Nigerians are presently using more firewood as fuel than at any other time in the nation’s entire history, a recently concluded study conducted by Abdulmalik Nura, a scientific officer with the Raw Materials Research and Development Council has shown.
The study, conducted in the North-eastern part of Nigeria, revealed that more people are earning their livelihood from firewood trading; while local fabricators are making brisk business designing cold-pot and other types of stoves that uses firewood and charcoal for fuel.
The study, which collected data from 360 firewood collectors, sellers, buyers and users, said that the estimated demand for firewood in each household in Bauchi State alone is 5,521 metric tonnes per month.
“This,” Mr. Nura said, “is akin to burning 27,607 metric tonnes of carbon per month.”
Perhaps things would not have been so bad had Nigeria been committed to its tree planting obligations.
During the 2006 conference of parties to the Kyoto protocol in Nairobi, Nigeria joined the rest of the world to announce an ambitious initiative of planting one billion trees as one of the strategies of mitigating the impacts of climate change.
The initiative, headed by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Wangari Maathai, was supported by United Nations Environment Programme, Prince of Monaco and a host of other international organizations. It seeks to commit governments, organizations and individuals to plant trees in their various locations.
The target has since been reviewed; and a higher ambition of seven billion trees set after studies showed that the initial target of one billion was surpassed. All this was done without any help from Nigeria.
Though Nigeria instituted a tree planting campaign in the 1990s, the project has been turned into an annual ritual where government officials corruptly enrich themselves in the name of planting trees.
The ceremony has also become a political gathering where local government chairmen, governors, and their wives plant trees amidst much pageantry, without reflecting on what became of the trees planted the previous years.
For instance, at Ogbadigbo Local Government Area of Benue State, north central Nigeria, a specific park within the local government secretariat is used yearly for the exercise. But no one appeared concerned that trees planted the previous year were no longer blooming.
Nigeria is among the laggards in a global survey of numbers of trees planted by countries.
Yet, the current usage level of firewood in Nigeria suggests that rather than plant them, Nigerians are felling more trees.
Inaccessible energy sources
An expert said the demand for wood fuel is on the increase due to the inability of a majority of Nigerians to afford other means of energy for their daily cooking.
Salisu Suleiman of the Ahamdu Bello University said that government needed to articulate a comprehensive plan for tree planting campaign and stop paying lip service to the exercise.
“If wood fuel is used in urban areas like Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Ibadan, then one can only imagine the situation in rural areas,” Suleiman said. “Wood fuel is cheaper than kerosene and as long as that remained the case, trees will continue to be chopped down for firewood.”
Mr. Suleiman said that a major reason for the depletion of the Nigerian forest was the fact the firewood and charcoal still constituted the major cooking fuel in many homes.
In Jos, North Central Nigeria, firewood business, according to Jane Pam, is a money-spinning business that had served as a source of livelihood for thousands of women in the city.
Mrs. Pam said those who patronize the traders include bakers, households, and restaurants; including women involved in the frying of bean and flour cakes.
Another trader in the firewood business, Adamu Mohammed, said most of their supplies come from the hinterland.
The Hose and Zaramaganda suburbs of Jos are famous centres for firewood traders. Heaps of firewood litter the area, with women making brisk business. Trucks daily bring in new supplies; while others fan out to distribute firewood to customers within the metropolis.
Madam Jumai, a firewood dealer in Hose, claimed to have used proceeds from her trade to train all her four children up to university level.
Blame the states
The Director of Forestry at the Federal Ministry of Environment, Lawrence Ogundare, said government was working on ways to checkmate the illegal felling of tree. He also said much of the blame goes to state governments.
Mr. Ogundare said although the federal government makes policies and regulations governing the operations of forestry across the country, state governments who own the forests were not helping to protect it.
“It is unfortunate that state governments now give financial targets to forestry departments to meet each year, and that means felling more trees,” he said.
