The Nigerian Minister for environment, Amina J Mohammed, fresh from her return to Nigeria after a great outing at the COP 21 in Paris went on an assessment tour of degraded sites in Nigeria in show of her strong will in ensuring that the Paris talks and Nigeria?s impressive INDC does not dwell on commendations from environment stakeholders but move swiftly into action.

The minister visited sites in Lagos, Yobe, Borno and Kano States as well as the Niger Delta to ascertain the ecological status of the country especially with the threats of coastal erosion, desertification and pollution increasingly becoming bigger.

In Lagos State - Nigeria's commercial hub- the minister led officials from her ministry and from the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) as well as representatives of environment  stakeholder groups to evaluate three sites in the state which include Makoko Community in Yaba, Alpha Beach in Lekki and Kuramo Beach located in the Victoria Island of the State.

The Alpha Beach is one that has quite markedly swallowed the 150 meters gap between what used to be its shoreline and the houses facing it and has now devastated that environment badly with houses, healthcare centers and business apartments already swallowed in a clear show of Lagos state's undoubted front-line vulnerability to the effects of Climate Change. The minister saw that for herself as she was conducted round the beach by an Engineer from the Ministry of Environment.

The bad state of the beach is captured by environewsnigeria which reports that a resident of the community said: 'Every year, the water keeps coming at us, and the devastation has been unprecedented in recent years. About two weeks ago, the community was flooded including the Baale's (Community Chief's) house which was about two streets away from the shoreline".

At the Kuramo Beach is one that has experienced immense coastal erosion and will soon be housing the Eko Atlantic city (a new housing estate which I will write extensively on soon) expected to help reduce the coastal erosion at the site. The minister was conducted round the site by an Engineer working on the site who offered explanations on the plans for the site.

 

At Makoko community, it was an even more deplorable situation where residents live in floating houses atop the dirty and heavily polluted water. The just sleep there, they have their full activities – educational, economic and otherwise.

According to the Executive Director of Centre for 21^st Century Issues, Titilope Akosa, "The minister was at the floating school but she was not allowed to go inside the school by some community touts who felt she ought to have informed them before coming. The minister observed different logging activities around, and fumes from the nearby Oko-Baba Sawmill and saw dust were very visible from the boat".

 

"A representative of the community explained that the Lagos Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) has three offices in the community and they come to collect refuse from the community on a weekly basis. He added that this is not enough as the community generates a considerable amount of waste and even some of the wastes are dumped into the water. This explains why the water channel is full of dirt and partially blocked".The population of inhabitants of the Makoko community living on water is said to be more than those living on land.

Titilope Akosa, also reported on the some of the important recommendations coming from the inspection to include:

   -  Construction of more groins at Alpha Beach

   -  Close monitoring of Eko Atlantic City project to ensure it is not causing environmental problems

   - Employment of experts to investigate the cause of the Alpha Beach sea level rise and proffer solutions

   - Regeneration and possible relocation of the Makoko community

   - Introduction of a waste-to-wealth programme, including clean cooking solutions in Makoko community

While I expect more details regarding the minister's visit to Niger Delta, kano, Yobe and Borno State for the same inspection purpose, I am gladdened that the Minister who I have high hopes for has started justifying the huge hope of Nigerians on her. She?s one of the few current cabinet members in Nigeria that can perfectly be described as a square peg in a square hole. With more of such visits expected in the next few months, 2016 will be an interesting year for the environment and climate discussions in Nigeria.

 

Source: environewsnigeria

Photo by: environewsnigeria