Environmental crisis: FG seeks UN interventions on GGW, HYPREP issues

 

Illustration for Great Green Wall (GGW)

The Federal Government has called on the United Nations (UN) to assist in addressing Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) and Great Green Wall issues (GGW) to enable restoration of lost lands in the country.

The Minister of Environment, Mr Mohammed Abdullahi, said this while receiving the Deputy Secretary-General of UN, Amina Mohammed, on courtesy visit, in Abuja on Monday.

Abdullahi said that the ministry was committed to ensuring that the two major projects were implemented effectively, adding that the UN’s intervention would boost the ministry’s efforts.

“There are two important projects which we will need more of your support, the HYPREP and GGW. We are doing our best to ensure that it’s working greatly.

“We have the team for the HYPREP. We are doing our best to make sure that the structure put in place is maintained to ensure checks and balances for good governance and transparency.

“This is what we are doing and we hope we will get robust support from you.

“You have always been there for us and we still have hope that you will continue to give us your full support,” he said.

Responding, Mohammed said that the UN would give its best to support in restoring the loss lands.

“So, it’s really important that we put in place the teams that will help us to look at those programmes and to see that GGW issues is properly addressed.

She said the GGW project was an economic corridor, which would offer empowerment to both youth and women, if properly addressed in the country.According to her, the GGW project will really empower our people, but at the same time, it is able to give less reason for people to destabilise countries when they get involved in conflicts of different types.

“So again, we are at your disposal; the UN will support any efforts that you want with the GGW, particularly the wetlands,” she said.

Mohammed, however, advised agencies, parastaltals and other relevant stakeholders to support the ministry in ensuring that the environmental programmes were implemented effectively.

She thanked the minister for his strong leadership and commitment in ensuring that environmental crisis were being tackled as well as ensuring that Paris Agreement was achieved effectively.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that HYPREP was established in 2012 under the Federal Ministry of Environment to achieve the under listed objectives in Ogoniland and other impacted communities.

“To determine the scope, means and modalities of remediation of soil and ground water contamination in impacted communities as may be recommended by HYPREP Governing Council and remedy them

“Enhance local capacity for better environmental management and promote awareness of sound environmental management as well as ensure livelihoods and sustainable development

“Ensure security and promote peace building efforts in impacted communities as well as strengthen governance, transparency and accountability in the region.”

NAN also reports that the Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative, launched in 2007 by the African Union, aims to restore the continent’s degraded landscapes and transform millions of lives in the Sahel.

Its ambition is to restore 100 million hectares of currently degraded land; sequester 250 million tonnes of carbon and create 10 million green jobs by 2030.

In Nigeria, the GGW Initiative also seeks to recover degraded land, preserve ecosystems, and provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for communities. (NAN)

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Former minister Paul Unongo dies at 87

Wantaregh Paul Unongo, an elder statesman and Minister of Steel in the Second Republic, has reportedly died at the age of 87.

A family source as confirming that the former minister died on Tuesday afternoon, November 29, at a hospital in Jos, Plateau state, where he had been receiving treatment.

Wantaregh Paul Unongo, a former minister and elder statesman, died on Tuesday, November 29, at the age of 87. Photo credits: @NigeriasToday, @OnwardNG Source: Twitter

The family source said the ex-minister, who was Chairman of Northern Elders Forum, had recently been in and out of hospital over his ill health.

The source stated further that the former minister's death is expected to be announced by the Tiv Traditional Council.

The late Unongo was born on September 26, 1935, and belonged to the Kwaghngise-Anure-Abera ancestry in Turan of Kwande local government area in Benue.

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Hawaii volcano shoots lava fountains 200 feet high: USGS

 

Mauna Loa erupts for the first time since 1984 on Hawaii Island, on November 28, 2022. Photo: Ronit FAHL / AFP Source: AFP

Fountains of lava up to 200 feet (60 meters) high have been fired into the air from Hawaii's Mauna Loa, geologists say, generating rivers of molten rock from the world's largest active volcano.

Three fissures have now opened up on the mammoth mountain, which burst into life late Sunday for the first time in almost 40 years.

Vast clouds of steam and smoke were billowing into the sky from the volcano, which makes up half of Hawaii's Big Island.

"Estimates of the tallest fountain heights are between 100–200 feet" but most are much smaller, the United States Geological Survey said in an update Monday.