Teni Odujinrin, an environmental lawyer and Chief Executive Officer of EnSol, said proper management of its forestry presented Nigeria with a good opportunity of benefiting from the Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol.
“Nigeria stands the advantage of earning Clean Development Mechanism carbon credits if proper actions are taking to invest in forestry, as it has the potentials of sequestering carbon oxide from the atmosphere,” she said.
For Joanne Olori, Chief Operating Officer of Eco-Afrique, a company propagating the planting of Jhatropha plants as a means of containing the impact of climate change, the country is not utilizing the advantages inherent in tree plants to cushion the impact of climate change.
“Government, therefore, has the opportunity to fine-tune the tree planting campaign to ensure that impacts of climate change on Nigerians are not only reduced but people empowered to start eking a living from the planting of economic trees,” she said.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
A season of snake bites
The coming of the rainy season has brought mixed feelings to the people of Gombe State and other communities in the Benue and Niger valley. Farmers in the area are worried about snake bites, a common occurrence in the area during the season.
Snakebites are a major medical issue in the rural communities of the savannah region of
West Africa, including Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina-Faso,
Mali, Niger and Cameroun. Saw-scaled vipers, puff adders and cobras are most
likely to cause death from snakebite in this region. Children, women, farmers,
herdsmen and hunters are at the greatest risk.
Data on snake bites in Nigeria last year was put at 174 per 100,000, while fatality
was between 10 to 20 percent. About 90 percent of bites and 60 percent of
deaths was caused by the dangerous Echis Osecellatus. Recent studies show that
four types of poisonous snakes are identified in Nigeria, three of them being
Naja Nigricolis, Bitis Arientas and Echis Osecellatus.
One of the studies, which was carried out in 2008 by an expert group from the
Federal Ministry of Health found that the Nigeria Echis Osecellatus is one of
the most dangerous in the world. The researchers also found that half of
hospital beds in most of the rural hospitals in the zone were occupied by
snakebite victims at the beginning of the farming season.
Yet, most victims of snakebites are increasingly becoming tired of seeking medical
assistance owing to the perpetual shortage and high cost of anti-venom drugs.
Theo Ochonu, a general medical practitioner with the Federal Medical Centre, Gombe,
said the rising cost and lack of availability of anti-venom in recent years had
put the cost of treatment of snakebites out of the reach of most patients. He
said drugs of doubtful potency may cost between N3,000 and N4,000 at local
pharmacies.
“As a result, useless and potentially dangerous remedies such as the resort to the
use of black snake stone have gained popularity among the populace,” he said.
The Federal Ministry of Health recently warned that there is an acute shortage of
anti-venom vaccine in the country. This, it said, was because the traditional
suppliers from South Africa and Sanofi Pasteur were unable to meet demands from
Gombe and other affected states.
This shortage, according to Dr. Ochoun, has resulted in increasing number of
patients bleeding to death or surviving with amputated extremities.
The cure despised
Nigeria could produce a more potent anti-venom drug, if its officials desired to. The Liverpool
School of Tropical Medicine, working with the EchiTab Study Group, established
in 2000 by the federal government, appeared to have produced an anti-venom
vaccine capable of treating all kinds of snakebites in the country.
The scarcity and high incidence of death from snakebites was, itself, responsible
for the setting up of the EchiTab Study Group.
The group, comprising Nigerian experts and their UK counterparts, had the mandate
of finding vaccine-based solutions to incessant snake bites in the country.
They were to also conduct research to develop effective anti-venoms against
poisonous Nigerian snakes.
The aim of constituting the group, according to the late minister of health,
Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, was to ensure that no Nigerian died of snakebites any
longer.
After exporting over 150 snake species to the Liverpool School from Nigeria, the
group was able to develop the vaccine.
The snakes were kept in herpetaium and then milked, and their venoms formed the raw
materials for the production of the anti-venoms.
During clinical trials, several hundreds were successfully treated with the
anti-venoms in various designated hospitals and clinics across the country.
