Headlines

Palliative measures failed to stop annual Ogun community flooding —Minister

Published

1 week ago

24 April 2024

Palliative measures failed to stop annual Ogun community flooding —Minister

The Minister of State for Environment, Dr Iziaq Salako, in this interview with SODIQ OJUROUNGBE, speaks on the government’s commitment to tackling environmental challenges, including the devastating impact of flooding on communities like Isheri, the border town between Lagos and Ogun states

What is the government doing on desertification and land degradation, particularly in the North?

Land degradation is another resultant effect of climate change because of the global warming we are experiencing. We have desertification happening very fast, and then land depreciation also because of the way we use our land in a non-sustainable manner.

For us, one of the key things to prevent land degradation is to adopt nature-based solutions in terms of planting trees. And that’s why we have the agencies like the Great Green Wall planting trees. For example, the mandate given by Mr President to the ministry is to ensure that we plant at least six million trees in 2024. And we have designed our programmes to ensure that we achieve this. The agencies are going to plant trees are the Forest Research Institute of Nigeria in Ibadan, the Great Green Wall and then the ministries and then we have a special intervention project by Mr President that is also going to plant trees, to achieve large-scale tree planting.

We are also going to use tree planting to promote agroforestry and bamboo as an alternative to trees. So, you see us doing all kinds of programmes like that to address land degradation.

Well, the game show is still in the cooler. We will not want to reveal too much for now. I am sure that in the coming weeks or months, you will see the public presentation of the game show, and then everybody will see the details of it.

For the tree planting, we’re going to first engage the youth in tree planting. We are going to engage retirees in tree planting, and then we are also going to have our agencies planting trees. We are also going to support the state ministries to plant trees.

We’re going to produce seedlings that we can donate to states and interested non-governmental organisations that have track records of successful tree-planting programmes. Those are the strategies that we are going to adopt.

The presidential initiative that I spoke about is going to engage youths and retirees, especially to plant trees. The whole idea is to train youths to be able to raise seedlings on their own and also to plant those trees, nurture them to adulthood, and be compensated as they go along with doing that by the Federal Government.

In the coming days, by the grace of God, that will also be revealed. And then we’re going to have a lot of technology also deployed in doing that. It’s not going to be an analogue kind of thing. You know, these days with the Internet, a lot of things can happen.

So, we would do a lot of virtual training for youths who register for that programme. Then, we also do virtual monitoring of some of the activities through using of geo-location images that can be used to affirm if the trees were planted.

Those are the kinds of programmes that we are bringing on board going forward, to ensure that we arrest the challenge of land degradation. We engage youths; we engage retirees and we increase the forest copper for Nigeria.

How many jobs do you intend to create through that channel?

From the preliminary work already presented to me, the committee is currently finalising these projects that I have just spoken to you about. From this particular intervention, I think, at the end of the day, we’re looking at creating between 5,000 and 10,000 jobs. And at the end of the day, for a year, those youths and retirees get some token monthly, to ensure that they nurture the trees that they planted and ensure that they germinate.

What are the ministry’s plans to address climate change in Nigeria, especially in light of the increasing number of environmental disasters and extreme weather events?

Climate change has been described as perhaps the most important crisis that the world is currently facing. And it affects virtually everything, including our agricultural outputs. As you said, it affects our weather, transportation, and virtually everything that human beings engage in. So, it’s a very central issue to the Federal Ministry of Environment and also has a cut-cutting implication for several other ministries, including transport, and health.

For the Ministry of Environment, therefore, our approach is two-pronged. There is the approach of what we call how to mitigate the effect of climate change. That means: how do we reduce the factors contributing to what we are seeing as climate change, which is reducing greenhouse gas emissions?

So, you see policies of government around transportation. For example, we talk about compressed natural gases, which are less emitting. You will see the policies of the government around energy. We talk about sustainable sources of energy, using hydro and wind, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That is in the mitigation aspect.

Then, of course, we now have what we call the adaptive aspect, which is now that climate change has happened, how do we live with those adverse effects? How do we cope with adverse weather conditions? How do we cope with issues like flooding, erosion, and desertification? So those are what I call the adaptive aspects of it. These are the two-pronged approach that the ministry is adopting.

For mitigation as an example, we’re doing a lot of work on scaling up renewable energy penetration in our environment. We’re promoting solar energy, we’re promoting hydro energy, and we’re promoting wind energy as substitutes for energy from gas flaring or energy from burning fossil fuel.

We are also promoting practices that reduce the release of greenhouse gases, like methane, which are short-lived greenhouse gases. That also has a significant impact on the environment. So, you see practices in the agricultural sector and practices in the oil and gas sector, as examples. Now we’re monitoring the amount of natural gases that all companies flare.

What is the government doing in on the proneness of Isheri to flooding and other areas prone to such natural disasters?

I was in Isheri yesterday and I had a meeting with the representatives of the residents, including the Oloofin of Isheri, with some of his Baales and chiefs. For Isheri specifically, this is a problem that has been there for a long time. While I was a commissioner in Ogun State from 2007 up to 2011, it was a problem that we faced recurrently during that period.

