnutrition are some factors responsible for the problem.
Mrs Yetunde Olumide, Professor of Medicine, University of Lagos, says that the infant mortality rate is unacceptable.
The time has come, she says, for the country to take a critical look at the funding pattern in order to reduce child mortality.
She calls for judicious use of funds. ''We cannot fold our hands and watch our children die from preventable infections.''
What, therefore, should be done to reduce child mortality rate in the country drastically?
Experts say that if every baby were exclusively breast-fed from birth, an estimated 1.5 million lives would be saved every year.
Pneumonia which kills some 500,000children can be prevented with vaccine, they note. Measles also can be prevented with vaccines at a cost of less than N50 per child.
The use of insecticide-treated bed nets, the experts say, is a vital strategy for controlling malaria.
Studies have shown that under-five mortality rate can be reduced by about 25 per cent to 30 per cent if all young children in malaria-prone areas are protected by treated bed nets.
Concerned citizens say that government's intervention programmes are not reaching enough children.
Experts, therefore, say that there is a compelling need to scale up such intervention programmes.
''All we hope to do at this conference is to find ways of scaling up the already known interventions for these conditions,'' says Okeahialam.
The experts suggest that governmentshould intensify its immunisation campaigns to cover at least 90 per cent of the country.
They also recommend that efforts be made to eradicate religious and traditional beliefs that discourage the use of vaccines.
The campaign on exclusive breast feeding and the use of insecticide-treated bed nets should equally bestepped up.
Government's intervention should have a specific budget for the control of all preventable diseases rather than wait on donor funding, the experts suggest.
They agree that the country's child mortality rate can be reduced if the right policies and programmes are put in place and religiously executed.
The diseases killing the children cannot only be treated but are also preventable, the experts reason.
Government should, therefore, articulate policies and programmes, and take informed decisions that can ensure that more children celebrate their fifth birthday. Such measures must be geared toward ensuring that Nigerian children grow up to adulthood.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Mitigating climate change: Trees to the rescue?
Alex Abutu
After decades of denial about global warming and its after effects, the world was recently been jolted by reports of extreme floods in Kenya, Canada, Indonesia and Southern Africa, indications that global warming may be the chief culprit.
There have also been increased cases of drought in the Sahelian region of Africa and increased incidence of hurricanes in the USA.
In central Nigeria, global warming is being blamed for the violence between nomadic cattle herders and peasant farmers who have been locked in conflict over scarce land for decades, as the desert creeps southwards.
Similarly, deforestation, dwindling water supplies and rising sea levels could spark mass migrations, provoking ethnic conflict as dire predictions by the United Nations indicate that temperatures may rise by 1.4 - 5.8 Celsius by 2100.
Africa
"Regions that are already least secure in food production, like sub-Saharan Africa, stand to be the worst affected by global warming as wet areas become wetter and dry areas become drier," says a recent global report on climate change.
"Africa is the most vulnerable continent to climate change," said Jennifer Morgan, director of the Global Climate Change Programme at conservation group WWF said, citing its extreme poverty as further impeding its ability to cope.
To compound it further, desertification also threatens to drive millions of Africans from their homes, according to a recent international report drawing on the work of 1,360 scientists in 95 nations.
In one instance, researchers and the government say that Uganda's climate has become hotter and its rains more erratic in the last decade, posing a threat to its key coffee crop.
Others point at gullies of eroded, barren earth scarring the shoreline of Lake Victoria, which borders Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, as illustrating the extent of the problem.
Rising sea temperatures are also among the threats seen to the coral reefs off Africa's lush east coast, the life-blood of poor coastal communities dependent upon fisheries and tourism.
On the whole, the results have been loss of lives, destruction of property, injury and hardship inflicted on humanity, underscoring the fact that global warming is both a reality and a phenomenon that begs for collective action.
It is against this backdrop that strategies are being worked out to contend with the challenges of how tomitigate the effects of global warming, particularly on such vulnerable areas as Africa, already scarred by deforestation, poor soil health and drought, among others.
Strategies
In pursuit of acceptable strategies, spanning over 15 years of work, a few protocols and conventions have been adopted.
They include the Montreal and Kyoto protocols, targeted at reducing the emission of carbon dioxide globally.
The Kyoto protocol, for instance, aims at curbing the air pollution blamed for global warming, requiring countries to cut the emission of carbon dioxide and other green house gases.
Kyoto, which became legally binding on February 16, 2005 demand a 5.2 per cent cut in GHG emission from industrialised world as a whole by 2012.
