It should be remembered that the president left the country over 70 days ago, leaving Nigerians in the dark as to the true condition of his health. Nigerians had to rely on a less than 3 minutes telephone interview on BBC to believe that Mr President was still alive.

We join millions of Nigeria in welcoming the news of the President’s arrival with a table spoon of salt. This is so because this his clandestine arrival like a thief in the night has thrown Nigeria into murky water of uncertainty. No body has seen the President and apart from questionable statement, Nigerians are not sure that the President is mentally alive to carry on the constitutional responsibility of ruling Nigeria.

Uncertainty 1. What becomes of the Acting in the capacity of Jonathan Goodluck? In a bid to arrive at a political solution to the constitutional crisis caused by the omission of President Yar’Adua to hand over, the National Assembly hiding under doctrine of expediency unconstitutionally made Mr. Goodluck an Acting President with the full powers of Mr. President. Do we need the National Assembly to remove this borrowed rob off Goodluck’s back? Or will Mr. President through the BBC inform Nigerians that he is back?

Uncertainty 2. Will Yar’Adua be ruling Nigeria through the voice of his Special Advisers and the numerous members of his kitchen cabinet?

With the current situation in Niger Republic Nigerian politicians should be careful the way and manner they handle these delicate times in the history of Nigeria.

 These are trying times for the Nation as we march unsteadily towards 50 years as a “Nation”

Again, some ubiquitous Nigerians have many uncanny ways and some of these include trading on banned and counterfeit products. They go all out, and even against extant laws of the country to buy and import into the country items they know too well are dangerous and disruptive to the economy and the environment such as used refrigerators, old cars and machinery, fake drugs as well as despoiled food items such as rice and many others.  This situation is further complicated by our porous borders and gullible security agents manning them. 

It is on this premise therefore, that I seek to discuss GM crops in Nigeria and possibly find out what the official position of government is on it.

 GM crops are crops or seedlings that have undergone genetic modification in the laboratory. This includes the introduction of a well-characterized gene or genes into an established genetic background or between species. A product of biotechnology or crop engineering, the resultant features include the ability of the crop to now grow and flourish in difficult terrains or barren farmlands; for example, they become drought resistant crops in arid soil or salt proof in high salinity farmlands.

 In year 2000, the Times magazine had discussed the work of the Swiss biologist Ingo Potrykus who led the team that engineered the “golden rice”. The rice, a flagship product of Biotechnology (in the words of Dick Taverne’s essay in Prospect Magazine, 2007) was to start a new green revolution to improve the lives of millions of the poorest people in the world. It was estimated to help remedy vitamin- A deficiency, the cause of 1-2million deaths a year, and could save up to 500,000 children a year from going blind. No other scientific development in agriculture in recent time is thought to hold such promise.

Only a decade after their commercial introduction, GM crops were already in cultivation in well over 100million hectares spread across 22 countries by over 10million farmers. About 9 million of of this number are resource-poor farmers in developing countries, mainly India and China. Most of these small-scale farmers grow pest-resistant GM cotton. In India alone, production has tripled over the past 3 years to over 10million hectares. This cotton has proven to benefit farmers because it reduces the need for insecticides, thereby increasing their income and also improving their health. 

However, beyond all these attributes, features and  claims, there are deep rooted fears amongst the enlightened world that GM technology is most unsafe and harmful to the environment, and that it only lines the pocket of the big agricultural companies. Though GM crops are in abundance in parts of Europe, they are also effectively banned in most countries. Indeed, EU regulations, based on the precautionary principle, provide safeguards against “contamination” of organic farms by GM crops; they require any produce containing more than 0.9 percent GM content to be labeled as such, with the clear implication that it needs a health warning and should be avoided.

However, in view of the extant food security woes in Africa, for example, in parts of West Africa, the average rate of application of NPK fertilizer is reported to be an abysmal 13kg per hectare; should GM crops be relied upon and allowed to close up the food supply gap and flourish in Africa? 

Factors responsible for poor fertilizer use have included cost and scarcity of the product when needed by farmers. The implication has been the heavy post harvest losses calculated at 50per cent for fruits and vegetables and 30per cent for root crops and tubers. Compared to the entire continent, recorded loses include 22kg of Nitrogen (N), 2.5kg of Phosphorus (P) and 15 kg of Potassium (k) per hectare per year through soil mismanagement. This is equivalent to US$4 billion worth of fertilizer (at United States prices) and likely US$30 billion at African fertilizer prices.