Statistics from the Kaltungo General Hospital, Gombe State, and the Jos University
Teaching Hospital’s Comprehensive Health Centre in Zamko, Plateau State, showed
that a total of 5,574 snakebite victims were treated with the anti-venoms
between 2005 and 2008.
The expected support from the federal government towards the mass production of
this vaccine has, however, not come since the completion of the trials last
year.
It is believed that the Veterinary Research Institute at Vom, Jos could be used to
start this production.
Even if the federal government will not do it, the various state governments within the
Niger-Benue valley should invest in the production of the vaccine, Dr. Ochonu
said
Snakebites are a major medical issue in the rural communities of the savannah region of
West Africa, including Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina-Faso,
Mali, Niger and Cameroun. Saw-scaled vipers, puff adders and cobras are most
likely to cause death from snakebite in this region. Children, women, farmers,
herdsmen and hunters are at the greatest risk.
Data on snake bites in Nigeria last year was put at 174 per 100,000, while fatality
was between 10 to 20 percent. About 90 percent of bites and 60 percent of
deaths was caused by the dangerous Echis Osecellatus. Recent studies show that
four types of poisonous snakes are identified in Nigeria, three of them being
Naja Nigricolis, Bitis Arientas and Echis Osecellatus.
One of the studies, which was carried out in 2008 by an expert group from the
Federal Ministry of Health found that the Nigeria Echis Osecellatus is one of
the most dangerous in the world. The researchers also found that half of
hospital beds in most of the rural hospitals in the zone were occupied by
snakebite victims at the beginning of the farming season.
Yet, most victims of snakebites are increasingly becoming tired of seeking medical
assistance owing to the perpetual shortage and high cost of anti-venom drugs.
Theo Ochonu, a general medical practitioner with the Federal Medical Centre, Gombe,
said the rising cost and lack of availability of anti-venom in recent years had
put the cost of treatment of snakebites out of the reach of most patients. He
said drugs of doubtful potency may cost between N3,000 and N4,000 at local
pharmacies.
“As a result, useless and potentially dangerous remedies such as the resort to the
use of black snake stone have gained popularity among the populace,” he said.
The Federal Ministry of Health recently warned that there is an acute shortage of
anti-venom vaccine in the country. This, it said, was because the traditional
suppliers from South Africa and Sanofi Pasteur were unable to meet demands from
Gombe and other affected states.
This shortage, according to Dr. Ochoun, has resulted in increasing number of
patients bleeding to death or surviving with amputated extremities.
The cure despised
Nigeria could produce a more potent anti-venom drug, if its officials desired to. The Liverpool
School of Tropical Medicine, working with the EchiTab Study Group, established
in 2000 by the federal government, appeared to have produced an anti-venom
vaccine capable of treating all kinds of snakebites in the country.
The scarcity and high incidence of death from snakebites was, itself, responsible
for the setting up of the EchiTab Study Group.
The group, comprising Nigerian experts and their UK counterparts, had the mandate
of finding vaccine-based solutions to incessant snake bites in the country.
They were to also conduct research to develop effective anti-venoms against
poisonous Nigerian snakes.
The aim of constituting the group, according to the late minister of health,
Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, was to ensure that no Nigerian died of snakebites any
longer.
After exporting over 150 snake species to the Liverpool School from Nigeria, the
group was able to develop the vaccine.
The snakes were kept in herpetaium and then milked, and their venoms formed the raw
materials for the production of the anti-venoms.
During clinical trials, several hundreds were successfully treated with the
anti-venoms in various designated hospitals and clinics across the country.
Statistics from the Kaltungo General Hospital, Gombe State, and the Jos University
Teaching Hospital’s Comprehensive Health Centre in Zamko, Plateau State, showed
that a total of 5,574 snakebite victims were treated with the anti-venoms
between 2005 and 2008.
The expected support from the federal government towards the mass production of
this vaccine has, however, not come since the completion of the trials last
year.
It is believed that the Veterinary Research Institute at Vom, Jos could be used to
start this production.
