Environment
CSO calls for nationwide remediation programme to combat desertification
Agency Report
The Climate and Sustainable Development Network (CSDevNet) a Civil Society group has called for a nation-wide remediation programme to combat desertification and drought in the country.
Dr Ibrahim Choji, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the network made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Abuja to commemorate the 2019 World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.
The 2019 Theme “Let’s Grow the Future Together” focuses on three key issues related to land: drought, human security and climate.
The day, which raises awareness of international efforts to combat desertification, was established 25 years ago, along with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.
“Land in Nigeria has long been a silent casualty of war and armed conflicts.
“From the contamination of land and the destruction of forests to the plunder of natural resources and the collapse of management systems: the environmental consequences of militancy in the Niger Delta, terrorism in the North and herdsmen-farmers’ crises across Nigeria are often widespread and devastating.
“A small proportion of Nigerians in conflict-prone areas have the luxury of mobility which is not applicable to the land.”
“Land is static; never mobile hence it is subject to varying degrees of exploitation and despoliation.
“Because land is fixed in quantity, there is ever-increasing competition to control land resources and capitalise on the flows of goods and services from the land.
“This has the potential to cause social and political instability, fuelling poverty, conflict and migration.
“Some of the environmental problems associated with crises-torn areas in Nigeria include habitat degradation, reduced access to water points and other vital resources, species loss, alteration of the natural food chain, and additional pressure on biodiversity.”
Choji said that CSDevNet believed attention must be paid to land if meaningful result was to be achieved as Nigerians depended on it for both their long-term and immediate needs.
“Any developmental strategy including the Economic Growth and Recovery Plan (EGRP) that does not encompass environmental remediation and land neutrality will not achieve meaningful results.
“To achieve land neutrality in Nigeria, governments across all levels and stakeholders must strive to create a country where the amount and quality of land resources, necessary to support ecosystem functions and services: enhance food security remains stable or increases within specified temporal and spatial scales and ecosystems.”
According to him, CSDevNet is calling for a nationwide land remediation programme as years of insurgency, terrorism, militancy and pastoralist crises have inadvertently left behind a land filled with relics of war tools such as explosives, poisonous canisters and land mines.
“Through the deployment of weapons with high destructive capacities, both security forces and terrorists have contributed to the degradation of the Nigerian environment.
“Their activities in the Sambisa forest and creeks of the Niger Delta have greatly depleted the country’s forest resources just as some reforestation programmes have been put on hold in areas with astounding threats of desertification.
“These directly affect livelihoods through decreased access to land, and inadequate access to natural resources, displacement and the loss of biodiversity.”
Choji said that a comprehensive nationwide clean-up exercise would go a long way in reclaiming the environment for farming and other land uses.
“By achieving land degradation neutrality, we will have more land available for further sustainable development.
“What becomes more important, then, will be to generate and sustain fundamental and sustainable positive change by keeping the productive land productive.”
NAN
Environment
Earthic Energy To Establish Solar Manufacturing Factory In Nigeria

By Uche Onyeali
Indigenous clean energy company, Earthic Energy Limited has disclosed plans to set up a solar energy manufacturing factory in Nigeria.
Chief Executive Officer of the company, Miss Blessing Anulika Achebe gave the hint during the launch of the company in Abuja, at the weekend.
Miss Achebe, who disclosed that she has been in the solar energy business for five years, said though the journey had not been easy, but she and her partners are focused towards achieving the set goals of the company.
According to her, “The journey so far has not been easy, but I have been working with utmost determination, when I make up my mind to do something, I put in my best and God’s grace will always pave way for you with hard work.
“I have worked so hard to get to where I want to be today. I have tried so hard to make all my dreams come true. Like I said earlier, with the mercy of God everything has come to pass.”
On how she could cope with the competition in the sector, Achebe noted that her firm does not admit any factor that could stand as drawback, as a lot of women are already making waves in various sectors of the economy.
“Our determination is unhindered, though we acknowledge such competition as it paves the way for more resilience. Women are now taking over the world.
“I have been into solar for more than five years. Right now I have been pushing so hard and I see how the world is evolving around energy.
“I have made up my mind that said this is what I want to do. I said if I don’t get to where I want to be, there is no going back; I would go above the limit. I want to change lives; I want to make the world a better place. That is why I came up with ‘Earthic Energy Limited’ because the world revolves around the earth. The earth is where we live and that is why my colour is green and sun yellow. So I want to power the whole world.
“Our plan is to set up a solar energy factory in Nigeria where we can manufacture our own products,” she said.
She called for more investors and government at all levels to take advantage of Earthic’s services, which include solar streetlight installation, inverter/grid installation, construction, training/empowerment, as well as contract financing and partnership, supply/credit sales.
Speaking at the occasion, a Professor of Biochemical Pharmacology at Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Professor Zaruwa commended Miss Achebe for her vision and bold step into the clean energy sub-sector.
Professor Zaruwa, a former Vice Chancellor of Adamawa State University, Mubi, urged government at all levels, especially governors in the northern part of the country where there is enormous sun, to partner Earthic Energy to improve power supply in the country.
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