With
Rio+20 on-going, the federal government of Nigeria through the Federal
Ministry of Environment says it made some achievements in the last one
year of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s administration.
What is the agenda of President Goodluck
Jonathan on environment?
‘Creation
of an enabling environment’ is a
consistent refrain in the outline of Government Priority policies, Programmes
and Projects in the “Transformation Agenda 2011-2015,” published by the
National Planning Commission.
This
is to underscore the commitment of the administration of His Excellency,
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, to the management and development of the
Nigerian environment, as a catalyst for National Transformation.
Environment
is the nexus, the binding cord, connecting all Government Policy implementation
agencies, aiding them to deliver on their set targets, in a manner consistent
with agreed principles and standards for sustainable development.
Environment is the correct thing; everything
has to be right in the environment. When you talk about the environment, you
are talking about everything. There is this saying that when the environment
comes first everything comes first.
At the inception of the administration in
May 2012, Government recognized the need to deal with socio-economic, cultural
practices and geo-physical problems that constituted clear threats to the
Nigerian environment.
These included deforestation, arising from
tree felling, without replenishment, for various purposes; land degradation as
a result of oil and other resource exploitation activities; erosion of coastal
areas of large areas in southern Nigeria, the flood plains of the major rivers
in the country, and some flat low-lying urban areas; the menace of pollution,
solid, toxic and electronic wastes; the incremental and devastating effects of
recurring oil spills, the unrelenting surge of the Sahara desert and drought
downwards into the country, and the impact of climate change, against which no
country as yet has any apparent bulwark. These problems cut across the length
and breadth of the country, and every part of the country faces one or other
environmental challenge.
In our determination to curtail or mitigate
these threats, this administration evolved and executed various policies to
ensure environmental protection, natural resources conservation and sustainable
development.
What
does this entail?
These entailed advocacy and public
enlightenment to create or deepen public awareness, change detrimental behavior
or inspire the adoption of safer and healthier environmental practices; forging
collaborative arrangements, or partnerships with diverse organizations
(community, faith, local, state, national, multilateral, international etc) to
implement a variety of programmes; enacting relevant regulations and laws;
creating requisite administrative institutions; ensuring vigorous enforcement
of existing laws; executing sundry intervention projects; and actively
participating in international conferences to promote the nation’s
environmental interests, exchange experience, adopt new initiatives, strategies
and partnerships for developing the nation’s ecosystem.
In the
last one year of President Jonathan, what can you say has been achieved from Federal
Ministry of Environment’s perspective?
One year into the four-year tenure of the
administration, there are perceptible and remarkable achievements, take for
instance, the Biodiversity Conservation.
Under
the biodiversity programmes of the Ministry, 22,222,940 assorted tree seedlings
have been raised. This is under the presidential Initiative on Afforestation
programme for Economic and Environmental Sustainability. The seedlings were
distributed across the entire nation to communities and institutions, to
establish woodlots, forest reserves and the greening of premises. Some states
requested for, and collected enormous quantities. The focus of the project is
the afforestation of the entire country, going beyond the 11 frontline states directly
under the threat of desertification. This is to replace forests depleted
through wood felling for domestic purposes. The desertification phenomenon has
been advancing southwards at an alarming rate, to the extent that the frontline
states under direct threat of desertification have now increased to 13 from 11.
Kogi state is becoming very significant.
The Ministry plans to partner with the National Orientation Agency and
the National Youth Service Corps to widen the participation of more citizens in
the distribution and planting of seedlings. This programme has achieved
increased forest cover, provided employment opportunities for workers in the
nurseries; as well as those engaged to plant the seedlings. As a result, it has contributed to the reduction
of poverty, and increased income for people in the communities that directly
benefited from the programme.
Can
you give us some specifics programmes successfully concluded by your ministry?
The Ministry has successfully completed the
First phase of the National Forest Programme Facility (NFP-Facility). And
implementation has commenced on the programme of work on conservation and
development of Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem (GCLME), for reforestation
and establishment of Mangrove plantations.
Other significant achievements are include signing
of Memorandum of Understanding with Malaysia Forestry Research and Development
Board, Malaysia, for international cooperation in the area of Forestry Research
and Climate Change with particular interest in: Medicinal plants research,
Forest Products Utilization Research with special attention to Bamboo,
Biotechnological research and Carbon trading in relation to climate change;
Winner of the 2011 UNESCO PRIZE for
Environmental Protection, instituted by His Majesty, Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al
Said of Oman (FRIN Ibadan).
