Nigeria under the siege of drought, research, forest products utilization research with special atten· lion to Bamboo, Biotechnologl· ca1 research and carbon trading in relation to cllmate change.
D AYO A YEYE MI
'~glancE
at the current envlronment siUlation shows that
On ecotourism. she stated. "In Ole last one year. the Oll Gamp/lbbl tourist facUlties at Kainji Lake National Park, New were "habllitated. Biro. fJarbl an ultra modern Ihdoor
Nigeria is Undfr- t:Jie!lell\! of drought desertiLcaUon. erosion
sites, fuel
-.1)()('
l!ItraCt1on or
deforestation. ptiUutlon etc, and what the geographical expression called the IU)rth has turned
sports complex at old Oyu National Park, 010 State was con-
lnlo." Those were the wunls of the Minister of Ell\'lronment, Mrs. Hadiza Jbrahlm Mailalla. while describing the environment s it·
structed and equipped. These
were Intended to enhance the
comfort of visiting tourists and the lnhabltants of the part. "As a resu1t of these improve-
-uatIon or the co ,m try and some notable achievt ments of her mln1st.ry to combat these during the mInisterial (ress brtenng in AbtUa at the wt* !rend. As a result 01 these enviroumental challcnga. she said peopIe were compelled to DlO\"l! and that there was t ardly sufficient water, add.ing that the naUon no longer have suJ[lc:ienliand for
agriculture. Despite Ole challenges, she POinted out that the Ministry of Environment bas to work together with all ministries to ensure an enabling environmeut for NIgerians to survive.. In the deter .nlnation to replace forest <if pleted through wood feUing, t Ie minister reveaJed that her ministry has raised 22.222,940 assorted tree seedlings undel its blodl\oersity conservation programme in one
ments. the number of tourists visiting the National Partt! has
~~""""""~~~""":::::!"""--'----::---:----:::--:----::----:---::-----:===========~ woodlots. forest reserves and Service Corps to widen the pargreening of prnm1ses. She stated that some states government aI.5o requested for
the seedlings and coUected enormousquantiUesforplanting.
She said. "The focus of the project is the afforestation of theent!reoountry;go!ll8beyond the II frontline states di.rectly
under the thn!at of desertification_ This is to replace forests depleted through wood felling for domestic purposes. -rtte desertiflcatlon phenom· eoon has been advanclng southwards alan alarming rate, to we extent wat the fronUine states under direct threat of desertillcation have now increased to 13 year. from ll." Among the 13 states been MallaJla,said tl Ie programme, which ls WIder the Preslden- threatened by desertification. tial lnJUatlve 1m Afforestation the minister mentioned that programme fOl Economic and Kogi State is becoming very EnviroomentaJ Sustainabill ty slgnUlcant, revealing that the .~ had seen seedJmgs dlSlT ibUu:u ministry is planning to partner across the natiDn to communl- with the National Orientation ties and lnstltu110ns to establish Agency and the National Youth
Uclpatlon of more citIzens in the distribution and planting of seedlings.. On the success achieved through the inItiative since tnception, she said it has achieved increased forest cover, provided employment opportunities for workers In the nurseries. as weU as those engaged to plant the
seedUngs. "As a result, It has contri~ uted to the reduction of povem and increased income for people in the communities that directly benclited from the programme," she said. Tbe minister also staled that her m1nlstry has suc:cessfully " - p,"--- of th e completed the llJ:>' National forest Programme Facillty (NFP-l-acillty); "and 1mplementatlon has commenced on the programme oC work on conservation and development of Guinea Current Large Ma· rine Ecosystem (GCLME), for reforestation and establishment
Renewable energy: 11 SMEs get N51m grant from BOI O LUFEt.t1 A OEOSUN
he Bank of Industry has given a pant of $333,000 CN5Ull) ·0 U companies to boost their contribution to the renewable IJrogramme. The graOt. " hich is a fallout of a collaborallc-n between the 801 and the United Nation Deve.1opment l70gl-amme will enable each of the u companies get $30,000 (l\('65m) to boost their tonll·lbutlon to the renewable energy projecL The move Is in contlnuaUon of its support to private sector development Ln!!. commitment towards ensuring untversal access to IIUX ern energy ser· vices. Accordlng 10 BOl, Ule aim of the partnenbip is to extend