The protocols have in most cases failed to achieve set emission targets as countries adopted a laid back approachto meeting set objectives and commitments contained in the protocols.
In particular, countries, notably the worst polluters, have continued to place their economies above the commitments to the protocols thereby jeopardising its realisation much to the chagrin of most developing countries and environmentalists.
The new initiative tagged `` Plant a billion trees'' launched at the 12th conference of parties to the Kyoto protocol in Nairobi in 2006, seems to hold the key to unlocking the devastation occasioned by global warming.
The campaign fashioned after the works of Nobel laureate, Prof. Wangari Maathai, and sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) hopes to realise the target of planting one billion trees by the end of 2007.
Maathai said that the vital importance of voluntary collective action in the fight against climate change wasbeing undertaken with the launch of the campaign, which she noted, was an action the world must take today to preserve the climate for future generations.
She said that the target of 2007 was achievable if one billion people out of the world's estimated population of six billion ``dig a hole, put a tree in it and water it.''
The campaign is premised on the science of using trees as 'carbon sinks' whereby they soak up carbon dioxide and release into the atmosphere oxygen.
According to UNEP, rainforests cover only seven per cent of the land on earth but contain nearly half of all the trees on earth and generate about 40 per cent of the world's oxygen.
``In one year, an average tree inhales 12 kilograms (26 pounds) of carbon dioxide and exhales enough oxygenfor a family of four for a year,'' UNEP said.
Recognising that there were many tree planting schemes round the world, UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner said that the new initiative was aimed at federating these efforts in view of its benefit to mankind.
Steiner said that achieving set targets under the campaign must not be confined to the corridors of the negotiation halls but offer a direct and straight forward path down which all sectors of society would step to.
``In-recreating lost forests and developing new ones, we can also address other concerns including loss of biodiversity, improving water availability, stemming desertification and reducing erosion,'' he said.
Steiner added that `` the billion tree campaign is but an acronym, but it can also be practically and symbolically a significant expression of our common determination to make a difference in developing and developed countries alike.''
He said that the world has but a short time to avert serious consequences as a result of climate change.
Under the initiative, people, communities, businesses and industry, civil societies and government are being encouraged to make commitments to planting trees.
Prince Albert 11 of Monaco, says one of the primary aims of the campaign is to create an unprecedented mobilisation in favour of the environment.
Albert, who is the patron of the initiative, said that the project would encourage and coordinate the planting of local species initiated by governments, NGOs, communities and even children.
``The campaign is a simple gesture, yet a strong symbol of sustainable development,'' he said.
Al Gore, former US vice president, added credence to the efficacy of tree planting saying that ``the symbolism and substantive significance of planting a tree has universal power in every culture and every society on earth, and it is a way for individual men, women and children to participate in creating solutions to the environmental crisis.''
Limitations
In Nigeria, governments at various levels have in the past two decades embraced tree planting campaigns aimed at greening the desert, checking desertification, degradation and erosion in most parts of the country.
The campaign, experts noted, has, however, degenerated into an annual fanfare without sustainable strategies to ensure that the campaign succeeded.
Dr Tony Nyong, an environmentalist with International Development Research Centre, describes the tree planting campaign in Nigeria as a mere jamboree.
Nyong said that the present campaign needed to be overhauled and trees such as palm trees be included in the campaign in view of its carbon sequestration potentials.
On a debit side, a recent research by scientists at the Nairobi-based World Agro Forestry Centre (ICRAF), appear to question the benefits of the 'plant a billion tree campaign' as it said trees utilise more water than hitherto believed.
The research noted that trees such as Eucalyptus consume as much as 2000 litres of water daily while Pinus Patula consumes between 500 to 1000 litres daily.
Thus, the implication of planting trees such as Eucalyptus under the campaign is that watershed management would be under serious threat if one million of such species were included in the campaign.
The research findings noted that average rainfall in East African catchments was between 1200 to 1800mm, Eucalyptus, it said, would consume most of this water.
Plantations of thirsty trees according to the research, funded by the Swedish International Developmental Agency, will only be viable in high rainfall areas, run-off where water collects, and where ground water is more readily available.
It cautioned that ``avoiding plantations of fast growing trees that can easily exacerbate water shortage will decrease the impact of climate change.''
One of the lead scientists in the research, Dr. Chin Ong said that the plant a one billion tree campaign must, therefore, target local species that would not pose any threat to the watershed.
He said that the research should be able to identify such local tree species that would not only conserve water for the needs of the rural populace, but also assist in scaling up their livelihood.
