Agricultural research institutes in Nigeria lack vitality and have made little contribution to the nation’s rising crop yields, a study has found.
The institutes suffer from decaying infrastructure and lack of staff, both of which are products of lack of funding, says a study conducted by the US-based International Food Policy Research Institute and the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN).
They are also failing to innovate, collaborate with farmers or monitor and evaluate their own work, said the study, which chose Nigeria because of the country’s large, complex national agricultural research system.
It highlights that Nigeria has “no national agricultural policy or strategic plan as well as weak advocacy at the highest levels of government”.
“Although research productivity seems high (205 technologies were produced by research institutes from 1997 to 2008, and the number of publications from 2007–2009 could go as high as one book and 14 journal articles per full-time researcher) about 70 per cent of these organisations do not have international research collaboration while 50 per cent have only regional or national research collaboration,” it says.
The study also found that communication systems and facilities in the country’s agricultural research institutes “are entirely inadequate. Several institutes are still not connected to the Internet, and none of their staff were directly connected to email.”
Aliyu Abdullahi, head of institutional development at the ARCN, said: “Considering our comparative advantage and natural endowment and resources we are not doing alright when compared to other African countries … Our productivity is on the increase as a result of the land area under cultivation but considering yield per given area of land we are doing badly.
“Innovation is about transformation but evidence at all research institutes across Nigeria shows that the main ingredients needed to spur innovation are lacking.”
Ademola Idowu, executive director of the National Horticultural Research Institute, said that foreign training and exposure were essential to enable Nigeria’s agricultural researchers to compete globally.
Jide Ayinla, executive director of the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research, called for more regional and international collaboration between institutes.
The study stressed the urgent need to support and strengthen means for fundraising; diversify fund sources; and support advocacy and negotiation for agricultural policy change and increased investment in agriculture and research.
published by www.scidev.net
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Is Africa ready for safe nuclear power?
The disasters that struck several Japanese nuclear facilities in the wake of last week's devastating tsunami have highlighted concerns about whether developing nations can safely develop nuclear power facilities of their own.
If a highly developed nation, so well prepared for disasters, can end up in such an apparent nuclear mess, what hope do poorer, less well-organised countries have of preventing disasters at nuclear facilities?
This issue is currently exercising countries along the Pacific 'ring of fire', as well as India and its neighbours, but many African countries also aspire to become nuclear.
Speakers at Africa's first conference on the contribution of nuclear energy to sustainable development, in 2007, called for there to be no restrictions on Africa's use of peaceful nuclear technology.
But does the continent have the capacity and expertise to ensure the safety of nuclear power plants?
LACK OF INVESTMENT
In parts of Africa there has been criticism that there is absence of a culture of maintenance and a lack of engineers to maintain the existing infrastructure, even in non-nuclear electricity plants.
For example, most of Nigeria's gas thermal plants and hydropower stations, built in the 1970s, were operating below capacity in 2006 because of a lack of government investment in maintenance, according to former president Olusegun Obasanjo, who was speaking at the inauguration of a power station in 2007.
Anne Starz, head of the integrated nuclear infrastructure group at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), says that many developing countries underestimate the investment in science, engineering and time required to commission a nuclear reactor. Between 200 and 1,000 scientists and engineers trained in nuclear science are needed to run a nuclear power plant, she says.
Yet fewer than 10,000 people work in Africa's entire nuclear sector, says Rob Adam, chief executive of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation.
Christopher Watson, nuclear expert and emeritus fellow of Merton College, at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, says: "Many African countries would struggle to provide sufficient scientific and engineering manpower to run a civil nuclear programme, but that is a problem which many countries have faced — setting up the necessary training programmes takes time."
The IAEA offers guidelines and assistance to countries on their way to a nuclear future, he added, but they may need to wait for newer technologies before fully embracing nuclear energy.
Scientists have recently said that new, smaller and more flexible nuclear technologies could benefit nuclear energy programmes in developing countries.
"In Kenya, the overall size of the grid is 2,000 megawatts," Adam said at the African Science Academy Development Initiative conference late last year (10 November). "If you have a reactor that provides 1,600 megawatts and you take it down for maintenance, you take Kenya down. Ten to 100 megawatts is the right size [reactor for Africa]."
Several vendors of nuclear reactors are now looking to develop smaller reactors, he says.
POLITICAL STABILITY
Apart from having access to skilled experts and smaller reactors, countries also need to have the stability and political strength for long-lasting research and technology collaborations and the exchange of expertise, says Starz.
"Before a country can even consider planning a nuclear reactor it has to set up an independent regulatory body that oversees the establishment and running of reactors and that monitors safety," she says.
So far, at least 28 African countries have such bodies, which form the Forum of Nuclear Regulatory Bodies in Africa.
Illustrating some of the safety issues that plague any nuclear ambitions, a radiation contamination at the Koeberg nuclear power station in South Africa affected almost 100 people last year (11–12 September) during maintenance work, although the levels were too low to cause harm, according to Eskom, the private company that operates it.
The South African Democratic Alliance party was among those that quickly blamed Eskom for not taking precautionary measures, although Eskom denied wrongdoing and said in a press release at the time that it "has assigned a technical team to review the incident and recommend steps to avoid a similar occurrence in future".
But the incident shows that even a country with a stable democracy, which meets all the IAEA's guidelines for developing countries embarking on nuclear deployment, can still experience nuclear mishaps. IAEA helps its 90 member countries develop safe nuclear energy, but does not have the power to prevent a country from pursuing nuclear option.
Countries with unstable governments and ongoing conflicts may struggle to obtain a nuclear reactor anyway, according to Adam.
Sudan, a country ravaged by war, is aiming to have a power plant up and running by 2020. Last August, Mohammed Ahmed Hassan Eltayeb, head of the Sudan Atomic Energy Commission, announced plans to build Africa's largest nuclear power plant.
But Sudan's nuclear ambitions are not credible, Adam told SciDev.Net. "Nobody would sell a reactor to them."
AFRICAN EXPERIENCE
There are ten research nuclear reactors in Africa — in Algeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa — but no new nuclear power plants are under construction at the moment, according to Adam.
Namibia, Niger and South Africa are all major producers of uranium and together account for around 15 per cent of the world's known recoverable uranium resources, so getting nuclear fuel would not be a problem for them.
South Africa has been operating nuclear power stations since 1984 when Koeberg, its first nuclear plant, was connected to the national electricity grid. It is the continent's only nuclear power station and has a capacity of 900 megawatts.
Bobby Godsell, a member of the South African National Planning Commission, said last year (27 September) at a public discussion in Johannesburg, South Africa, that half of the country's new electricity capacity would be nuclear. He said the plan is to generate about 10,000 to 20,000 megawatts from nuclear sources.
In 2000, Nigeria, Africa's second-biggest energy consumer, started introducing nuclear technology into the country's troubled power-generation sector.
It hopes to generate 1,000 megawatts from two proposed nuclear plants before 2019. But there are delays as a result of conflict between country's two nuclear regulatory authorities.
The Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) has been working on various regulatory issues to ensure that the country's nuclear ambition has a solid foundation. But the new Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission — another governmental agency — has challenged the NNRA's right to execute the nation's nuclear plans, saying it has the mandate to do this and that the NNRA should only regulate it.
GROWING INTEREST
Kenya's ambition to introduce nuclear technology started in 2008 when the country convened a national energy conference to enable local scientists to meet international experts with experience of establishing and managing nuclear power plants.
In September 2010, the country unveiled a nuclear power generation programme with the constitution of the Nuclear Electricity Programme Committee, headed by Ochillo Ayacko, the former energy minister.