Even if the federal government will not do it, the various state governments within the
Niger-Benue valley should invest in the production of the vaccine, Dr. Ochonu
said
Swine Flu: Nigeria on high alert
The world woke last Saturday to the scary news of another Influenza pandemic in Mexico, which quickly spread to other parts of the globe.
Outside Mexico where more than 160 persons have died, the United States is the only country where the virus has claimed a life.
The influenza, known as Swine Flu, is contracted through contact with swine. It is rated by the World Health Organisation as one of the most deadly viruses to have hit the human race.
The American Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said that the extent of the spread of the flu would be wide.
But reaction to the spread has been swift, with world leaders quickly moving into action to curtail the pandemic. Taking a clue from other countries, Nigeria has issued an alert advising the populace on the symptoms to look out for. The government also announced some of the measures already taken to safeguard Nigerians.
Babatunde Osotimehin, Nigeria Minister of Health who issued the alert said that though no cases had being reported in the country, government was putting in place mechanism to contain any possible outbreak.
“We have to warn the public early because Nigerians are known to travel back and forth and this flu is airborne and could be brought into the country by a passenger,” he said.
Mr. Osotimehin said surveillance measures had being strengthened at all ports of entry into the country, while adequate quantities of Tamiflu had being stocked to address any outbreak.
Vigilance at ports
Minister of Environment, John Odey also issued strict instructions to those manning the nation’s sea and airports.
Mr. Odey said any vessel, cargo or passenger plane entering the country would be properly screened and cleaned to ensure that the virus does not spread to Nigeria.
The authorities of the National Hospital, Abuja also assured Nigerians of their preparedness to take in suspected cases of the flu and quarantine victims and undertake appropriate medical steps to prevent the spread in the country.
Nigeria also placed an indefinite ban on the importation of pork, pigs and other meats from countries already affected by the flu; as part of measures to prevent the spread of the flu into the country.
Meanwhile, the National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom has started collecting samples from pigs in preparation for any possible outbreak and had already designated a laboratory for swine flu research.
“The Swine flu is a disease caused by a virus creating a flu-like condition,” the Executive Director of the Institute, Lami Lombin said. “There are different types, which can be differentiated by the H and N antigens.”
She said that swine flu is a tripartite combination of flu in bird, man and pigs.
“Scientists said that the potentials of the flu affecting man, bird and pig is what makes it a threat, otherwise the antigens of H1 and N1 has long been in existence,” she said.
She also acknowledged that the threat was real since the flu has the ability of moving from animal to man, jumping specie barrier.
Lombin said that Nigeria was under threat of the disease as a result of human movement. She said the situation was made worse as the epidemiology of the swine flu has not been understood.
History of flu
The present outbreak was not the first time the world is experiencing the disease. Records show that it first occurred in 1918, and in 1976 and 2007.
Records from the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said that a flu, known as “Spanish Influenza Strain,” infected a third of the world population and caused as many as 50 million deaths between 1918 and 1919. So far, the disease is suspected to have killed more than 160 people in Mexico and sickening hundreds more around the globe.
Outside Mexico where more than 160 persons have died, the United States is the only country where the virus has claimed a life.
The influenza, known as Swine Flu, is contracted through contact with swine. It is rated by the World Health Organisation as one of the most deadly viruses to have hit the human race.
The American Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said that the extent of the spread of the flu would be wide.
But reaction to the spread has been swift, with world leaders quickly moving into action to curtail the pandemic. Taking a clue from other countries, Nigeria has issued an alert advising the populace on the symptoms to look out for. The government also announced some of the measures already taken to safeguard Nigerians.
Babatunde Osotimehin, Nigeria Minister of Health who issued the alert said that though no cases had being reported in the country, government was putting in place mechanism to contain any possible outbreak.
“We have to warn the public early because Nigerians are known to travel back and forth and this flu is airborne and could be brought into the country by a passenger,” he said.