"There is a visible gas plume from the erupting fissure fountains and lava flows, with the plume primarily being blown to the Northwest."

Geologists say there is currently no risk to people and property below the eruption.Lava flows from the two higher fissures moved downslope but stalled about 11 miles (18 kilometers) from Saddle Road (the main road at the foot of the northern flank)."

Lava flowing from the third open fissure at around 10,000 feet was also a long way from the road.

But, the USGS warned, Mauna Loa is a dynamic volcano.

"Additional fissures could open along the Northeast Rift Zone below the current location, and lava flows can continue to travel downslope."

Pressure has been building at Mauna Loa for years, the USGS said, and the eruption -- which lit up the night sky -- could be seen 45 miles (72 kilometers) away, in the west coast town of Kona.

While lava is not presently a risk to populations, scientists have said winds could carry volcanic gas and fine ash downslope, as well as Pele's Hair -- fine strands of volcanic glass formed when lava skeins cool quickly in the air.

Named after Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, the strands can be very sharp and pose potential danger to skin and eyes.

Authorities in Hawaii have not issued any evacuation orders, although the summit area and several roads in the region were closed, and two shelters have been opened as a precaution.

The largest volcano on Earth by volume, Mauna Loa, whose name means "Long Mountain," is larger than the rest of the Hawaiian islands combined.

The volcano's submarine flanks stretch for miles to an ocean floor that is in turn depressed by Mauna Loa's great mass -- making its summit some 11 miles above its base, according to the USGS.

One of six active volcanoes on the Hawaiian islands, Mauna Loa has erupted 33 times since 1843.

Its most recent eruption, in 1984, lasted 22 days and produced lava flows reached to within about four miles of Hilo.

Kilauea, a volcano on the southeastern flank of Mauna Loa, erupted almost continuously between 1983 and 2019, and a minor eruption there has been ongoing for months.

Source: AFP

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YCE. President Oyekan tasks FG

The daily influx of unskilled youths into our cities now calls for concerns and should be checked by the  authority who can do the needful to put an end to the insecurity bedeviling the nation.

President Yoruba Council of Elders. Chief Jibade Oyekan made the comments in his inaugural speech at the council's headquarters in lbadan, Oyo state.

Adding "we are usually dazed by the new trends of negative events like kidnapping, cattle rustling, raping, killings of innoscent people and other social vices in the country by the crimenals".

The president who frown at the crippling debt burden on Nigeria which he said may in the future seriously stifle our economic development.

Speaking in supports for the establishment of the state police in Nigeria. YCE, the president said pins itself down to preserving and defending the distinguishing feature of our cultural values.

"We shall continue where are founding fathers left off." He emphasize that YCE are non- partisan organization. " We don't.discuss politics as a subject at our meetings, politicians among us mingle harmoniously everywhere and at every time".

The new president who succeeded Justice Bakare (rtd.) who steps down on aged-grand was born in 1935, had both his post - primary, tertiary and professional education home and abroad. 

The inauguration ceremony of both the new president Chief Jibade Oyekan and the secretary general Engr. Oyewole was performed by the outgoing secretary general Dr. Kunle Olajide who also steps down on health-grand and witnessed by the executive members of the council in all the Yoruba speaking states.

Landslide kills 11 in Cameroon, Italy declares state of emergency

 

The disaster happened in the workin hi itg-class district of Damas, on the eastern outskirts of the capital. Photo: Valentina BRESCHI / AFP Source: AFP

A landslide in Cameroon's capital Yaounde on Sunday killed at least 11 people gathered to mourn the deaths of several local people, the regional governor told state broadcaster CRTV.

Early Sunday evening, police pick-up tracks were taking away bodies covered by white sheets, an AFP correspondent at the scene reported.

Emergency services were trying to make their way to the site, as hundreds of local people frantically searched for loved ones.

The disaster happened in the working-class district of Damas, on the eastern outskirts of the capital.

Residents told AFP the accident happened as several families were gathered under large tents on waste ground at the top of a hill, when part of the ground beneath them gave way.

"For the moment, we have 11 bodies," the governor, Naseri Paul Bea, told CRTV radio. "The search is continuing to find other bodies under the earth."

