Enforce the Basel treaty on disposal of toxic waste

The global campaign for safe disposal of toxic materials has scored a major victory, with the latest treaty on indiscriminate dumping of plastics and lethal wastes across international borders. This victory was secured in Geneva, at the just concluded Convention tagged: ‘Clean Planet, Healthy People: Sound Management of Chemicals and Waste,’ with an impressive representation from 180 countries.

Given the international outrage against the alarming levels of toxicity from refuse dumps  in the oceans, delegates amended the Basel Convention, to include plastic wastes in a legally-binding framework, under the auspices of  United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)  and sister agencies.

UNEP’s Acting Executive Director of U.N. Environment Joyce Msuya said ‘one-third of global plastic production is non-recyclable and at least eight million tonnes of plastic flows unabated into our oceans and water bodies each year. The world is choking on plastic.’  ‘The Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal is the most comprehensive international environmental agreement on hazardous wastes and is almost universal, with 180 parties.’

Unfortunately the United States (US), Canada and a few other nations are not party to the latest framework, which takes effect from next year. ‘With an overarching objective of protecting human health and the environment from hazardous products, its scope covers a wide range of wastes categorized as household waste and incinerator ash.’ The unanimous vote to include regulation of export of plastic waste became imperative, as unquantifiable tonnes of toxic elements  flood oceans and seas annually.

Many world environmentalists, including Dr. Sara Brosche of IPEN and Dr. Desmond Majekodumi hailed the decision, as historic and timely given the disastrous impact of toxic wastes, harmful chemicals and non-degradable plastics, on human life, ocean resources and the entire ecosystem.

Nigeria’s ocean waters are severely threatened by poisonous industrial and human garbage, due to gross mismanagement of pollutants by the authorities, to the detriment of all life forms. Hence, it is doubtful if the country, with its poor commitment to environmental sustainability, can and will enforce these new restrictions, given its resource deficits, political instabilities and technological limitations.

However, experts believe that the new charter will benefit all developing nations, as the new restrictions would make ‘global trade in plastic waste more transparent, better regulated for human health and environmental sustainability.’ Pollution from plastic refuse, is obviously, ‘a major environmental problem of global concern, and has reached epidemic proportions with an estimated 100 million tonnes of plastics now found in the oceans, 80-90 percent of which comes from land-based sources,’ the agency said.

Participants at the event also considered the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, as part of a holistic review of pollutants endangering mankind and the ecosystem. UNEP’s Executive Secretary of the three Conventions Rolph Payet, said parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions also highlighted alternatives to these harmful chemicals, as well as best practices.

His words: ‘approximately 1,400 delegates around the world converged for the meeting. I’m proud that this week in Geneva, parties to the Basel Convention reached agreement on a legally-binding, globally-reaching mechanism for managing plastics. Plastic waste is acknowledged as one of the world’s most pressing environmental issues. The fact that this week close to one million people around the world signed a petition urging Basel Convention parties to take action here in Geneva, is a sign that public awareness and desire for action is high.”

Payet announced the establishment of ‘a new partnership on plastic waste to mobilise business, government, academic and civil society expertise to assist in implementing the new measures, through providing supports, tools, best practices, technical and financial assistance – for this ground-breaking agreement.’

Other far-reaching decisions from the two-week event included ‘the elimination of two toxic chemical groups, totalling about 4,000 chemicals, listed in the Stockholm Convention, namely Dicofol and Perfluorooctanoic Acid. The latter has till now been used in industrial and domestic applications including non-stick cookware and food processing equipment, as well as a surfactant in textiles, carpets, paper, paints and fire-fighting foams.’

The Rotterdam Convention also received a boost, ‘with the addition  of two chemicals, the pesticide phorate and the industrial chemical hexabromocyclododecane, to the Prior Informed Consent Procedure, through which countries can decide on future imports of these chemicals,’ he added. Cheerily the decision to approve mechanisms to ensure compliance with this convention was also adopted,’ he noted. Similarly, his colleague in the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Executive Secretary of the Rotterdam Convention, Hans Dreyer, said ‘we were able to list two out of seven candidate chemicals and will continue working closely with parties to identify feasible alternative solutions to hazardous pesticides, taking due account of food security and market access aspects.’