Mr. Osotimehin said surveillance measures had being strengthened at all ports of entry into the country, while adequate quantities of Tamiflu had being stocked to address any outbreak.
Vigilance at ports
Minister of Environment, John Odey also issued strict instructions to those manning the nation’s sea and airports.
Mr. Odey said any vessel, cargo or passenger plane entering the country would be properly screened and cleaned to ensure that the virus does not spread to Nigeria.
The authorities of the National Hospital, Abuja also assured Nigerians of their preparedness to take in suspected cases of the flu and quarantine victims and undertake appropriate medical steps to prevent the spread in the country.
Nigeria also placed an indefinite ban on the importation of pork, pigs and other meats from countries already affected by the flu; as part of measures to prevent the spread of the flu into the country.
Meanwhile, the National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom has started collecting samples from pigs in preparation for any possible outbreak and had already designated a laboratory for swine flu research.
“The Swine flu is a disease caused by a virus creating a flu-like condition,” the Executive Director of the Institute, Lami Lombin said. “There are different types, which can be differentiated by the H and N antigens.”
She said that swine flu is a tripartite combination of flu in bird, man and pigs.
“Scientists said that the potentials of the flu affecting man, bird and pig is what makes it a threat, otherwise the antigens of H1 and N1 has long been in existence,” she said.
She also acknowledged that the threat was real since the flu has the ability of moving from animal to man, jumping specie barrier.
Lombin said that Nigeria was under threat of the disease as a result of human movement. She said the situation was made worse as the epidemiology of the swine flu has not been understood.
History of flu
The present outbreak was not the first time the world is experiencing the disease. Records show that it first occurred in 1918, and in 1976 and 2007.
Records from the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said that a flu, known as “Spanish Influenza Strain,” infected a third of the world population and caused as many as 50 million deaths between 1918 and 1919. So far, the disease is suspected to have killed more than 160 people in Mexico and sickening hundreds more around the globe.
Lake Nyos: A disaster foretold
The federal government is yet to implement any of the recommendations that might prevent the likely eruption of the volcanic Lake Nyos, three years after a technical team assessing the danger of the lake submitted its report.
Only last January, the government announced that N26 billion had been budgeted to construct the much needed buffer dam at the Nigeria side of the lake.
The Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Sayyadi Ruma, who disclosed this said the threat of the lake was real and is a serious source of concern to the government.
“The threat of Lake Nyos is real, government has conducted a critical study on the implication of a possible eruption and concluded that thousands of lives were at risk in frontline states,” he said.
“As a result of this, and for the safety of Nigerians, government has decided to construct a buffer dam which will reduce the impact of any possible eruption.”
Work on the dam is yet to start, although the government study was completed in 2007. That year, the federal government constituted a technical committee with membership from its agencies and the academia, to undertake an assessment tour of the lake and recommend appropriate measures to safeguard Nigerians.
The committee visited states bordering the lake and went to the foot of the lake to assess the level of leakage. It completed its assignment before the end of ex-president Obasanjo’s tenure.
Part of the submissions of the committee made to Babagana Kingibe, the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, was that over 40 million Nigerians were at risk should the lake erupt.
The committee also said some states hitherto considered safe, are now vulnerable. These include Kogi, Enugu, Adamawa and Taraba states. It therefore, urged the federal government to, as a matter of urgency, instal an early warning system at strategic positions around the lake to alert Nigerians of any impending danger.
It also advised government to construct some buffer dams at the foot of the lake to reduce the impact of any eruption; as it was discovered that more than 5 million cubic meters of water would be released, along with tonnes of stones, should the base of the lake cave in.
Shades of fear
In 2006, the Benue State government raised the alarm about the possibility of a volcanic eruption at the Lake Nyos. Though located in Western Cameroon, the lake is adjacent to Nigeria in the elbow region of West Africa. The government had then warned that in the event of a possible eruption, human lives and properties spread over about 12 out of the state’s 23 local governments would be severely affected.