The people had gathered to mourn members of their families who had died, he added. In a related news

A landslide on the southern Italian island of Ischia has left at least seven dead, the Naples prefect announced. Photo: Eliano IMPERATO / AFP Source: AFP

Italy declared a state of emergency on the southern island of Ischia on Sunday after a landslide killed at least seven people and left several others missing.

A wave of mud and debris crashed through the small town of Casamicciola Terme on Saturday morning, engulfing at least one house and sweeping cars down to the sea, local media and emergency services said.

"The toll of victims from the landslide in Casamicciola has risen to seven dead, while five are missing," Naples city prefect Claudio Palomba announced late Sunday.

A first tranche of two million euros ($2 million) of relief funds was released at the end of an emergency cabinet meeting, which declared the state of emergency, said Minister for Civil Protection Nello Musumeci.

Italian media had earlier reported that four bodies had been found by Sunday afternoon.

More than 200 rescuers were still searching for missing people, while hundreds of volunteers, up to their knees in mud, were busy cleaning the town's streets.

The rescue effort had been hampered by rain and high winds, which also delayed ferries bringing reinforcements from the mainland.

"It's a situation that hurts us, if only for the people who disappeared under the mountain. Here it's an island and even if we don't really know everyone, it's almost that," Salvatore Lorini, 45, told AFP.

"The mountain came down, there was devastation of shops, cars, hotels and that was already happening nine years ago. Now I am cleaning my mother-in-law's shop," he said.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi had earlier warned there were people trapped in the mud, saying it was a "very serious" situation.

Heavy rain sent torrents of mud through the streets of Casamicciola Terme, a spa resort of 8,000 inhabitants on the north of Ischia, a lush island near Capri that is thronged with tourists in summer.

Trees were upturned and cars left battered on the side of the road or in the water, according to AFP journalists.

Boulders were scattered around as excavators sought to free up access to homes, cars and shops.

"If I could, I would leave Casamicciola because I now struggle to live there, even if my house survived the tremor, the flooding," 64-year-old Iacono Maria told AFP.

Pope Francis said he was praying for the victims, "those who suffer and all those who have contributed to the rescue" in his Angelus prayer on Sunday.

The fire service said earlier one house had been swamped by the mud and two people had been rescued from a car swept into the sea.

In the worst-affected area of the town, at least 30 families were trapped in their homes without water or electricity, with mud and debris blocking the road, ANSA news agency reported.

Officials had said they expected to evacuate and find temporary homes for between 150 and 200 people.

Local authorities called on Ischia residents to stay inside to avoid hindering the rescue operation.

An "exponential" growth of infrastructure sparked by mass tourism ended up "stifling all the natural elements of the land and covering everything with cement", geologist Mario Tozzi wrote in La Stampa newspaper.

Casamicciola Terme was hit by an earthquake in 2017, in which two people died. It was completely destroyed by a much more powerful tremor at the end of the 19th century.

The devastation in Ischia comes just weeks after 11 people died in heavy rain and flooding in the central Italian region of Marche.

Source: AFP

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Oyetola bows out, Adeleke takes oath of office as Osun governor

Senator Ademola Adeleke has been sworn - in as the new governor of Osun state on Sunday, November 27,2022.

The swearing-in took place at the Osogbo city stadium.bowl.

Adeleke became the governor after being administered oath of allegiance and office by the State's Present of the Customary Court before the mammoth crowd of Osun state citizens and guests from all walks of life.

Ademola Adeleke sworn in today, Sunday, November 27, as Osun Governor. Photo credit: Governor Ifeanyi A. Okowa Source: Facebook

Adeleke, who contested the governor election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), defeated Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who was seeking re-election.

Adeleke secured 403, 371 votes to defeat Oyetola who polled 375,027 votes.

Adeleke , is succeeding the outgoing Governor Gboyega Oyetola to begin a four year term as the sixth executive governor of the state.

Speaking after his swearing-in, Adeleke said he is “well aware” of the expectations from the residents in the state and that he will be a servant to all, .

The governor however noted that his reforms will cut across education, security, healthcare, infrastructure, local government administration, judiciary, public service, adding that his administration will be labour friendly.

“I am well aware of the fact that my responsibility as governor and chief security entails meeting the expectation of our people.”

Those who attended the inauguration,

 include Titi Atiku Abubakar, wife of the presidential candidate of the PDP; Iyorchia Ayu, PDP national chairman; Bukola Saraki, former senate president; former governors, and party chieftains.