No doubt these reviews would satiate the agitation over transparency in trans-border movements of toxic wastes and industrial chemicals. Nevertheless, implementing these new protocols, may remain herculean for  poor nations, who are dumping grounds for toxic products from developed nations.

Dr Brosche said ‘the new decision would empower developing countries to refuse plastic waste dumping. For too long developed countries like the US and Canada have been exporting their mixed toxic plastic wastes to developing Asian countries claiming it would be recycled in the receiving country.’

Shell targets 2,400MW electricity equivalent from New gas supply project

Oil giant, Shell Oil and Gas Nigeria, stated that 2,400 Megawatts electricity equivalent is expected to be produced from its new gas supply  project.

The country chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria and the Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), Mr. Osagie  Okunbor said that the development project which is ongoing in Assa North/Ohaji South, Imo State is expected to generate 600 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, is equivalent to 2400 Megawatts and enough to provide uninterrupted electricity to about 2.4 million homes. He stated this at the media launch of the 2019 Shell in Nigeria Briefing Notes held in Lagos, an annual publication detailing the activities of Shell companies in Nigeria covering SPDC, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Petroleum Company (SNEPCo), Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG) and Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG).

Okunbor said that the project will satiate Nigeria's quest for energy sufficiency as well as continuous supply of local content development as part of its contribution to economic growth and development. Giving a breakdown of the gas production, Okunbor said 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day would be processed at a new gas processing plant owned by the SPDC Joint Venture while the remaining 300 million will go to a proposed gas processing plant by SEPLAT Petroleum.

The operations of Shell Companies in Nigeria have impacted directly on driving economic activity in Nigeria as more jobs have been created in communities were they operate by utilizing Nigerian service companies and strengthening Nigerian contracting capacity. In 2018, about $1.3 billion was spent by shell companies in Nigeria on contracts with Nigerian companies.

According to SPDC's General Manager External Relations, In 2018, approximately 10% of the country's domestic gas was supplied by the SPDC JV, chiefly for power generation and about 13% of the nation's grid connected electricity was supplied via the Afam VI power plant, which has a 650-Megawatt generating capacity. Also, about 100 industrial and commercial customers in Ogun, Rivers and Abia majorly, were supplied natural gas from SNG, used for power generation and production by industries.

SPDC and SNEPCo contributed to economic growth, by paying N515.14 billion in taxes, royalties and levies to the Federal Government in 2018. They paid N39.58 billion to the Niger Delta Development Commission as well as disbursed N44.36 billion for various community driven projects and N17.03 billion on social investment projects.

The event was also attended by, the SNEPCo's Managing Director, Bayo Ojulari, SNG's Managing Director, Ed Ubong and Strategy/Value Assessment Manager, Tunde Adams.

Global concerns over escalating hunger in Nigeria

The unprecedented level of poverty and hunger affecting many Nigerians, may have reached exponential dimensions, according to global reports.Research findings from 15 agencies in the international humanitarian and development community showed that Nigeria, particularly northern region, was among eight countries, with two-thirds of the 113 million people, affected by acute hunger last year. The worst food crises in 2018, in order of severity, were: Yemen,  Democratic Republic of  Congo(DRC), Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Syrian, Sudan, South Sudan and Nigeria. These eight countries accounted for two thirds of the total number of people facing acute food insecurity – amounting to nearly 72 million people.’ 

The latest survey by United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU), identified terrorism and violence, as major factors fuelling destitution, particularly in the north, the epicentre of humanitarian crises and underdevelopment in the country. Last year’s global food crises, was generally driven by persistent instability in conflict-ridden regions and adverse climate, it added.

Experts expressed worry over escalation of food deficit in Nigeria, due to its motley challenges, including population explosion, gross mismanagement of scarce resources and security infractions. In this year’s Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC), the UN said ‘the number of people unable to meet their daily food needs without humanitarian assistance has been rising for several years. Unfortunately, a short-term outlook of food insecurity for this year showed that Nigeria will remain among the world’s most severe cases of food crises, as the other seven currently affected.’ An estimated ‘three million people were acutely food insecure in  three North-Eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, affected by the 10-year Boko Haram insurgency, where protracted conflict and mass displacements disrupted agriculture, trade, markets, livelihoods and hiked food prices,’ it added.