It further stated that human casualties in the entire country could be in millions as other Nigerian states bordering Cameroon were likely to be affected.
The Benue alarm followed the discovery by scientists and local farmers of an unusual leakage at the foot of the lake, considered to be faster than what used to be.
At least two agencies of the United Nations have voiced their fears about the latent dangers of the lake. According to the United Nations Environment Programme the world would witness the greatest humanitarian crisis on the African continent should the lake erupt.
There are also warnings that a natural barrier hemming in the lake waters is on the brink of collapse, although the government of Cameroon has said there was no cause to fear.
A report issued recently by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted that if the lake fails, water would rush downstream and flood several villages in Cameroon and Nigeria.
The report also said that hundreds of thousands of people would be killed; livestock and farmlands would be destroyed.
But as the issues continue to generate reactions from within and outside Nigeria, scientists from Cameroon’s Institute of Mining and Geological Research have allayed the fears.
Though they acknowledged that the dam around the lake has weakened, Cameroon says there’s no fear of an immediate threat of collapse. It also informed a United Nations’s inspection team, which said the dam had sagged seriously and would not last another two decades unless it is reinforced, that such a measure was too expensive for it to bear.
Once bitten…
There ought not to be any quibbling over the dangers posed by Lake Nyos. A similar discovery was made in 1986. But due to inaction, a rich stream of carbon dioxide was expelled from the floor of the lake at a speed of about 100km per hour.
This poisonous cloud quickly enveloped houses that were within 120 meters above the shore line of the lake and, because its density was 1.5 times that of air, the gaseous mass hugged the ground surface and descended the valley at about 20 to 30km per hour. It killed some 2,000 people and 6,000 head of livestock.
One of the survivors of that deadly eruption was Joseph Nkwain, from the Subum region of the Cameroon.
In his testimony afterwards, Mr. Nkwain said he was awakened at about midnight on that fateful day by a loud noise. “I could not speak,” he said. “I became unconscious. I could not open my mouth because then I smelled something terrible. I heard my daughter snoring in a terrible way, very abnormal; when crossing to her bed, I collapsed and fell.”
He came out of his deep slumber the next morning only to discover that most of his neighbours were no more, as they had died from asphyxiation.
This was the fate the Benue government was trying to avoid for its citizens when it raised the alarm. The state had already taken some proactive measures, including the building of resettlement camps with a grant from the federal government.
A geologist at the University of Jos, Okar Matthew, said that it was regrettable that the government was slow in implementing the recommendations of the technical committee.
Dr. Matthew said the government should have established evacuation sites, preparatory to any eruption, by now if it was responsive to the needs of its citizens.
Nigeria Unite, a Benue-based non-governmental organisation working to highlight the dangers of the lake, warned that its eruption would create more problems for the country than the amount to be spent preventing it.
Its chairperson, Justina Akor, appealed to the government to put in place measures that would protect Nigerians from any possible disaster. “The ball is now in the court of Nigeria to adopt measures capable of protecting its citizens from the dangers posed by the lake,” she said.
Only last January, the government announced that N26 billion had been budgeted to construct the much needed buffer dam at the Nigeria side of the lake.
The Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Sayyadi Ruma, who disclosed this said the threat of the lake was real and is a serious source of concern to the government.
“The threat of Lake Nyos is real, government has conducted a critical study on the implication of a possible eruption and concluded that thousands of lives were at risk in frontline states,” he said.
“As a result of this, and for the safety of Nigerians, government has decided to construct a buffer dam which will reduce the impact of any possible eruption.”
Work on the dam is yet to start, although the government study was completed in 2007. That year, the federal government constituted a technical committee with membership from its agencies and the academia, to undertake an assessment tour of the lake and recommend appropriate measures to safeguard Nigerians.
The committee visited states bordering the lake and went to the foot of the lake to assess the level of leakage. It completed its assignment before the end of ex-president Obasanjo’s tenure.