Seed funding of 200 million Kenyan shillings (US$2.3 million) has been set aside for the proposal, which the government hopes will lead to a 1,000-megawatt power plant by the end of the decade, and the country has started technical meetings with the IAEA.
Tanzania passed a law allowing the use of nuclear power for electricity production back in 2009, and Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia have all shown interest in using nuclear power.
"Africa is clearly a continent with a growing demand for electricity to meet its sustainable development goals," says Starz. "Countries in Africa expressing interest in nuclear power have different levels of existing experience with nuclear applications and will move at different paces. Not all are likely to achieve an operating nuclear plant in the next 20 years."
Some look to the Republic of Korea, which "may be an inspirational example of a country that started a nuclear power programme from a low level of development to become an exporter of nuclear technology to the United Arab Emirates," says Starz.
But if the Republic of Korea is an inspiration to Africa, one has only to look across the Sea of Japan for a different message.
Additional reporting by Linda Nordling.
Published by www.scidev.net
If a highly developed nation, so well prepared for disasters, can end up in such an apparent nuclear mess, what hope do poorer, less well-organised countries have of preventing disasters at nuclear facilities?
This issue is currently exercising countries along the Pacific 'ring of fire', as well as India and its neighbours, but many African countries also aspire to become nuclear.
Speakers at Africa's first conference on the contribution of nuclear energy to sustainable development, in 2007, called for there to be no restrictions on Africa's use of peaceful nuclear technology.
But does the continent have the capacity and expertise to ensure the safety of nuclear power plants?
LACK OF INVESTMENT
In parts of Africa there has been criticism that there is absence of a culture of maintenance and a lack of engineers to maintain the existing infrastructure, even in non-nuclear electricity plants.
For example, most of Nigeria's gas thermal plants and hydropower stations, built in the 1970s, were operating below capacity in 2006 because of a lack of government investment in maintenance, according to former president Olusegun Obasanjo, who was speaking at the inauguration of a power station in 2007.
Anne Starz, head of the integrated nuclear infrastructure group at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), says that many developing countries underestimate the investment in science, engineering and time required to commission a nuclear reactor. Between 200 and 1,000 scientists and engineers trained in nuclear science are needed to run a nuclear power plant, she says.
Yet fewer than 10,000 people work in Africa's entire nuclear sector, says Rob Adam, chief executive of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation.
Christopher Watson, nuclear expert and emeritus fellow of Merton College, at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, says: "Many African countries would struggle to provide sufficient scientific and engineering manpower to run a civil nuclear programme, but that is a problem which many countries have faced — setting up the necessary training programmes takes time."
The IAEA offers guidelines and assistance to countries on their way to a nuclear future, he added, but they may need to wait for newer technologies before fully embracing nuclear energy.
Scientists have recently said that new, smaller and more flexible nuclear technologies could benefit nuclear energy programmes in developing countries.
"In Kenya, the overall size of the grid is 2,000 megawatts," Adam said at the African Science Academy Development Initiative conference late last year (10 November). "If you have a reactor that provides 1,600 megawatts and you take it down for maintenance, you take Kenya down. Ten to 100 megawatts is the right size [reactor for Africa]."
Several vendors of nuclear reactors are now looking to develop smaller reactors, he says.
POLITICAL STABILITY
Apart from having access to skilled experts and smaller reactors, countries also need to have the stability and political strength for long-lasting research and technology collaborations and the exchange of expertise, says Starz.
"Before a country can even consider planning a nuclear reactor it has to set up an independent regulatory body that oversees the establishment and running of reactors and that monitors safety," she says.
So far, at least 28 African countries have such bodies, which form the Forum of Nuclear Regulatory Bodies in Africa.
Illustrating some of the safety issues that plague any nuclear ambitions, a radiation contamination at the Koeberg nuclear power station in South Africa affected almost 100 people last year (11–12 September) during maintenance work, although the levels were too low to cause harm, according to Eskom, the private company that operates it.
The South African Democratic Alliance party was among those that quickly blamed Eskom for not taking precautionary measures, although Eskom denied wrongdoing and said in a press release at the time that it "has assigned a technical team to review the incident and recommend steps to avoid a similar occurrence in future".
But the incident shows that even a country with a stable democracy, which meets all the IAEA's guidelines for developing countries embarking on nuclear deployment, can still experience nuclear mishaps. IAEA helps its 90 member countries develop safe nuclear energy, but does not have the power to prevent a country from pursuing nuclear option.
Countries with unstable governments and ongoing conflicts may struggle to obtain a nuclear reactor anyway, according to Adam.
Sudan, a country ravaged by war, is aiming to have a power plant up and running by 2020. Last August, Mohammed Ahmed Hassan Eltayeb, head of the Sudan Atomic Energy Commission, announced plans to build Africa's largest nuclear power plant.
But Sudan's nuclear ambitions are not credible, Adam told SciDev.Net. "Nobody would sell a reactor to them."
AFRICAN EXPERIENCE
There are ten research nuclear reactors in Africa — in Algeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa — but no new nuclear power plants are under construction at the moment, according to Adam.
Namibia, Niger and South Africa are all major producers of uranium and together account for around 15 per cent of the world's known recoverable uranium resources, so getting nuclear fuel would not be a problem for them.
South Africa has been operating nuclear power stations since 1984 when Koeberg, its first nuclear plant, was connected to the national electricity grid. It is the continent's only nuclear power station and has a capacity of 900 megawatts.
Bobby Godsell, a member of the South African National Planning Commission, said last year (27 September) at a public discussion in Johannesburg, South Africa, that half of the country's new electricity capacity would be nuclear. He said the plan is to generate about 10,000 to 20,000 megawatts from nuclear sources.
In 2000, Nigeria, Africa's second-biggest energy consumer, started introducing nuclear technology into the country's troubled power-generation sector.
It hopes to generate 1,000 megawatts from two proposed nuclear plants before 2019. But there are delays as a result of conflict between country's two nuclear regulatory authorities.
The Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) has been working on various regulatory issues to ensure that the country's nuclear ambition has a solid foundation. But the new Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission — another governmental agency — has challenged the NNRA's right to execute the nation's nuclear plans, saying it has the mandate to do this and that the NNRA should only regulate it.
GROWING INTEREST
Kenya's ambition to introduce nuclear technology started in 2008 when the country convened a national energy conference to enable local scientists to meet international experts with experience of establishing and managing nuclear power plants.
In September 2010, the country unveiled a nuclear power generation programme with the constitution of the Nuclear Electricity Programme Committee, headed by Ochillo Ayacko, the former energy minister.
Seed funding of 200 million Kenyan shillings (US$2.3 million) has been set aside for the proposal, which the government hopes will lead to a 1,000-megawatt power plant by the end of the decade, and the country has started technical meetings with the IAEA.
Tanzania passed a law allowing the use of nuclear power for electricity production back in 2009, and Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia have all shown interest in using nuclear power.
"Africa is clearly a continent with a growing demand for electricity to meet its sustainable development goals," says Starz. "Countries in Africa expressing interest in nuclear power have different levels of existing experience with nuclear applications and will move at different paces. Not all are likely to achieve an operating nuclear plant in the next 20 years."
Some look to the Republic of Korea, which "may be an inspirational example of a country that started a nuclear power programme from a low level of development to become an exporter of nuclear technology to the United Arab Emirates," says Starz.
But if the Republic of Korea is an inspiration to Africa, one has only to look across the Sea of Japan for a different message.
Additional reporting by Linda Nordling.
