How tobacco use costs countries $1tr annually

A report released in Washington, D.C on Tuesday, January 10, 2017 may have provided a reason why the fight against tobacco must be a priority for countries around the world. The report finds that tobacco use does not contribute to economic development.

According to science, tobacco smoking is dangerous to health

According to the study, tobacco use burdens countries with more than $1 trillion a year in health care costs and lost productivity, while measures to reduce tobacco use are highly cost-effective and do not harm economies

.The report, titled: “The Economics of Tobacco and Tobacco Control”, was issued by the U.S. National Cancer Institute and the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is said to be the first comprehensive review of the economic impact of tobacco use and global tobacco control efforts in nearly 20 years.

The report underscores that tobacco use disproportionally harms the world’s most vulnerable populations. In the United States and around the world, tobacco use is increasingly concentrated among the poor and other vulnerable groups and accounts for a significant share of health disparities between rich and poor, the report notes.

These disparities are exacerbated by a lack of access to health care, diversion of household spending from basic needs such as food and shelter to tobacco, and increased health care spending and reduced income stemming from tobacco-related diseases.

Importantly, the report finds that higher tobacco taxes and prices reduce health disparities because they lead to greater reductions in tobacco use among the poor. Contrary to the claims of the tobacco industry, it is tobacco use – and not tobacco taxes – that disproportionately harms poor people, adds the report.

It assesses the impact of tobacco control measures being implemented around the world, including significant tobacco tax and price increases, bans on tobacco marketing, pictorial warnings on tobacco products, smoke-free policies and population-wide tobacco cessation programs. These measures are called for by the world’s first public health treaty, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which obligates 180 countries to implement these proven policies to reduce tobacco use. The report finds that these policies and programmes are highly cost-effective, with significant tobacco tax and price increases being the most cost-effective of these interventions.

The tobacco industry’s deep pockets and deadly tactics remain the greatest obstacle to progress in addressing the devastating global toll of tobacco use. The report notes that in addition to continued implementation of evidence-based tobacco control strategies, vigilant monitoring of the tobacco industry’s ongoing efforts to promote tobacco use and undermine tobacco control is crucial.

The report emphasises that, while tremendous progress has been made in reducing tobacco use, urgent and sustained global action is needed to prevent tobacco use from killing one billion people worldwide this century.

*** From Environews

Why farmers should utilise organic fertilisers, by technologist

Against the backdrop of the widespread use of chemical manure, the Nigerian government has been urged to promote the use of organic fertilisers to produce healthy foods for local consumption and export, as well as check environmental degradation.

An agricultural technologist, Gregory Ohiaeri, made the call recently while taking journalists on a tour of an organic fertiliser manufacturing facility at Odoguyan, Ikorodu, Lagos. The facility is being operated by EarthCare Nigeria Limited.

A bag of organic fertilizer produced by EarthCare Nigeria Limited

Organic fertilisers are fertilisers derived from animal matter, animal excreta (manure), human excreta, and vegetable matter (such as compost and crop residues). Naturally occurring organic fertilisers include animal wastes from meat processing, peat, manure, slurry, and guano.

He said: “Nowadays, products exported from Africa are being rejected due to contamination, mainly from the use of harmful chemicals. The only thing that kills people is what goes through the mouth. So people eat this food that is produced or grown with chemical fertiliser; and, because the plants are like humans like us, they receive those minerals.

“These chemicals go into their system and eventually we human beings eat the foods. And we can develop anything; cancer and all kinds of diseases. We can have blindness and others. This also applies to cattle that go around. Since they use inorganic fertiliser to fertilise the grass, the cow eats it and takes the chemicals. They slaughter the cow and we humans eat the meat.”

According to him, Earthcare Nigeria Limited partners with the Lagos Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) in collecting green wastes from the different markets and even abattoirs in Lagos and the wastes are processed into organic fertiliser.

Ohiaeri, who is the company’s Chief Operating Officer, said inorganic fertilisers not only destroy the soil but also contaminate grasses and foods with deadly chemicals, leading to acceleration of diseases including cancer and eye damage, which are now rampant in the country.

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He said it was high time that the country’s huge farming population was educated on the implications of the types of fertilisers they use, even as there is need to give farmers fertiliser options.

