Category Environment

COVID-19: Stay-at-home order reduces carbon pollution in environment — Environmentalist

Environment
By Mercy Omoike
Lagos, April 2, 2020 (NAN) An environmentalist, Mr Emmanuel Emechete, says one major advantage of the stay-at-home order is the reduction in carbon footprints which is the amount of carbon dioxide causing pollution of the atmosphere
Emechete, a climate change advocate, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos that with the reduction in air travels, industrial activity, vehicular movements and overall carbon pollution, Mother Earth was taking a much needed rest.

“This stay-at-home order is an advantage to the earth and environment, there is reduction in air travels, industrial activities, vehicular movements, and a reduction of carbon pollution in the atmosphere.

“This break is just like a pause in the entire global system, by the time the pandemic is over, industries will start working overtime to make up for demand, the earth will become burdened again.

“Carbon footprints will be on the increase and at that time, the focus will have shifted from the environment and climate change issues, which in turn is dangerous to human existence,” he said.

Emechete, however, counseled that while tackling COVID-19, Nigerians should not neglect the issues of climate change, plastic pollution and the well being of the environment.

“Even with the lockdown, we should live sustainably to protect the environment; currently, we are contributing to the carbon footprints when we turn on our generators all day because we are home.

“People are at home and use more resources than they would have if they were not home, we use more water, air conditioning and we produce more waste.

“We should also ensure we properly dispose our waste as the waste management officials cannot go round to collect trash as before,” he said
The environmentalist noted that on the whole, the stay-at-home order had helped reduce carbon pollution, which was advantageous to the earth and the environment.

He, however, noted that one of the disadvantages of the lockdown was the relegation of environmental issues to the background.

“Prior to the compulsory lockdown in some states in the country, I had already written about how Mother Earth was also taking a much needed rest as a result of the stay-at-home order across the world.

“The lockdown has a positive effect on the environment; the only downside to it is that attention will be shifted from climate change and environmental issues, until the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

“Most people will consider the negative effects of climate change issues as being long-term in comparison to the immediacy of healthcare issues, hence more attention on the latter.

Emechete said that presently, there are no more campaigns on climate change issues, until after the pandemic was controlled.
He said that most campaigns would be centred on healthcare and medical issues.

According to him, most environmental campaigns and programmes have been postponed till next year, whereas under normal circumstances most environmental days like Climate Change Day, World Forest Day and so on would be trending by now.

“Most of our campaigns for the environment are now being done online.

“The lockdown seems like a blessing for the environment currently, but once everything is calm the pressure on the environment will continue,” Emechete said. (NAN)
DMO/COF/WOJ
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Edited by Oluyinka Fadare/Wale Ojetimi

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Accident
By Aisha Cole
Lagos, April 1, 2020 (NAN) The Director- General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu has comfirmed that six persons died after a truck fell on commercial taxi on Epe Expressway.

Oke-Osanyintolu told News Agency of Nigerian (NAN) in Lagos that six out of the seven persons involved lost their lives after the accident that occurred earlier on Wednesday.

According to him, the truck with unknown registration number had fallen on the fully loaded commercial taxi OPEL car with registration number Lagos SMK-312ES.

”Seven people were in the crushed car and six of them lost their lives.

“After the accident, the response team rescued the only surviving man, who was trapped beneath the truck. He is now receiving treatment in the hospital.

“We have handed over corpses of deceased persons  to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to transport them to the mortuary.

“We appeal to members of the public to comply with the COVID-19, lockdown and social distancing guidelines to avoid endangering themselves,” Oke-Osanyintolu said.

He also urged the rescue workers to follow the social distancing guidelines of the Lagos state government. (NAN)

AIC /CHIN/AFA
Edited by Chinyere Bassey/Felix Ajide

Fumigation

By Rita Iliya

Minna, April 1, 2020 (NAN) Gov. Abubakar Bello of Niger, had flagged off the fumigation of public places against the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

Bello, represented by the Commissioner for Environment and Forestry, Alh. Mohammed Zakari,  flagged off the fumigation exercise at the Kure Ultra-Modern Market on Wednesday in Minna.

He said that the exercise would be carried out across the 25 local government areas of the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the governor had on March 29, during a press conference disclosed that he had directed the state Environmental Protection Agency (NISEPA) in collaboration with the state Ministry for Environment to embark on fumigation of public places against the COVID-19.

The governor  said that the fumigation was to ensure that the state was to protect the state from the spread of coronavirus.

“We are here because we want to make sure in addition to the restriction, we fumigate all public areas and to keep them safe, ” he said.

Bello reiterated that the restriction of movement was not to punish anyone, but a strategy to safeguard the people against the deadly virus.

He said that places such as markets, mosques, churches, schools, supermarkets, and other public places that attract large number of people would be fumigated.