Armed with this knowledge, inaction would not be accepted as an excuse for the world not to tame one of the latest threats to humanity, especially in Africa the acclaimed cradle of man. (END)
After decades of denial about global warming and its after effects, the world was recently been jolted by reports of extreme floods in Kenya, Canada, Indonesia and Southern Africa, indications that global warming may be the chief culprit.
There have also been increased cases of drought in the Sahelian region of Africa and increased incidence of hurricanes in the USA.
In central Nigeria, global warming is being blamed for the violence between nomadic cattle herders and peasant farmers who have been locked in conflict over scarce land for decades, as the desert creeps southwards.
Similarly, deforestation, dwindling water supplies and rising sea levels could spark mass migrations, provoking ethnic conflict as dire predictions by the United Nations indicate that temperatures may rise by 1.4 - 5.8 Celsius by 2100.
Africa
"Regions that are already least secure in food production, like sub-Saharan Africa, stand to be the worst affected by global warming as wet areas become wetter and dry areas become drier," says a recent global report on climate change.
"Africa is the most vulnerable continent to climate change," said Jennifer Morgan, director of the Global Climate Change Programme at conservation group WWF said, citing its extreme poverty as further impeding its ability to cope.
To compound it further, desertification also threatens to drive millions of Africans from their homes, according to a recent international report drawing on the work of 1,360 scientists in 95 nations.
In one instance, researchers and the government say that Uganda's climate has become hotter and its rains more erratic in the last decade, posing a threat to its key coffee crop.
Others point at gullies of eroded, barren earth scarring the shoreline of Lake Victoria, which borders Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, as illustrating the extent of the problem.
Rising sea temperatures are also among the threats seen to the coral reefs off Africa's lush east coast, the life-blood of poor coastal communities dependent upon fisheries and tourism.
On the whole, the results have been loss of lives, destruction of property, injury and hardship inflicted on humanity, underscoring the fact that global warming is both a reality and a phenomenon that begs for collective action.
It is against this backdrop that strategies are being worked out to contend with the challenges of how tomitigate the effects of global warming, particularly on such vulnerable areas as Africa, already scarred by deforestation, poor soil health and drought, among others.
Strategies
In pursuit of acceptable strategies, spanning over 15 years of work, a few protocols and conventions have been adopted.
They include the Montreal and Kyoto protocols, targeted at reducing the emission of carbon dioxide globally.
The Kyoto protocol, for instance, aims at curbing the air pollution blamed for global warming, requiring countries to cut the emission of carbon dioxide and other green house gases.
Kyoto, which became legally binding on February 16, 2005 demand a 5.2 per cent cut in GHG emission from industrialised world as a whole by 2012.
The protocols have in most cases failed to achieve set emission targets as countries adopted a laid back approachto meeting set objectives and commitments contained in the protocols.
In particular, countries, notably the worst polluters, have continued to place their economies above the commitments to the protocols thereby jeopardising its realisation much to the chagrin of most developing countries and environmentalists.
The new initiative tagged `` Plant a billion trees'' launched at the 12th conference of parties to the Kyoto protocol in Nairobi in 2006, seems to hold the key to unlocking the devastation occasioned by global warming.
The campaign fashioned after the works of Nobel laureate, Prof. Wangari Maathai, and sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) hopes to realise the target of planting one billion trees by the end of 2007.
Maathai said that the vital importance of voluntary collective action in the fight against climate change wasbeing undertaken with the launch of the campaign, which she noted, was an action the world must take today to preserve the climate for future generations.
She said that the target of 2007 was achievable if one billion people out of the world's estimated population of six billion ``dig a hole, put a tree in it and water it.''
The campaign is premised on the science of using trees as 'carbon sinks' whereby they soak up carbon dioxide and release into the atmosphere oxygen.
According to UNEP, rainforests cover only seven per cent of the land on earth but contain nearly half of all the trees on earth and generate about 40 per cent of the world's oxygen.
``In one year, an average tree inhales 12 kilograms (26 pounds) of carbon dioxide and exhales enough oxygenfor a family of four for a year,'' UNEP said.
Recognising that there were many tree planting schemes round the world, UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner said that the new initiative was aimed at federating these efforts in view of its benefit to mankind.
Steiner said that achieving set targets under the campaign must not be confined to the corridors of the negotiation halls but offer a direct and straight forward path down which all sectors of society would step to.
``In-recreating lost forests and developing new ones, we can also address other concerns including loss of biodiversity, improving water availability, stemming desertification and reducing erosion,'' he said.