Part of the submissions of the committee made to Babagana Kingibe, the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, was that over 40 million Nigerians were at risk should the lake erupt.
The committee also said some states hitherto considered safe, are now vulnerable. These include Kogi, Enugu, Adamawa and Taraba states. It therefore, urged the federal government to, as a matter of urgency, instal an early warning system at strategic positions around the lake to alert Nigerians of any impending danger.
It also advised government to construct some buffer dams at the foot of the lake to reduce the impact of any eruption; as it was discovered that more than 5 million cubic meters of water would be released, along with tonnes of stones, should the base of the lake cave in.
Shades of fear
In 2006, the Benue State government raised the alarm about the possibility of a volcanic eruption at the Lake Nyos. Though located in Western Cameroon, the lake is adjacent to Nigeria in the elbow region of West Africa. The government had then warned that in the event of a possible eruption, human lives and properties spread over about 12 out of the state’s 23 local governments would be severely affected.
It further stated that human casualties in the entire country could be in millions as other Nigerian states bordering Cameroon were likely to be affected.
The Benue alarm followed the discovery by scientists and local farmers of an unusual leakage at the foot of the lake, considered to be faster than what used to be.
At least two agencies of the United Nations have voiced their fears about the latent dangers of the lake. According to the United Nations Environment Programme the world would witness the greatest humanitarian crisis on the African continent should the lake erupt.
There are also warnings that a natural barrier hemming in the lake waters is on the brink of collapse, although the government of Cameroon has said there was no cause to fear.
A report issued recently by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted that if the lake fails, water would rush downstream and flood several villages in Cameroon and Nigeria.
The report also said that hundreds of thousands of people would be killed; livestock and farmlands would be destroyed.
But as the issues continue to generate reactions from within and outside Nigeria, scientists from Cameroon’s Institute of Mining and Geological Research have allayed the fears.
Though they acknowledged that the dam around the lake has weakened, Cameroon says there’s no fear of an immediate threat of collapse. It also informed a United Nations’s inspection team, which said the dam had sagged seriously and would not last another two decades unless it is reinforced, that such a measure was too expensive for it to bear.
Once bitten…
There ought not to be any quibbling over the dangers posed by Lake Nyos. A similar discovery was made in 1986. But due to inaction, a rich stream of carbon dioxide was expelled from the floor of the lake at a speed of about 100km per hour.
This poisonous cloud quickly enveloped houses that were within 120 meters above the shore line of the lake and, because its density was 1.5 times that of air, the gaseous mass hugged the ground surface and descended the valley at about 20 to 30km per hour. It killed some 2,000 people and 6,000 head of livestock.
One of the survivors of that deadly eruption was Joseph Nkwain, from the Subum region of the Cameroon.
In his testimony afterwards, Mr. Nkwain said he was awakened at about midnight on that fateful day by a loud noise. “I could not speak,” he said. “I became unconscious. I could not open my mouth because then I smelled something terrible. I heard my daughter snoring in a terrible way, very abnormal; when crossing to her bed, I collapsed and fell.”
He came out of his deep slumber the next morning only to discover that most of his neighbours were no more, as they had died from asphyxiation.
This was the fate the Benue government was trying to avoid for its citizens when it raised the alarm. The state had already taken some proactive measures, including the building of resettlement camps with a grant from the federal government.
A geologist at the University of Jos, Okar Matthew, said that it was regrettable that the government was slow in implementing the recommendations of the technical committee.
Dr. Matthew said the government should have established evacuation sites, preparatory to any eruption, by now if it was responsive to the needs of its citizens.
Nigeria Unite, a Benue-based non-governmental organisation working to highlight the dangers of the lake, warned that its eruption would create more problems for the country than the amount to be spent preventing it.
Its chairperson, Justina Akor, appealed to the government to put in place measures that would protect Nigerians from any possible disaster. “The ball is now in the court of Nigeria to adopt measures capable of protecting its citizens from the dangers posed by the lake,” she said.
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