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TUESDAY. NOVEMBER 22. 2011
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Waiting for the National Climate Change Commission O
NCE upon a time. environmentalisll; were unio.·eJSilly looked upon iJS nut case5
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windcr.v of opportunity in the fast-evolving dimate and weirrlos a~ CClptured in the epithet WIth change-induced economy. kn(lo,lIn as green which they \WIl!. derisively referred to in the economy or green wealth. In fact. an international West: 'tn?e·hugger.;'. But of recent. it has become environmental expert said in Febluary this year normal. cool, and €Wn progressive to be referred that Nigeria is missing about N34bn annually by to as g~n. or eco-hiendly. No \Wnder the late no( selling carbon oedit and implementing the Kenyan Nobel IaJreate and environmentalist. Dean Development Mechanism and Reducing Dr. Wangari Jl.laarhai, proudly showed off her Emission from Deforestation and Degradation first lave o f tree huEing - for which she receiv2d projects. This revelation was authenticated by the the env ied Nobel Peat;e Prize - in her popuJar head of the Oimate Change Llnit of the Federal photograph when! she is sha.IIn in a soulful MinIStry of Environment. Dr Vidor Fodeke. embrace \vith a rao.;ged trunk. when he said that Nigeria was yet to domesticate The m..1jor lea!;OO for the $U.dden upgrade of the Kyoto Protocol. unlike other nations which the earth·frkndly lrn<lge is the pains of climate ratifJed it with us. change and thi:! advice from experts concerning The Protocol aIICM'S for several 'flexible the perceio.oed .... ay out of the global predic.ament: m«hanisms·. such as emi.s5ions tJOOing (also love the earth. c.a~ for it, and maybe one day lve called carbon trading). the COM and joint will oompletely rid the atm05phere of this calix," implementation to aIIcr.v Annex I countries poison. Thi5 is ~icaIly hinged on the genernJly (forty industrial.ised nations. of which all bu t the held vieI.v tMt human activities are likely Uni ted States have ralifled {he protocol) to meet responsible for mtst of the observed increase in the ir grnen house gases emission limitations by global mean tempo!lature (global warming) since; purchasing G HG emission reducticn aed.its from the mid-2Ckh CemulY, and this human-induced eJsewhere. through fmancial exchanges. project5 warming of the: climate is expected to continue that reduce emissions in flOll-Annex I countries throughout the 21~.t centulY and beyond. (devdoping countries like N"lgeria). These Annex I On December ll, 1997, to be e!0ct. the counlri£s nominall! z. person (called. a 'designaled whole world mad l a bold statement in K~'Olo. · national authority') to create and IT1i'If"Ia9I! its Japan. when they ~pted the Kyoto Protocol. greenhouse gas invenlO1y. Vtrtually aD of the a protocol to the Un ited Natio1l5 Framavork non-Annex I countries haw- also established. z. Convention on OilnateDlange. aimed at Fighting designated naIiona! z.uthority to 1llaIliJ9'I! its K!fOIo global wanning. n Il' UNFCCC is an intemational obligations espedaIy the COM process.. environmental truly v..rith the goal of "'hieving The Protocol also reaffirms the princple the stabilisation of !,eenhouse gas concentrations thZot developed ccuntries have to pay billions n the alm~here at a level that luould preven t of dollars. and supply technology to other dangerous ~throjlogenic in terference with the countries for cli mate-related studies and projects. climate system. Th! Protocol came into fom! on To illustrate. if for instance a developing nation February 16. 2oa: . z.nd as ol September 2011. comes up "lith z. project of. say. a wind turbine to 191 staI.t>;s haw- sgned and ratified it. Nigeria generate eJectricity, a developed nation sponsofS ratifJed it on Deter lber 10. 2004. and funds it in order to be ZoV.'i1rded e&bon. aedits let me state a t thi5 juncture that by signing in the international emissions trading market. At z.nd ratifying the -(yoto Protocol and being z. the moment. many developing countries are member of the t)t\FCCC. Nigeria iSenti~ed to z. Kos 'cgbemo loJ 0 Kos 'cgb!?moIoJ 0 Arnoko!idori w. !le ti dJ dCUlclok) 19ikokoli di dOl cloko Arnokolidori w,ole .King $unn..' Ade. 1980