Steiner added that `` the billion tree campaign is but an acronym, but it can also be practically and symbolically a significant expression of our common determination to make a difference in developing and developed countries alike.''
He said that the world has but a short time to avert serious consequences as a result of climate change.
Under the initiative, people, communities, businesses and industry, civil societies and government are being encouraged to make commitments to planting trees.
Prince Albert 11 of Monaco, says one of the primary aims of the campaign is to create an unprecedented mobilisation in favour of the environment.
Albert, who is the patron of the initiative, said that the project would encourage and coordinate the planting of local species initiated by governments, NGOs, communities and even children.
``The campaign is a simple gesture, yet a strong symbol of sustainable development,'' he said.
Al Gore, former US vice president, added credence to the efficacy of tree planting saying that ``the symbolism and substantive significance of planting a tree has universal power in every culture and every society on earth, and it is a way for individual men, women and children to participate in creating solutions to the environmental crisis.''
Limitations
In Nigeria, governments at various levels have in the past two decades embraced tree planting campaigns aimed at greening the desert, checking desertification, degradation and erosion in most parts of the country.
The campaign, experts noted, has, however, degenerated into an annual fanfare without sustainable strategies to ensure that the campaign succeeded.
Dr Tony Nyong, an environmentalist with International Development Research Centre, describes the tree planting campaign in Nigeria as a mere jamboree.
Nyong said that the present campaign needed to be overhauled and trees such as palm trees be included in the campaign in view of its carbon sequestration potentials.
On a debit side, a recent research by scientists at the Nairobi-based World Agro Forestry Centre (ICRAF), appear to question the benefits of the 'plant a billion tree campaign' as it said trees utilise more water than hitherto believed.
The research noted that trees such as Eucalyptus consume as much as 2000 litres of water daily while Pinus Patula consumes between 500 to 1000 litres daily.
Thus, the implication of planting trees such as Eucalyptus under the campaign is that watershed management would be under serious threat if one million of such species were included in the campaign.
The research findings noted that average rainfall in East African catchments was between 1200 to 1800mm, Eucalyptus, it said, would consume most of this water.
Plantations of thirsty trees according to the research, funded by the Swedish International Developmental Agency, will only be viable in high rainfall areas, run-off where water collects, and where ground water is more readily available.
It cautioned that ``avoiding plantations of fast growing trees that can easily exacerbate water shortage will decrease the impact of climate change.''
One of the lead scientists in the research, Dr. Chin Ong said that the plant a one billion tree campaign must, therefore, target local species that would not pose any threat to the watershed.
He said that the research should be able to identify such local tree species that would not only conserve water for the needs of the rural populace, but also assist in scaling up their livelihood.
Armed with this knowledge, inaction would not be accepted as an excuse for the world not to tame one of the latest threats to humanity, especially in Africa the acclaimed cradle of man. (END)
Genetically Modified crops and food security in Nigeria
GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS AND FOOD SECURITY IN NIGERIA
By Alex Abutu, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
Genetically modified (GM) foods have since their
introduction in the global market in the 1990s been
fraught with controversies.
The controversies have centred on human and
environmental safety, ethica and consumer choice.
Other contending issues include food security,
labelling, intellectual property rights and poverty
reduction.
The most common modified foods are derived from
plants such as soya beans, corn, cotton seed oil
and wheat.
These are foodstuffs produced from genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) that have had their
DNA altered through genetic engineering.
In spite of the controversies, experts say what is
important is how to sufficiently regulate GMOs to
optimise their benefits while safeguarding against
risks.
The Church of Scotland notes in a publication that
the long-term impacts of GM crops are not yet
known.
''The massive use of transgenic crops poses
substantial potential risks from an ecological point of
view,'' it says.
The publication also says that the ecological
effects of GM crops are not limited to pest
resistance and creation of new weeds or virus
strains alone.
The Church says that no one can really predict the
long-term impacts that will result from such massive
deployment of the crops.
Lancet, an international medical journal,
corroborates the views of the Church of Scotland.
It says that the repeated use of transgenic crops in
an area may result in cumulative effects, including
the build-up of toxins in soils.
It, however, says that enough research has not been
done to evaluate the environmental and health risks
of transgenic crops.
Also, Anne Peterman, Co-Director, Global Justice
Ecology, says that ''Genetically engineered trees
threaten to contaminate native forests around the
world with unnatural and destructive traits.''
According to her, such trees can kill insects and
reduce lignin, the substance that enables a tree to
withstand diseases.