Published by www.scidev.net
Africa needs a common biotechnology policy
A Kenyan legal researcher has urged African countries to adopt continent-wide biotechnology regulations in order to boost food security and calm public fears of new technology.
Pamela Andanda, a Kenya-born law researcher now based at the University of Witwatersand, South Africa, made the call at a Public Understanding of Science in Africa conference held in Nairobi last month.
Andanda's presentation was on using public engagement to bridge the gap between creating regulatory frameworks for biotechnological advances and the actual implementation of the legislation.
"There is a need for a regulatory framework which can be domesticated in all countries on the continent to ensure there is a progressive acceptance and use of the technology in Africa," she said.
Legislation on biotechnology had to take into consideration constitutional provisions and public consultation, said Andanda, who is one of six editors of the South African Law Journal, founded in 1884 and the oldest of its type in the world.
"It is important that people are aware of the complexity of the technology, involved in both the legislation and implementation processes," she noted.
Andanda, an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and former conveyancer and policy research and analysis consultant, was critical of the lack of public engagement in not just drafting but using most technology-related laws.
She said that public participation should go beyond policy formulation and adaptation to include implementation.
"The public must be involved in the process of formulating the laws and not invited to just support it, they must be considered as an important stakeholder in the relationship between science and the public," she said.
As part of her interests in biotechnology, Andanda recently completed working on GenBenefit project, otherwise known as Genomics and Benefit Sharing with Developing Countries: From Biodiversity to Human Genomics (funded by the European Union's Science and Society unit under the sixth Framework Programme).
Andanda is also a member of the strategic advisory committee for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, a special programme of the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank and the World Health Organisation. She is also an executive member of Ethics, Law and Human Rights Working Group of the African AIDS Vaccine Programme.
The Public Understanding of Science in Africa meeting was based at the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA).
This month, the directorship of the BIEA will be taken up by Kenya-born Ambreena Manji on a two-year secondment from the law school at Keele University in the UK.
Since her doctoral research in Tanzania in 1997, Manji, a fluent Kiswahili speaker, has written extensively on women's land rights and land reform. Her special areas of interest are Tanzania and Uganda.
published by CAAST-Net
Pamela Andanda, a Kenya-born law researcher now based at the University of Witwatersand, South Africa, made the call at a Public Understanding of Science in Africa conference held in Nairobi last month.
Andanda's presentation was on using public engagement to bridge the gap between creating regulatory frameworks for biotechnological advances and the actual implementation of the legislation.
"There is a need for a regulatory framework which can be domesticated in all countries on the continent to ensure there is a progressive acceptance and use of the technology in Africa," she said.
Legislation on biotechnology had to take into consideration constitutional provisions and public consultation, said Andanda, who is one of six editors of the South African Law Journal, founded in 1884 and the oldest of its type in the world.
"It is important that people are aware of the complexity of the technology, involved in both the legislation and implementation processes," she noted.
Andanda, an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and former conveyancer and policy research and analysis consultant, was critical of the lack of public engagement in not just drafting but using most technology-related laws.
She said that public participation should go beyond policy formulation and adaptation to include implementation.
"The public must be involved in the process of formulating the laws and not invited to just support it, they must be considered as an important stakeholder in the relationship between science and the public," she said.
As part of her interests in biotechnology, Andanda recently completed working on GenBenefit project, otherwise known as Genomics and Benefit Sharing with Developing Countries: From Biodiversity to Human Genomics (funded by the European Union's Science and Society unit under the sixth Framework Programme).
Andanda is also a member of the strategic advisory committee for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, a special programme of the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank and the World Health Organisation. She is also an executive member of Ethics, Law and Human Rights Working Group of the African AIDS Vaccine Programme.
The Public Understanding of Science in Africa meeting was based at the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA).
This month, the directorship of the BIEA will be taken up by Kenya-born Ambreena Manji on a two-year secondment from the law school at Keele University in the UK.
Since her doctoral research in Tanzania in 1997, Manji, a fluent Kiswahili speaker, has written extensively on women's land rights and land reform. Her special areas of interest are Tanzania and Uganda.
published by CAAST-Net
Saturday, February 27, 2010
The many sides of the ‘burukutu' drink
Burukutu, a popular alcoholic drink among indigenes of the middle belt region of Nigeria, is a local brew made from fermented sorghum and other protein enriched grains.
The age long drink, also known as BKT, serves as a source of alcohol for those who lack the financial means to patronise refined brew like beer and other foreign or imported drinks.
In Plateau State, almost every village has a designated joint dedicated to the sale and drinking of the revered drink.
In Tudun Wada, a suburb in Jos metropolis, sites of burukutu joints dot the entire settlement, while hundreds of women eke a livelihood from cooking the local brew.
Gyel, a suburb of Bukuru, is acknowledged as one of the most popular burukutu joint on the Plateau, as drinkers gulp down the brew with dog meat amidst entertainment provided by local musicians and dancers.
At Jenta-Adamu and Gada-Biyu, in Jos metropolis, the joint opens as early as 6 a.m and lasts till midnight - with mostly men and women engaged in different kinds of games as the drinks flow.
Moral and health implications
In Kaduna State, however, the consumption of the brew, which is as popular as the history of man, has become controversial.
At Angwa Television, in Sabon Tasha within the Kaduna metropolis, also described as ‘Sodom and Gomorrah,' burukutu has changed the lives of the residents. Residents hide under the influence of the drink to indulge in all kinds of vices - including prostitution, gambling, and rape.
Reports say drinkers who come to the joint with their wives or girl friends usually enter into a drinking competition and the weaker drinker loses his wife to the winner till the following day.
If a competitor does not come to the joint with a companion, he has the option of going home naked if he failed in the competition.
Health officials are, however, increasingly alarmed at the impact of the drink on the health of hitherto able men who now waddle from shop to shop with swollen cheeks, stomach or legs.
Mama Isaku, who has been cooking the drink at one of the depots for over 15 years, said many of her customers look sick because they mix the drink with dry gin and the local gin, known as ‘ogogoro' or ‘gosogolo'.
Contentious issue of control
Joseph Ojobi, a consultant with Jos University Teaching Hospital, said there was nothing healthy about burukutu. "Rather, its consumption has left on its trail so much bad news - including unwanted pregnancies, rape, child molestation, wife battery and provided a veritable ground for HIV and AIDS to spread among the populace," he said.
No wonder, efforts to curtail the consumption of the drink have remained a contentious issue.
The late Gbong Gwom Jos, Victor Pam, was among advocates for the regulation of the joints. The stand of the traditional head of the town earned him a nickname among the BKT drinkers in the state, as it is popular to hear people demanding for one rubber of VP (Victor Pam).
On assumption of office, one of the first bills submitted to the State House of Assembly by the Plateau State governor, Jonah Jang, was one seeking to ban indiscriminate drinking before 4 p.m.
Mr. Jang's action was premised on the fact that, as early as 7 am, many people, including civil servants in the state, were already drunk.
The bill sparked off a lot of protest. Although restaurants and drinking places grudginly complied with the order, BKT joints have failed to comply.
In Kaduna, a group of women, known as ‘Drunkards Wives Association,' are currently proposing a bill to the State Assembly to regulate the consumption of the drink.
One of the women, popularly called Mama Blessing, said husbands turn their wives into punching bags after a long day at the joints.
Blood donors
The joints also serve as pool for men willing to donate blood on demand. In spite of the poor sanitary condition in the various burukutu joints, relations of sick people patronise them to solicit for people willing to donate blood for a fee.
The fee, which varies between N2000 and N3500, depending on the blood grouping, has become a source of income for the men.