So, the approach of the Federal Government this time around is to carry out a comprehensive study of what is responsible for the flooding. We have done a lot of palliatives in the past and what we have seen is that those palliative have not solved the problem. We need to understand fully what is responsible for the recurrent flooding in Isheri.

A study is being carried out right from the source of the Ogun River up to where it drains into the ocean. The study will help to see how the Ogun River is contributing to the flooding and also the contribution of the built environment around Isheri. The study will also investigate how the

The Atlantic Ocean itself contributes to the flooding.

When we fully understand this, a permanent solution will then be worked out that will be long-lasting. That is the approach we are adopting. For this year’s rainy season, we may not be able to intervene majorly to prevent the occurrence of flooding. But I can assure you that this issue of Isheri flooding is a priority to the Federal Government and the Federal Ministry of Environment. We are looking at it very critically.

For flooding issues generally, the government has set up a special committee on flooding mitigation and adaptation, which is headed by the Governor of Kogi State. The Federal Ministry of Environment is a member of that committee and I represent the Federal Ministry of Environment in that committee. The Federal Ministry of Water Resources, the Federal Ministry of

Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and then some agencies like the National Emergency Management Agency and meteorological agencies are on that committee.

How is the ministry collaborating with international organisations and neighbouring countries in protecting wildlife and the environment?

Well, elephants fall into the category of endangered species, so they are protected by law. It is illegal to kill an elephant and anybody who kills an elephant can go to jail for doing so because they are protected by law and they are not supposed to be killed. And there is also an international convention to which Nigeria is a signatory, which is to protect some of these animals like elephants, pangolins, Eagles, and so on.

What I can tell you is that in the Ministry of the Environment, we take seriously the protection of wildlife. And that is why, recently, when two elephants were killed illegally in a state in the North, we had to take it up. It was even a military officer that was involved, and we had to take it up with the military. We met with the Chief of Army Staff, we met with the Minister of Defence. We were able to ensure that those people were questioned, such that they would see that this thing is not allowed.

But what we have found out is that ignorance is the reason behind all these. People do not know, although ignorance is not an excuse in law. But we also need to scale up our awareness campaign, so that the people are more aware. Most of us buy bush meat on the road and don’t check whether it is protected bush meat or not. If you are caught with protected bush meat, you can be held liable for illegal wildlife trafficking.

We are coming up with an innovative TV game show to promote environmental citizenship and awareness. So, the awareness also needs to be scaled up. These are areas that we are also looking at to ensure that our people become conscious that they need to protect our wildlife for the future.

Headlines

NNPC, marketers in war of words over fuel scarcity

Published

11 hours ago

4 May 2024

Agency News

NNPC, marketers in war of words over fuel scarcity

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation has blamed the lingering fuel scarcity in the country on panic buying and sharp practices by some petroleum marketers who are exploiting the present situation to make more money.

The company also vowed that the fuel queues across the country would end next week, noting that it had enough litres of fuel to end the scarcity.

Petroleum marketers, however, disagreed with the position of the NNPC, insisting that inadequate supply was a major reason for the persisting fuel scarcity.

Recall that on Tuesday, the NNPC spokesperson, Femi Soneye, assured that the ongoing shortage in supply of petroleum products and queues for the products would be cleared by May 1.

According to him, the company had more than 1.5 billion litres of petroleum products available, enough to last for at least 30 days. He added that some individuals might be exploiting the situation to maximise profit.

The Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria had in a statement said its members in Apapa and other locations in Lagos had received 300 million litres of fuel from eight vessels this week.

This was after the South-West Regional Coordinator of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Ayo Cardoso, also confirmed to The PUNCH that aside from the 240 million litres offloaded at various depots on Monday, close to 85 million litres of petrol was offloaded as of Tuesday evening.

Cardoso stated that the government was doing its best to ensure massive distribution of PMS, adding that the product would soon be available across the country.

According to him, each state of the federation had its allocations, saying the same will be delivered to reduce the queues at filling stations.

“As I said earlier, there will be enough fuel across Nigeria soon. We have received over 300 million litres as of Tuesday. More have arrived as we speak, but I can’t give you the figure. Vessels will keep arriving in Nigeria for 15 days, which started counting on Monday, and we will keep distributing the product across the nation.

“The masses should not panic; all these will soon vanish. We are not prioritising anywhere, each state has its allocation to be delivered accordingly,” Cardoso stated.

In the last few days, the queues and shortage of petroleum products worsened the living conditions of most Nigerians as they struggled to get the product.

Roads were deserted while some individuals parked their vehicles at various filling stations pending the availability of petrol.

Hoarding of the product had also been on the increase, as some took advantage of the situation.

Concerned, the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream and Midstream) called on security agencies to pick up hoarders of PMS.

Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, the spokesperson of NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, explained that the oil firm currently had about three billion litres of petrol, as he blamed oil marketers and panic buying for the lingering queues.

“The queues are clearing. They won’t just clear like that, because people are trying to hoard, while others are buying what they don’t need. That is why we keep saying there is enough product; there is no need to buy what you don’t need.