His words: “And if you compare their produces, you will see that for the food produced with chemical fertiliser, the leaves become weak and start to fold within few hours of harvest, while that with organic fertiliser will stay fresh. When it comes to agriculture, the farmers need to be trained and exposed to the best ways of farming to get healthy final products, because food is security for a nation and if the farmers are producing unhealthy food, the people will eat unhealthy food and they will get sick and the nation will be weak.

“Here in Nigeria, the President has been making the effort to support farming. But the problem is that most of the farmers know only rely on inorganic fertiliser that is not very harmful to health. Unfortunately, the sale and application of inorganic fertilisers is not regulated in the country. Because of that, there are challenges. When you go to the western world, you have specialised stores that sell organic produce and inorganic produce, and the people have the choice to choose.

“If you use inorganic or chemical fertiliser over a period of time, it will deplete some of the nutrients in the soil and you have to wait for years to come back to that land. The soil will not have the essential nutrient it needs for particular crops to flourish. And in using chemical fertiliser, you have to apply the right quantity beyond which causes problem to the soil. But with organic fertiliser, there is no overdose. Organic fertiliser will also rejuvenate the soil and generate all the free nitrogen the plant needs. And sometimes when you apply it, because of the biological enzymes that it has, there are living organisms that would continue to revitalise the soil. Take for instance the Ogoni oil spill; organic products would properly revitalise the soil there.”

Ohiaeri, who said the company now produces 200,000 metric tons of fertiliser per annum, however regretted that, inspite of the urgent need to discontinue the use of inorganic fertiliser, Nigerian government was yet to partner with EarthCare to make available organic fertilisers to farmers at affordable cost.

He said: “We are the only outfit that produce organic fertiliser in this country and government has not asked to partner with us. Most of our patrons are coming from the private sector. For instance, right now, we are in partnership with Nigerian breweries. They bring their wastes, we process them and the ultimate goal is to use organic fertiliser and help their farmers to grow the grains it uses for their beer production.

“Most of the time, the organic fertiliser might be a little bit on the high side. But, for people who know the benefit of the different types, money is not the issue. The issue is their health. I think farmers should be given an incentive. But not only incentives but also set aside an outlet for farmers to be able to sell their produces.

“Very soon, EarthCare will come up with EarthCare Foods as part of our long term project. What we do is engage farmers to use Earthcare compost to farm. EarthCare Foods will buy their produces. This will be particularly useful to those farmers in rural areas who find it hard to market their produces. That will be employment for the people because people want to work and get paid.

“So if government wants to make agriculture a priority, they have to be willing to spend time and money to help farmers. And not only help them with any fertilisers, but also give them the option to choose. The farmer wants to make profit and your health is not of importance to him. The bottom line is that I am going to grow crop, I don’t care what I grow it with. What I care is let me get the proceeds quick and sell the output.

“Right now, the company is producing 200,000 metric tons per year. That should be enough for the country and if there is need for more products; there is always room to expand.”

By Innocent Onoh

My Successor Didn’t Want Tinapa And Obudu Cattle Ranch To Work – Donald Duke

A former Governor of Cross River State, Mr. Donald Duke, has accused the administration of his successor, Senator Liyel Imoke, of frustrating his bold vision for Tinapa and Obudu cattle ranch.

Duke

Click here to watch Donald Duke :https://youtu.be/9dk3GRNI_kk

Speaking with journalists after a facility tour of a hotel in Calabar,the state capital, Duke said he hoped the new administration in the state would be different, by sustaining his legacies.

“Tinapa is embarrassingly simple to get working. First of all, it was well built and it’s still standing, it just needs small renovation here and there, getting the chiller system working, paint the place . There’s a management group that has been begging Cross River State since the past ten years to take over the place and manage it, all you need to do is give it to them and they will arrange the working capital, it’s a political will, it has nothing to do with the facility is the will to make it work, the last administration didn’t have the will, they just didn’t want it to work, they didn’t want Obudu to work. I hope this administration will be different.

Cable Cars in Tinapa

“This State, the strength of this State as I’ve always thought it was is on agriculture and tourism and you could see that came in during the December period. And you know one of the painful thing is not having Tinapa to work, because if we get Tinapa working the traffic you see in December will be year long. This will be the most sort destination in the whole West Africa, not just Nigeria. Now you try and envisage the traffic that came in December is year long, the amount of resources brought into our State.


