Leadership (Abuja)
Isaac Aimurie
25 July 2008
Architect Halima Tayo Alao, the Minister of Environment, Housing and Urban Development is a committed community leader who has served Nigeria in several professional and administrative positions before attaining her present status.
She studied architecture at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, from where she graduated with a Master of Science (M.Sc) degree in 1981. After participating in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Ibadan, Oyo State, she commenced a distinguished civil service career, in her home state of Kwara. Recently, she spoke with a selected group of journalists and our correspondents Atang Izang and Isaac Aimurie, were there. She spoke on a wide range of issues, which include the effect of climate change or global warming which has resulted to current global food crisis. Excerpts:
Desertification/Drought
To be able to know and appreciate the plan for desertification, there is the need to know what the issues of desertification and drought are all about. And, in understanding these issues, you would even with the action plan be able to know the things that must be done in order that the people will live sustainable and successful happy lives especially in those areas. Drought, especially in the northern part of the country has further been compounded by the issue of climate change. Apart from that there are some basic factors which have continued to degrade the land especially the issue of increase in population, the issue of urbanisation, the issue of pollution, are all issues that have further degraded the land, especially in the northern part where you really want to relate it with drought and desertification. And, of course we must understand that the large population derives their rural areas. Drought in the north has also been compounded by the issue of the down ward movement of the Sahel/Sahara desert, we must rescue it now because of the issue of climate change, too much water somewhere little water somewhere, especially too little in the inland areas.
Deforestation
On the issue of deforestation, people do illegal logging, illegal felling of woods, the issue of bush burning and also issue of trying to make the best of a bad situation where you have bad land and inadequate rain and all of that. For us to be able to effectively look at the issues of drought and desertification, we have to look at those factors that enhance the situation, that promote degradation and try to work against such factors so that we can tackle it effectively. We have a policy - National Policy on Desertification and Drought; and of course, we have an action plan. What are the consequences of drought and desertification? Land degradation and land dunes, dry land, lack of water and insufficient clean water, and all of that. So we have to start looking at the plan that we will put in place, action that will reverse these issues, reserve the issue of drought and desertification. We have planned to rehabilitate Oasis, plan to do stabilisation of sand dunes, and plan to do aforestation. Aforestation is a very, very great factor, especially in the drought affected areas. A lot of degradations are as a result of the deforestation, consequences of bush burning, consequences of tree felling, consequences of exposing the land to further erosion.
What is the ministry doing?
Over the years, the ministry has done quite a lot of aforestation programmes in collaboration with the states. Because the states have the constitutional responsibility on the ownership of the forest. So we are trying to do quite a number of aforestration programmes with the local governments, shetter belt creation, rehabilitation of oasis, stabilization of sand dunes and all of that, and quite a number have been done. For this year's budget, quite a number will be done and quite a number too, under the ecological fund that have been so approved.
Water and sanitation policy
All the projects that we have been able to do over time, quite a number have always been to make sure that the environment as much as possible stays stable. We have tried to tackle pollution, land degradation and a lot of critical issues, especially now with climate change and all of that. But I must also say that environment cuts across all the other sectors of the economy, it is a very important factor that has tremendous impact on the success of all the other sectors. For sustainable development, it is very key or important that the environment is given its rightful place in national development. If we look at the issue of health, health indices will continue to be low until we have been able to adequately address the environment. I think it is a critical sector, critical issues as the health of the people is concerned. Health issues can never be over emphasised, we also know that almost 50 per cent of communicable diseases are environment related. Malaria which has continued to be one of the basic childhood killer diseases, is the disease that can be adequately tackled if we improve on sanitation and also improve on our environment. And of course, now with the global trend and climate change such as the issues of technology and technology transfer, we are saying we as a country must also join the global trend, considering the fact that we have to move towards renewable energy. We have to look at solar energy, we have to look at wind energy and we also have to look at hydro energy. And we are very lucky that solar energy is free and, so we as a country should strive to produce it, considering the fact that we have a very significant important position with climate change issues especially in the African region. We have heard about climate change over and over but for the sake emphasis, we said it is being caused primarily by changes that are humanly increasing in green house gases, principally carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which has continued to warm the atmosphere and the consequences of that are very little rain else where. Unpredictable rainfall is going to affect agriculture, it is going to be significant in food security and the health of the people is going to be affected' because increase in temperature will breed more infections and diseases; and it is going to be an issue with transportation and everything.
