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Environmental Vanguards Demand Rights of Nature to be given just as Human Rights

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Environmental Vanguards Demand Rights of Nature to be given just as Human Rights

By: Michael Mike

A group of environmental vanguards have demanded rights of nature to be inalienable given just as human rights are not allowed to be violated and protected by no other than United Nations and its several agencies.

Presenting their position in Abuja on Monday at the Nigeria Socioecological Alternatives Convergence (NSAC), the environmental vanguards riled out several demands in what they described as NSAC Charter which include: Access to water as a human right; Recognise the Rights of Nature; Inclusive policy development; Just energy transition from a polluting and epileptic dirty energy model to renewable energy; Job transitioning; Transition to agroecology; Ensure biosafety and biosecurity, ban genetically modified organisms.

Other demands are: Halt deforestation, promote reforestation; Protect our wetlands and halt indiscriminate land reclamation; Invest in flood control infrastructure; Enforcement of mining regulations; Decommissioning of mines and oil wells at end of life; Compensations for job losses and reparations for ecological damage to affected communities; Ecological audit — State of the Nigerian environment.

Also demanded are: Environmental remediation; Accessible and affordable clean energy. Energy democracy; Revamped emergency response mechanisms; Reject false solutions to climate change, including carbon offsets, geoengineering, etc; Halt gas flaring; Halt and reversal of divestments by IOCs and Declare no mining zones.

The Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Nnimmo Bassey who presented their demands at the 2nd Nigeria Socioecological Alternatives Convergence held at Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, on Monday noted that the fabric of the social and environmental conditions of Nigeria are literally stretched to the limit.

He stated that: “The threats emanate from local and global strands of the polycrisis wracking the globe. Exploitation, displacements, conflicts, climate chaos, socioeconomic inequities combine to threaten the tenuous fabrics holding our nation and peoples together.”

He stated that: “Desertification, deforestation, extreme water and air pollution, deadly floods, coastal and gully erosion, insecure farms and diverse ecological devastations all merit a declaration of national environmental security state of emergency? The widespread environmental challenges also provide clear platforms for collective work to salvage the situation in ways that political coalitions may not.”

He declared that: “Waiting before acting is a luxury the people cannot afford. The clarion call for action is urgent and critically existential. This reality inspired the Nigeria Socioecological Alternatives Convergence (NSAC). Regrettably at this second outing the conditions remain dire. We remain undaunted because we understand that the struggle for the change we need cannot be a sprint because it has to be a comprehensive overhaul of a system entrenched by indifference and lack of accountability. The socioecological alternatives we propagate must overturn the current predatory system of destructive extraction and shredded ecological safety nets. Our charter has to construct a Nigeria that is decolonial and post extractivist.”

Bassey said that: “In the maiden national convergence, we collectively agreed to a national charter for socioecological justice. Even as we achieved that major milestone we had hopes that at a future date, we would have participants from other African countries. That future has come faster than we expected. At this convergence we have participants from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. We also have other international partners. The reality of having an African Socioecological Alternatives Convergence (ASAC) is drawing near.”

He noted that there are sources to learn from in efforts to overhaul environmental governance in Nigeria, stressing that in Africa, Kenya and South Africa have constitutional provisions for environmental rights that we can learn from, the South American countries of Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela have constitutional provisions for the rights of Nature.

He explained that: “The Rights of Nature includes the right for Nature to be free from pollution. It also places obligations on human at a number of levels. The Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth is yet to be universally adopted.

“There is a strong campaign for the recognition of ecocide as a crime in the Rome Statute in line with genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, etc.

“We already have outcomes of litigations as well as reports that show evidence of ecocide in Nigeria and these could back up the urgency of the crisis,” explaining that: “Two of such reports are the UNEP Report ( Environmental Assessment of Ogoni environment, 2011) and the Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission Report (Environmental Genocide, 2023).”

Bassey noted that: “Delta State House of Assembly is working on a bill to recognize the personhood of River Ethiope. The 2014 National Confab had recommendations for justiciability of human and environmental rights.”

He stated that according to the NSAC Charter, ‘Our vision is of a Nigeria where ecological integrity, social justice, and economic wellbeing coexist. We must birth a Nigeria where the rights of nature are respected, where communities have control over their resources and enjoy resource democracy, and where everyone has access to clean air, water, and a healthy environment.”

He argued that: “The environment supports our life and exploitation of nature’s gifts must be conducted in manners that do not disrupt or breach the cycles of nature. As part of nature, humans have responsibilities and obligations regarding how we interact with our environment and other beings we share the planet with. Human activities contribute to the squeezing we are experiencing from desertification in northern Nigeria and the erosion washing away our communities on the coastline. Sixty-eight (68) years of extraction of fossil fuels has rendered the Niger Delta a disaster zone. Climate impacts and environmental genocide leave festering sores on the territory. Uncontrolled solid mineral extraction is poking holes across the land, and these combined with long abandoned but non-decommissioned mines are scars that we cannot ignore.”

He said: “Let us together ‘Yasunize’ and ‘Ogonize’ by demanding the protection of communities and territories with natural or cultural diversity against activities that cause serious environmental impacts, such as from oil and gas extraction, open cast mining, and other mega-projects. We must wake up and demand a change of mentality.

