2016 and the Environment Ministry

BY DOYIN ADEOYE
Since the Minister of Environment, Mrs Amina Mohammed came on board in November, there has been a major focus on the ministry, as she has on many occasions, proven that the ministry will in time, be a solid reference for other ministries, due to the fact that it will always prioritise environmental issues.
In two months, a lot of grounds were covered by the ministry, one of which was the minister’s visitation and inspection of some environmentally sensitive areas in the Niger Delta, Borno, Kano, Lagos, and Yobe states.
However, as the New Year starts, it is essential that the ministry firmly defines the strategies and means by which it intend to tackle various environmental issues such as deforestation, desertification, waste management, climate change, ever increasing population, oil pollution and coastal erosion, assailing the country.
Also, means of attaining the scope of the Paris Agreement need to be vividly highlighted. Speaking through her twitter handle recently, the minister had assured that the necessary will be done to ensure that Nigeria’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), a phenomenon developed under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions is implemented.

“Federal Government will align Nigeria’s INDCs with other policies for consistence and coherency. Many are not aware of the importance of the INDCs, but the emphasis now is to get everyone on board. Communications is key for INDCs, and the implementation will be bottom up and top bottom,” she said.
Another area of focus should be the Great Green Wall (GGW) project. Many Nigerians are not aware that the country is losing a lot of its fertile land almost every year to desertification.
Aimed at tackling deforestation in the 11 frontline states: Kebbi, Zamfara, Gombe, Yobe, Jigawa, Adamawa, Bauchi, Katsina, Borno, Sokoto and Kano States, the Great Green Wall is a planned project to plant a wall of trees across Africa. So there is a need to carry all along on the progress, as well as create more awareness on it.
Speaking with Ecoscope, Mr Paul O’callaghan, CEO, WestAfricaENRG Limited, is quite impressed with the activities of the ministry so far.
“Having watched what Honourable Amina Mohammed did across Nigeria over the Christmas period, it is very clear that she has hit the ground running. It is very admirable. However, I think there is a need to quickly communicate a clear vision of her strategy, both the long term and near term expectations. Then muster the support of the states, especially the likes of Rivers, Lagos, Abia, Kaduna and the FCT, where the biggest impact can be achieved. And finally attract private investors to assist in the execution of the strategy,” he said.