What
are the states of our national parks?
The Ministry’s portfolio includes the
Management of National Parks. It is the
duty of the Ministry to protect the biodiversity in the Parks. In the last one
year, the Oli camp/Ibbi tourist facilities at Kainji Lake National Park, New
Bussa, were rehabilitated.
Similarly, an ultra modern indoor sports
complex at old Oyo National Park, Oyo State was constructed and equipped. These
were intended to enhance the comfort of visiting tourists and the inhabitants
of the park. As a result of these improvements, the number of tourists visiting
the National Parks has increased, thus boosting Ecotourism and increasing
revenue generation and employments.
What
plans does your ministry have on Green economy?
Under
the Great Green wall project of the Ministry, 6,720,000 seedlings have been
raised in seven (7) desertification front line states of Adamawa, Bauchi,
Jigawa, Yobe, Kebbi, Katsina, Kano, Yobe, Sokoto and Borno State.
This is a project in which the Federal
Government through this Ministry is creating a green shelter belt stretching
from Kebbi State in the North-east to Borno in the North-west, as part of a
larger Trans-African belt spanning 1,500 kilometres from Djibouti to Dakar in Senegal
and 15 km wide.
Indeed, the Great Green wall is Africa’s
resolve to combat desertification through an integrated approach that will
enhance food security, ecosystem, goods and services with a view to achieving
development, particularly alleviating poverty in the dry land region. It has the potential to stimulate economic
growth in the arid and semi-arid zones of Nigeria, and therefore critical to
the transformation agenda. The project
which initially focused on tree planting along narrow strips, evolved into an
integrated ecosystem approach, including cross-sectoral actions and
interventions aimed at conservation and protection of natural resources.
To address fuel wood deficit and the
protection of fragile ecosystems, 10 – hectare pilot woodlots have each been
developed in Bauchi, Zamfara, Adamawa and Kebbi States.
Does
your ministry have programme of engaging the citizens on sustainable
development?
Yes, we have the integrated sustainable model
village development programme. This programme involves the participation of
local communities, in addressing desertification at the grassroots. 6 model
villages were identified and developed in Katsina, Kano, Borno, Yobe, Sokoto,
Jigawa and Kebbi States. The facilities including water supply and power
involve the use of green technology, and are dependent on renewable energy
sources. It is hoped that in future, villages in the desert prone areas will
adopt the model village prototype on a wider scale.
How is
the federal government managing erosion and flood issues in the country?
The Ministry is executing
Erosion and Flood Control Projects in 62 locations across the country. These
are in addition to the completion of works on some projects among the 237
projects awarded from the 2010 capital budget.
The Ministry plays an
intervention role, to assist states and Local Governments with erosion and
flood control challenges of enormous magnitude that will need Federal
Government intervention. This is because erosion
control projects require huge capital outlays. It might interest you to note
that some major erosion sites cost the Federal Government well over a billion
naira.
Flood
Early warning systems (FEWS) were launched publicly in August 2011. The website
can forecast possible or likely flood in some major cities nationwide. The
following towns or States are currently covered by the system: Benue, Kebbi,
Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Akure, Minna, Sokoto, Ilorin, Benin city and Kaduna
state. More cities are still being uploaded to the website. The system is automated
equipment that sends a special warning to communities that an area is prone to
an impending flood.
The
idea is that if one cannot run away with one’s property, one can at least
escape with one’s life. Indeed, some of the States that recently experienced
flooding were warned before the floods came. Available records, from
testimonies and other evidence in the Ministry, shows that the system has been
functional and effective. This is a major transformational achievement.
What of oil spill management?
For
every plus, there is a minus. The Ministry tries as much as possible to reduce
the minuses. Nigeria is an oil producing country, and so it will experience
some oil spills along the line. Nigeria has a large population; it will have a
lot of pollution. Nigeria has vagaries of population; it will have many
degraded sites. It is the responsibility of the Ministry of Environment to step
in on such occasions and remediate the situation. It is pertinent to recall the
Bonga oil spill which occurred in 2011. The Ministry successfully cleared the
pollutants and cleaned up the Environment, working in collaboration with Shell.