“Our leaders must Arise and be true compatriots, not lords or emperors, even if that anthem has been placed on the shelf. Oil for development has placed Nigeria on a treadmill surrounded by voracious and insatiable forces of exploitation, expropriation and extermination.”

He revealed that: “The major focus of this Convergence is Examining Relevant National Policies and Frameworks for Addressing Environmental, Climate Change and Socio-ecological Challenges.”

On his part, a Climate Change Specialist. Prof. Emmanuel Oladipo, in his key note address noted that the world is confronted with a number of development challenges – record unemployment, unsustainable fiscal deficits, low growth, among others.

He said. “All this in a context where environmental and climate concerns are becoming an increasingly important component of economic policy.”

Environmental Vanguards Demand Rights of Nature to be given just as Human Rights

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Historic Awolowo House Pulled Down for Space for Growth of ICT, Says Investor

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Historic Awolowo House Pulled Down for Space for Growth of ICT, Says Investor

By: Michael Mike

The rationale behind the pulling down of the historic Awolowo House, a multi-story building, in Ikeja, Lagos, that has been a symbol of innovation since 1978 has been explained.

The iconic building, which is managed by Wemabod, a subsidiary of Odu’a Investment Company Limited, owned by the six South West states of Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Ondo and Ekiti, was demolished and is being rebuilt into a modern and magnificent technology haven called Awolowo Technology Mall.

The new Awolowo Technology Mall, is being developed to commemorate and immortalize legendary nationalist, Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s legacy of innovation, quest for knowledge, spirit of discovery, and excellence; qualities that the leading technology companies taking up spaces at the Awolowo Technology Mall are globally famous for.

The new Awolowo Technolgy Mall will more than double the previously available commercial space of Awolowo House from 4,800 sqm to over 9,000 sqm.

On the rationale for the demolition of the former edifice, the managing director of El-Salem Nigeria Limited, Mr Ben Gbade Ojo, whose company is in partnership with Wemabod to develop the Awolowo Technology Mall, told journalists in Abuja at the weekend, that “the Awolowo Technology Mall, now famously called A.T Mall, is a place where top-notch information technology companies will set up shops and offices to exhibit and market the latest information communication technologies and systems, a place where latest ICT products from global technology companies can be found in Nigeria. It is a place where leading ICT experts congregate and set up shops and offices, a place where ICT training is carried out by global ICT geniuses and where ICT puzzles find ready answers, and ICT problems find well-tailored solutions. You will likely find at the A.T Mall, any ICT product or electric product available in the world, and you may not need to travel outside Nigeria for the product. Whatever technology products or services you are in need of, come to A.T Mall, Ikeja, and you will get them”.

He noted that recently, a comprehensive report by data analytics firm, Statisense ranked Lagos as the world’s fastest-growing emerging technology ecosystem in 2025.

The report published on X placed Istanbul in second position, followed by Pune. Belo, Horizonte, Mumbai, Curitiba, Riyadh, Johannesburg, Chennai and Ho Chi Minh City completed the top ten.

Analysts say the ongoing development of the magnificent Awolowo Technology Mall, now sought after by world-class technology firms, will further solidify Lagos’ now globally acknowledged status as a leading technology hub in the world.

Statisense is a leading artificial intelligence data analytics company known for its annual ecosystem intelligence reports across emerging markets.

Historic Awolowo House Pulled Down for Space for Growth of ICT, Says Investor

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Police confirm killing of farmer in Benue

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Police confirm killing of farmer in Benue

By: Zagazola Makama

The Police Command in Benue on Tuesday confirmed the killing of a 55-year-old farmer in Yelwata community, Guma Local Government Area of the state.

Sources told Zagazola Makama that the incident was reported at about 3:44 p.m. by Mr. Zaki Pkan, a resident of Yelwata, who raised alarm after his brother, Mr. Ayua Fedelis Hemen, failed to return from his farm.

“Upon receiving the report, the coordinator of tactical teams in Yelwata mobilised operatives to the area.

“The body of the deceased was discovered in the farm with multiple machete cuts. It was photographed, evacuated and later handed over to the family,” he said.

The sources added that efforts were ongoing to track and apprehend the suspects behind the killing.

Police confirm killing of farmer in Benue

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Security forces destroy bandits’ camps in Benue, recover rifle

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Security forces destroy bandits’ camps in Benue, recover rifle

By: Zagazola Makama

Security forces in Benue have destroyed five camps belonging to suspected armed herders during a clearance operation in the Sankera axis of Ukum Local Government Area.

Zagazola Makama gathered that the operation, which began at about 11 a.m., on Friday was carried out jointly by Ukum Divisional Police personnel, Operation Zenda, visiting units of the Police Mobile Force (PMF), operatives of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) and the Benue Civil Protection Guard.

“During the offensive, five bandits’ camps were destroyed following a fierce gun battle around Dyom and Asom Amadu in Ukum LGA.

“The armed bandits fled with bullet wounds, abandoning one AK-47 rifle with breech number 309416 and five rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition. These were recovered by our men.

“The clearance operation is still ongoing with efforts being intensified to track and apprehend the fleeing bandits,” he said.

The sources said the coordinated operation was part of measures to flush out criminal elements terrorising rural communities in the Sankera axis.

Security forces destroy bandits’ camps in Benue, recover rifle

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