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more fz.rTnzn in the farm! No more farmefS in the farm! Farmers hav ~ returned 10 towns . . . Irs become fira\'ood/ Cocoa tree has b-!come firewood! Farmers have returned to towns. I ~Agricu!ture is )ur mainstay: that's w here our strength lies in Ogun Slate. Ollr fOlefathers used agriculture to define the landscape ofWest !m Region .Whereourslrength lies, we have 10 exploit complet !Iy. ~ -Senalor !bikJI Ie Amosun. 15 November. 2011 . As I listened tl he Ogun State Governor. Ib ikun le Amosun. and the Minlsl~r OJ Agricu lture. Dr Akinwunmi Adesinz., during the visit of the Jaile r to the Governor's Office. Abeoku ta. last Tuesday. my mInd raced back and forth on the vicissitudes of our nalion TI ,e profound import of King Sunny Ade's message. once more. assailed me. filling my mind with melancholy. If c-xoo trees had become firewood as a t 1980. then it is ]~ible there are no more cocoa trees in Nigeria loday! G lowing up i1 he v ill age in those dZoys. I must confess. was not exoctly excitil g. I remember the horro r an d sadness of having 10 be l\IOke l' upatdawn bymy father for lheexcruciZo ting joumi!y (in Bolelt£;a or OJopon) from OIJ r homelo\lIn, lsa ra. to OIJr village at lmagbon; then trekking many kilo me tres from OIJr farmhouses w th bZoskell; of farm produce on our heads to the market: the dZo'lger o f perishing in the rive r once there v.'as any mi5l;tep while climbing or walking on the wooden bridge built by OIJr fathers. especially during the ra iny season was palpable. Thz.t Wi! ; in the 70s z.nd ez.lly 80s when 0 11 proceeds should have beEn invested in opening up the rural areas. The ffllIjority oj ou r people practised agricu lture on a full lime basis. My family had cocoa and koJanut in commercial quantities. We hac farmhouses! mud-houses. where we stayed fo r days, weeks, a ld even mo nths. especially d uring the longterm holidays. Bu: those were the dz.ys . 'lhe youngest mz.n tilling the Jand in ou r farms lodz.y~, observed ex-President
building thriving low carbon economies that z.le crez.ting new green jobs for their peoples. It is overwhelming to se-e the sunchy private sector opportunities that am available to countries that. are able to lay out dear IegBative ~ and operational mocIa!iOOs for this ~. As usual Nigeria is laming behind in this ernerg.ng !JobaI enterpri<;e of new deveIc:pnent. In fact. I just read in the paper.; the other day about an effort by Nigerian enviroomental slakeholders to organise a brainstorming :se25ion (rI a National Oimate Change Fblicy in Ahuja. which they intend to present to the FedeTaI Executive Council next year. In my opinion. lye have not domesticated the Ky% Protocol. and we are seriously losing money. because the NZotional OirnZote Change Commission BiR has not been signed by President GoodJuck Jonz.than. who retEived the harmonised bill from the National Assembly since December 9. 2010. bpededJy, 1"1"WlY Nigerians have expressed their disappointmen t a l Mr. President's foot-dragging on this very important biD. Meanwhile. our cities am flooded. our farmlands am getting dried up, our badtyardos are eroded, the rains are no( stopping and the weaihEtr is bemming erraric.. But most importantly. 0Uf youths am jobless and roaming the streets while there are green jobs and dimate-dollaJs out there for their picking. The only thing it will cost us is 10 sit down and get a platform and z. policy on dimale change. whidl this biD is poised to do. If the \nI lh must be told. JOIla!han's ambitious but laudable gas master plan cannot really see the ligh t of dZoy without the political will to stop gas flaring, which actually shall be Ofle of the major fundions of the Dimate Change Commission. Gas flaring contributl?5 significantly to g\obaI emissions of carbon dioxide and methane. tlvo of the green house gases which contribute to global lvarming. With the govemment's tepid attitude to gas flaring. we am actually making a statement as z. nation through CUI oil industry thai we do not want to join oIher nations in fighting
climate change. But to !iIart with. Wi! must have an z.gency with the tedmical compelence and regulatory mandate to respond proactively to issues pertaining to global warming. and not the U5UaI knee-jerk response we are u.sed to when emeryern::ie:s catch up v.ith us. Moreover. the agency is expected to provide room fOJ" z.gricultunll insunInce cover for Nige:rian farmers in the event of produce losses due to the escalating global dimate change challenges, including Ilz.sh floods and dnJ\Jgh1:5 that are causing serious havoc to the z,gnrulrural sector in Nigeria. 11 shall also serve as z. convener and fult7lJm for the inter-ministerial body that shaD coordinate a coherent inter-sector response 10 dimate changechallenges. This includes enabl ing Nigeria to generate energy from renewable clean sources like wind, wz.tEtr and the 5Un. reducing green house gases, tuming waste to wealth, enhancing private sector p;.micipation in dimate change issues and z.00ve all reducing NigeriZo 's vulneJ3bility to the impact of climate change. Perhaps. thi5 session shZoU be the loudest in bringing 10 ou r attention the nei!d to have a fullfledged oommission to tackle dimate change. As Nigeria joins other Mtions in Durban, South Afric.a. from November 28 to December 9. 201 1 to deliberate on the i.s5lJe of global dimate change and the z.geed-ujXJn best.padices of m~ and adZoptalion. there is z. need for z. canmission thai will coordinate and negotiate the country's ZoCtivities and in>..clvement a l the l.R'.R:CC conference. Without this, our ga.0TVl1enfs participation in this yearly ink!mation<ll fOJUm shall end up being nothing more than the usual jZomboree. when!: officials with hi!jHounding titles and portfolios go 10 take notes. take lea and take time off for shopping at our expense without Zodding value to the gc7Jl?IT1ment and the Nigerian people. 'Odogwu , an environmental ac tivist alld publisher, wrote III /rum Suite C8 Emab Plazo. Wuse II , AbuJa. H e can be reached 011 gregodogwu @;ya hoo.colll o r