Climate change as a new phenomenon
Two things are relevant to climate change, and these two issues we must tackle. Well, the developed countries are making plans, but I must say that the climate change issue is a new issue. There is still more that needs to be done globally in terms of research and get on top of the situation with climate change. But I do agree with you absolutely that the developed countries are the greater emitters of about 87 of green house gas emission, while the African continent is accountable for about 3 per cent of the total emission. But it is true that we are under greater stress, we have more challenges to cope with, and definitely the scientists are saying that the African region is the least emitters, but we suffer more consequences of climate change and of course, we have the least ability to cope with them. But as a country we are looking at climate change and climate change issues at three dimensions. Internationally, what is our responsibility and how are we moving on the global trend with the issues of climate change. Nigeria is moving on internationally, Nigeria has her plans nationally and of course, locally too, we need to put few things in place. Internationally, the Kyoto protocol and the United Nations climate change (UNCC) convention have put in place obligations on the developed Nations as well as the developing owners. We are looking at adaption funding, which is expected to be an obligation with responsibility by the developed nations. We are also looking at capacity building that if we are able to put in place all the strategies the globe is expecting us to do, but as a developing nations, we definitely have the handicap which makes it difficult, but the developed ones are expected to assist the developing ones, including Nigeria on the issue of capacity building.
Information dissemination
There is the issue of National Communication Information dissenmination that is where the media comes in. They have a key role to play to ensure that information gets to everybody and the people are ready for it. The issues of adaptation and mitigation are also very important; we must make preparations for adaptation. Adaptation is trying to make a best from a bad situation situation that is on ground, which we are expected to live with for the next 30 years. And of course, mitigation is how to prevent it, and what are those things you need to put in place to stop the process of erosion itself? Adaptation is very key to Africa, one, because for a long time even when mitigation measures are put in place, we would continue to have the effect of warming that is already trapped in the atmosphere. We must learn to adapt with it before we get to the zero point, hopefully for the nation, that we are living an environmentally free atmosphere.
Sensitisation/Awareness Campaign
Absolutely, sensitisation is very key and awareness is a very important modality for getting to the grassroot. We at the ministry have a lot of displeasantaries, I must say it is taken us quite a bit of a time to roll out some of these things, because it is going to cost us money. We have very many programmes and activities, we are also pursuing workshops and seminars. But like I said, there is the need to get further and further to the grassroots. We have commissioned a few jingles which should be ready very soon and all these corporate organisations are part of it and you media, are all part of it. We are also doing translation in local languages so that the grassroots people can have good advantage of it.
Climate change is still new
The climate change issue is still newer than the HIV issues, although like we said in the workshops/seminars, the international organizations have to treat the climate change issue like HIV/AIDS of a thing. We must also know that it is here now. If you recall, it took quite a long time for the people to know HIV/AIDS was real and quite a number of people have not gotten the need to take the climate change very seriously. We must do that because the effects are here with us. This year you can see the food crisis issue, 90 per cent of that is tied to the effect of climate change because of the low land areas. You have rice production and a lot of that suffer flooding because the ice and whole lot of that are melting and when the ice is melting, the sea levels are also rising. When the sea levels rise, all of the low lands and coastal areas are subjected to flooding, this in turn helps in washing away crops and that is what is contributing to the current global food crisis. So people should treat climate change issues like HIV/AIDS, and we can do that from our homes in our own little ways.
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To fight desertification and the expansion of the Sahel, I suggest the radical harvesting of the Typha infestations in Lake Chad and in the rivers that should feed it and drain it. Typha, and all the other aquatic weeds that plague you, is a powerful dessicating factor, removing both the visible water and the ground water. It can be readily brewed into ethanol. Some of it, perhaps most, is fit for human consumption. Typha can be made into food in many ways if uncontaminated. With the vampire gone, and KEPT gone, Lake Chad (and its associated ground water) will recover with even poor rains, and will soon become again a barrier to the desert to the North of it. The ongoing effort to keep the lake and rivers clean can be sustained profitably by exploiting the plant as a crop in restricted areas. This is the sane man's ethanol plant. It costs nothing to grow, can grow on land that is other wise useless, and drastically outproduces its competition. Grown in clean conditions, it is one of the most productive food plants in the world.