Tunde Akingbade
30 November 2008
interview
Erelu Abiola Dosumu is a woman of many parts. Apart from being a business woman whose energy drives several things across the globe, she is an environmentalist who has passion for the protection of our fragile ecosystem. Erelu Dosumu was at the biggest global event on the environment known as the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992.
It was organized by the United Nations. Recently she got in touch with Mr. Al Gore, former American vice president and senator who is one of the world's known environmentalists to show his films in Nigeria. Erelu is already speaking with the management of Silverbird Group to put the movies on the screen at the Victoria Island Galleria to sensitize Nigerians on the dangers climate change pose to the country. In an interview conducted in her vehicle, she spoke on the environment and several other issues. Excerpts:
YOU have been involved in environ mental protection efforts in the country over the years. There was a time you imported pollution control and energy saving device in vehicles into the country. First, can you give us an insight into how you came about the product and how far have you gone with it?
Well, I have always been interested in the environment. I was even privileged to be at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil when, at that time, we didn't have the Federal Ministry of Environment. We had the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA). So, my romance with the environment dates back to many years ago.
Also, I love nature everywhere I lived, even as a child. When I had my own home, I continued with keeping a beautiful garden with colourful flowers. When the opportunity arose for me to do it at the state and national levels, it came naturally. Now, it's wonderful to see that the bug of keeping Lagos clean has caught up with Lagos State government.
Because if you remember, I used to plant trees all over Lagos, especially at the Marina and the IBB Boulevard. And I used to solicit the support of various NGOs and, with my own wherewithal, I did whatever I could to get plants. I had people who were in horticulture who gave us seedlings. I also got support of the Lions and the Lioness Club. It's a wonderful feeling to have and see a beautiful environment.
Let's go to the issue of climate change. The former vice president of the USA, Mr. Al Gore, came up with two movies and you got involved to do something in Nigeria. How did you now come into the picture?
Well, again, environment is a topic that I have interest in and I follow what goes on in the country and outside including the efforts of various governments and individuals towards sustaining the environment. So, when the former vice president of USA came on board and took up the battle, it was natural for one to monitor the trend of events.
Don't forget that I had this piece of device or contraption which you mentioned earlier that I brought into Nigeria. It was called the Super Power which I sold to various state governments, the armed forces and of course individuals. It is a capsule that is installed between the carburetor and the fuel injection. So, it purifies the engine of your vehicle.
The incomplete combustion is so limited, and it reduces the emission of poisonous gas into the atmosphere. When Mr. Al Gore came into the arena, he already had converts and followers. So, of course, having seen the movies and the content, I felt as the chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, it was my duty to bring the movies and show them to the people in Nigeria so that they can realize that we are creating danger for ourselves and the environment.
As a child, did your upbringing shape what you have been doing on the environment?
Yes. My father was in Bank for West Africa in those days and I was born in Kano. We lived in the town. The main population of the people in Kano lived in the city. We were in town near the bank and, of course, we had lots of land and greens which we also cultivated at home.
We had lots of expatriates in the bank at the time and all these rubbed off on one early enough - especially when you think that Kano is close to the desert and, despite that, it still had lots of plants. You have beautiful trees like the flame of the forest. There were beautiful flowers strewn all over.
Is Kano that you knew as a child with beautiful trees the same now?
I attended St. Louis Secondary School in Bompai and you had to walk miles and miles into the town. When I went to visit about 10 years ago, we didn't see one tree until we got to the door of the college. Even the college that used to be adorned with beautiful trees is not that kept with trees anymore, which is quite disappointing.
There are several vehicles with incomplete combustion in Nigeria. They emit noxious fumes that are injurious to health. How do you feel when you see them, bearing in mind that you once brought the Super Power capsule to help reduce pollution on the highway?
I tell you one feels very sad and broken hearted especially when I read in the papers a few weeks ago that Ministry of Transportation (MOT) regulation in Lagos is being scrapped. I think, unless it is replaced by something else, then it's sad.
MOT is one of the ways of checking vehicles to reduce the emission of smoke into the atmosphere and to make them roadworthy. In fact, when I brought the Super Power capsule, I approached the state and federal government, to convince them to make the pollution control device a part of the road worthiness of vehicles or part of MOT condition.
It almost sailed through in Lagos State until somebody felt that we were going to have a monopoly and they went to look for something else and they brought an equipment which when tested didn't meet the standard.
But that had already created confusion with the Ministry of Environment and that effort was thwarted by those who wanted to compete unfairly with us. It is sad. In our own case, we had worked for a couple of years on the product and it had been tested. The efficacy of our product had been proven. Everything that was necessary had been done. We had the device for vehicles and even ocean liners.
Let's go back to the Al Gore films. Do you intend to show them at Silverbird Galleria or where?
I have shown them privately to friends. But I have also approached the management of the Silverbird Galleria and they are quite willing to assist us to show them to the populace and environmentalists who haven't seen the films yet.
So, we have, The Day after Tomorrow and the Inconvenient Truth. I am already reaching out to organisations to lend support to our initiative to show case the reality of the environmental problems we have and our ways of life too. That way, it is easy to convince people, they will see things locally. We have to redouble our effort.
You were at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. Please cast your mind back. Have things changed - positively or negatively - in our environment in Nigeria since Rio?
Well, unfortunately, the excitement that the Rio Summit generated, especially the Agenda on 21, the excitement has gone down in Nigeria, perhaps because the federal ministry handles so many aspects of the environment.
FEPA at that time devoted its energy on the immediate issue of sustainable development and the environment. But, with the ministry, they have to deal with so many other aspects of the environment. Maybe emphasis has reduced in the sensitization of the populace. I think more noise will charge our energy. The US president-elect Barack Obama believes in Al Gore's doctrine and this will also help matters.
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