Wednesday, February 23, 2011
citySTRINGS~
THISDAY, Vol. 16, No•.. 5784, Page 43
Combating Cfunate Change: Lagos Moves On The change in climate, which is caused by global wanning has enonnous implications on human comfort, water resources and biodiversity. With all these changes and the use of petroleum increasing in proportion to the number of cars being purchased daily, climate change issues have continued to occupy the front burner as Lagos· .State moves on in its sensitization drive. EBERE NWIRO writes
T
hat the climate is changing is not news, neither is it that human beings are the ones causing the change. But what may be news to people are some of man's attitude to tlie environment. The said attitudes may sound shockingly unbelievable but world-renowned environmentalist, Newton libunoh says it is true. The causes of climate change are as complex as carbon emission and as simple as litter~ ing paper on the streets. Recently in Lagos, in a bid to sensitise the public on how to combat this trend in the countty, the Lagos State Ministty of the Environment held a three-day Summit. At the 3rd Lagos State Climate Change Summit, Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Muiz Adeyemi Banire, stated "We must all know that there is a peculiarity amongst each region in our countty. For example, Nigeria unfottunately seems to have all the peculiarities of loom~ ing disasters, in the southern patts, we have the problem of the threats of flooding, in the east, we have the same thing even in the . notthem states, we have all these impending dangers surrounding us, yet we do not know. "It is a deliberate ignorance to deny the knowledge of global
warnring and climate change. The reality of climate change is glaring, we can see it everywhere and we can feel it all around us. Something has gone wrong with the world, I mean Mother Eatth and her kindness seems to be eroding. No doubt, we are the cause of environmental woes which we face today. In 2009, experts hinted that the whole of Victoria Island could be submerged by flood in the next 90 years, the magttitude of such loss in terms of lives, properties and the overall economy can only be imagined. We do not wish that for ourselves, that is why we must act as fast as possible exploring all possible means to stop the rot in the environment",
He stated that one of such means of stopping these ills is advocacy. "It is our responsibility to effectively and passionately preserve the planetary properties. That is the only way we can protect and preserve biodiversity," Banire said. Also speaking at the summit, Deputy British High .
~sB "Diamond Bank remains the ~ committed comrnercial bank in the oountty, to the development of SMEs, one of the ways of demOnstrating this commitment, is through the staging ofprogrammes of this nature which is aimed at building capacity of SMEs owners," be said. George identified that negative attitude of most of operators, towards planning, was a fundamental challenge confronting SMEs in the oountty. He disclosed that recent study had shown that most small scale entrepreneurs, dabbled into businesses they know little or noth~ ing about, which account for the high incidence of m<¥taIity among llusirlCss in that sector. "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail; most Nigerians are in business without planning, some even regard their business as a hobby that does not require planning, that is one of the reasons why most SMEs are not surviving in the oountty. "'There is the need for anyone going into business to have a busi~ ness plan, which shouJd contain definite processes on how the busi~ ness will run, as weU as goals and targets. Business pim) is the most essential requirement forthe success of any business venture, the other thing is communication, which is the levernge for future of business," George futtber exp1ained. Presenting a lecture titled: "Making Use of Opportunities for Successful Business Enterprises", Moses Kadeer Itsokor, who is the chief executive of Hammethead Print House, Kaduna, decried the inability of Nigerian entrepreneurs to take advantage of the huge business opportunities available in the COWltty. UsingjIis ~ as the base of the lecture Kadeer said t h e . 'h/IIl~' c.' ic potential,partiailin-ly in the SME'::;hvitiCbci!l!Jd6>: to fight the challenge of unemployment, in the coUniry~,.. . ''To be able to do this, operators of SMEs and those interested in establishing one, must be able to see the need of the society around them, and be ready to provide solution. It is important to know that you can only see with the beatt, for you to see the needs of the society arouod you. It also requires the essential which is the invisible eyes. "See the need, take the lead is the act of developing the skill and
