MONDAY. SI:f'TEM BER 26. 201 1
Group proposes concrete makers' association to reduce collaps e
!Leis th an 20% , are
of hous es ~ainted'
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overnments, experts consider fresh strategies
Climate change: As the adverse effect of global lvamling continues to affect every I'eglon of the world, especiallyAjrlca, s takeholders at a forum in Lagos discussed the strategies to combat the menace in Nige ria. RONKE BAD MUS writes. F there are two maj or is!;ue5 o f ~ncem for any coun try in Africa
Imday.
Ih~
arc climate change and disaster managemenL
And it is an immutable fact thai both challe~ must attract the ,mention o f any se rious gove rnment In the c.a;;e o f N igerii'l. the co untry faces a number of chall e n~ lvi th climate change and disaster manClgemenl Although experts note thall he c hdl1enges for Nigeria are not a t Ihe level o f earthquakes. tsunamis, typhoons and hUnlCimes like oth er COlmlry IVllnin the West·Nrican region, ihere exist poi en tlhre31S 10 safe living and the survival of th e eC05y;;lem.
Al lnde rlO"ndence in 1960. expe rts remlled that environmental b.iu~ w~re nOI much o f ~ proble m for Ih e n~lion , Allhallime, th .. population WM much smaJler than th e 150 milli on currently e>lim<lted while not many parts of the country were densely populated and Uibanised. Ho",rever, ;,s tim e pOCl9..resseci, the population expi'md..""'CI and the <ltlendant pressure on the environmeni gr2\ .... Over lime, threats such as rainstorms. Iondl;Jides, ea rth trem o rs. nooding, gully erosion. desert encroachment, drought , e xtreme he~t and ramfall, among o the rs. became prono una:!d in the country. Experts al Ihe l<tgos forum ~ressed the need for Nigeria to oddress the issue o f climale change hurriedly before it could gel out of control, considering the noods, which caused monumental damage in tlVO s rates In the counny rea:!nil y. Accord ing to a rece nl report by the Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian ErlVlronmentai S tudy Action Team. Prof. Chinedu N\lICIjiuh3, Nigeria will lose about $9bn to natural disasters while. at least, 80 per cent of thi! inhabitan ts of the Niger De lta would be displaced due to the \ow level of the o il· rich regio n. The reporl al;;o ~aled thaI in 2010 alone, 23 states \!Jt're oaffeded by flood disasters with serious consequence.5 on the 5QCio-economic weU-being of fh e a ff<,cted communilies. Experls also ex[llained that disaste rs wiped OUt development gains and compelled the gove rnment to diVOi!rt scarce resources from strategic projects to fund relief and rehabilitation, resulting in m ajor seibacks in developmen t and economic growth. According to them. each coun try has its unique risk profile or signat ure with different kinds and proportions of ex tensiVOi!, intensive and emerging risks. Governme nts would need to adopt a mix of prospecti ... e, corrective and compensatory risk management stralegies loget!u~r with siIll tegies to manage disaste rs and anticipate emerging risks. A s ta tem e nt from th e National Emer~ncy Managemenl Ag.:mcy in Nigeria reqm tly said more than 42.921 fam ili es had been displaa:!d by disaslers in the No rth-East since the beginning of 201 1. Also, acco rding 10 Un ited Natklns Development Programme. bo:twe~n 2(X)9 and 2010. dean energy 5eCtor investmen ts worldwide rose by 30 per cent to a record $243bn. nle lnlernalional Atomic En e rgy Agency esllmated 40 per cent of the global additional investment needed for dimllte change finance in 20 20 would be from private households; 40 per a:!nl from bUiineS5es a nd th e remain ing 20 pe r a:! nl in businesses, the Xillhuo report added. Speaking o n the dima te change challenges, the NEMA Director·General, Mr. Muhammad Sani.$idi. explained that il was In realisa tion of the growing Ihreal5 from disasters and Ihe imperative for ~ coordinated response that led to the Federal Government's establishment of the agency to manage disasters in Nige ria. He, however. stressed the need to apply space technology in a viation and m~rilime safety. $ani-SkU, in his address at a mee ting of aviation and maritime stakeholdel'5 in Lagos, said that space technology would be necessary for the effective and efficient management of air, land and marilime disaslers. Acco rding 10 him, NEt-iA has witnessed several disaste rs due 10 climate change o ... er the years, and the disast ers have not aba ted.. ~ ~ly first assignment was the twin bomb blasts of October 1.