Also, sadly; with climate change now ravaging the continent, people are becoming increasingly affected as worsening droughts in particular is ruining the lives and livelihood of many households and have continued to hamper farming activities. Water mismanagement, inappropriate land use, as well as poor knowledge of anti-drought measures have continued to constrain the soil’s productive capacity to produce food. Consequently, local livelihoods are being jeopardized while increasing poverty for thousands of farmers expands.  

GM crops on the other addresses these loops as they reduce reliance on agrochemical sprays, saves energy, uses less fossil fuel in their production and reduces the emissions of greenhouse gases; and by improving yields, they make better use of scarce agricultural land. These have been confirmed by different studies and reports which reveal that the “environmental impact” of pesticides and herbicide use in GM –growing countries had been reduced by 15 per cent and 20 percent respectively.

Energy-intensive cultivation is being replaced by no-till or low-till agriculture. As at today, more than a third of the soya bean crop grown in the US is now grown in unploughed fields. Apart from using less energy, avoiding the plough has many environmental advantages. It improves soil quality, causes fewer disturbances to life within it and diminishes the emission of methane and other greenhouse gases. 

But whatever the merits are, there are oodles of dreadful demerits of GM crops. And one salient argument that is yet to be defeated is the fact that GM crops are “one-off-seeds” i.e. the seeds cannot be preserved or stored for replanting in the following farming season. This therefore imposes on the farmers the task of yearly purchase of the seeds at enormously high costs. How many poor farmers in Nigeria or other places in Africa can afford to go through this ritual yearly?

There are also other concerns such as the environmental threats, particularly those to biodiversity. It is feared that the takeover of natural environments by GM crops could easily lead to mass gene alteration in the entire ecosystem and that this could be counterproductive. 

These arguments remained the crux of a class debate amongst nine African scholars on environment while on a residency program at Brown University, USA last fall. We had debated that regardless of the so called abundant benefits that GM crops are evil and are capable of impoverishing Africans in the long run. This was based on our fear that it would erode indigenous or local seeds from Africa; and make the already impoverished small holder farmers and peasants perpetually dependent of imported seeds.
This argument also raised other fears, such as those that claim that once traditional farmlands have been exposed to GM crops, the entire landscape subsequently becomes the exclusive dominance of GM crops as no other crop would be capable of doing well in such farmland. Though this fear still remains hypothetical; empirical analyses in this regard may not even be necessary as people commonly prefer organically produced food because it is neither a quick-fix solution for world hunger nor an exploitative endeavor.  

As a country with large population; the most populated in Africa; the official policy of the Nigerian government on GM crops need to be known. Is it here already, or is it yet to arrive? Certainly, we need to know what the position of the Nigerian government is on this matter.  

But whatever it is, there is enormous need for citizen education on the pros and cons of GM crops to enable at least an understanding and awareness creation. This has the potential of assisting us, particularly the farmers from deceit and deception by those with ubiquitous uncanny ways.

Joachim Ezeji

In the words of Dora Akunyili; …………….“Let’s just say I got tired of the whole thing. It just got too much for my mind. I could no longer live with myself. I was not sleeping well. I was depressed. My husband thought it was malaria but I knew it was not. I went for tests and nothing was found. I simply knew I could not continue to live a lie. On Tuesday night, I could not sleep at all and I spent half the night praying. That was when I decided to do the memo. I wrote and typed it myself. I only told my Assistants and Special Adviser on Wednesday”.

It has often been said that the future of Nigeria lies with women. Instances in this regards abounds and includes the exploits in courage made by Oby Ezekwesili and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala during their days as ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Today both women are at the World Bank sharing their expertise and know-how globally.

But even since years past and present, one woman that has retained her doggedness in doing well and showcasing excellence is Dora Akunyili.  She is the only amazon, the enigma and the only courageous personality among her peers. Dora has every reason to walk shoulders high all over the country, whether north, south, east or west.

Talking about Dora on this occasion appeals so much to me at this moment because of the extra-ordinary courage she exhibited to break a logjam. She was the only person among men, even in the presence of “past this and past that” in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) of Nigeria that spoke out when it mattered most.

The story line ran thus: President Yar Adua had travelled out of Nigeria in the wee hours of 23^rd November 2009 to Saudi Arabia for a medical treatment. The president did not consider it important to hand over the reins of government to anybody, even to his deputy Dr Goodluck Jonathan. Neither did he even inform the members of the national assembly nor members of the Federal Executive Council.