Sources at the National Blood Transfusion Service however, said the practice of acquiring blood from BKT joints had reduced drastically since the introduction of compulsory screening of blood.
The source, however, acknowledged that men from those joints had helped saved a lot of lives as a result of their willingness to come forward and donate blood at crucial periods, even for a fee.
But a social critic, Shehu Gambo, said the belief was that people who take the drink have more blood and are always willing to donate for a fee.
"These people are idle, jobless and always looking for any available means to earn money to go and drink," he said, even as he called for the strict monitoring of these joints.
Published by the Next on Sunday.
The age long drink, also known as BKT, serves as a source of alcohol for those who lack the financial means to patronise refined brew like beer and other foreign or imported drinks.
In Plateau State, almost every village has a designated joint dedicated to the sale and drinking of the revered drink.
In Tudun Wada, a suburb in Jos metropolis, sites of burukutu joints dot the entire settlement, while hundreds of women eke a livelihood from cooking the local brew.
Gyel, a suburb of Bukuru, is acknowledged as one of the most popular burukutu joint on the Plateau, as drinkers gulp down the brew with dog meat amidst entertainment provided by local musicians and dancers.
At Jenta-Adamu and Gada-Biyu, in Jos metropolis, the joint opens as early as 6 a.m and lasts till midnight - with mostly men and women engaged in different kinds of games as the drinks flow.
Moral and health implications
In Kaduna State, however, the consumption of the brew, which is as popular as the history of man, has become controversial.
At Angwa Television, in Sabon Tasha within the Kaduna metropolis, also described as ‘Sodom and Gomorrah,' burukutu has changed the lives of the residents. Residents hide under the influence of the drink to indulge in all kinds of vices - including prostitution, gambling, and rape.
Reports say drinkers who come to the joint with their wives or girl friends usually enter into a drinking competition and the weaker drinker loses his wife to the winner till the following day.
If a competitor does not come to the joint with a companion, he has the option of going home naked if he failed in the competition.
Health officials are, however, increasingly alarmed at the impact of the drink on the health of hitherto able men who now waddle from shop to shop with swollen cheeks, stomach or legs.
Mama Isaku, who has been cooking the drink at one of the depots for over 15 years, said many of her customers look sick because they mix the drink with dry gin and the local gin, known as ‘ogogoro' or ‘gosogolo'.
Contentious issue of control
Joseph Ojobi, a consultant with Jos University Teaching Hospital, said there was nothing healthy about burukutu. "Rather, its consumption has left on its trail so much bad news - including unwanted pregnancies, rape, child molestation, wife battery and provided a veritable ground for HIV and AIDS to spread among the populace," he said.
No wonder, efforts to curtail the consumption of the drink have remained a contentious issue.
The late Gbong Gwom Jos, Victor Pam, was among advocates for the regulation of the joints. The stand of the traditional head of the town earned him a nickname among the BKT drinkers in the state, as it is popular to hear people demanding for one rubber of VP (Victor Pam).
On assumption of office, one of the first bills submitted to the State House of Assembly by the Plateau State governor, Jonah Jang, was one seeking to ban indiscriminate drinking before 4 p.m.
Mr. Jang's action was premised on the fact that, as early as 7 am, many people, including civil servants in the state, were already drunk.
The bill sparked off a lot of protest. Although restaurants and drinking places grudginly complied with the order, BKT joints have failed to comply.
In Kaduna, a group of women, known as ‘Drunkards Wives Association,' are currently proposing a bill to the State Assembly to regulate the consumption of the drink.
One of the women, popularly called Mama Blessing, said husbands turn their wives into punching bags after a long day at the joints.
Blood donors
The joints also serve as pool for men willing to donate blood on demand. In spite of the poor sanitary condition in the various burukutu joints, relations of sick people patronise them to solicit for people willing to donate blood for a fee.
The fee, which varies between N2000 and N3500, depending on the blood grouping, has become a source of income for the men.
Sources at the National Blood Transfusion Service however, said the practice of acquiring blood from BKT joints had reduced drastically since the introduction of compulsory screening of blood.
The source, however, acknowledged that men from those joints had helped saved a lot of lives as a result of their willingness to come forward and donate blood at crucial periods, even for a fee.
But a social critic, Shehu Gambo, said the belief was that people who take the drink have more blood and are always willing to donate for a fee.
"These people are idle, jobless and always looking for any available means to earn money to go and drink," he said, even as he called for the strict monitoring of these joints.
Published by the Next on Sunday.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Will Kyoto Protocol survive the Copenhagen climate change confab?
As the world prepares to converge in Copenhagen, Denmark in December with the hope of arriving at a globally accepted agreement to reduce the impact of climate change on the world, there is a strong feeling that developing countries are in for a shocker.
Developed countries have declared by their actions and comments that there will be no deal protecting the interest of developing countries already bearing the brunt of climate change.
Rather than adhere to agreed positions in Bali in 2007, the developed countries are introducing new rules and insisting that those suffering the impact of climate change take up responsibilities aside poverty and other challenges they are already facing.
From all indication, the Kyoto protocol regarded today as the most binding global legal agreement that compelled developed countries to cut their greenhouse gas emission and the only hope for developing countries to get a fair deal from developed countries that caused the changing climate is heading for the rock.
The protocol provided for shared but differentiated responsibilities. Meaning that developed countries responsible for the changing climate must assist developing countries bearing the impact to adapt and mitigate the effect through the provision of funds and technology transfer.
But this may not be after all.
Sensing the implication of the moves by the developed countries in the various build-ups meetings to the Copenhagen conference, Mr. Yvo D Boer, Executive Secretary, United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), appealed for caution and advised developed countries not to set aside the Kyoto protocol.
“You don’t throw away your old shoes simply because you are expecting a new one,” he told delegates at the recent Bangkok climate talks.
The advice came on the heels of concerted efforts by the developed countries especially the United State of America, the world leading emitter who refused to sign the Kyoto protocol and the European Commission otherwise recognized as Annex 1 parties under the Kyoto Protocol to jettison the protocol in favor of new agreement.
But Nigeria Minister of Environment, Mr. John Odey did not see any need for a new agreement saying that ``the Kyoto protocol is the most important and globally accepted agreement to address climate change.’’
The processes that resulted in the Protocol commenced in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro when Leaders of the industrialized nations met at a UN Climate Convention and agreed to stabilize their greenhouse gas emission concentration at a level that will not be inimical to the Climate System.
By 1997 the industrialized nations agreed under the Kyoto Protocol to take legally binding targets on Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by 2012. Thus, the Protocol set a binding emission target for 37 industrialized nations.
However, the Protocol has virtually failed to address the purpose for which it was signed as developed countries failed to cut their emission as well as provide funds for developing countries to tackle the impact of climate change.
Since signing of the Protocol by over 184 countries, the green house gas emission situation has taken a turn for the worse as the industrialized nations have not been able to tame their emission level. The Protocol will span out in the year 2012.
As a result of the topical nature of the impacts of Climate Change, a 2009 deadline was given two years ago at UN Climate Convention in Bali to complete the negotiation of a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. The negotiations of the successor of the Protocol are due to be finalized in Copenhagen in December, this year.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, Africa and other developing countries were exempted from any legally binding mechanism while they are to press for Climate justice under the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Capabilities.
The Kyoto protocol despite being adjudged as one of the most important global agreements to save guard the climate was not accented to by the USA, the world leading emitter of greenhouse gases.
No wonder therefore when the USA led other developed block to the Bangkok Climate talks to demand for a new global binding, enforceable, target setting agreements that will spell out targets for both developed and developing countries.