The governor allayed the fears of the people, saying that the chemicals being used to fumigate the state were not harmful to humans.

He, however, commended the people for their patience and for complying with the government’s directives.

Also, Malam Habibu Abdulkahadir, General Manager of NISEPA, said the exercise which is expected to last for three weeks, was aimed at curtailing the spread of the coronvirus and commended the state government for the release of fund for the exercise. (NAN)

RIS/FF/IU

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Edited by Fela Fashoro and Isaac Ukpoju

CONVID-19: Lagos residents lament lack of basic needs
Needs
By Uchenna Eletuo
Lagos, April 1, 2020 (NAN) Some Lagos residents who have been at home since March 26 because of the lockdown order by the Federal Government are complaining of lack of basic needs to survive the 14 days.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the lockdown of businesses and stay at home order was part of the government measures to curtail the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
Mr Kamal Jaylomi, a poly product trader at the Alaba Suru Lagos market said that he could not cope with the lockdown.
Jaylomi, a father of four said the situation could be likened to war period without basic necessities to support citizens and households, saying that many “go to bed with their stomachs empty”.
“The situation is a horrifying one where a father will be staring at his children die of hunger. How long are we going to stay in this kind of hunger, solitude and deprivation?
“Today is just the second day into the 14 days of lockdown that began before the state’s own elapsed and hunger is on the face of everybody in town,” he said.
Mr James Osamade, a Real Estate Consultant said that for government to continue to ensure the success of the stay at home order, there should be provision of relief items to the people.
“Hunger is capable of killing more people in the country than the COVID-19 disease as people before the order do not have enough money to stock food and basic needs to last them for the lockdown period.
“The state should put aside every formality that is delaying relief materials from getting to the masses because the situation out there is biting.
“In as much we are trying to solve one problem, we should not create another in the process as it will defeat the purpose of the whole thing.
“Nigerians are hungry and the only way to make people to stay at home to enable government manage the coronavirus pandemic is by providing them with basic needs to cushion in the social effect,” he said.
Mrs Bolanle Jinadu, a social worker with the Nigeria Red Cross said the situation called for patience on the part of the people to help the state to be effective in controlling the pandemic.
Jinadu said that both the government and donor agencies would soon come with the aids for the masses.
She said that logistics was being worked out to mitigate the hardship in the land.
NAN reports that President Muhammadu Buhari, in a state broadcast on Sunday ordered total cessation of movement in Lagos, the Federal Capital and Ogun to forestall further spread of coronavirus in the country.
The country has recorded over 131 cases, discharged eight infected persons after treatment and two have died. (NAN)
EUC/NCI/GY
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Edited by Nkiru Ifeajuna/Grace Yussuf

Ratings

By Okeoghene Akubuike

Abuja, March 30, 2020 (NAN) Akwa Ibom and Abuja have both emerged the 2019 cleanest state and cleanest city respectively in the Nigerian Environment Performance Index Ratings, according to Clean-Up Nigeria, an environment group.

Prince Ene Owoh, the National Coordinator/Secretary of the National Technical Study Group (NTSG), Clean-Up Nigeria, made the declaration while presenting its findings in Abuja.

Owoh said the group used performance indicator scores of streets/roads cleanliness, vegetation/drain control, waste management service and public opinion poll to arrive at its findings.

He said other indicators used included social media and knowledge, attitude and practice of hygiene and sanitation of the populace.

He said the study was conducted in partnership with Clean-Up the World, Australia; International Council for Local Environment Initiative, Canada; Keep America Beautiful, USA; DSZ Germany and Suez Foundation, France.

He said, “As the results have shown, Akwa Ibom emerged the cleanest state for 2019, while Abuja emerged the cleanest city, beating Uyo  by two per cent.

“We commend government at all levels and the populace in the sense that after the first cleanliness index performance ratings studies we carried out in 2018, there has been a little improvement in hygiene/sanitation practice across the states by seven per cent in year 2019.”

The national coordinator/secretary of NTGS said the performance indicators from the studies showed that over 168 million Nigerians in 2019 were still living in unclean environment, compared to 170 million in 2018.

He said some other observations recorded from the study showed that funding by states and local governments councils were still inadequate and actually amounted to nothing when compared to the work at hand.

According to him, the situation equally calls for serious review on the part of governments at all levels.

He said that at present, 27 per cent of the states were still directly involved in the management of their waste as against 24 per cent recorded in 2018.

“This is still a far cry from meeting the millennium set goals for privatisation of waste management that will give room for improved service delivery and job creation which will expire in year 2020.

“The sanitation/hygiene practices of the people in over 34 states and the FCT still leave much to be desired and calls for serious multiple strategy by all, including government at all levels, individuals, groups, and the private sector.

“The level of practice of open defecation in all the 36 states of the Federation and the FCT is still very alarming and calls for increased knowledge of sanitation and hygiene, to meet the SDG-target by 2025,” Owoh said.