The medical trip was a closely knit top secret with the presidency and household of the president. Since that date of departure, nobody ever heard from the president. His loyalist and members of his kitchen cabinet argued that the president was free to rule from any part of the world. The result was that a few hawks close to the president were taking questionable decisions incognito.

Nobody knew exactly the credibility of the source of most actions and directives being given as their facilitators insisted it came from the president. While these haze persisted, nobody heard from the president. The civil society in Nigeria kicked against this build up and rallies were organized against it . These took place in both Abuja and Lagos. Yet, the hawks kept the country hostage and remained defiant.

The entire country had waited with berthed breath the fast approaching swearing –in of the new Chief Justice of Nigeria as well as the signing of the 2010 budget. Both actions must be performed by the president and no one else. But what happened? The budget was signed overnight and attributed to the president. Later, the hawks led by the nation’s attorney general and minister of justice Mr Michael Aondoakaa, came up with a surprise. A smart attorney he was indeed. He came up with the idea that the outgoing Chief Judge of Nigeria (CJN) can swear in the incoming basing his argument on the Oaths Act which he said empowers the CJN to swear in another chief justice,

This rankled most Nigerians to the extent that it was generally condemned. Condemning the administration of oath on the CJN with a reference to section 130(2) of the 1999 Constitution, which says, “The President shall be the Head of State,” Professor Ben Nwabueze, a renowned constitutional lawyer and former education minister said such function was part of “the role of Head of State, designated expressly in the constitution. The Head of State incarnates the country. He is an embodiment of all the rights, dignities, and so on. So by virtue of this, the president is, constitutionally, the right person to swear-in high-ranking functionaries. It doesn’t matter what any other law says.

Professor Ben Nwabueze also said “Now, we consider also convention. Over the years, the swearing-in of CJNs has been done by the president, whether military president or civilian president. There is convention also. The difference between law and convention, you don’t need to bother yourself about that. Both law and conventions are necessary for effective constitutionalism.”

Responding to the argument that the Oaths Act also empowers the CJN to swear in another chief justice, he contended, “I am saying notwithstanding the provision of the Oaths Act. Will the Oaths Act prevail over section 130 of the constitution and the convention? That’s the question. I am aware of the provisions of the Oaths Act. But will it prevail over the practice and conventions of the country?”

Besides, Nwabueze said, “The swearing-in of the new CJN by the outgoing one was done three days before there was a vacancy. You swear a man into an office that is in existence, not an office that has not become vacant. He was sworn in three days before the outgoing one was to retire. There was no vacancy at the time the new CJN was sworn into office. We are talking about swearing into an office. There was no such office at the time of the swearing in.” The swearing of Justice Katsina-Alu as CJN actually took place a day before the expiration of the tenure of office of the former CJN, Justice Kutigi.

But as the groundswell over these events continued to build up, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria passed a resolution urging President Yar’Adua to transmit a letter of medical leave or vacation to pave the way for VP Jonathan to become Acting President. The Senate resolution, however, did not contain the mandatory language that many people have sought on the matter and it also did not give the President any certain deadline within which to do so. The Senate called it a “political solution” to the national debate raging over the President’s long absence from the country.

Briefing Senate correspondents, Chairman, Senate Committee on Information and Media, Senator Ayogu Eze, said: “For the past two days, five hours yesterday (Tuesday) and about three hours today (yesterday), the Senate had been engaged in very intense debate and examination of all the issues involved - constitutional, social, political and at the end of an exhaustive deliberation, we have decided to speak like statesmen because even though there were certain limitations we have in the constitution.

 “We are satisfied that what we have done now is in the best interest of the country to ease the tension and move Nigeria forward and that is why we have resolved to urge the President to honour Section 145 by notifying the National Assembly that he has proceeded on medical vacation, even though it is going to be in arrears as it were.

“We have come to the conclusion that it is right that the spirit of that provision be respected.  We also asked that this matter be committed to our committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution so that they will take into consideration the kind of confusion and the kind of unanticipated problem that arose from Section 145 because of its lack of specificity.

Despite these arguments, the hawks in the cabinet held their ground and refused to budge. They also supported their position by a phantom ruling in a federal high court in Abuja by Justice Abutu . The judge had on January 13 ruled that by the provisions of Section 5(1) and 148(1) of the 1999 Constitution, the vice president could, in the absence of the president, exercise all the powers vested in the president.