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As Ogun returns to farm ... Soyombo O peyemi arez. where we had comparative advantz.ge - z.gricultUJe? As I reflected on the sub miss ions of Akinwunmi and Olusegun Obasanjo recentty. ~iS as old as me" . Amosun. it dawned on me that the import of the z.bove points Indeed. the present slate of our nalion is a reflection of the trajectory o f the agricultu re sector. In Ogun, z.gricullu re was was no t lost on them. The government of President Jonz.than z.ppreciates the strategic position of Ogun in agriculture and not just Ihe chief support of our economy. the Nigerian nation will partner with it to revolutionZolise the seclor. ~ Amosun was largely an agrariZon socIety. Statistics shcr.v that agriculture contributed 92 .7 per cenl of our foreign earnings and 59 per observed. Ogun State used to feed the cosmopolitan city of lZogos with z.gric produce in those dz.ys. cenl of the GDP z.t independence.What the crude oil has done Eight new hybrids 01 cocoa that will raise the level of is to supplant ayriculture- cocoa, groundnut, palm p roduce. production 10 z.n exponential level have bee.n released by the colton. etc. Fi!d eral Government. The President is to chair the National Many believe the economic managefS of the oi l erz. should Agricu ltural Implementation Council z.nd Amosun is lez.dy to have expended the petro-doUafS on mechanised farm ing z.nd in opening up the rural areas. Roads. ra ilway, etc should have chair the State Agricultural lmplementation Council since the secto r is dear to h is heart. The NIbn spent daily on importa tion been constructed (expanded) 50 that ou r generation of that time of rice from the strategic reserves of Indiz. and Thz.ilz.nd i510 be should have been saved the hear13che of having to cz.rry heavy reversed through such partnership wit h Ogun that produces the baskets of cocoa and trek many kilometres to get them 10 the market. (Why shou ld our fa thers continue to dimb palm trees highly nutritiOlJs Ofada rice . The 33 cassava p rocessing small scale enti!rprise:s in Ogun are to be supported by the Federal with ropes in orde r to harvest pal m seeds - a couple of them injuring their arms. limbs or spines upon fa lli ng from the trees?) Govern ment as part of the overall strategy of increasing the Investmenl~ should have been made in z.gro-proce.s.sing 10CZ01 content 50 tha i N635bn will no longer be spent on mz.chinery. Ihrough which hands displaced. perhaps. courtesy impo rtz.tion of wheat. and the priCi! of bread will ultimate ly o f mechan ised farming. could hz.ve been gainfully employed. crash to the benefit of all Nigeriz.ns. It remains z. shame that nve decades afte r indepen d ence, farm Just one week ago. the governO I inspected some abandoned! produce such as pineapples, plantain, bZonanz.. tangerines. mo ribund farm settlements in the state with a view to reviving oranges. pepper. etc. still rot awz.y, especially during their them. 1,000 hectares o f land is to be acquired in e a ch o f the seasons. because we have no means of preserving or processing three senatorial d istricts in the state to construct, in partnership them into fini5hed products thz.t can be used locally and th e wit h private investors, modern farm settle ments. This will exces5 sent ab load for foreign exchange. engllge OIJr teO!ming youths p roductively and bring dovm the Agz.in. the Udoji jumbo salary awards o f 1974 d id, o f cou~. cost of living. engende r hyper-inflation suc h that even goods produced in I also hope to journey with the governor to lmagbon Nigeria became more expensive than the imported ones. It 10 renew the interest of my generz.t ion - who abandoned s imply then made no sense 10 produce. indeed. crude oil became hectares of cocoa. koJanut. etc p la n tations- in farming. a di.sincentive to agrirulture. And cocoa trees gradual ly became . Interestingly. while the Constitu tion (Paragra p h 2 Iz.){b) of firewood. just as Sunny Ade SZong, as farmers retired to towns. the Fifth Sched u le) forbids z. fu ll time public officer from any and the youths began to abandon farms for the c ities to have a priva te busines.s, "nothing in this sub-paragraph shall prevent share of the oU money. a public officer from eng a ging In farming." Yes, Omo Ogun And so. d e(:i'ldes ago. Nigeria blew the opportuni ty of an lseYa! z.grariz.n revolu lion that wou ld have made the present gene ration 'Soyombo, an employee of the Ogun State live in abundance. Why were the pelro-dollafS nol investEd in an Governme nt, wrote In from den.tUyshow@yahoo.com