*** From CrossRiverWatch

Nigeria lacks climate specific law, says Climate Scorecard

Nigeria is yet to have any climate change specific law enacted by the National Assembly (the legislative arm of government) and assented to by the President, the Climate Scorecard has said.

Environment Minister, Amina Mohammed, briefing the press in Abuja recently

Climate Scorecard, a not-for-profit that operates an interactive site where concerned parties can participate in post-Paris Agreement efforts to reduce emissions in the 25 top greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting countries, stated however that the country has adopted several environmental and sectoral policies, strategies, and plans where climate change adaptation could apply. But it adds that, at present, their use in enabling and supporting climate change adaptation is limited.

It points out that, in 2012, the Federal Executive Council adopted a comprehensive strategy policy on climate change: the Nigeria Climate Change Policy Response and Strategy, adding that its overarching objective is to promote low-carbon, high-growth economic development and build a climate-resilient society .

In the meantime it discloses, there is the Department of Climate Change, domiciled within the Federal Ministry of Environment, which is responsible for the handling of climate change issues. The Federal Government of Nigeria is also said to have established the National Climate Change Trust Fund and the Environmental Sustainability Group to design and attract financing mechanisms for adaptation initiatives.

“Given its recent adoption, it is yet to be seen if there is need to increase the capacity of the policy to improve reduction of greenhouse gases and what lessons, if any, there are for possible adoption/adaptation by other countries,” the Climate Scorecard concludes.

Besides Nigeria, the top GHG emitting countries include: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada,
China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland and Russia.

Others are: Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the United States.

*** From Environews

Nigerian scholar named Rhodes Professor at Oxford University

Oxford University has announced the appointment of a U.S.-based Nigerian, Wale Adebanwi, to the prestigious Rhodes Professorship in Race Relations in the School of African and Interdisciplinary Area Studies.

Wale Adebanwi

The appointment was recently announced in the university gazette.

Mr. Adebanwi who is currently a professor at the University of California, Davis, United States, will also be a Fellow of the St. Anthony’s College, Oxford effective July 1.

Oxford University is the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world’s second oldest university in continuous operation. The university has produced 28 Nobel laureates, 27 British Prime Ministers and many foreign heads of state.

The Rhodes Professorship in Race Relations is named for Cecil Rhodes, British businessman, mining magnate and politician in South Africa who served as Prime Minister of Cape Colony from 1890-1896. The professorship was established by the Rhodesian Selection Trust Mining Company in 1954 at Oxford.

Mr. Adebanwi is the first black scholar to be appointed to the endowed Chair since it was created more than 60 years ago. He was preceded by three distinguished scholars.

The new Rhodes Professor was a Bill and Melinda Gates Scholar at Cambridge University. He holds two PhDs, one in political science from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and the other in social anthropology from the University of Cambridge, UK.

In September 2014, alongside three other former Gates Scholars, his “amazing success” since graduating from Cambridge was acknowledged by the world’s richest man, Bill Gates, who funded his scholarship at Cambridge more than a decade ago. Gates’s acknowledgement of Mr. Adebanwi was part of the video message he sent to a gathering of current and former Gate Scholars at Cambridge University during the Gates Cambridge Biennial 2016.

Mr. Adebanwi has published widely in the areas of nationalism and ethnic Studies, media and communication, corruption and politics, democracy and democratization, cultural politics, spatial politics, urban studies, and social theory and social thought. In his most recent book Nation as Grand Narrative: The Nigerian Press and the Politics of Meaning, published in 2016, Mr. Adebanwi focuses his multi-disciplinary scholarship on salient issues in Nigeria’s troubled history, examining how debates in the newspaper press shaped the narratives as well as the configuration of power. His influential book, Yoruba Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria: Obafemi Awolowo and Corporate Agency was published by Cambridge University in 2014. His 2012 book Authority Stealing: Anti-corruption War and Democratic Politics in Post-Military Nigeria was selected as one of the three “Best Books on Africa in 2013” by the journal, Foreign Affairs.