The judge was responding to a law suit brought by a concerned citizen, Mr. Christopher Onwuekwe, over an alleged leadership vacuum created by Yar’Adua’s absence.

Abutu said, “When the vice president is exercising the powers of the president as an Acting President, he is exercising that power in his own right as acting president and not on behalf of the president.” However, Jonathan can only exercise the executive powers on behalf of Yar’Adua because the president, who had been hospitalized in Saudi Arabia since November 23 last year for a heart condition, has not notified the National Assembly of his absence to enable his deputy act as president, Abutu maintained.

That judgment caused more confusion than understanding, and in effect created room for further manipulation by the hawks led by Mr Michael Aondoakaa. A follow up action came when The Federal Executive Council (FEC) in Abuja declared that President Yar’Adua was still fit to continue in office despite his more than two months medical leave in Saudi Arabia. The FEC challenged those who feel otherwise to seek redress in court.

The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Chief Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), pointedly told State House correspondents after the FEC meeting that: “We followed the letters of Section 144 (of the constitution) and I think Section 144 allows him and if anybody thinks it doesn’t, he can go to court.”

“Well, the executive council is made up of people with high integrity, which is inclusive of the VP (Vice-President), who ordinarily is supposed to be the beneficiary of what other people are canvassing for.“I have told you that it is a unanimous decision and that alone should have shown you that he (Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan) is truthful and faithful because he took part in the decision.

“The medical treatment outside the country does not constitute incapacity to warrant or commence the process of the removal of the President from office under sections 144 and 146 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”, the AGF added.

 Reacting to demands by some Nigerians that Jonathan should be sworn-in as the Acting President, Aondoakaa said: “I also want to brief you on the issue of acting president and the history of acting president in other jurisdictions. The issue of acting president is a matter, which comes under the purview of Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution. The condition precedent for it is that the president must write for a voluntary transfer of power to the VP to be the acting president.

“Where the president does, the VP automatically assumes the duties of an acting president. The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not make provisions for any swearing-in, it is an automatic elevation to that position of the president but the job must start from the president.

Finally, the seeming unanimity among the Federal Executive Council (FEC) that President Umaru Yar’Adua is fit to govern soon had cracks and began to crumble. The first crack in the ranks of the president’s council of ministers emerged when Dora Akunyili, Hon. Minister for information, broke from the official position and submitted a memo calling on the FEC to own up to the president’s incapacitation on grounds of ill health.

The development initially caught the hawks in the council unawares and seemed to fire up other members who had been subdued on their perception of the leadership crisis that has enveloped the presidency since Yar’Adua sought medical care for his failing health in a Jeddah hospital in Saudi Arabia.

In her memo, Akunyili urged her colleagues to face up to the leadership vacuum in the presidency and the fact that President Yar’Adua’s health has impaired his ability to govern. Stressing the implications of the vacuum on the polity, she canvassed the view that the council should recommend to the president to adhere to the resolution of the Senate which directed Yar’Adua to officially transmit to it a letter on his medical vacation.

Apparently concerned with overwhelming call across the political landscape for the machinery of government to be stabilized through temporary handover of power to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, Akunyili said Nigerian people had been taken for a ride for too long and that it is time for the ministers to do the right thing by urging the president to step down.

Although Akunyili’s memo was stepped down by the hawks, majority of the ministers seemed to have been inspired by it, creating a tense atmosphere at the meeting. Although the minister’s memo was rejected by the hawks, “a cowardly majority of the members actually supported her position and some of them even congratulated her after the meeting, which lasted only 90 minutes.”

When Dora Akunyili, presented her memorandum asking her colleagues to wake up to their responsibility to the Nigerian nation, tempers flared and voices were raised. Some of the ministers rose from their seats so their voices would carry in the chambers of the Executive Council of the Federation. Some rained insults on her. A few asked her if she had weighed the risks of her presenting such a position paper.

                                                                                                                                                                              There were also threats of sack from those who felt Akunyili should not continue to stay in council after submitting such a strong-worded memo.  Reports showed that the memorandum took the ministers by surprise and if the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Yayale Ahmed, had not had the presence of mind to ask for the copies already in the hands of the members, it would have been difficult to calm frayed nerves at the meeting. There were 42 copies of the document with all of the members but when the ministers were told to return them, the SGF discovered that three copies were missing. It took another round of search and persuasion before the missing copies were retrieved. 