With
respect to the fire incident at Chevron Nigeria Ltd’s K. S. Endeavour drilling
rig at Funiwa in January 2012, the President, in his characteristic manner of
paying attention to the needs and yearnings of Nigerians, flew along with the
Ministers of Petroleum and Environment to ascertain the extent of damage
personally. This burnt for a very long time and was because it was safer
technically in the estimation of the Ministry of Environment, for the fire to
burn out.
If
it was extinguished, it would have created more health hazards to the people
around. This again is part of our responsibility, namely to ensure clean and healthy
environment for the people around. Professionals in the Ministry especially in
the agency responsible for oil spills, NOSDRA, felt by empirical findings, that
it was easier, and healthier to allow the fire to burn.
Other
oil spill management activities carried out by the Ministry within the period
include the certification of 1,119 numbers past oil impacted sites close out in
oil producing areas; Activation of the National Oil Spill contingency plan
(NOSCP) in July 2011; Acquisition of oil Spills response Boat and Equipment (Recovery
I) in Port Harcourt Rivers State; Restoration and remediation of oil impacted
burrow pits; and conversion to fish ponds in Port Harcourt, Ayetoro and Izombe;
Remediation of sludge pits at Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemicals Company (KRPC)
and improvement of lives of impacted communities is on-going.
Also,
the ministry co-ordinates and completed the United Nations Environment
programme (UNEP) environmental assessment of Ogoniland. The Federal Government
is working on the implementation plan for this report; Developed two National
Environmental Regulations, which have been properly gazetted; Oil spill and
oily waste management Regulations Nigeria, 2011, and Oil spill recovery, clean
up, remediation and damage assessment regulations, 2011; Developed National Oil
spill compensation guidelines and standards for Nigeria; Developed a Technical
guidance manual for oil spill and oily waste management in Nigeria; Collaboration
with University of Ibadan on development of KENAF plant for use in oil spill clean-up; and Sanctioning
and prosecution of companies that defaulted in oil spill reporting clean-up and
remediation.
Does Nigeria have a programme on managing
waste nationwide?
One of the greatest
challenges that the Transformation Agenda faced has been in the area of waste
management. It is a major challenge for Nigerians. Consider a place like Taffa
on the Suleja to Kaduna Expressway.
In most countries, even
Sugar cane peels are used and recycled to produce a lot of valuable things. The
Federal Ministry of Environment is working very hard to ensure that we have
resources
recovery, through the recycling of wastes.
In this regard we have
carried out some projects, consisting of establishment of integrated waste
management facility project in Ekiti State; Establishment of scrap metal
recycling plants in Kaduna, Sokoto, Emuoha and Igboile; Establishment of
Briquetting plants in Ogoja, Cross River State; Establishment of a prototype
Gas phase reduction plant for the irreversible destruction/transformation of
persistent organic pollutants in Minna, Niger State; Establishment of Ozone
technology village in Irolu, Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State; and Establishment
of waste recycling plant - material recovery facility in Owerri.
What is the impact of these
projects?
It
is amazing, how through these projects the Ministry of Environment has been able
to create jobs for Nigerians. Imagine employing young women and men to clean
our roads and streets. Imagine getting people to work on our highways to ensure
that we have a clean environment.
Imagine
a situation where we have an integrated Waste Management plant that will take
care of all the solid wastes; all the papers that we throw,
and all the polythene bags that litter our towns and cities. We have started a
pilot scheme on the distribution of waste bins to households.
We
started in Ado Ekiti. And we also have a composting plant in Ilokun Ado-Ekiti.
We are calling it a pilot project, because the Federal Ministry of Environment
can provide the dust bins, keep them there, but when they are filled, somebody
somewhere has to be responsible for the evacuation. And if they are evacuated,
someone has to be responsible for taking them to the dump sites, identify the
dump sites, and putting them there. In this regard, we are working very closely
with State Governments, to ensure, as the constitution stipulates, that every
local government identifies a dump site. There must be a site where people will
take out their debris, and dump it.
Over
the last couple of months, we have seen how people have had to clean their
drainages, only when the rain approaches. And, as the drainages are cleaned,
the debris is put on the side of the road, with no one to evacuate them.
Subsequently, the rains come, and they are washed back. So it is a continuing
vicious cycle. The Federal Ministry of Environment is working to ensure that
this does not happen.
Are there plans to improve
environmental health related subjects?