T
partnership In the energy sector to scale up access for ec0nomIc developmenL This, the bank noted, would be made possible through the facilitation of Investment to alternative, off·grid energy options and linkages for enterprise deve.1opmenl UNDP Country Director; Ms Ade Lekoetje. who spoke during the presentation exercise in Abuja, saJd the BOIIUNDP access to renewable project iJ an intervention programme aimed at cata1ysing, promotiJlg and supponlng an expansion of renewable energy for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. This, she noted. \'"ould help the MSMEs suppori private sector led economic developmenL She said the overall objective of the project ls to enable the
MSMEs lncorporale renewable energy options for business development, increase investment in renewable energy through better undentandlng of financ · Lng as well as boost capacity of MSMEs in Nigeria "The project is an intervention project aimed at catalyzing, promoting and supporting an expansion or ofT grid renewable energy scl-vices for MSMEs to suppon private sector led economic developmenl "It focuses on increasing the national capacity to lnvest In· and utlli6e renewable energy resources to Improve access to modern energy servl.ces for MSMEs and households, im· proving the regulato~ Instl· tutionaJ and finanCing framework 10 promote renewable energy," she said.
increased, thus boostlng emtourism and lncreasing revenue generation and
employments.~
Under the Great Green wall
project of the ministry, MalIafta said 6,720,(0) seedlings have been raised in seven desertificaLion front line stales of Adama. WH, Bauehl. Jigawn. Yobe, Kebhi. Katslna. Kano, Yobe, 5okoto and Borno State. Great Green wall project, she explained was Africa's re-
of Mangrove plantations." Other slgniflcant achievement by the ministJ")( she said was the signing of Memorandum of Understanding with Malaysia Forestry Research and Development Board., Malaysia. for international cooperation In the area or forestrY research and climate change with partlc· u1ar iJlterest in medicinal plants
solve to combat desertification through an integrated approach to enhance food secw-It); ecosystern, goods and services with a view to achieving demopment. particularly alleviating poverty in the dry land region. She said. -rhis is a project in which the Federal Gowrnment through this mlnistry is creating a green shelter belt stretching from }{ebbl Stale in the North-east to Borno in the North-west. as part of a larger Trans-Afrlcan belt spanning 1.500 kilometres from Djibouti to Dakar in Senegal and 15 kilometres wide..
Nigerians cautioned against fire disaster TUNBOSUN O GUNOARE
he Managing Director; Fi.reforte Services Lim· ited, Me. Jude Anylgbo. has advised Nigerians to guide against avoidable loss of lives and property that could arise from nee outbreak, by keeping fire extiJlgulsbers at reach. He also advised house owners to provide for al least two free burglar proof escape routes for emergency cases, noting that prevention of life and property begins with individual Anylgbo. In a chat with No lionnl Mirror said many lives and property lost to fire incidences In homes and at work· places and elsewhere ",-ould have been averted If there were to be fire extinguishers around, str~ing that every famUy, commercial outlet
T
and other Institution ought to have fUnctional fire extin· guIshers at their reach. He equally said it was necessary that owners of event centres should not only provide for fire extinguishers, hut should a.lso duly Inform their guests of available es· cape routes in case of emergency. " But we don't seem to both· er about aU these Important precautionary measures," he lamented . -And we are suffering the consequences.Anylgbo said " we could not be depending on gov ernment for simple precau tionary measure that will save us from grave conse· quence when we know that government is confronted with lis own challenges In providing effective fire ser· vice stations. ~