According to one of the ministers sympathetic to Akunyili’s stand, “I salute Dora’s courage because it takes courage to look your boss in the eye and ask him to step down for his deputy. Many of us are also not comfortable with the way things have gone in the country these past two months, which is why we are supporting her.”

Most of the ministers thought it was just another presentation from her ministry until she started reading. You should have seen the faces of some of the ministers. They shouted, hurled insults at her and some pointedly told her that her days were numbered in the council. They asked her if she had weighed the risks of her action. It was really a hot session.

In an interview in the press, Dora said “I am hopeful that the letter transferring power to Dr Goodluck Jonathan would finally arrive so that the tension in the country can be doused. I also expect that when President Yar’Adua returns, he will take over. The VP cannot stop him from returning to his office. It is not possible. Let me also state clearly that nobody wants Mr President dead. No child of God will wish a fellow human being dead. I don’t want my boss to die. Only evil people want him to die. He will return. So all this tension in the country is unnecessary, we all know what is right and that is what we should do”.

Dora Akunyili, a university professor, was formerly at the University of Nigeria Nsukka from where she was appointed Director General of NAFDAC, and later Minister of Information. Her memo ignited the inferno that later roasted the hawks as the national assembly and the civil society groups soon complemented the momentum and finally made VP Goodluck Jonathan , the acting president on Tuesday, 9^th February 2010 while Yar Adua recuperates in an unknown location.

Thank you, Dora for doing what men were afraid to do!

Infiltration of the liquid effluent however, requires that sufficient pit-soil interface area is available depending on the long term infiltration capacity of the soil. Pit effluent enters the soil first by infiltrating the pit-soil interface, which is partially covered in a bacteria/slime layer, and then by percolating away through the surrounding soil. The long term infiltration rate depends on the type of soil. The liquid effluent from leach pits of different types of pit latrines will infiltrate both laterally and vertically into the soil and through to the groundwater if the aquifer is an unconfined one.The basic principles of on-site systems, however, remain the same: liquids infiltrate into the soil and the solids are retained, anaerobically digested and have to be removed or a new pit has to be dug at regular intervals. The basic on-site systems are primarily designed to dispose of human excreta. Wastewaters from cooking, clothes washing, and bathing are collected in small drains and disposed of in soakaways for infiltration. If the leach pit bottom is close to the Groundwater table, then bacteria or other contaminants may travel both downwards and laterally, transported by the Groundwater. The lateral movement will always be in the same direction as the flow of the Groundwater. It is therefore important that latrine locations are carefully selected with respect to sources of water supply, to avoid the risk of pollution. It has been indicated that if there are at least 2.0meters between the pit bottom and the Groundwater table, little microbial pollutant travel occurs in most unconsolidated soils and a horizontal distance of 10.0meters between a drinking water well and a latrine is often satisfactory.

Concluded !

One of the greatest challenges currently facing the water sector is how to effectively access and manage the safety of water sources in order to meet targets outlined in the Millennium Development Goals. On top of this concern is the fact that water quality is an essential component of public health. Traditionally, drinking water supplies from groundwater have often been associated with natural quality problems which are often related to local geology. This is so because the interaction between water and rock forming minerals during groundwater circulation may lead to the build-up of harmful concentration of some trace elements. Other health effects in drinking water supplies from groundwater may be caused by element deficiencies where rocks have low concentration of essential elements. Water may also be unacceptable due to aesthetic problems such as bad odour or taste (caused, for example by iron and hydrogen sulphide) or staining problems (iron and manganese). However, and by far, the greatest water-quality problem in developing countries including Nigeria is the prevalence of water-borne diseases, especially gastro-enteritis which is related to faecal pollution and inadequate hygiene. There is no doubt that health can be compromised when harmful pathogens contaminate drinking water either at the source, through seepage of contaminated run-off water, or within the piped distribution system. Moreover unhygienic handling of water during transport or within the home can contaminate previously safe water. The choice of an appropriate sanitation system for growing and dense urban populations is increasingly becoming a public health concern particularly in the developing world. The F-Diagram had underscored sanitation as an imperative intervention necessary for breaking the link between human waste (excreta) and the individual (person), but is that actually the case with many sanitation systems covertly discharging poorly treated effluents to water bodies?. In the face of this realization, are latrines/ toilets still to be recorded as sustainable stop gaps for the spread of faecal pathogens?; Does the discharge of poorly treated and raw faecal matter and effluents into streams, rivers and ground water not compromise public health?, Is the problem a technology and management issue or a construction and development issue? A 2006 World Health Organisation (WHO) report had revealed that as much as 24% of global disease is caused by environmental exposures which can be averted. Well-targeted interventions can prevent much of this environmental risk, the WHO report said. The report further estimates that more than 33% of disease in children under the age of 5 is caused by environmental exposures. Preventing environmental risk could save as many as four million lives a year in children alone, mostly in developing countries.  The report, Preventing disease through healthy environments - towards an estimate of the environmental burden of disease, is the most comprehensive and systematic study yet undertaken on how preventable environmental hazards contribute to a wide range of diseases and injuries.  By focusing on the environmental causes of disease, and how various diseases are influenced by environmental factors, the analysis breaks new ground in understanding the interactions between environment and health. The estimate reflects how much death, illness and disability could be realistically avoided every year as a result of better environmental management. The report estimates that more than 13 million deaths annually are due to preventable environmental causes. Nearly one third of death and disease in the least developed regions is due to environmental causes. Over 40% of deaths from malaria and an estimated 94% of deaths from diarrhoeal diseases, two of the world’s biggest childhood killers, could be prevented through better environmental management. The four main diseases influenced by poor environments are diarrhoea, lower respiratory infections, various forms of unintentional injuries, and malaria. Measures which could be taken now to reduce this environmental disease burden include the promotion of safe household water storage and better hygienic measures; the use of cleaner and safer fuels; increased safety of the built environment, more judicious use and management of toxic substances in the home and workplace; better water resource management.                                                                                                       