Barely a month to the Copenhagen conference, where agreements on post Kyoto is to be reached, the developed countries have started changing pervious rules and agreements set in Bali.
This sudden departure from agreed position according to the G77+ China was a deliberate attempt by the developed countries to kill the Kyoto protocol.
The G77+ China, a leading block in the climate negotiations process representing the interest of developing countries said that the tricks by the developed countries was targeted at killing the Kyoto, their only platform to hold the developed countries accountable to the destruction they caused to the climate.
They insisted that the antics would be resisted.
Dr Victor Fodeke, Nigeria’s chief climate officer said that dropping the Kyoto would have a negative impact on ability of developing countries to tackle the menace of climate change.
He noted that the protocol protected the rights of developing countries in global efforts to tackle the challenges posed by climate change and therefore should not be thrown overboard.
“The Kyoto protocol is the only hope of the developing countries; it is the only legally binding instrument requiring developed countries to cut their emission, killing it is dashing the hope of developing countries,’’ Fodeke said.
Setting aside the Kyoto protocol because it is not enforceable is like removing traffic lights because it is not working, he added.
The Copenhagen conference therefore according to the G77+ China remained the avenue for the world to reach an agreeable premise on how to protect the interest of developing in cushioning the impact of climate change.
Inspite of the fears ahead of Copenhagen, developing countries are bent on securing a deal that would commit Annex 1 countries to contribute billions of dollars to them to cushion the threats of climate change.
(published by Dailytrust newspapers on Dec. 3, 2009)
Developed countries have declared by their actions and comments that there will be no deal protecting the interest of developing countries already bearing the brunt of climate change.
Rather than adhere to agreed positions in Bali in 2007, the developed countries are introducing new rules and insisting that those suffering the impact of climate change take up responsibilities aside poverty and other challenges they are already facing.
From all indication, the Kyoto protocol regarded today as the most binding global legal agreement that compelled developed countries to cut their greenhouse gas emission and the only hope for developing countries to get a fair deal from developed countries that caused the changing climate is heading for the rock.
The protocol provided for shared but differentiated responsibilities. Meaning that developed countries responsible for the changing climate must assist developing countries bearing the impact to adapt and mitigate the effect through the provision of funds and technology transfer.
But this may not be after all.
Sensing the implication of the moves by the developed countries in the various build-ups meetings to the Copenhagen conference, Mr. Yvo D Boer, Executive Secretary, United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), appealed for caution and advised developed countries not to set aside the Kyoto protocol.
“You don’t throw away your old shoes simply because you are expecting a new one,” he told delegates at the recent Bangkok climate talks.
The advice came on the heels of concerted efforts by the developed countries especially the United State of America, the world leading emitter who refused to sign the Kyoto protocol and the European Commission otherwise recognized as Annex 1 parties under the Kyoto Protocol to jettison the protocol in favor of new agreement.
But Nigeria Minister of Environment, Mr. John Odey did not see any need for a new agreement saying that ``the Kyoto protocol is the most important and globally accepted agreement to address climate change.’’
The processes that resulted in the Protocol commenced in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro when Leaders of the industrialized nations met at a UN Climate Convention and agreed to stabilize their greenhouse gas emission concentration at a level that will not be inimical to the Climate System.
By 1997 the industrialized nations agreed under the Kyoto Protocol to take legally binding targets on Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by 2012. Thus, the Protocol set a binding emission target for 37 industrialized nations.
However, the Protocol has virtually failed to address the purpose for which it was signed as developed countries failed to cut their emission as well as provide funds for developing countries to tackle the impact of climate change.
Since signing of the Protocol by over 184 countries, the green house gas emission situation has taken a turn for the worse as the industrialized nations have not been able to tame their emission level. The Protocol will span out in the year 2012.
As a result of the topical nature of the impacts of Climate Change, a 2009 deadline was given two years ago at UN Climate Convention in Bali to complete the negotiation of a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. The negotiations of the successor of the Protocol are due to be finalized in Copenhagen in December, this year.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, Africa and other developing countries were exempted from any legally binding mechanism while they are to press for Climate justice under the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Capabilities.
The Kyoto protocol despite being adjudged as one of the most important global agreements to save guard the climate was not accented to by the USA, the world leading emitter of greenhouse gases.
No wonder therefore when the USA led other developed block to the Bangkok Climate talks to demand for a new global binding, enforceable, target setting agreements that will spell out targets for both developed and developing countries.
Barely a month to the Copenhagen conference, where agreements on post Kyoto is to be reached, the developed countries have started changing pervious rules and agreements set in Bali.
This sudden departure from agreed position according to the G77+ China was a deliberate attempt by the developed countries to kill the Kyoto protocol.
The G77+ China, a leading block in the climate negotiations process representing the interest of developing countries said that the tricks by the developed countries was targeted at killing the Kyoto, their only platform to hold the developed countries accountable to the destruction they caused to the climate.
They insisted that the antics would be resisted.
Dr Victor Fodeke, Nigeria’s chief climate officer said that dropping the Kyoto would have a negative impact on ability of developing countries to tackle the menace of climate change.
He noted that the protocol protected the rights of developing countries in global efforts to tackle the challenges posed by climate change and therefore should not be thrown overboard.
“The Kyoto protocol is the only hope of the developing countries; it is the only legally binding instrument requiring developed countries to cut their emission, killing it is dashing the hope of developing countries,’’ Fodeke said.
Setting aside the Kyoto protocol because it is not enforceable is like removing traffic lights because it is not working, he added.
The Copenhagen conference therefore according to the G77+ China remained the avenue for the world to reach an agreeable premise on how to protect the interest of developing in cushioning the impact of climate change.
Inspite of the fears ahead of Copenhagen, developing countries are bent on securing a deal that would commit Annex 1 countries to contribute billions of dollars to them to cushion the threats of climate change.
(published by Dailytrust newspapers on Dec. 3, 2009)
The clock has tickled down to zero – Boer
As the world gathered in Copenhagen, Denmark to begin deliberation on how best to address the challenges of climate change, Mr Yvo de Boer, executive Secretary, United Nation framework Convention on Climate change (UNFCCC) has warmed that the clock has tickled down to zero.
``The clock has tickled down to zero. After two years of negotiations, the time has come to deliver,’’ he told delegates at the opening of the 15th Conference of parties to the UNFCCC.
Boer said that the time to come up with an acceptable agreement that must have three layers has come.
``The bottom layer must consist of an agreement on prompt implementation of action on mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology, REED and capacity building.
The second layer consists of ambitious emission reduction commitments and actions. It also include commitments on start-up finance in order of 10 billion US dollars per years as well as long term finance,
The third layer, or the icing on the cake consists of a shared vision on long term cooperative action on climate change and long-term goal,’’ Boer said.
He maintained that Copenhagen would only be a success if it delivered significant and immediate action.
``Developing countries desperately need tangible and immediate action on issues that would cushion the impact of climate change,’’ he added.
``The time for formal statement is over. The time for restating well-known position is past. The time has come to reach out to each other.’’
``The clock has tickled down to zero. After two years of negotiations, the time has come to deliver,’’ he told delegates at the opening of the 15th Conference of parties to the UNFCCC.
Boer said that the time to come up with an acceptable agreement that must have three layers has come.
``The bottom layer must consist of an agreement on prompt implementation of action on mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology, REED and capacity building.
The second layer consists of ambitious emission reduction commitments and actions. It also include commitments on start-up finance in order of 10 billion US dollars per years as well as long term finance,
The third layer, or the icing on the cake consists of a shared vision on long term cooperative action on climate change and long-term goal,’’ Boer said.
