By Rosemary Ogbonnaya
To ensure environmental protection, natural resources conservation, and sustainable development, the Federal Ministry of Environment has identified some areas of its priority which include Ogoniland cleanup, climate Change, erosion and flood control, circular economy, waste management and Pollution control, improving rural infrastructure, reducing deforestation, and others.
Briefing journalists on the priority areas of the Ministry, the Minister of State for the Environment, Chief Sharon Ikeazor said Nigeria has been facing several environmental challenges from desertification in the North, to flooding and coastal erosion in the South, deforestation, land degradation, pollution, loss of biodiversity and adverse impacts of climate change.
Ikeazor explained that all these environmental degradations are adversely affecting the lives and livelihood of people.
Speaking on the area of Afforestation, the minister said the national afforestation programme under the green bond project has successfully forested 6,191,363 hectares of land through the green bond project implemented by; Forest Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), National NAGGW, Department of Desertification, land degradation and drought Management, National Parks Service (NPS), NGOs, State Governments, Private planters and international stakeholders.
“In addition, a total of 6,550,056 seedlings, were raised, distributed to state governments and institutions and planted by Forest Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), Federal Department of Forestry, Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF) and tree restoration and planting company in 2020 under the forestry trust fund initiative,” she said.
Ikeazor also said the most significant action taken towards playing role in climate change mitigation and adaptation is the signing of the Climate change bill into law by Mr President, in November 2021, adding that
in the implementing of the Ministry’s mandate, it will be focusing on the Ogoniland cleanup.
Speaking on the achievements recorded so far in the Ogoniland cleanup, Ikeazor said, “The Ministry is accelerating the remediation project, expanding on the livelihood program of the hydrocarbon impacted communities. Preliminary remediation activities had commenced in early 2018, and work is at various stages of the remediation processes, with successes despite delays encountered.
“The Project implementation status is between 2019-2021 and covers three,core areas, which are contaminated soil remediation, sustainable livelihood programme and portable water supply.
1.In 2019 contracts for 21 lots were awarded for remediation, these covered 12 of the 65 listed sites in the UNEP report. These lots covered an area of 276 acres. To date 18 of these lots have been completed and certified by NOSDRA. 3 of the lots are currently undergoing certification process and one lot is still undergoing remediation.”
In the area of climate change, the minister said, in the World Climate Change Vulnerability Index Nigeria is classified as one of the ten most vulnerable countries in the world, adding that this posed a serious threat to poverty eradication and sustainable development in general.
According to her, the cost of not addressing climate change or not adapting to it is very high and certainly the social consequences are enormous.
In this regard, she said, ” We have made significant strides in the area of climate change adaptation by developing a National Adaptation Communication,ADCOM, document, which provides a mechanism for Nigeria to report “priorities, implementation and support needs, plans and actions.Also a National Adaptation Plan Framework to help with adaptation planning and governance.
“The most critical step we have taken towards playing our role in climate change mitigation and adaptation is the realisation of the Climate Change Act, in November 2021. The Act provides for the establishment of the National Council on Climate Change, which will have the powers of policymaking and decisions on all matters related to climate change in Nigeria.”
She further stated that, “As part of efforts to ensure that the country meets its target of attaining net zero by 2060, the Act provides for the phenomenon of carbon budgeting which will be set in a five-yearly cycle with annual targets assigned to private and public entities, with the Council imbued with the powers to monitor and ensure that set budgets and targets are met as at when due.”
Ikeazor also said the Federal Ministry of Environment has been implementing programmes and projects aimed at preventing and controlling land degradation arising from inland soil erosion, flooding, coastal and riverbank erosion throughout the Federation.
“The Ministry since inception executed over 2,000 erosion and flood control projects and other smart climate related ecological interventions in various states.
Our flagship program, NEWMAP was born by the Department of Erosion and Flood Control as an initiative to solving the astronomical ecological challenges and dwindling funding of erosion projects in the Ministry,” she said.