Peterman is the leader of North American Focal
Point for Global Forest Coalition.
The release of genetically engineered trees into
forests, she says, is capable of devastating wildlife,
bio-diversity and forest-dependent communities.
Nigeria's moves to introduce GM crops into the
country, therefore, arouses concern.
This is against the backdrop of the apprehension
expressed by experts and other stakeholders on the
subject.
The question on the lips of observers is: how can
Nigeria adequately regulate and control a
technology which some industrialised countries of
Europe have refused to accept?
Analysts say that Nigeria lacks the requisite
legislation and facilities to practice the technology.
Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Malawi
have enacted legislation that provide the legal and
institutional framework for governing genetically
modified crops.
Field trials and release of genetically modified
maize have been done in Kenya and South Africa.
However, the products of the research are mostly
used as animal feeds.
Nigeria signed and ratified the Cartagena Protocol
on Biosafety in 1992.
The Protocol allows Nigeria to share in global
knowledge and best practice initiatives on bio-safety
technology.
The Protocol also sets out international rules and
mechanisms for ensuring safety in the handling,
transport, use and release of genetically modified
organisms.
Environment and Housing Development Minister
Halima Tayo-Alao expresses government's concern
on the issue.
She says there is need for Nigeria to develop
policies and laws to regulate modern bio-technology
in a more robust and encompassing manner.
The ministry, she says, has engaged the assistance
of line ministries, agencies and the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP) in developing a National Bio-
safety Framework.
Tayo-Alao says that the framework will soon be
forwarded to the Federal Executive Council.
It will incorporate a regulatory regime such as
notification, information transfer and review, risk
assessment, socio-economic impact and ethical
considerations.
It will also contain specific provisions on monitoring
and enforcement, transportation and trans-boundary
movement and testing, release and disposal of GM
products.
The minister says that Nigeria is prepared to take
advantage of the potentials of biotechnology to
address food security, healthcare delivery and
environmental protection.
But the minister agrees and alludes to fears
expressed by experts on the potential risk of GM
crops.
''The potential benefits, not withstanding, there are
indications that the products of modern
biotechnology could have adverse effects on
human health and biological diversity as well as the
environment,'' she says.
Dr Wallace Udoh, of Advocacy Group for Safe
Biotechnology in Nigeria (AGSB), says the
uncertainties and controversies surrounding
biotechnology in agricultural development and food
security are not confined to Africa alone.
He says there is an urgent need for well-informed
stakeholders to engage in positive dialogue that will
generate consensus among them over the existing
uncertainties and controversies about
biotechnology.
Udoh says that the advent of genetic engineering in
agriculture had clearly changed the content and
nature of the debate on how to respond to food
insecurity.
According to him, the technology tends to portray
biotechnology as the panacea to combat food
insecurity in Africa.
But is Nigeria prepared to analyse and handle the
risks associated with biotechnology?
Prof. Yusuf Abubakar, Executive Secretary, National
Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria, says
Nigeria must first introduce a competent regulatory
system before developing and introducing
genetically modified crops into the country.
''The need of having an active regulatory system is
basic and not optional if we are to fully deploy GM
crop technologies in Nigeria.
''The tendency is that if we close our doors to GM
crops, we may eventually find them trooping in
through the back door.
''Introducing transgenics require a cost-effective
and transparent regulatory system with expertise
and competence to manage their release and use,''
he advises.
Abubakar wants the scientific human capacity to
adequately handle research and development of
GM crops in the country to be strengthened through
training and retraining.
But Science and Technology Minister, Grace
Ekpiwhre, notes that in spite of the controversies,
biotechnology has the potential to tame hunger in
Africa.
Ekpiwhre's argument is based on the fact that
Africa's par capita food production had declined
over the last two decades.
''Yields of staple crops fell by an average eight per
cent on the continent compared to an increase of 27
per cent in Asia and 12 per cent in Latin America,''
she says.
The consistent decline in food production, the
minister says, has made it imperative for the
continent to seek effective ways of fast-tracking
food production processes.
''Biotechnology is one of those new ways.
''The potency of transgenic crop technology for
increased productivity, nutrition, crop resistance to
pests and drought is no more questionable,'' she
says.
Ekpiwhre says that the introduction of genetically
modified crops into Nigeria will support
government's food security programme.
Prof. Bamidele Solomon, Director-General, National
Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA),
agrees, saying his agency is working on a modality
for domestication of GM crops.
''This is in order to increase crop harvest per unit
area on farmer fields in Nigeria,'' he points outs.