The
Ministry has put in place an environmental health practice guide. Already there
is a team of professionals, “Wole-wole” in Yoruba; “Dubagari” in Hausa. Some
call them “Sanitary Inspectors”. Many decades or years back, they used to go
round the neighborhoods to inspect kitchens, toilets, and etcetera.
There
are also registered 336 qualified Environmental Health officers. And, we are
working with states to ensure that this is brought back. If this is the only
way that we have to ensure that we have a sanitized environment, we are ready
to do it, so that we can transform the nation to a clean country.
We
have 287 Corporate Environmental Health Services providers already registered,
in the last one year. We also have continuing professional education for
environmental health workers. So, the environment is really more than an extra.
Do we have climate change
programmes in Nigeria, at least, to deepen the awareness?
Climate
change is a reality. It is a very serious phenomenon. Flooding is becoming
something that is incomprehensible to us. Many decades or years back, we never
heard of flooding everywhere, from Ibadan to as far as Sokoto and Katsina.
These were supposed to be the desert frontline states, filled with sand dunes
and desert encroachment. But suddenly there are rains of such magnitude that
results into flooding. And this is why we say everybody needs to be aware of
Climate Change issues, which are a reality. The greatest challenge is getting
people to change their attitudes towards the environment.
We
have upgraded the unit in charge of climate change to a department. We have
been carrying out awareness and public education with respect to climate change
adaptation, mitigation and CDM nationwide. We have established graduate
programmes in two Nigerian Universities under the German Initiative on the West
African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and adaptive land use
(WASCAL), with Masters Degrees going on in Federal University of Technology (FUT)
Minna, for graduate students, doctorate degrees in Federal University of
Technology (FUT) Akure.
What other international cooperation
has the government got or working with?
The
Ministry of Environment actively participated in international conferences on
climate change. Nigeria was well represented at the Conference of Parties (COP
17) which held in Durban South Africa from 28th November to 9th
December 2011. We also attended COP 18 in Qatar as well as Rio+20 in Brazil.
Nigeria
also participated in the Global Environment Facility (GEF) extended
constituency Workshop for West Africa from 19th to 21st
July in Monrovia, Liberia, the GEF council meeting held on May 24-26, 2011 in
Washington D.C.
These
have had many multiplier effects on various institutions and programmes in all
parts of the country, through the grants and sponsorship schemes, they
attracted into the country.
There
is also a programme called REDD+Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and
Degradation. It is a programme of the United Nations. And, I am glad to tell
you that although we started a little bit late, Nigeria is today the leading
country in Africa. And, last year, we won a grant of four million dollars, for
our performance. There is also a carbon foot print programme that was organized,
through the forestry department of the Ministry. The Ministry is collaborating
with Economic Community for West Africa States (ECOWAS) and other member states
to develop a West African Climate Change adaptation strategy, and in the development
of ECOWAS Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (ECOMAS).
The
Ministry has been working on setting up of a Special Climate Change Trust Fund.
This financial instrument is being developed for the co-ordination of many
streams of financing that the country may attract from the global pool of
resources to avoid fragmentation and invisible impacts. It will leverage, enhance
and broaden the scope of national interventions for impacts at all levels of
governance through strategic alliances for different activities towards
mitigation and adaptation of climate change initiatives.
What are your ministry
strategies for renewable energy?
We
are a Ministry that is supposed to renew the hope of citizens in this
administration. Although we know that energy can be provided through hydro and
thermal means, we are exploring the adoption of other sources from which we can
provide energy. Such sources include sun, wind and so on.
In
the last one year, pilot 50 Megawatts Solar farms are being established in
Kaduna and Katsina to provide alternative and clean energy sources. The
distribution of 5million efficient wood cook stoves, which are more
environmentally friendly to various households, has commenced across the
nation. The Ministry is also collaborating with the Ministries of Power and
Water Resources on the execution of small and medium hydro projects across the
nation.
What plans for regulatory
standards to ensure that the controversy over shutting of base stations and
related issues are nipped in the bud?
For
every activity or project, a programme has to be started. We have to connect
the dots in between. In the last couple of weeks we have had publications in
the newspapers about the National Environmental Standards Regulatory and
enforcement Agency (NESREA), and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC),
about base stations. The Federal Government cannot carry out the transformation
agenda without compliance with laid down rules and regulations. We have
guidelines that are not enforceable, and we have regulations and laws that must
be enforced. One of the statutory responsibilities of the Ministry is to ensure
compliance with environmental laws.