 “For the first time, this new report shows how specific diseases and injuries are influenced by environmental risks and by how much,” said Dr Maria Neira, Director of WHO’s Department for Public Health and Environment. “It also shows very clearly the gains that would accrue both to public health and to the general environment by a series of straightforward, coordinated investments. We call on ministries of health, environment and other partners to work together to ensure that these environmental and public health gains become a reality.”           

The report and executive summary - Preventing Disease Through Healthy Environments: towards an estimate of the environmental burden of disease can be found on: http://www.who.int/quantifying_ehimpacts/publications/preventingdisease/en/index.html.

In view of the foregoing, it is germane to underscore that as stated above; an estimated 94% of deaths from diarrhoeal diseases is a big issue and generally an issue linked directly with sanitation as well as hygiene. Preventing these through better environmental management is the kernel of my study.  Measures already listed that could be taken now to reduce this environmental disease burden include amongst others the promotion of safe household water storage and better hygienic measures; and the  increased safety of the built environment, as well as better water resource management.                                                                                                       

To achieve these measures I agree with the fact that sanitation systems involves all arrangements necessary to store, collect, process and deliver human wastes back to nature in a safe manner. Sanitation systems with respect to human waste management may be considered to have the following functions; excretion and storage; collection and transportation; process/treatment; and disposal /recycle. Sanitation represents an immense problem that appears differently in various parts of the world. In the developing countries like Nigeria, its lack or inadequacy is the major issue. It should not be forgotten that sanitation options basically depend on the type of water supply, management of wastes, receiving water quality and environment. For instance, public water supply and the flush toilet principle automatically entail expensive sewerage and wastewater treatment that need to constantly be upgraded due to the recognition of emerging problems. Thus, it is evident that sanitation is not only a health and technology issue but much more; environmental, sustainability, social, institutional, and legislative implications are also crucial, and a broad approach is looked for that takes into account all these aspects when selecting from the various existing alternatives.The classification of sanitation as on-site or off-site systems depends on whether the waste is stored, treated and disposed of at the point of generation or transported to somewhere else for treatment and/or disposal. When the wastes are collected, treated and disposed of at the point of generation, it is called an on-site system e.g. pit latrines and septic tank systems etc.

Next week I will discuss this a little further.

To be continued next week.

development.