He maintained that Copenhagen would only be a success if it delivered significant and immediate action.
``Developing countries desperately need tangible and immediate action on issues that would cushion the impact of climate change,’’ he added.
``The time for formal statement is over. The time for restating well-known position is past. The time has come to reach out to each other.’’
COP 15 opens with scientists debunking critics view on climate change
The 15th Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change opened today (Dec. 7) in Copenhagen, Denmark with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change saying there existed overwhelming evidence that regions of the world are already suffering the impact of climate change.
IPCC Chair, Dr Rajendra Pachauri at the opening of the conference urged the world to neglect the recent email stealing incident at the University of East Anglia adding that it was targeted at discrediting the IPCC.
``The panel has a record of transparent and objective assessment stretching over 21 years performed by tens of thousands of dedicated scientists from all corners of the globe,’’ he said.
``Our assessment reports are based on measurements made by many independent institutions world wide that demonstrate significant changes on land, in the atmosphere, on the oceans and in the iced-covered areas of the earth.’’
Pachauri said that the global community has a moral and material responsibility to do all it can to limit the growing impacts of climate change on vulnerable societies and regions.
He noted that the absence of mitigation policies would result in possible disappearance of sea ice by the latter part of the 21st century, increase in frequency of hot extremes, heat waves and heavy precipitation.
Other impacts brought about due to the absence of mitigation policies according to him include increase in tropical cyclone intensity, extinction of 20 to 30 per cent of species and exacerbation of current stress on water resources.
IPCC Chair, Dr Rajendra Pachauri at the opening of the conference urged the world to neglect the recent email stealing incident at the University of East Anglia adding that it was targeted at discrediting the IPCC.
``The panel has a record of transparent and objective assessment stretching over 21 years performed by tens of thousands of dedicated scientists from all corners of the globe,’’ he said.
``Our assessment reports are based on measurements made by many independent institutions world wide that demonstrate significant changes on land, in the atmosphere, on the oceans and in the iced-covered areas of the earth.’’
Pachauri said that the global community has a moral and material responsibility to do all it can to limit the growing impacts of climate change on vulnerable societies and regions.
He noted that the absence of mitigation policies would result in possible disappearance of sea ice by the latter part of the 21st century, increase in frequency of hot extremes, heat waves and heavy precipitation.
Other impacts brought about due to the absence of mitigation policies according to him include increase in tropical cyclone intensity, extinction of 20 to 30 per cent of species and exacerbation of current stress on water resources.
Copenhagen climate change Conference,
Am in Copenhagen, Denmark for the 15th conference of parties to the UNFCCC and shall be reporting issues and events as there happen
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
African policymakers urged to speed seed to farmers
[ABUJA] African seed producers and researchers have called on policymakers to boost production of improved seed varieties and ensure that they are released to farmers more quickly.
At a policy workshop held in Abuja, Nigeria, stakeholders from industry and academia sought to unify the seed laws of different countries within West Africa to narrow the gap between supply and demand.
Recent studies by researchers at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) show that current demand for improved varieties of maize seeds far exceeds supply in the region.
According to one study, the average supply of drought-tolerant, improved maize seeds in the region accounted for only one third of the total demand— with less than 50 per cent in Nigeria and only 11 per cent in Ghana — from 1997 to 2007.
Tahirou Abdoulaye, an IITA agricultural economist who led the study, said that maize seed production in the region is too low and called for a favourable policy framework to attract the private sector to the seed industry.
According to an IITA press release, maize productivity has been under threat from both climate change-related drought and delays in getting improved seed varieties to farmers.
Solving the latter problem requires a more effective, streamlined seed sector, said Wilfred Mwangi, associate director for Africa in CIMMYT's Global Maize Program.
Shehu Ado, director of the Institute of Agricultural Research at Nigeria's Ahmadu Bello University, told SciDev.Net that the gap between supply and demand was not a result of legal issues or bottlenecks in the system but of the inability of seed companies to showcase their products at the grassroots level.
He said that seed companies in the region rely heavily on the government for bulk purchases. The government, in turn, delivers these seeds to farmers, creating a gap between farmers and seed companies.
This gap has created problems of credibility and confidence, Ado said, with some farmers complaining that hybrid seeds do not perform better than freely available conventional varieties. He argued that seed companies must campaign to educate farmers on the benefits of improved hybrid varieties.
But Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International, told SciDev.Net that narrowing the gap between supply and demand will not only keep farmers dependent on seed companies but could also weaken national laws that protect the environment, opening up the region to contamination and degradation.
Published by www.scidev.Net (Nov.23)
At a policy workshop held in Abuja, Nigeria, stakeholders from industry and academia sought to unify the seed laws of different countries within West Africa to narrow the gap between supply and demand.
Recent studies by researchers at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) show that current demand for improved varieties of maize seeds far exceeds supply in the region.
According to one study, the average supply of drought-tolerant, improved maize seeds in the region accounted for only one third of the total demand— with less than 50 per cent in Nigeria and only 11 per cent in Ghana — from 1997 to 2007.
Tahirou Abdoulaye, an IITA agricultural economist who led the study, said that maize seed production in the region is too low and called for a favourable policy framework to attract the private sector to the seed industry.
According to an IITA press release, maize productivity has been under threat from both climate change-related drought and delays in getting improved seed varieties to farmers.
Solving the latter problem requires a more effective, streamlined seed sector, said Wilfred Mwangi, associate director for Africa in CIMMYT's Global Maize Program.
Shehu Ado, director of the Institute of Agricultural Research at Nigeria's Ahmadu Bello University, told SciDev.Net that the gap between supply and demand was not a result of legal issues or bottlenecks in the system but of the inability of seed companies to showcase their products at the grassroots level.
He said that seed companies in the region rely heavily on the government for bulk purchases. The government, in turn, delivers these seeds to farmers, creating a gap between farmers and seed companies.
This gap has created problems of credibility and confidence, Ado said, with some farmers complaining that hybrid seeds do not perform better than freely available conventional varieties. He argued that seed companies must campaign to educate farmers on the benefits of improved hybrid varieties.
But Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International, told SciDev.Net that narrowing the gap between supply and demand will not only keep farmers dependent on seed companies but could also weaken national laws that protect the environment, opening up the region to contamination and degradation.
Published by www.scidev.Net (Nov.23)
Monday, June 1, 2009
Experts warn of dangers for west Africa
The potentials for disaster and humanitarian crisis along the coastal state of West Africa is increasingly stark, according to disaster management experts, and countries within the sub-region need to develop programmes to manage these.
Some of the experts, gathered recently in Abuja, under a Humanitarian Future Programme (HFP) of the ECOWAS Commission and the Kings College, London, also said the possibilities of humanitarian crisis is intensifying in distinctly different ways at local and regional levels.
They point at a recent discovery that Nigeria’s waterways was under threat. Marine scientists recently found leakages from an underground pipe carrying gas through the water channel at the Tin Can inland- Liverpool Bridge.
Tunde Agboola, a professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Ibadan presented some crisis scenarios that may occur in West Africa in the nearest future if contingency plans are not developed against it.
One of such scenarios was the possibility of a gas fire along the West African coast where the pipelines for the West African Gas
Pipeline is currently laid.
According to Mr Agboola, an outbreak of such fire has the potentials of displacing million of inhabitants in about five member states, leading to mass movement of people within and outside the region.
Other issues that may led to a possible humanitarian crisis in the region, according to him, include: oil spillage, gas blow out, sea surge, sudden sea level rise, water pollution and salt water intrusion.