According to him, NABDA will develop modalities to
utilise national, regional and international biosafety
structures to facilitate the introduction of GM crops
into Nigeria.
Agreeing that a lot of controversies have trailed the
idea of introducing biotechnology, he says: ''but it is
important that we take a decision''.
''Nigeria needs to make a statement to the world on
where it stands on biotechnology,'' he says.
Analysts say it is appropriate for Nigeria to carefully
consider the cost-benefit implications of
biotechnology.
They say this is necessary to evaluate its risks
before unleashing a technology that can endanger
the lives of the present and future generations.
** If used, please credit the writer
By Alex Abutu, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
Genetically modified (GM) foods have since their
introduction in the global market in the 1990s been
fraught with controversies.
The controversies have centred on human and
environmental safety, ethica and consumer choice.
Other contending issues include food security,
labelling, intellectual property rights and poverty
reduction.
The most common modified foods are derived from
plants such as soya beans, corn, cotton seed oil
and wheat.
These are foodstuffs produced from genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) that have had their
DNA altered through genetic engineering.
In spite of the controversies, experts say what is
important is how to sufficiently regulate GMOs to
optimise their benefits while safeguarding against
risks.
The Church of Scotland notes in a publication that
the long-term impacts of GM crops are not yet
known.
''The massive use of transgenic crops poses
substantial potential risks from an ecological point of
view,'' it says.
The publication also says that the ecological
effects of GM crops are not limited to pest
resistance and creation of new weeds or virus
strains alone.
The Church says that no one can really predict the
long-term impacts that will result from such massive
deployment of the crops.
Lancet, an international medical journal,
corroborates the views of the Church of Scotland.
It says that the repeated use of transgenic crops in
an area may result in cumulative effects, including
the build-up of toxins in soils.
It, however, says that enough research has not been
done to evaluate the environmental and health risks
of transgenic crops.
Also, Anne Peterman, Co-Director, Global Justice
Ecology, says that ''Genetically engineered trees
threaten to contaminate native forests around the
world with unnatural and destructive traits.''
According to her, such trees can kill insects and
reduce lignin, the substance that enables a tree to
withstand diseases.
Peterman is the leader of North American Focal
Point for Global Forest Coalition.
The release of genetically engineered trees into
forests, she says, is capable of devastating wildlife,
bio-diversity and forest-dependent communities.
Nigeria's moves to introduce GM crops into the
country, therefore, arouses concern.
This is against the backdrop of the apprehension
expressed by experts and other stakeholders on the
subject.
The question on the lips of observers is: how can
Nigeria adequately regulate and control a
technology which some industrialised countries of
Europe have refused to accept?
Analysts say that Nigeria lacks the requisite
legislation and facilities to practice the technology.
Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Malawi
have enacted legislation that provide the legal and
institutional framework for governing genetically
modified crops.
Field trials and release of genetically modified
maize have been done in Kenya and South Africa.
However, the products of the research are mostly
used as animal feeds.
Nigeria signed and ratified the Cartagena Protocol
on Biosafety in 1992.
The Protocol allows Nigeria to share in global
knowledge and best practice initiatives on bio-safety
technology.
The Protocol also sets out international rules and
mechanisms for ensuring safety in the handling,
transport, use and release of genetically modified
organisms.
Environment and Housing Development Minister
Halima Tayo-Alao expresses government's concern
on the issue.
She says there is need for Nigeria to develop
policies and laws to regulate modern bio-technology
in a more robust and encompassing manner.
The ministry, she says, has engaged the assistance
of line ministries, agencies and the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP) in developing a National Bio-
safety Framework.
Tayo-Alao says that the framework will soon be
forwarded to the Federal Executive Council.
It will incorporate a regulatory regime such as
notification, information transfer and review, risk
assessment, socio-economic impact and ethical
considerations.
It will also contain specific provisions on monitoring
and enforcement, transportation and trans-boundary
movement and testing, release and disposal of GM
products.
The minister says that Nigeria is prepared to take
advantage of the potentials of biotechnology to
address food security, healthcare delivery and
environmental protection.
But the minister agrees and alludes to fears
expressed by experts on the potential risk of GM
crops.
''The potential benefits, not withstanding, there are
indications that the products of modern
biotechnology could have adverse effects on
human health and biological diversity as well as the
environment,'' she says.
Dr Wallace Udoh, of Advocacy Group for Safe
Biotechnology in Nigeria (AGSB), says the
uncertainties and controversies surrounding
biotechnology in agricultural development and food
security are not confined to Africa alone.