“Also, you can’t exclude the marketers in this, as they want to use this opportunity to make more money. These are the issues, which is why we have involved the NMDPRA, because it is their duty to ensure that the right thing is done by these filling stations.

“Our job is to provide the product and we’ve told you that we have over 1.5 billion litres available. So, the NMDPRA should please do something about the distribution. It is not our job. We are not the regulator, and we don’t have power to sanction the filling stations that are not doing what they are supposed to do.”

Soneye said the NNPC had increased the volume of petrol in Nigeria and insisted that distribution by marketers was now the concern.

Stop blaming us for scarcity – Marketers to NNPC

Marketers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria have, however, told the NNPC not to blame them for the queues in filling stations, saying they were not involved in sharp practices.

The National Vice President of IPMAN, Hammed Fashola, wondered how the NNPC could shift the blame to marketers, who were not the importers of petrol.

Fashola said marketers could only hoard an available product, recalling how IPMAN had assisted in clearing off the queues in filling stations.

“That is far from the truth. You can only divert the product that you have. You don’t divert what you don’t have.

“On the issue of pricing, we are in a regime of partial deregulation. If you noticed, even before this crisis, we had different prices everywhere. That is another issue that cannot stand.

“On the issue of hoarding, you cannot hoard what you don’t have. It is not even making sense when you have fuel at this critical period, then you say you want to hoard it. So, that is not true too,” he said.

Asked if the marketers were now getting the product from the NNPC, the IPMAN leader said, “Let me use this opportunity to commend the NNPC, despite the fact that they want to put the blame on us. I think they’re trying their best to put the situation under control”.

Fashola added that independent marketers did not engage in sharp practices.

“We have already set up a task force within the IPMAN to make sure our people play according to the rules and regulations. We are a very disciplined organisation. We don’t do any sharp practices; we don’t condone that.

“If you remember, last week they told us it was a logistic problem, and we know what that means. So, why are they blaming marketers for the scarcity? We are not the importer, we are not in charge of shipment; we are not their clearing agent. We don’t even own our own depot. So, how can they blame us for that?” he asked.

Also responding to the NNPC’s allegations, the National Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike, debunked claims that the oil marketers were responsible for the persistent fuel scarcity.

Ukadike, speaking in a telephone interview on Friday night, stated that marketers established their businesses solely for profit and returns on investment, and would not create artificial scarcity, adding that the heavy capital and incurred bank charges did not allow for hoarding of the petroleum product.

He said, “We are the last in the distribution chain of supply. We break the box of NNPC, and as I am talking to you, IPMAN has over 20,000 filling stations scattered in the nooks and crannies of this country. We established our businesses to be able to maximise profit and have a return on investment.

“There is no sharp practice at all. Anytime there is inadequate supply of petroleum products, you would find out that independent marketers advertise and even go as far as washing vehicles’ tyres and windscreens and instructing our pump attendants to sell petroleum products, because we believe in turnover. The kind of money we are using to buy products, around N40m, is too huge for someone to hoard. We even incur bank charges.

“There is no way we can hoard products. Once they are given to us, we sell them as quickly as possible.

He added, “We are ready to sell for 24 hours if security is provided for us and financial support is also given to us. As an official, I can tell you that we are not involved in any sharp practice. Once petroleum gets to us, we will sell to consumers, because we interface with them and we know how it feels when product is scarce.”

The official further called on security agencies to wade off street urchins profiteering from the scarcity.

“I won’t also say that there are no people, such as street urchins, who take advantage of the situation to engage in sharp practices, using their vehicles to buy petroleum product and then distribute to jerry cans for profiteering. We are aware of those issues, and the national president of IPMAN has advised that marketers should involve security agencies to wade off all those persons standing in front of their filling stations.”

Also speaking to Saturday PUNCH, the Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, said even though sharp practices existed within the oil sector, it should not be blamed majorly for the fuel scarcity in the country.

He said, “There are many reasons. I don’t doubt that some sharp practices are going on, but it is too simplistic to say that is the cause of the scarcity. So, I don’t believe that they (NNPCL) will say that.”

“I do not believe they said so. I do not doubt that there may be some sharp practices here and there, but I do not believe the NNPCL would say so.”

Explaining the cause of the scarcity, he said, “I have said it is logistic challenges. There are many other problems, but the immediate cause can be classified under logistic challenges.”

To solve the prevailing fuel scarcity, he said the government should “flood the markets with the products.”

“If you wake up and they say there is no product in Nigeria, then you can call or hold NNPC responsible. But now, the custodian of the stock is the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and they have not said that we don’t have products. When Nigerians should hold us responsible is when there is no product. But, there is product in excess.

“The 1.5 billion litres we said about four days ago has increased, because we’ve added more vessels and we are going to make almost three billion litres available. So, distribution should be looked into by the NMDPRA.

“When the regulator sanctions some stations, it will make others sit up and do the right thing. But, as NNPC, we don’t have the power to sanction any station,” Soneye stated.