“In the next two decades virtually all West African coastal states (12 states) could emerge as commercial oil and gas producers,” he said. “While this could constitute a driver and catalyst for economic growth and development, such infrastructure will actually increase the sub-region’s vulnerability to some type of disaster.”
He was of the opinion that should any of the crisis occur, cities along the West African coast would submerge, all economic gains of the region would be lost, the region’s flora and fauna would also be lost and underground water would be polluted.
He was not the only one with dire predictions. Mary Mye-Kamara, Director, Disaster Management Department, Office of the National Security, Sierra Leone said the West African sub-region is prone to more disasters than was hitherto imagined.
Ms. Mye-Kamara cited the River Niger, which flows through five states in the region as another potential candidate for disaster, in view of the present use of the river.
“The region was prone to health pandemic as a result of constant dumping of both solid and liquid domestic waste and industrial toxic waste into the river”, she said, adding, “this would lead to the deterioration of water quality, ground water pollution - which might also arise from mining activities -deforestation and flooding transport sediments into water bodies”.
Then there is the fear of a decrease in water volume in the region, which the governments of Nigeria, Niger and Mali are constantly talking about. A major decrease could lead to conflicts over electricity generation and increase in toxicity caused by decreasing dilution.
“There will be loss of jobs and livelihood, loss of biodiversity, displacement of fishing communities and localisation of conflicts,’’ Mye-Kamara said.
Randolph Kent, the Kings College’s Director of Humanitarian Programme however warned that the west African sub-region lacked the capacity to cope with the envisaged calamities.
“The region’s humanitarian sector faces difficulties in anticipating and responding adequately to emerging crisis,” he said. “This is due, in part, to the ways in which many organisations within the sector thinks.
“Population growth, mass migration, global warming, natural resource scarcity, toxic waste, social inequality and outmoded institutions are just some of the stark trends and factors that humankind must face; but, here in West Africa, confronting these is still a challenge”, he said.
He cautioned that the strategic capabilities of most organisations within the sub-region were uneven and that their focus is generally narrow and short-term.
An official of the ECOWAS Commission confessed as much. Mohammed Ibrahim, the Principal Programme Officer, Disaster Risk Reduction at the Commission said the region was at the cross road regarding how to prevent what could be one of the greatest humanitarian crisis of this century.
Mr. Ibrahim said that all the scenarios presented by scientists on the possibility of a possible disaster have started manifesting, as the sea current now was stronger than it uses to be.
He, however, said the Commission has the requisite organs to articulate viable options and strategies to mitigate the possible disasters.
Mr. Agboola, however, said the sub-region has to rely on indigenous knowledge to overcome any disaster. But the experts all agreed on one thing: the creation of a platform that would bring policy makers and scientists in the region together to find solutions to the envisaged crisis.
Some of the experts, gathered recently in Abuja, under a Humanitarian Future Programme (HFP) of the ECOWAS Commission and the Kings College, London, also said the possibilities of humanitarian crisis is intensifying in distinctly different ways at local and regional levels.
They point at a recent discovery that Nigeria’s waterways was under threat. Marine scientists recently found leakages from an underground pipe carrying gas through the water channel at the Tin Can inland- Liverpool Bridge.
Tunde Agboola, a professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Ibadan presented some crisis scenarios that may occur in West Africa in the nearest future if contingency plans are not developed against it.
One of such scenarios was the possibility of a gas fire along the West African coast where the pipelines for the West African Gas
Pipeline is currently laid.
According to Mr Agboola, an outbreak of such fire has the potentials of displacing million of inhabitants in about five member states, leading to mass movement of people within and outside the region.
Other issues that may led to a possible humanitarian crisis in the region, according to him, include: oil spillage, gas blow out, sea surge, sudden sea level rise, water pollution and salt water intrusion.
“In the next two decades virtually all West African coastal states (12 states) could emerge as commercial oil and gas producers,” he said. “While this could constitute a driver and catalyst for economic growth and development, such infrastructure will actually increase the sub-region’s vulnerability to some type of disaster.”
He was of the opinion that should any of the crisis occur, cities along the West African coast would submerge, all economic gains of the region would be lost, the region’s flora and fauna would also be lost and underground water would be polluted.
He was not the only one with dire predictions. Mary Mye-Kamara, Director, Disaster Management Department, Office of the National Security, Sierra Leone said the West African sub-region is prone to more disasters than was hitherto imagined.
Ms. Mye-Kamara cited the River Niger, which flows through five states in the region as another potential candidate for disaster, in view of the present use of the river.
“The region was prone to health pandemic as a result of constant dumping of both solid and liquid domestic waste and industrial toxic waste into the river”, she said, adding, “this would lead to the deterioration of water quality, ground water pollution - which might also arise from mining activities -deforestation and flooding transport sediments into water bodies”.
Then there is the fear of a decrease in water volume in the region, which the governments of Nigeria, Niger and Mali are constantly talking about. A major decrease could lead to conflicts over electricity generation and increase in toxicity caused by decreasing dilution.
“There will be loss of jobs and livelihood, loss of biodiversity, displacement of fishing communities and localisation of conflicts,’’ Mye-Kamara said.
Randolph Kent, the Kings College’s Director of Humanitarian Programme however warned that the west African sub-region lacked the capacity to cope with the envisaged calamities.
“The region’s humanitarian sector faces difficulties in anticipating and responding adequately to emerging crisis,” he said. “This is due, in part, to the ways in which many organisations within the sector thinks.
“Population growth, mass migration, global warming, natural resource scarcity, toxic waste, social inequality and outmoded institutions are just some of the stark trends and factors that humankind must face; but, here in West Africa, confronting these is still a challenge”, he said.
He cautioned that the strategic capabilities of most organisations within the sub-region were uneven and that their focus is generally narrow and short-term.
An official of the ECOWAS Commission confessed as much. Mohammed Ibrahim, the Principal Programme Officer, Disaster Risk Reduction at the Commission said the region was at the cross road regarding how to prevent what could be one of the greatest humanitarian crisis of this century.
Mr. Ibrahim said that all the scenarios presented by scientists on the possibility of a possible disaster have started manifesting, as the sea current now was stronger than it uses to be.
He, however, said the Commission has the requisite organs to articulate viable options and strategies to mitigate the possible disasters.
Mr. Agboola, however, said the sub-region has to rely on indigenous knowledge to overcome any disaster. But the experts all agreed on one thing: the creation of a platform that would bring policy makers and scientists in the region together to find solutions to the envisaged crisis.
Nigeria’s plants provide cures for global diseases
Nigeria's reputation as a global centre for drug discovery has received another boost with the announcement of a research utilising tea leaves and fruit from the wild, which is showing positive results against type-2 diabetes.
The research, conducted at the University of Copenhagen and published in Alphagalileo, said the researchers at the University harvested the ingredients for the tea, totalling approximately fifty kilos of leaves and three hundred kilos of fruits, from the wild in Nigeria.
As scientists and researchers direct their attention to natural products to combat the growing global disease burden, they are discovering the wealth within Nigeria-the country with the largest moist equatorial forest and plant endemism in Africa.
Of 150,000 plant species or higher plants estimated to be present in tropical countries, about 30,000 are found in Africa. Nigeria accounts for three quarter of the African estimate.
Currently, tea leaves and other fruits from Nigeria's wild are undergoing various investigations in laboratories across the world in an attempt to find solution to some of the diseases that have ravaged humanity.
The University of Copenhagen treated the tea exactly as local healers would do: boil the leaves, young stalks and fruit and filter the liquid.