The newly appointed Rhodes Professor is the editor or co-editor of 10 books. He has served as co-editor of Journal of Contemporary African Studies and is currently co-editor of Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. Adebanwi, who was formerly a lecturer in political science at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, is a visiting professor at the Institute for Social and Economic Research at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. He has held visiting fellowships at St Anthony’s College, Oxford, and the Centre for African Studies in Leiden, The Netherlands, and a Rockefeller fellowship for Academic Writing Residency at its Bellagio Centre, Italy. In 2005, he was a co-winner of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Research grant.

Previously, Mr. Adebanwi served as reporter, writer and columnist for various publications in Nigeria, among them Nigerian Tribune, The Punch and TheNEWS.

GEF-UNDP biodiversity scheme: Cultural beliefs inspire wildlife conservation

As reported cases of animals facing the threat of extinction daily make the rounds, a contrary scenario is however emerging in certain parts of Nigeria, where wildlife still has a fighting chance of survival.

The revered Sclater’s Guenon. Socio-cultural beliefs are offering wildlife succour and a fighting chance of survival

The revered Sclater’s Guenon. Socio-cultural beliefs are offering wildlife succour and a fighting chance of survival
Conservation of fauna, spurred by socio-cultural beliefs, has become the hallmark of some indigenous communities in the biological diversity-rich Niger Delta region, where animals are revered.

The monkey, tortoise and the even the crocodile are among a few “lucky” animal species that the Niger Delta Biodiversity Conservation Project is assisting local communities to preserve, in the face of increasing threat to their survival. The project is being sponsored by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

For example, a scheme domiciled in the community forest of Ikot Uso Akpan Itam, Itu in Akwa Ibom State specialises in the conservation of a monkey species endemic to Nigeria, known as Sclater’s Guenon (Cercopithecus sclateri).

It is an Old World monkey that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1904 and named after Philip Sclater.

The West African Dwarf Crocodile

The council of elders, led by the village head, Chief Asuquo Simon, said the Ikot Uso Akpan community has high regard for the primates, which he stated can only be found in the community forest and no where else.

According to him, hunting of the animals is prohibited because they are sacred to the community.

He said: “We call the monkeys the ‘First Daughter’ of Itam – Awa Itam. The monkeys give us pride; they make us bold to tell people in the world that we are the only community that owns everything because our monkeys stay on top of every animal on the ground. Monkeys that are seen in surrounding communities are from our community and, at the end of the day, they usually return to their home in our forest where they are safe.

“This is the only community that conserves the plants – the trees, fruits that these monkeys eat. We thank the UNDP that gave us money to plant these trees- we have done it and the fruit trees grow very well and very soon the monkeys will start eating the fruits.”
Chief Simon stressed that monkeys have made the community popular, and that there is a cordial relationship between them and members of the community. According to him, the primates mimic the women when they knead ropes.

The women leader confirmed the village head’s assertion, stating that the monkeys are friendly and do not cause them any harm. “We see the Monkeys as our sisters and brothers. They chase away other animals, particularly grasscutters from destroying our crops. The monkeys are a special gift from God. We don’t harm them, and we don’t eat them” she disclosed.

The project’s team leader, Dr. Matthew Dore, advised the community leaders to take the monkey conservation initiative a step further by, with the support of the state government, putting their mascot an image of the monkey) at the airport in Uyo.

“This community should declare a Sclater’s Guenon Conservation Day, a day set aside to mark the conservation efforts of this community; when lovers of the primates and those who want to associate with them would come and celebrate them. It should be called the Sclater’s Guenon Day,” the conservationist suggested.

The Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Environment and Mineral Resources, Dr. Iniobong Ene Essien, spoke in a similar vein with Dore.

His words: “We will give political exposure to that community. If we do a proper package, we should be able to do something close to what has been suggested. We will work closely with the director, take a closer look at the community and see what we can do. This is commendable, considering the fact that, at a time like this, many species are endangered.”

In the Emu Kingdom in Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State, the West African Dwarf Crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis) is cherished by indigenes. According to the king, Johnson Ekpechiulu, the reptile is regarded as “the mother of the land.”

He said: “The crocodile is revered in this society. The reason for this dates back to history. The story is that they protected us very well both day and night, and made it possible for us to have such a big kingdom like this.

“It is a sacred and forbidden animal. They do not harm us; they eat our left-over food and sleep in the neighbourhood. We bury the crocodile as we bury the living dead amomgst us.”

At the Onura Forest in Alesa, Eleme in River State, the community is protecting the tortoise as well as the forest, which villagers are concerned is fast been depleted.

