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Experts Present Guidelines To Tackle Climate Change and Economic Growth

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Experts Present Guidelines To Tackle Climate Change and Economic Growth

By: Michael Mike

Experts in environmental field have come out with key policy steps to address the threat of climatic changes and launch the country into a new era of industrial development and economic growth.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Monday, the leader of the group (Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP), a non-partisan organisation devoted to sustainable policy research, Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke, said after months of research, the group has unraveled 11 key steps and decisions that if taken in the next five years, there would be a socio-economic transformation required to enable Nigeria to meet the government’s 2060 net zero carbon emissions mission target.

Okereke, who is an internationally recognized scholar, flanked at the press conference by Executive Director, Society for Planet and Prosperity, Oghenemere Orugbo and CEO, GCA Capital Partners, Obi Ugochukwu, recalled that at
the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26), Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari committed to achieving net zero by 2060, which would be in line with the Climate Change Act and Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan, released in August 2022 and was developed to serve as the pathway toward achieving the 2060 net zero target. He noted that Nigeria has also launched a long-term vision for 2050, which is expected to inform the development of its Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy.

He said riding on the shoulder of Mr. President’s announcement at COP26, the Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP) a non-partisan organisation devoted to sustainable policy research on the 28th of July 2022 launched the project “Nigeria: Top 10 Net zero Measures” with funding from the European Climate Foundation (ECF), disclosing that the Top 10 measures were later developed into 11 measures after critical examination by experts.

He said: “The main aim of the project was to map 11 key steps and decisions that if taken in the next 5 years will underpin a socio-economic transformation required to enable Nigeria to meet the government’s 2060 net zero target, the project was also aimed at presenting these steps and decisions in a format that is accessible to a wider public through communication materials that can stimulate and inform a wider public debate, involving civil societies and policymakers.”

He revealed that: “In selecting the top 11 measures, the Society for planet and prosperity engaged with senior experts from the government, the private sector, trade unions, civil society organisations, academia and think tanks, the media, and international development partners. They were invited to discuss and assess the benefits of successful implementation of each measure against four criteria, which are deemed to fairly represent the breadth of the development challenges facing the country.”

He said according to the report, prioritized measures that if implemented jointly over the next five years would significantly positively impact the ability of Nigeria to embark on a low-emission development pathway to a net-zero emission future are; (1) A strong focus on generating renewable electricity both on and off-grid (minimum of 30% of on-grid electricity from renewables), (2) Elimination of diesel and gasoline generators for electricity generation by 2030. (3) Plant 300 million trees [this decade] and promote Agro-forestry, reforestation and afforestation, including community-based forest management and recovery. (4) End (associated) gas flaring by 2030 (5) Reduce wood cooking from the current 72% of the population to 20% of the population by 2030 / introducing clean cooking into 30 million households (6) Embark on the construction of 300,000 green homes in the next 12 months and 1.5 million over the next 5 years (7) A modal shift in transport by realizing a shift of passengers to Bus Rapid Transport (BRT); backed up by enforcement of emissions standards in vehicles. (8) End landfilling of untreated waste and transit into properly designed and managed landfills with state-of-the-art gas collection (9) Increase the amount of irrigated land (ha) using renewable energy for pumping from 24.35% to 100% (and associated increase use of off-grid power in communities) (10) Consistent economy-wide Energy Efficiency improvements (-50% from 2015 baseline) Examples are reducing electricity transmission losses and replacing 4 million incandescent bulbs with Tubular Fluorescent Lamps (TFLs) or Light-emitting Diode (LEDs), equipment standards. (11) Landscape-scale restoration and recharging of the Lake Chad basin.”

He revealed that: “A rough calculation indicates that the eleven measures could result in an emission reduction of about 174.01 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent by 2030 similar to the fossil emission of Algeria or Iraq in 2021.”

He said: “Therefore, it is very important to note that the total implementation of all the measures in this report will facilitate the achievement of Net zero by 2060 as pronounced by Mr. President at COP26.”
Monday,
Okereke lamented that Nigeria is facing existential threat due to climate change, insisting that something urgently needed to be done to avert and stimulate the nation’s economy as the world is fast moving from fossil fuel.

He said the nation is presently at two extremes, the need to control climate change and build the economy and safeguard Nigeria over dependence of oil revenue, insisting that this must be top priority for the incoming administration.