oFasho/a A few months before that , NEMA h&l had to in tervene wh e n floods overwhelmed some communilies in l<tgos a nd Ogun s!el res.H He advised Nigerians on th e need 10 keep their e n... ironmenl clean and avoid indiscriminate dumping o f waste. He al;;o urged stlltes a nd local gove rnments to assist NEMA by establishing lunctional emergency managemen t agendes. which wou ld help to ensure the effective understa nding and handl ing of climate change and disaster management in rhe country. He added that the privale sector must also join hands with government and civil society 10 mitigate the effects of climate change on the country. The Governor of Lagos S ta le. Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who spoke abou t th e effect 01 climate change during Ihe Africcn Mayoral Oimate Change Declaration- West Africa pre. COP 17 Congress, said, - Nigeria stood a t grea ter risk of a human itarian disaster and calamity as i.l result of e>ct ioc\ climate even t because of its geograph ical localion. popu la tion and size. most importantly, because o f the geographical loca tion o f the CO\!I11ry." According to him. the first solution is for government to adopt preventi...e measures and to also share knowledge w ith citizens wilh ad~cies on dangers o f living in fkxxl regions. He noted tha t the $ta te had started building seUlemenl ce ntres; saying the government would also resettle Ihe people directly affected. As part 01 the effo rts of th e state government, Fashola said. -We are also improving the knowledge and awareness o f citizens about storm wa ler facilities and channels closesi to them , so tha t they can adually pre ... ent them from being degraded ~ On Africa genera lly, Ihe governor aff1mll~d thai the dimale change was a global phenomenon that has a local impad wherever it occurred. He said, that state governors, mayors and provincial Mads would stand to impad cha nge i.lnd adaptation strategies be her than national leader;; such <IS prime ministers elnd president. H e said the former lived with Ihe problem \vhereas Ihe latter wo uld relate to it peripherally. He. however. said if there was any discuiSion abou t stra tegies to deal wiih climate change in African, Nigeria must be at ~le forefront of any such meeting. According to him , it was doubtful whether any other cou ntry in Afric.l faces the kind of threal of severe weather lhat Nigeria was exposed fo.
It Is time to demonstrate political will to solve this
problem of global warming. Political decision needs to be taken
He said, for instance , in the f'b rth. lhi! COUntry faced great risk o f loss of lives, fa rmland an. J terriwri al <ire<> from d('5eTl encroachment JUSt as the south ,vould haltle coa;;tal erosion . from the Atlan tic Ocean or as a re,;u!t of flooding from nsmg wa ler levels. The Director, a lma te Chang;;!. MimSlry of En ... ironment. Dr. Ackji.lre j\dejuwon. who r?l=tresented the Minster fo r Environmenl. Mrs. Hadiza Mailaf~,. said Lago!i S ta te had begun to sel the paa:! 111 development 01 strnlegies and solution to clima te change effect. "It is time to demonstrate !X>iitical wiU to solve this problem of global u'armlng. Poiitic.ll deciSion needs to be taken," Mailafia said. ~Goi ng 10 Duban mIght probaLly give us another opportunity to com e up with a conae ti! solutiJn 10 effect 01 climate cha nge and global wa rming." she said The Li<"JOS State CommJssIJ ner fcor the EnvlI·onment. 17 COngl-e.» was a Mr. Tunji BeUo, said the up'com ,ny platfo lm lha t wo u!d ovail Ahica, parhcularly the Wi'.51 African ~ub·region . the opportu nity o f COini ng up wit h a policy pos ition ' to co mbat the effect of clinlale cn'lnge. He said the congr2SS would al 50 articulate a collective 51300' point to be pu rs ued at the congr.-'SS holding in Durwn. So..uh Africa. He added tllalt he theme of th~ congreiS, - Building C llmati': Change Resi li ent African C ities: Climate Proofing Africa on the Road 10 COP I T was apt a.nd could nc:.t have come a t a beller time. ~The co llective en ... ironme ntal problems confronting us require shoares control and d f.:Jm Though. lhe re might be differences in longue and cult ure. the exigencies of our environment , irresp€(tive of cont,nents. demand that lve show boundless solidarity. Bello said it should be ag reed lhal Ailiea was di:>advantaged In the figh t against climate chang~ and the conlinen l obv lou~ had leiS capacity to respond 10 tl'li! challenges posed by It. ~ We remain the most vulne r<1bl l! to the dire consequences o f the effecI o f climate change. TI tere IS need for an African re think as we must swiftly join ,h(. active dub of multilateral efforts in thts regard .~ Bello said. The Chairman, Oimate Chal ~, D<'lta S tate . ~lr!i. Felicia Adun, said that the state's Minisl>Vlof Land had "lot 10 do l~ avoid disaste r in times of climate cHange. Aa;ording to her, as plots of ~nd are giv<' n th roug h the m inistry's discretion, they shodd: discourage citiuns from bu ilding on marg inal land. I S he also canvassed proper monilonng to ovoid spending a 101 of money to dem olish thl! SilITli! houses when disaslers
cor
. OCCl.1fred. TIle Secretary to the ~State Go<Jli!mment, Mrs. Adebule Oluwaranti, saki women should be edu~led on modern way;> of cooking instead of rutting tree,; Ihat should protect lite ci tie;; from erosion 10 cook o r make charcoal .,:.... She Cldvised the citLwns 10 cooperat2 with the government. OIUlllClr21n ti urged trad itional leaders to monitor planted trees and educa te the people ulld.?r their leadership to know th ll t Ihe trees were life sa ... e rs.