He added that studies also revealed that only two states, Lagos and Oyo as well as Abuja, had sanitary landfills, while the remaining 34 states operated open dumping.

Owoh said the development was not only alarming, but called for immediate action in addressing the menace.

He, however, noted that remarkable increase had been recorded in the informal sector operators on waste recycling and reuse enterprises, as a result of increased poverty and lack of employment in the country.

“We are calling on employers of labour to improve the living conditions and wages of the sanitation workers and medical check-up for at least twice a year for them, in view of the unsanitary conditions that they are exposed to.

“This can be done by first equipping them with health and safety wears.

“There is the need to set up and strengthen more clean-up clubs in schools to improve and sustain attitude and practice of hygiene and sanitation among children.

‘If we must deal urgently and chase Coronavirus out of our country and the world, we all must embrace strong personal hygiene and sanitation,” he said.  (NAN)

OKE/KTO/EMO
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Edited by Kamal Tayo Oropo/Ejike Obeta

Lockdown
By Uchenna Eletuo
Lagos, March. 30, 2020 (NAN) Some produce distributors in Lagos on Monday ran out of stock as consumers embarked on panic buying of farm produce to feed their households ahead of the Federal Government‘s lockdown of the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday ordered the cessation of all movements in Lagos, FCT and Ogun for 14 days from 11 p.m. on Monday, March 30, 2020.

The measure was to check further spread of Coronavirus also known as COVID-19 through personal contacts.

The residents of the two affected states and the Federal Capital were the most vulnerable with the number of infected persons increasing daily.

Mr Adeoye Alabi, Sector Chairman, Iyana Iba Yam and Plantain Distributors Association, told NAN that the lockdown caught them unaware.

“Many of us have exhausted our stock over the weekend with the hope of going to market this week to replace the stock. The remnant of it was what consumers had just finished buying this morning.

“There is no yam, plantain and other produce in the market because of the upsurge in demand for food items ahead of the lockdown.

“Many vehicles carrying goods such as yam, groundnut, corn and vegetables from the North to this market are still in transit.

“There is no hope that the vehicles will be here before the lockdown commences,’’ he said.

Alabi said that the announcement to lockdown the city should have been given two days earlier for people to prepare as people were in the middle of the previous partial lockdown by the state government.

Mrs Grace Udokaogu, a Garri seller, said that in spite of N300 increase in the price of the staple food item in the past four days, the demand for it had remained high.

Udokaogu added that many people would go home without buying the food items they needed as many of the sellers no longer had them in stock.

The Mammy Market, Ojo Barracks, presented the same scenario, where many people that thronged the market to buy food items were disappointed because stock had been exhausted.

Mrs Ozioma Amadi, who could not buy many of the things she projected to last her family of four for the restriction period, appealed to the Federal Government for relief measures for people to cope. (NAN)
EUC/AJA
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Edited by Adeleye Ajayi

Biosafety
By Okeoghene Akubuike
Abuja, March 30, 2020(NAN) Some stakeholders have called for a multi-sectoral approach to the regulation of biosafety in the country.

The call was part of resolutions reached after the stakeholders conference on Biosafety/Biodiversity organised by Health of Mother Earth Foundation, headed by the Nnimmo Bassey.

The stakeholders at the meeting include the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion, the National Agency for
Food and Drug Administration and Control, Federal Competition (NAFDAC),
Consumer Protection Commission and Standard Organisation of Nigeria.

The communiqué called for collaboration in the regulation of biosafety in Nigeria.

“Stakeholders should promote networks of organic agriculture producers as part of the GMO-free, Nigeria Alliance to promote market for organic products and tackle climate change.

“Seed banks should be developed for the preservation of indigenous seed varieties.

“Lessons should be learned from the COVID-19 experience and embark on a radical rethink of
tinkering with genetic materials of living organisms as this can compromise our food system and health and can easily be weaponised.”

The statement said more research should be done and supported on GMOs and biosafety, adding that there should critical studies and analyses on the health hazards of GMOs.

“Messages on GMOs should be disseminated in forms that are understandable to different
stakeholders including by use of pidgin or local languages for a greater reach to the grassroots.

“Efforts should be made by all stakeholders/citizens to bring about radical changes on biosafety management in Nigeria.”

The stakeholders said there should be better support for smallholder farmers in terms of infrastructural development in
rural and sub-urban areas including the construction and maintenance of feeder roads, storage and processing facilities and essential social amenities.

They added that national food production, storage and processing standards should be established and enforced to
address the issues of post-harvest losses.

“There should be free access to land by women/communities and provision of irrigation and extension services.

“Government should incentivize and encourage agro-ecological food production and use of organic inputs to address the issues of pest and diseases, increase production of nutritious and healthy foods, among others.’’