Experts Present Guidelines To Tackle Climate Change and Economic Growth

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How climate-smart agriculture is empowering women in Adamawa

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How climate-smart agriculture is empowering women in Adamawa

Struck by insurgency in 2014, resulting in their displacement from Borno State to Adamawa State, life became meaningless for many of the women having fled their villages with their families to escape the harsh and devastating reality driven by the violent activities of Boko Haram.

Relocating to Adamawa State, many of the women who are mainly smallholder farmers had their plights worsened by the impacts of climate change, which further reduced their chances of having a good life for themselves and their children.

In the face of those difficulties, some of the women found hope in agriculture, a familiar terrain but with a new approach – Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA).

Sharing their experiences in a chat with Our Correspondent during a field engagement organised by Propcom+, a UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)-funded programme, Rebecca James, Mary Peter and Rachael John narrated how embracing climate-smart agriculture has helped transformed their lives and livelihoods.

Rebecca James, a 70-year-old widow testified to the benefits of using climate-resilient seeds.

She said cultivating soya beans with improved seeds had significantly boosted her yield.

“From my small piece of land, I harvested 15 bags of soya beans last year.

“The proceeds helped me build a one-room apartment.

“I urge other women to embrace improved seeds to earn more and live better lives,” she said.

Mary Peter said embracing climate-smart agriculture had helped her recover from indebtedness, stressing that she had paid all her debtors from the proceeds of cultivating improved seeds.

According to her, she harvested over 20 bags of paddy in 2024 which earned her enough profit beyond her expectations.

She said she made N1 million from cultivating rice in 2024 and was able to “gallantly” provide food for her children.

“I can tell you that with the support from Asmau Farms and Propcom+ in terms of seed multiplication which ensured the availability of the right seeds to cultivate, we all have moved up, away from acute poverty.”

For Rachael John, a 54-year-old maize farmer, life has become meaningful as she no longer experienced the losses she usually did witnessed while cultivating maize before she embraced the use of improved seeds.

John said she had used the proceeds from her vocation to establish another business where she sells grains.

“If most women farmers use the kind of seeds we are using, poverty will be reduce in rural areas; this is the best way to empower women and reduce poverty while boosting food availability.”

The farmers commended Asmau Farms Limited and Propcom+ for providing all the support especially the seed and technical support to them.

They, however, appealed to Propcom+ to further assist them in providing water to enable them to carry out irrigation farming so that they could cultivate their crops all-year-round.

How climate-smart agriculture is empowering women in Adamawa

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Crime

Gunmen kill one, abduct two women in Kano

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Gunmen kill one, abduct two women in Kano

By: Zagazola Makama

Armed men have killed one person and abducted two women in Kwanar Dangora community, Kiru Local Government Area of Kano State.

Zagazola Makama report that the attack occurred at about 12:30 a.m. on Friday when the hoodlums, in large numbers and armed with dangerous weapons, invaded the residence of one Alhaji Ibrahim at Kwanar Dangora.

According to sources, the assailants abducted the two wives of the victim, identified as Safara’u Ibrahim and Attine Ibrahim.

“In the process, one Abdul Usman, 27, of the same address, was shot dead by the attackers.

“Scene of the incident was visited, the corpse was released to his relatives for burial.

“Investigation has commenced and efforts are being intensified to rescue the victims unhurt, trace and arrest the culprits,”said sources.

Gunmen kill one, abduct two women in Kano

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Crime

Police investigate alleged rape of UNILAG student by lecturer

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Police investigate alleged rape of UNILAG student by lecturer

By: Zagazola Makama

The police in Lagos have commenced investigation into the alleged rape of a 20-year-old female student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, by a lecturer in the institution.

Sources said the survivor, identified as Owonifari Fiyinfoluwa, a 300-level student of the university, reported the matter to the police on Aug. 28.

“She alleged that on Aug. 22, at about 12 noon, her lecturer, Dr. Samuel Ojogbo, invited her into his office at the university and forcefully had carnal knowledge of her.

“A team of detectives visited the scene and the survivor was taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment,” said the sources

The sources added that investigation into the case was ongoing.

Police investigate alleged rape of UNILAG student by lecturer

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