In the traditional African society there is struggle for almost everything. There is struggle for basic things such as water, food and even clean air. These things are simply a luxury in most homes. I therefore wonder when our people will be supported to overcome these difficulties and live in harmony with their environment and nature. Accounts of deforestation in Nigeria by scientists show that about 92 percent of the land surface of Nigeria is considered prone to land degradation from moderate to severe stages. Over 350 million tons of topsoil is estimated to be lost each year due to soil erosion. Natural forests, believed to have covered about 40 percent of the country’s land surface some 50 years ago have dwindled to mere 9 percent currently. The estimated 26 million herds of cattle and goats which are mostly grazing beyond carrying capacity have not helped the land reclamation strategies.  More than 37 percent of the country’s forest reserve were lost between 1990 and 2005 as a result of illegal and uncontrolled logging, incessant bush burning, fuel wood gathering and clearing of forests for other land uses hence making the country vulnerable to declining soil productivity, desertification, loss of aquatic life, coastal/soil erosion, biodiversity lose, water and air pollution, drying up of water bodies, erratic flooding causing loss of life and property and diseases.  But those are just a single side of the story. Cooking indoors, on an open fire has been used since the beginning of human civilization. In Nigeria, just as in many other parts of Africa, this simple technology is still the prevailing method for cooking and heating and consists of the use of biomass fuel –including firewood, agricultural residue and animal dung – in traditional open-fire stoves.  In Nigeria, children miss up to 3 days of school per week to gather firewood with 76% of the population depending on firewood for fuel and cooking. The use of wood as fuel for everything from cooking to heating is one of the biggest problems in Nigeria. When wood is burnt it becomes hot and releases gases which account for a large amount of the energy and heat produced. As cooking takes place every day of the year, most people using solid fuels are exposed to levels of small particles many times higher than accepted annual limits for outdoor air pollution. Combustion of solid fuels in open fires or traditional stoves results in very high levels of indoor air pollutants (IAP), principally particulate matter (PM) and carbon monoxide (CO). It also releases a number of other dangerous chemicals including nitrogen oxides, benzene, butadiene, formaldehyde, poly-aromatic hydrocarbons. These gases and particles lead to respiratory diseases such as lung cancer, asthma, pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease affecting primarily the women and children. The smoke and indoor pollution arising from these cooking processes were held responsible for over 1.6 million deaths and 2.7% of the global burden of disease. In 2002 across Sub Saharan Africa the death toll due to indoor pollution had risen to 396 000 and with a prediction of over 200 million more people using solid fuel combustion in the developing world by 2030 to provide their energy needs this figure will inevitably rise.  In India alone, about 500,000 premature deaths of women and children are encountered each year due to indoor air pollution. Millions more suffer every day with difficulty in breathing, stinging eyes, and chronic respiratory disease. The WHO estimates that inhaling indoor smoke doubles the risk of pneumonia and other acute infections of the lower respiratory tract among children under five years of age. It has also concluded that women exposed to indoor smoke are three times more likely to suffer from COPD, such as chronic bronchitis or emphysema, than women who cook with electricity, gas or other cleaner fuels.  The World Bank also estimates that about 400 million children and 700 million women are at risk because of exposure to contamination arising from the use of biomass for cooking and heating (GTZ-PAHO/WHO, 2006). Indoor Air Pollution and inefficient household energy practices are additionally posing significant obstacles to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) since the use of solid fuels has many other negative household impacts.  In Nigeria, despite the enormous number of firewood burning for cooking, there are not many studies conducted related to its impact as a driver of Indoor Air Pollution — particularly emphasizing health impacts. The dissemination of information or environmental education of vulnerable groups is not yet adequately undertaken. It is yet to be understood whether this is due to the lack of trained human resources or as a lack of state of the art equipment needed to carry and conduct research.  Furthermore, smoke alleviating technologies or alternate solar powered stoves and ovens are not yet accorded priority in development in any part or region of Nigeria. These interventions need to consider the geographical, climatic, and socio-economic conditions of local populations as well as micro-credit finance to aid their adoption. Nigerian NGOs have a role to play in this regard. There is an urgent need to conduct actual field studies and research to identify which interventions work best in specific local contexts. As such, there is a huge need for environmental health education in this critical area in this era of climatic revulsion.  I therefore challenge government departments especially the environment and public health departments in government, universities and the private sector to rise up to the occasion and save Nigeria’s poor whose health and well being are being shrunk and ruined by excessive exposure to pollution from firewood smokes.

Gladly, the Imo State police command denied such claim as no report was ever brought to it about that. On the other hand, no journalist is yet to come up with a photograph on such gory scene. It is also germane to point out that the Nworie River is incapable of serving as an inland transport medium as being suggested by those forcing the dredging contract down our throats as the extent of the coverage is so small. How far can such transportation go without an enormous investment in rebuilding the road blockings on Assumpta Avenue and Egbeada Road?