He says there is an urgent need for well-informed
stakeholders to engage in positive dialogue that will
generate consensus among them over the existing
uncertainties and controversies about
biotechnology.
Udoh says that the advent of genetic engineering in
agriculture had clearly changed the content and
nature of the debate on how to respond to food
insecurity.
According to him, the technology tends to portray
biotechnology as the panacea to combat food
insecurity in Africa.
But is Nigeria prepared to analyse and handle the
risks associated with biotechnology?
Prof. Yusuf Abubakar, Executive Secretary, National
Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria, says
Nigeria must first introduce a competent regulatory
system before developing and introducing
genetically modified crops into the country.
''The need of having an active regulatory system is
basic and not optional if we are to fully deploy GM
crop technologies in Nigeria.
''The tendency is that if we close our doors to GM
crops, we may eventually find them trooping in
through the back door.
''Introducing transgenics require a cost-effective
and transparent regulatory system with expertise
and competence to manage their release and use,''
he advises.
Abubakar wants the scientific human capacity to
adequately handle research and development of
GM crops in the country to be strengthened through
training and retraining.
But Science and Technology Minister, Grace
Ekpiwhre, notes that in spite of the controversies,
biotechnology has the potential to tame hunger in
Africa.
Ekpiwhre's argument is based on the fact that
Africa's par capita food production had declined
over the last two decades.
''Yields of staple crops fell by an average eight per
cent on the continent compared to an increase of 27
per cent in Asia and 12 per cent in Latin America,''
she says.
The consistent decline in food production, the
minister says, has made it imperative for the
continent to seek effective ways of fast-tracking
food production processes.
''Biotechnology is one of those new ways.
''The potency of transgenic crop technology for
increased productivity, nutrition, crop resistance to
pests and drought is no more questionable,'' she
says.
Ekpiwhre says that the introduction of genetically
modified crops into Nigeria will support
government's food security programme.
Prof. Bamidele Solomon, Director-General, National
Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA),
agrees, saying his agency is working on a modality
for domestication of GM crops.
''This is in order to increase crop harvest per unit
area on farmer fields in Nigeria,'' he points outs.
According to him, NABDA will develop modalities to
utilise national, regional and international biosafety
structures to facilitate the introduction of GM crops
into Nigeria.
Agreeing that a lot of controversies have trailed the
idea of introducing biotechnology, he says: ''but it is
important that we take a decision''.
''Nigeria needs to make a statement to the world on
where it stands on biotechnology,'' he says.
Analysts say it is appropriate for Nigeria to carefully
consider the cost-benefit implications of
biotechnology.
They say this is necessary to evaluate its risks
before unleashing a technology that can endanger
the lives of the present and future generations.
** If used, please credit the writer
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Checking false claims to scientific discoveries
By Alex Abutu
For Nigerians living with the HIV/AIDS virus nothing
could have been more soothing than the news,
in 2000, of a scientific breakthrough that suggested
an eventual cure for the pandemic.
With thousands dying daily, the claim by Dr Jeremiah
Abalaka, an Abuja-based medical doctor, was seen
as a ray of hope for the already hopeless and hapless
victims.
But that hope was not to last as the authorities rejected
the said discovery when Abalaka refused to submit his
claims for scientific verification.
The team from the federal ministry of health that
sought to investigate Abalaka's claims concluded
that his discovery was premised on ''other means
rather than scientifically acceptable methods''.
But hardly had the euphoria on Abalaka's claim
died out than another Nigerian scientist came up
with yet another claim to a similar discovery.
This time, it was Dr Jacob Abdullahi, an Abuja-based
laboratory technologist who also claimed to have
discovered another cure for the HIV/AIDS infection.
Before peers, scientific societies and the general
public could come to terms with the purported claim,
a lot of people infected with the virus had surrendered
themselves to be used as guinea pigs to prove the
efficacy of Abdullahi's drug.
As it was in the case of Abalaka, Abdullahi
outrightly rejected attempts by experts and federal
government officials to authenticate and subject his
claims to internationally acceptable standards.
An angry Abdullahi alleged that he was being
persecuted by jealous colleagues. At a point, he
said his ``stunning discoveries'' were only being
``rejected and ridiculed'' because of his religious
convictions and the minority status of his Igala
nationality.
Owing to the freedom enjoyed by Nigerian
scientists claiming to have the cure for all kinds
of ailments, scientists from other countries with
stringent laws where such practices would have
been rejected as unethical, have found a haven
in Nigeria.