In fact, under the Community Biodiversity Action Plan (CEBAP), a section of the forest will be fenced, essentially to keep the animals from wandering beyond the confines of the jungle onto the highway where they get crushed by vehicles.

Emperor J. D. Nkpe, Paramount Ruler of Alesa-Eleme, said: “The tortoise is sacred to us, and people are not allowed to hunt them. In fact, it is forbidden to kill a tortoise in this community. And we are concerned that some get killed accidentaly by motorists plying the highway; these are usually those that left their abode in the forest.

“So we intend to fence the forest to, among other reasons, prevent further deaths of the cherished animals. Indeed, whenever I see them on the road, either wandering or being offered for sale, I buy them and return them back to the forest.”

The Niger Delta Biodiversity Conservation Project (NDBP) is a five-year biological diversity conservation programme within the Niger Delta region. The programme is being implemented by GEF and UNDP with the support of Ministries of Environment within the implementing states, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the participating communities.

The main aim of the project is to enhance cooperation between the government, the oil & gas industry and local communities within the Niger Delta in building and piloting new biodiversity action planning tools for proactive biodiversity management in the region.

In order to meet this objective, a set of activities were carried out, and among them is the implementation of CBAP, which commenced in 2014 within the participating states – Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers.


*** From Environews

Fresh concern over impending bitumen exploitation

The Nigerian government has been told to reconsider its bitumen exploitation ventures as the mining activity has the tendency to degrade the environment.

L-R: Chief Reverend Okwuaji; Chief Toyin Dmendra, the Lisa of Agbabu; Akinbode Oluwafemi, deputy executive director of ERA/FoEN; and Baale Adepitan Ola James of Ijebu-Mushin in Ogun State, at the Consultative Meeting on Bitumen Exploitation in Akure, Ondo State

This submission formed part of a list of resolutions agreed on by participants at a recent forum in Akure, Ondo State, where the corrosiveness and dirty nature of bitumen extraction was decried.

At the Consultative Forum involving communities in the bitumen belt from Ondo, Edo and Ogun states held last month at the instance of the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), government was told to halt any agreements with unknown companies, breaking free from fossils and explore safe and clean renewables that are cheap and community-driven.

They underlined the need for the convening of a national forum of bitumen communities with adequate representation from all communities that fall under the bitumen belt, adding that an institutional structure or agency that the communities can interface or engage with should be put in place.

They also want an updated geo-mapping and conduct of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study in the communities to address the genuine concerns of the communities.
“The Nigerian government should leave the tar in the sand to avoid the crisis in the Niger Delta repeating in the bitumen belt. Before bitumen extraction, there must be a review of the Mining Act 2007 to reflect existing realities and concerns by the local communities. There must be transparency and accountability in the entire bitumen belt,” reads a communique issued at the close of the gathering on December 22, 2016.

The communities, who say that there has been no consultation or formal agreements with them as the Federal Government ploughs deeper into its plans to exploit bitumen within their doorsteps, want the immediate commencement of the process of engaging them in a dialogue so as to create awareness and unity amongst them in their agitation for a better environment.

They likewise clamour for the clean up of Ogoniland as a first step and other communities across the country impacted by fossil fuels, pointing out that, in doing this, the government must ensure the protection of the people and the sustainability of a healthy environment.

The Nigerian bitumen deposit, put at some 42.74 billion metric tons, is said to be the second largest in the world. Discovered in 1900, it covers 120 kilometres costal belts of Lagos, Ogun, Ondo and Edo states.

Naturally occurring or crude bitumen is a sticky, tar-like form of petroleum which is so thick and heavy that it must be heated or diluted before it will flow. Bitumen is also mixed with granite to produce asphalt, which is the major product used for road construction.
Deputy Executive Director of ERA/FoEN, Akinbode Oluwafemi, explained that the meeting was called to examine new developments in the light of President Muhammadu Buhari’s plan to finally start bitumen exploitation and exploration.

In a presentation titled: “Time to Leave Tar in the Sand!”, Oluwafemi explained that despite all the government had said about diversification, the kind of diversification community people want in the energy sector is one that is clean, safe, community-driven and cheap. He noted, however, that bitumen is not any of these things since it is heavy crude and considered dirty energy.


*** From Environews