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• R~L: Fashola conferring with Banire at the summit Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr. Robin Gwynn, said: "The creation of the National Climate Change Commission will help to address the issue. Nigeria has been seen in the international climate negotiations as an OPEC member rather than a countty already feeling the impact of climate change as are many other patts of Africa; it will help bring together the different strands of analysis and policy that affect climate issues across the countty. lbis in turn could help magnify Nigeria's regional voice and influence in the negotiations to come, in the run-up to COP 17 at Duman later in the year." He also disclosed that the United Kingdom shares these concerns and is keen to remain a pattner on this critical agenda. His suggestion: "on the global level, we need to shift investments urgently from high carbon businesses as usual to the low carbon economy, which means building an essentially decarbonized global economy by mid century." ' Since its inception in 2007, Governor Babatunde Fashola's administration has embarked on extensive de-flooding progranunes through dredging massaive consttuction and expansion of drainage channels across the state. Over 700 drainage projects covering over 642knas, and cutting across the state were built up to prevent obsttuction to free flow of water. 22,800 people were engaged for the job, the constmction of new drainage channels and rehabilitation of existing ones was given adequate attention and resources it deserved, also in line with the united Nations Millennium Development Goals (MOOs) of environmental sustainable growth. "We have also intensified our awareness campaign; we coUaborated with many NOOs such as the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), Human & Development Agency (HEDA),
inKano strategy necessary to effectively locate a need in your innnediate environment and then set in motion II series ofweU thought out, definite steps to enable you take lead in solving the identified problem or need" he pointed out. Kadeer, challenged small business owners and those interested in establishing one, to be prepared to take advan~ !age of the available ~ties, saying that is the only way they can justify the opportunity given to them by God. In his r-entation, 0liIJ1ll Nnadozie, who is the bank's Coordinator, MSME Propositia1.ons, shed light on "Diamond BusinessXpress" smart account floated by the bank to assist small entrepreneurs in the COWltty. He said the package was developed specifically by the management of the bank, as a way ofadding value to businesses, in respective of categorizations.
UNIDO, and UNDP amongst others to identify potent groups who can help drive the message to the grass root," the governor stated. "So far, we have been investing in more relief camps, safety information advocacy to improve our preparedness to save .lives and property when unpredictable reactions of nature sometimes overwhelm our best endeavours". Fashola stated in his keynote speech at the summit. "Advocacy we believe will facilitate better understanding of the associated risks and what should be done to mitigate and adapt. We have not ignored youth organisations, students and scholars as critical stakeholders to help us propagate the causes and effects of climate change and what could be done to reverse the trend. lbis summit will hopefuUy help to access the success of efforts at tackling the climate change so far. Our development efforts must take sufficient coguizance of environmental sustainability. Truly our effective and meaningful development cannot thrive and survive without a healthy environment," Fashola said. Climate change, more commonly known as global warming is caused by the emission of heat trapping gases; gases produced by power plants, vehicles, gas flaring etc. The battle to reverse climate change is very fundamental to life, because investigation has shown that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide lasts for 400 years in the atmospbere. Ironically as it may seem, it is no longer news that African countries contribute less to the discharge of Green House Gases into the atmosphere, yet investigations show that we suffer the most. It is more worrisome that African Countries Lack capacity to respond to the climate change disasters. "The product is more than any other accounts; it is proposition, because the bank believes that businesses requires fleXIble account that enables one carry out transaction at a minimal rate. What we are offering is an Account with Zero COT. Our modest fixed monthly service fee means you can carry out numerous transactions every month without wonying about COT. With Diamond BusinessXpress you are qualified to attend our quarterly enlel:prise seminars, wbere you can learn the latest trends in management and website development, with easy access to business journals," Nnadozie stated. The concluding lecture of the seminar, titled: "Networldng: Getting to the Top", was delivered by Bala M. Shehu, chief execu~ tive Officer, of a Kano-based business outfit, GaIadimari Entreprises Nigeria Limited. He described networking as systemic relationship created in different forum, and in different ways, among business owners with the sole aim of mutually benefiting one another. Shehu exp1ained that there are two kinds of networldng, one is the online business networlcing, and the secood is the face to face business net~ worldng.