Discussing the controversial dredging of the Nworie River at a time of economic recession and peril of both the government and citizens is germane. First, the Nworie River provides a strategic ecological service to the city of Owerri vis-à-vis its role as a major hydrological catchment for both flood and storm waters emanating from rainfalls across the adjoining uplands or hills that serve as its catchment areas. Its valley location makes its ability to perform this task seem effortless as all generated runoffs from paved roads and concreted buildings find their way into it. A similar task is perfomed by the Iyi echu stream in Okigwe town, and many other Rivers and Streams everywhere.

This hydrological function has a lot of benefits, one of which, as already mentioned is flood control. But then, there is also the benefit of sediment transport and hydrological stabilization which though very gradual and minimal, enables the Otammiri River and its surrounding landscapes to recover from the anthropologic effects of sand mining that is currently ravaging it. This natural process provides a natural balance to the entire ecosystem both terrestrial and the freshwater. In this regards, one may need to ask why erosion and landslide have remained a major problem around the point the Nworie River joins the Otammiri River that is around Nekede? The simple answer is that the surrounding landscapes, having been deprived of the stabilization effects of incoming sediments, exerts a balancing pressure on surrounding landscapes , the result being the massive erosion and landslides we have in that area today. This situation would have been worse without the Nworie River.

Sediments from Nworie River support Otammiri River to build some level of resilience. Secondly, beyond this role, the stream has an intrinsic value which also serves as a primary role and this is the life and habitation it provides to biodiversity. Biodiversity in simple terms means the plants (flora) and animals (fauna) varying from the very microscopic to the very large inhabiting the waters of this small River. As a source of life, water bodies naturally provide this ecological service in support of mother earth.

Hydrology is a key determinant of specie distribution, wetland productivity and nutrient cycling and availability. Globally, when environmentalists oppose river dredging, it is often premised on reasons such as those cited above.

This makes River dredging a very controversial issue anywhere it is planned and raises the necessity for an Environmental Impacts Assessment (EIA). Such an EIA enables all stakeholders to appraise all their options including mitigation. For a coastal delta environment such as the Niger Delta this could become a life and death issue as is currently the case with the recently commissioned dredging in the Niger Delta.

I am keen to see and read the EIA for the Nworie River dredging or was there none? I will be most surprised if there was none. If there actually was one, then I am keen to know the level of participation of stakeholders and what their inputs were. Stakeholders in this instance include the Nekede community, the fisher men, the sand dredgers, the NGOs, land owners and farmers within the banks of the Rivers etc. I need to point out that dredging at whatever scale causes serious environmental damage as it significantly degrades water quality and can harms fisheries.

During dredging, sediment, soil, and vegetation along the way are removed and deposited as dredge spoils. Toxic substances attached to sediment particles can enter aquatic food chains, cause fish toxicity and mortality and make the water unfit for drinking. Research has proven that waste material from dredging when dumped on the river banks disrupts the environment. Often, these wastes are acidic and if it leaches into the water, pose as a further source of contamination. While oil companies are responsible for significant dredging activities in the Niger Delta, dredging of rivers is also done by other local businesses and government, such as the Nworie River by the Imo State Government.

There have been reports of human induced saline contamination at Isaka near Port Harcourt where the dredging of the Port Harcourt harbour admitted saline water into the aquifer in the area. Canalization particularly short-cut canals have often resulted in intrusion of saline waters into fresh water swamps and groundwater. Similarly, dredging activities of Chevron Nigeria Limited allegedly resulted in salt water intrusion into an otherwise freshwater swamp forest, leading to the complete destruction of vast areas of land (over 20 km²) in the Opuekeba area of Tsekelewu, Rivers State.

Therefore, I doubt the wisdom of the Imo State Government in dredging the Nworie River. I am of the opinion that what was actually needed was tougher environmental regulation around the River in order to protect its catchment. This would have included regulated sand mining in the Otammiri River; absolute stopping of medical and sanitary waste discharge into the River and the setting up of a watershed management for both the Otammiri and Nworie Rivers. Watershed management in this case as is practiced in Sweden and other developed countries would have seen to the planting of trees along and within at least 100 meter periphery of the Rivers as well as restricting residential buildings within this periphery especially residential buildings with on-site sanitation systems including septic pits or tanks. Without these strategies in place the dredging would end up a futility.

I am also of the opinion that the weeds on the Nworie River and the accompanying silts would have been removed manually. By so doing the state government would not have spent as much as it has done and Imo people, particularly those to be engaged in the work would have tremendously benefited; instead of paying such a colossal amount to an alien or offshore contractor who has little or no stake in the state.