They also called for the amendment of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) Act and that the National Biotechnology Development Agency be taken off the board of the NBMA.

They suggested that strict liability clauses should be introduced and other identified loopholes rectified.

The resolutions were signed by various stakeholders at the conference including farmers, students, CSOs, medical practitioners, lawyers, journalists, legislative researchers and some public officers. (NAN)
OKE/GY
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Edited by Grace Yussuf

COVID-19
By Uchenna Eletuo
Lagos, March 29, 2020 (NAN) The Lagos State chapter of the Environmental Health Officers Association of Nigeria (EHOAN), on Sunday urged Nigerians to go for COVID-19 test to check the spread of the disease.

The President of the association, Mr Taiwo Awonuga, made the appeal while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Sunday.

He appealed to the Federal Government to make provision for more testing centres in the country, saying that a mass test of Nigerians would help check the spread.

Awonuga expressed concern about the nonchalant attitude of Nigerians toward social distancing as suggested by the authorities, saying that personal contact was fuelling the spread.

“Many of us take the policy of social distancing with levity, hence the infection is still extending to other areas that initially did not have it.

“Traders whose markets were shut to advance the course of social distancing had turned to streets’ footballers with body contacts becoming rife on daily basis; thereby defeating the idea behind the closure of markets,’’ he said.

Awonuga, said that if the test could be conducted on every Nigerian within a two-week period, all those having the trait of the virus would be fished out for medical attention.

He said that the rest would be free from further infection from carriers.

He noted that the suggestion was the outcome of the association’s brainstorming session on March 26 with a view to proffering solution to the global virus. (NAN)
EUC/MAM/AJA
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Edited by Modupe Adeloye/Adeleye Ajayi

Donation
By Okeoghene Akubuike
Abuja, March 27, 2020(NAN) Climate and Sustainable Development Network (CSDevNet) a coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), says it is creating awareness on COVID-19 and donating some hand washing facilities across Nigeria.

Dr Ibrahim Choji, the Chairman, Board of Trustees, CSDevNet, said this in a statement in Abuja on Friday.

Choji said the first set of hand washing facilities were donated to Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi.

“In collaboration with WelfareAid Initiatives, Nigerian Civil Society Framework for Paris Agreement and SDGS and the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, CSDevNet is currently providing solutions and leading the way by creating awareness on the COVID-19.

“We are also donating some hand washing facilities across Nigeria.

“This is in line with our commitment to unifying and coordinating isolated civil society efforts on sustainable development in Nigeria in order to ensure people-centred response mechanisms are accorded desirable attention and relevance.

“As climate resilience is increasingly mainstreamed into national poverty reduction and sustainable development strategies and actions.”

Choji said that the CSOs were deeply saddened by the impacts of the COVID -19 pandemic and were sympatising with all those who were suffering as a result of the pandemic.

He said the CSOs were also heartened by the many acts of kindness that had spanned communities nationally and regionally in response to the pandemic.

Choji said “particularly, we acknowledge the sacrifices made by healthcare workers and others, ensuring other critical services remained available throughout the crisis.”

He said the current situation strengthened their belief in the importance of health infrastructure and climate resilience to safeguard human wellbeing as well as the environment and economy upon which citizens depended.

“The crisis also demonstrates our ability as Nigerians to respond rapidly to imminent dangers, as we must also do to combat other unprecedented threats to our country, such as climate change, accelerating biodiversity loss and growing national inequalities.

‘Together, we can still change the course of this pandemic even if that means addressing fear and inaction.

“As we mourn all those who have lost their lives and the many families who are suffering, we must show solidarity with the most vulnerable- the elderly, the sick, those without reliable healthcare, and those on the edge of poverty.

“Let’s overcome this common threat together we can.”

Choji said CSDevNet was committed to continue to work closely with governments, private sector and other non-state actors.

”This is to further strengthen national and regional frameworks for sustainable and resilient health infrastructure and to scale up the implementation of Nature-Based Solutions,” he said.

He said that the paramount ruler of Anyigba, Dekina LGA of Kogi state, Alhaji Shaibu Okolo, the Ogohi-Onu Anyigba received the first set of items on behalf of the people.

Choji said Okolo called on the government and private organisations as well as individuals to partner with CSDevNet in order to make more of these facilities available to the public.

According to him, other beneficiaries include the National Union of Road Transport Workers and the National Association of Road Transport Owners at the expansive Anyigba motor park in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that CSDevNet is a coalition CSOs cutting across the six geo- political zones in Nigeria.

CSDevNet aspires to unify and coordinate isolated civil society efforts on climate change advocacy in Nigeria to ensure that people-centred response mechanisms are accorded desirable attention and relevance. (NAN)
OKE/MAM/GY
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Edited by Modupe Adeloye/Grace Yussuf