The researchers, including a Nigerian, Joan Campbell-Toftel, tested the tea on genetically diabetic mice. The results of the tests, according to the scientists, shows that six weeks of daily treatment with the African tea, combined with a low-fat diet, resulted in changes in the combination and amount of fat in the animals' eyes and protection of the fragile pancreas of the mice.
The researchers have also recently completed a four-month clinical test on 23 patients with type-2 diabetes and expressed satisfaction with the result.
The research subjects drank 750ml of tea each day. The cure appears to differentiate itself from other current type-2 diabetes treatments because the tea does not initially affect the sugar content of the blood," said Mr. Campbell-Tofte. "But after four months of treatment with tea, we can, however, see a significant increase in glucose tolerance."
From sickle cell to HIV
In 2004, some leaves from Nigeria had, against all odds, brought relief to sickle cell sufferers across the globe when researchers at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), banking on indigenous knowledge of the use of herbs, produced NIPRISAN, a potent drug for the management of sickle cell.
The drug was acknowledged by former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, at a ceremony to mark its formal launch, in 2007, as the only potent treatment of sickle cell globally. The achievement was picked up by an American company, Xechem International Pharmaceutical Company, which bought the right from the Nigerian government to mass produce and market the drug now known as NICOSAN.
The license granted the company by government was withdrawn in March 2009, following the inability of the company to meet conditions contained in the agreement regarding the availability and affordability of the drug.
Currently, NIPRD and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, USA, are collaborating on a research using Nigerian leaves, which is showing good signs in the treatment of Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
"US and Nigerian scientists at NIPRD are currently engaged in a joint research activity to test the efficacy of remedies for tuberculosis used by traditional healers in Nigeria. It is our hope that this collaboration continues and results in better therapeutic products," US Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Sanders, said recently.
At the Institute for Advanced Medical Research Training, University of Ibadan, research has advanced on a discovery capable of reducing the global malaria mortality, which currently accounts for over two million deaths annually.
Edith Ajaiyeoba of the Department of Pharmcognosy at the University of Ibadan said the prospect of new drugs coming out of Nigeria's wild was brighter now than ever, in view of collaboration with other international research laboratories.
William Folk, principal investigator at the International Centre for Indigenous Phytotherapy Studies, University of Missouri-Columbia, said he was optimistic that the possibility of developing a natural based drug for HIV/AIDS from the wild of Africa was high.
"In West Africa, there are well documented uses of indigenous plant spices used to treat malaria, diarrhoea, fever, pneumonia, tuberculosis, cryptococcal meningitis, oral candidiasis, herpes and other STI infections," he said.
Muhammed Gwarzo of Bayero University, Kano. Mr. Gwarzo said Nigerian herbs administered by traditional healers to HIV-infected individuals has shown that the herbals, if properly evaluated, would provide a cure to the dreaded virus.
An anti-tuberculosis drug research conducted at NIPRD, by Nneka Ibekwe and others, also showed that of the 86 plants-based recipes used by Nigerian traditional medicine practitioners for the treatment of tuberculosis, about 60 percent were active from weak to high degrees.
Inyang Uford, Director General of NIPRD, said the institute was in the vanguard of investigating plant species based on ethnomedical information. "The potentials and efficacy of Nigeria's leaves is no longer in doubt but how the country prepares itself to spearhead and encourage research into the wild to ensure it benefits from the global multi-billion dollar drug industry is what is at stake," he said.
The research, conducted at the University of Copenhagen and published in Alphagalileo, said the researchers at the University harvested the ingredients for the tea, totalling approximately fifty kilos of leaves and three hundred kilos of fruits, from the wild in Nigeria.
As scientists and researchers direct their attention to natural products to combat the growing global disease burden, they are discovering the wealth within Nigeria-the country with the largest moist equatorial forest and plant endemism in Africa.
Of 150,000 plant species or higher plants estimated to be present in tropical countries, about 30,000 are found in Africa. Nigeria accounts for three quarter of the African estimate.
Currently, tea leaves and other fruits from Nigeria's wild are undergoing various investigations in laboratories across the world in an attempt to find solution to some of the diseases that have ravaged humanity.
The University of Copenhagen treated the tea exactly as local healers would do: boil the leaves, young stalks and fruit and filter the liquid.
The researchers, including a Nigerian, Joan Campbell-Toftel, tested the tea on genetically diabetic mice. The results of the tests, according to the scientists, shows that six weeks of daily treatment with the African tea, combined with a low-fat diet, resulted in changes in the combination and amount of fat in the animals' eyes and protection of the fragile pancreas of the mice.
The researchers have also recently completed a four-month clinical test on 23 patients with type-2 diabetes and expressed satisfaction with the result.
The research subjects drank 750ml of tea each day. The cure appears to differentiate itself from other current type-2 diabetes treatments because the tea does not initially affect the sugar content of the blood," said Mr. Campbell-Tofte. "But after four months of treatment with tea, we can, however, see a significant increase in glucose tolerance."
From sickle cell to HIV
In 2004, some leaves from Nigeria had, against all odds, brought relief to sickle cell sufferers across the globe when researchers at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), banking on indigenous knowledge of the use of herbs, produced NIPRISAN, a potent drug for the management of sickle cell.
The drug was acknowledged by former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, at a ceremony to mark its formal launch, in 2007, as the only potent treatment of sickle cell globally. The achievement was picked up by an American company, Xechem International Pharmaceutical Company, which bought the right from the Nigerian government to mass produce and market the drug now known as NICOSAN.
The license granted the company by government was withdrawn in March 2009, following the inability of the company to meet conditions contained in the agreement regarding the availability and affordability of the drug.
Currently, NIPRD and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, USA, are collaborating on a research using Nigerian leaves, which is showing good signs in the treatment of Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
"US and Nigerian scientists at NIPRD are currently engaged in a joint research activity to test the efficacy of remedies for tuberculosis used by traditional healers in Nigeria. It is our hope that this collaboration continues and results in better therapeutic products," US Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Sanders, said recently.
At the Institute for Advanced Medical Research Training, University of Ibadan, research has advanced on a discovery capable of reducing the global malaria mortality, which currently accounts for over two million deaths annually.
Edith Ajaiyeoba of the Department of Pharmcognosy at the University of Ibadan said the prospect of new drugs coming out of Nigeria's wild was brighter now than ever, in view of collaboration with other international research laboratories.
William Folk, principal investigator at the International Centre for Indigenous Phytotherapy Studies, University of Missouri-Columbia, said he was optimistic that the possibility of developing a natural based drug for HIV/AIDS from the wild of Africa was high.
"In West Africa, there are well documented uses of indigenous plant spices used to treat malaria, diarrhoea, fever, pneumonia, tuberculosis, cryptococcal meningitis, oral candidiasis, herpes and other STI infections," he said.
Muhammed Gwarzo of Bayero University, Kano. Mr. Gwarzo said Nigerian herbs administered by traditional healers to HIV-infected individuals has shown that the herbals, if properly evaluated, would provide a cure to the dreaded virus.
An anti-tuberculosis drug research conducted at NIPRD, by Nneka Ibekwe and others, also showed that of the 86 plants-based recipes used by Nigerian traditional medicine practitioners for the treatment of tuberculosis, about 60 percent were active from weak to high degrees.
Inyang Uford, Director General of NIPRD, said the institute was in the vanguard of investigating plant species based on ethnomedical information. "The potentials and efficacy of Nigeria's leaves is no longer in doubt but how the country prepares itself to spearhead and encourage research into the wild to ensure it benefits from the global multi-billion dollar drug industry is what is at stake," he said.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Nigeria's fast disappearing trees
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
NIGCOMSAT-1: Gone too soon
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.
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, 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)
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