Indeed Boko Haram and other splinter groups have ravaged the region and hounded residents into extreme poverty and debilitating. Widespread violence still affects many areas of northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)  ‘with an estimated 5.3 million people in crisis.’

These appalling  findings point to a systemic rot, indicative of a nation in disarray and  dire need of a pragmatic transformation of its political and socio-economic ideals. The entrenched infrastructural decay across all sectors is not only outrageous, but shameful, given the nation’s enormous oil resources, solid minerals and agricultural potentials. International development agencies and stakeholders have resonated the need for government to initiate viable programmes, capable of stimulating economic growth and attracting  direct foreign investments, especially in the agro-allied industry.

Evidently,  the nation’s comatose public sector, characterized by flagrant profligacy and impunity also impedes citizens’ inalienable rights to good food, decent housing,  health insurance, living wages and attainment of Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs). It is both sad and ironical that over 60 percent of the population still subsists on less that one dollar daily, despite government’s  poverty alleviation projects such as Tradermoni and  school feeding. Last year the Senate queried the utilization of N500 billion, totalling a whopping sum of N1.5 trillion, over a three-year period,  allegedly, on spurious projects, with little or no bearing on disenfranchised masses. These lofty initiatives, are still  largely viewed as pipelines for graft and political patronage, due to lack of transparency, sustainability and equity in the  implementation.

Obviously, executive lawlessness, as well as intractable carnage have taken a huge toll on agriculture and economic activities, across the land. According to Amnesty International, since three years, over 3,600 people in Nigeria have been  killed in clashes between farmers and herders, while over 2,000 died in 2018 alone. Similarly, Global Terrorism Index (GTI), said recently that ‘nearly 1,700 violent deaths were attributed to Fulani herdsmen in attacks carried out between January and September 2018.’ This has led to massive loss of farms and crops as farmers, particularly, in the middle-belt, are hounded and killed, in hostilities with  pastoralists.

If left unchecked these massive destructions of lives and properties, will invariably devastate  the region’s rich agricultural and livestock economy and potentials, experts warn. Also Human Right Watch,  in a recent review,  said ‘recurring violence between herdsmen and farmers, as well as related cattle theft and banditry in many northern states posed serious threats to peace and security.’ In Zamfara state, armed bandits have reportedly, killed over 3,500 persons, injured 8,219 and devastated 500 villages in the last five years. Other vulnerable states include Kaduna, Benue, Anambra, Enugu,Delta, Plateau, and Taraba, due to ethnic tensions and grazing demands. Sadly government ineptitude and discriminatory tendencies tend to exacerbate the imbroglio.

Prominent nationals including, including  business mogul Aliko Dangote, blame politicians and  state governors for  destabilising  and impoverishing the north.Dangote, at a recent  forum, blasted northern governors for failure to confront poverty and hunger, which tend to escalate the intractable carnage and religious extremities in the zone. ‘It was unacceptable for a people with vast arable land to live in such poverty. While the overall socio-economic condition in the country is a cause for concern, the regional disparities are very alarming. In the North West and North East, over 60 percent of the population lives in extreme poverty,’ he said. To him it is anomalous that, ‘the 19 northern states which account for about 54 per cent of Nigeria’s population and 70 per cent of its landmass, collectively, generate only 21 per cent of the total subnational IGR in 2017.’

Undoubtedly the region is challenged by numerous complexities, which  undermine its peace and progress. Government needs to address this anarchy, as part of a holistic review of the national template on agricultural revolution and  integral development. The nation must embrace  best practices on mechanised agriculture, which not only focus on novel breeding techniques, genetic modification and crop multiplication methods, but on empowering poor rural farmers with relevant incentives, loans and modern technologies to boost their trade and well-being. Unless urgent measures are taken, food crises will engulf the country, as currently witnessed in the north, beleaguered by youth restiveness, desertification, land disputes and intractable conflicts.