Let
me seize this opportunity to inform, that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has
directed that NESREA should enforce all laws on the use of the environment.
Therefore, you will be seeing a very, very pronounced change in the manner in
which Nigerians are allowed to do anything they like to the environment. Some
of the achievements of the Ministry in environmental Standards and Regulations
Enforcement include development of 10 National Environmental regulations; Commissioning
of two National Reference environmental laboratories in Kano and Port Harcourt;
Control of vehicular emission from petrol and diesel engines; Ban on the use of
two-stroke engines in Nigeria, Mobile air quality monitoring programme; and E-waste
– within the past two years, government has intercepted and arrested five ships
carrying e-waste to Nigeria. The imported e-wastes were sent back to their
ports of origin.
In
the last one year, we have had to prosecute some people over the abuse of the
environment through the importation of e-wastes. This is one country where you
have shiploads of e-wastes; old computers that are supposed to be in dump sites
somewhere are brought into our country and dumped at our ports. Every day we
have these things coming in for people to open to use the copper wires inside.
If
you go to our markets in Lagos and other parts of the country, you will
understand what I am talking about. This has enormous health implications.
Again, we have taken a number of firms to court for violations of these
regulations. Although we will not mention names here, you can be rest assured
that it is quite a number. Nigeria will not tolerate these things again.
We
cannot allow other countries to produce whatever they like and bring them here
to dump. And our people buy them because they think they are cheap. We buy cars
that cannot be used in Kenya, or any other country, because they have passed
their service years. The Ministry of Environment will not tolerate that. We
will be working, and we are working with the Federal Roads Safety Corps, the
Nigeria Police Force, and we will be making a very significant pronouncement.
The
Ministry through its Environmental Assessment mandate carried out registration
of 367 new EIA projects; 22 EIA approvals issued for projects; 103 new development
projects registered; 34 impact mitigation monitoring exercises on EIA approved
projects were carried out in all sectors; 29 existing facilities (companies)
were reviewed for environmental audit certification; and 12 Environmental laboratories
were accredited and revalidated.
Are there efforts on environmental
governance?
The
Ministry has taken steps to enhance Environmental Governance through the resuscitation
of the annual National Council on Environment in September 2011. The event was
last held in 2007. The next meeting of the NCE is scheduled for Port Harcourt,
Rivers State in September 2012.
Also, the Ministry has produced and aired
Jingles on radio in the three major Nigerian languages and Pidgin English under
the National Sensitization and Public Awareness Programme (NASPAP).
What
are the challenges facing your ministry?
Some of the challenges facing the Ministry consist of unique
and time-bound nature of some of the Ministry’s projects do not exactly fit
into the country’s budget cycle; Heavy dependence of populace on fuel wood and agricultural
expansion makes afforestation efforts difficult; Need to strengthen partnership
and collaboration amongst Federal, States and Local Governments and other key
stakeholders on environmental issues; Poor public attitude towards compliance
with Environmental laws and regulations; and Inadequate allocation of budgetary
provisions and a need for a more timely release of funds.
Status of the Nigerian
Environment
A
glance at the current Environment situation shows the country under the siege
of drought and desertification, erosion sites, fuel wood extraction or
deforestation, pollution etcetera, and what the geographical expression called
the north has turned into. People are compelled to move.
There
is hardly sufficient water. We do not have sufficient land for agriculture. And
so the Ministry of Environment has to work together with all Ministries to
ensure an enabling environment for Nigerians to survive. If all of us continue
to move, the centre can no longer hold. Things will fall apart. Erosion, people
coming up: Desertification, people going down. What are we going to do about
it.
The
transformation is moving. The train is moving to ensure that the coastal areas
of Southern Nigeria are really taking care of. That we have the flood plains of
major rivers properly rehabilitated, and that we have these flat low-lying
urban areas well laid out.
In carrying out all the programmes and projects
detailed above, the Federal Ministry of Environment has indeed increased forest
cover; increased income and generated more employment; reduced poverty and
increased revenue generation; ameliorated drought and desertification; enhanced
and augmented the provision of basic amenities; ensured conservation of Biodiversity;
improved protection of National Park Resources for sustainable development; and
boosted ecotourism development.... Making sense out of digital revolution!