Such people have continued to exploit the gullible
members of the public. One of them is Prof. Anumag
Ngu, a Cameroonian, who submitted a proposal on
HIV/AIDS cure to the federal government in 2004.
Stakeholders, who felt that the claim had some merit,
prevailed on the federal government to constitute an
inter-ministerial committee to verify the claim. I
ncidentally, Ngu is being accorded a special treatment
in Nigeria even as his claim was outrightly rejected in
his native Cameroon.
Experts, who faulted the attention given to the
Cameroonian, appear poised for the last laugh
as the committee is yet to submit its report, some
four years after.
A member of the committee who pleaded
anonymity recently told journalists that there
was no substance to the claim. ``We have tried
our best, but there does not appear to be any
thing serious in the claim,'' the member stated.
Another celebrated case was Dr Ezekiel Izuogu's
well-publicised claim to achieving a breakthrough
in ''Emagnetodynamics'' in 2007. Izuogu, who
announced his discovery at a news conference,
declared that his finding had proved the age-long
Physics law of energy conservation wrong.
At that briefing, he called on the federal government
to patronise his discovery as it was capable of solving
Nigeria's energy crisis.
Izuogu said that the discovery had disproved the
law of conservation of energy with the invention of a
self-sustaining ``New Machine''.
The law of conservation of energy, a very crucial
law of Physics and Engineering, stipulates that energy
can neither be created nor destroyed.
Izuogu said that the New Machine would be drawing its
energy from permanent magnets to function.
``This will prove the all important law of conservation
wrong,'' he claimed.
He explained that the invention built on the principles
of ``Emagnetodynamics'' was premised on the
foundation that ``permanent magnets may contain
use.''While scientists continue to verify Izuogu's claims,
analysts have faulted the idea of first announcing
scientific discoveries to the media.
They say that there are acceptable procedures which
discoveries, inventions and innovations must pass
through to gain societal recognition.
One example, they often cited, is Edward Jenner's
discovery of the cure for Small Pox in 1840.
The discovery, which was published in a journal,
was subjected to debates, public criticisms and
reviews until all the doubts were cleared.
Another scientist, Robert Koch, discovered the bacterium
that causes anthrax in 1876, and subjected the finding to
peer analysis both in Berlin and Egypt.
But the situation is different in Nigeria as criticisms by
peers and calls for analysis by the public are viewed as
deliberate attempts to run down the personality of the
scientist.
Worldwide, scientific claims are first published in journals,
giving opportunities to other scientists to take serious look
at the claim and subject such to test.
The publication also gives the claimant the opportunity of
having his works assessed and criticised by his peers to
enable him make amends where necessary.
An interesting dimension is the fact that peer-reviews
are not limited to the area where the claimant is based.
They are read globally and the contents subjected to
global criticism, assessment and improvement. In 1862,
for instance, a French scientist, Alexandre Beguyer de
Chancourtois, developed a way of representing elements
by wrapping a helical list around a cylinder.
The finding was published in a journal, resulting in analysis
and criticisms that set the pace for what today is known as
the Periodic Table. Chancourtois' work was to wait until
1869 when a Serbian scientist, Dmitri Mendeleev, came
up with the Periodic Table, having analysed the earlier works
undertaken by Chancourtois courtesy of its publication in a
journal.
For this discovery, Mendeleev was awarded the Nobel prize
in 1890.
Some observers blame the growing number of false
claimants to medical and scientific discoveries in the
country to the fact that there is no officially designated
institution charged with the responsibility to verify and
check claims by scientists.
They say that the situation can be sanitised if there is
an independent commission or organisation saddled
with the responsibility of verifying such findings.
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), the Pharmaceutical
Society of Nigeria (PSN), and the Nigerian Academy of
Science (NAS), appear not to have shown much interests
on what is happening.
But while the debate rages on the ways to minimise
scientific fraud, pundits say that thousands of people die
daily for subscribing to uncertified drugs produced by
fraudulent claimants.
Analysts have, therefore, called on the government and
research institutions to explain why such persons who
seek after fame and wealth should be allowed to freely
administer drugs that have not been scientifically verified.
They say that the only way to demonstrate their disapproval
of the claimants' activities will be to institute legal
proceedings against such persons.
That way, they reason, fake claimants will be forced to
leave the scene and serve as deterrent to others like
them.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
My stories
This blog is dedicated to science stories from Nigeria and purely my works. Suggestions on how best the stories should be written is welcome.
Alex Abutu
Alex Abutu
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