Emmanuel O. Akindele, Obafemi Awolowo University

A key theme at this year’s United Nations Environment Assembly in Kenya is plastic pollution. It will be returning to a theme from 2018 World Environment Day. The evidence for the prevalence and consequences of plastic pollution has been building up and the assembly needs to lead action on this issue.

Individuals, communities, businesses, and governments all have a part to play to reduce plastic pollution in their environments.

The 2018 World Environment Day provided much-needed impetus for some countries to launch or appraise their plastic pollution initiatives. An example is India, which committed itself to proscribing and eliminating all single-use plastics in all Indian states by 2022. Many Indian states have keyed into this initiative and a national ban on most single-use plastics is due to take effect from 1 July 2022.

Unfortunately, Nigeria hasn’t done much in this regard. Compared to other developing countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania, its commitments to combating plastic pollution are far below average.

Plastic pollution thrives in Nigeria

Lagos, Nigeria’s megacity of nearly 16 million people, produces between 13,000 and 15,000 tonnes of waste per day, including 2,250 tonnes of plastic, according to a local recycling business.

Nigerian lawmakers considered a bill in 2019 to prohibit the use of plastic bags. The bill is still in limbo. It is yet to undergo further reading and has not been enacted into law. Consequently, plastic bags are being indiscriminately used in Nigeria.

The evidence of the harm this does is mounting.

My research group published the first empirical finding of freshwater microplastics in Nigeria. We used snails from the Osun River in southwest Nigeria as biological indicators of plastic pollution. Snails in the river had consumed polyethylene plastic bags, which were common along riverbanks.

We have also found plastic polymers such as polyester, polypropylene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, styrene-ethylene butylene styrene, and chlorinated polyethylene in the Osun and Ogun Rivers. The plastic polymers recorded in our study are traceable to different sources such as textiles, biscuit wrappers, automotive tyre cords, bottle caps, and drinking straws. We also saw larger items in the rivers, such as tyres, plastic bags and plastic bottles. Studies indicate that such plastics could affect the life history, survival, growth and development of insect larvae into adults.

Our studies of plastic pollution in Nigeria, particularly freshwater and marine environments, have recorded plastics in fish too.

Effects of plastics

When animals ingest plastics, it blocks the gut and windpipe and reduces their physiological fitness. Aquatic animals can also become entangled in plastics, resulting in malnutrition and death.

Plastics degrade the aesthetic value of Nigerian landscapes and aquatic systems. This compromises cultural ecosystem services such as ecotourism.

Plastic pollution has become such a serious problem in Nigeria that it has virtually become a sign of human activity or visits to a location. People who visit beaches, riverbanks, parks and waterfalls frequently dump their plastic bottles carelessly, despite the dangers that such plastics pose to the environment.

In one case, plastic bottles were found at a natural site where an ecologically important rare insect was found.

Our studies show that plastic can affect the water-holding capacity of drains, river channels and reservoirs. This leads to flooding of adjacent lands and loss of biological diversity and livelihoods.

Losing natural sites to plastic pollution also means people don’t get the health benefits of outdoor activity.

Action to end plastic pollution in Nigeria

Combating plastic pollution in Nigeria will require action on several fronts.

The first step will be to address poor waste management practices prevalent in the country.

Also, businesses will have to stop providing free plastic bags. These bags are often discarded after a single use.

To discourage the practice, governments should levy a high fee on each plastic bag that shoppers get at malls and markets. Paying for a bag could discourage people from discarding them after a single use. Paper bags, used in Uganda, should be encouraged. Since packaging is the leading cause of plastic pollution in the environment, the Nigerian government needs to launch a campaign and crack down on plastic bags and bottles in the country. The public will need to be educated on the three Rs: reduce, recycle, and reuse plastic materials.

Water sachets and bottles have proliferated in Nigeria due to a lack of drinkable water in many homes. The government needs to educate the public about the dangers of discarding water sachets and bottles in the environment. And it must ensure access to clean water.

Whatever strategy the government employs will be ineffective unless the long-awaited “plastic pollution bill” is passed by Nigerian legislators and swiftly signed into law.

Citizens and leaders have the responsibility of bequeathing an environment that future Nigerians can be proud of. Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and other countries have taken steps to protect their environments from more plastic pollution. Nigeria can no longer afford to wait.

Emmanuel O. Akindele, Senior Lecturer, Obafemi Awolowo University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Tukur Mamu, the self acclaimed lead negotiator between the Federal Government and bandits, has confirmed that “as a result of series of robust engagement on the approval of the federal government with Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Gumi’s, some victims of the Abuja-Kaduna bound kidnapped train victims have regained their freedom.”

“The abductors have initially vowed to stop feeding their victims and even threatened to start killing them if FG did not address their grievances,” Mamu, who is also the publisher of Desert Herald newspapers, said this Saturday evening, June 11, 2022.

He further confirmed that “contrary to their earlier commitment to release all the women in their custody a total number of 11 victims were released on Saturday 11th June, 2022.

“They include six females and five males that include Jessy John, Amina Ba’aba Mohammed (Gamba), Rashida Yusuf Busari, Hannah Ajewole and Amina Jibril. Others include Najib Mohammed Daiharu, Gaius Gambo, Hassan Aliyu, Peace A. Boy and Danjuma Sa’idu.

“We have succeeded in building confidence now, we will do everything to sustain it in the interest of the innocent victims that are still in captivity.

“It’s a painful and frustrating process but it must be done if we are to secure the precious lives of the remaining victims.

“The good news is our collective efforts have succeeded in securing the release of 11 of the victims so far. With the continued support of the FG all the remaining victims will be release soon Insha Allah.”

Continuing, Mamu said: “President Buhari must be commended for understanding the gravity of the crisis and for giving directives to the security agencies. The CDS, Gen. Irabor, has done excellently well under the circumstance. The Army and the DSS have played the crucial role. There is no military solution to this predicament.

“But behind the scene, Sheikh Gumi by Allah’s will made it possible. He was involved from the day I started. In fact, I accepted that role because of his directives to that effect. Even the final arrangement of how and the safest place to get the victims was arranged and coordinated by him.”

When asked by reporters whether the teenage children of the kidnappers were released in line with the abductors demand and whether money was involved, Mamu said: “I think it is the government that supposed to respond to that question.

“We are only concerned stakeholders with the privilege to compliment government efforts but I can assure you and I can confirm that no money is involved. I believe the urgent priority now for the government and us is how to safely secure the release of the remaining victims.

“Even after that is done there should be security especially on the rail lines and that can only be achieved through mediation not the use of force because it is now very clear to everybody that our roads, our rail lines are vulnerable to attacks. Using the train especially for Abuja-Kaduna travels in view of the decaying condition of that road and its security implications remains the safest way to ensure and guarantee passengers safety.”

Kaduna State Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs Samuel Aruwan is yet to respond to calls and WhatsApp message sent to his number.

•Entrance of Correctional Centre

A 55-year-old cleric, Nelson Foni, was arraigned at a Kafanchan Magistrates’ Court in Kaduna State on Friday for giving false prophesy and duping a congregant, Edith Emmanuel, of N1.7 million.

The cleric faced a three-count charge of extortion, criminal breach of trust and cheating, punishable by the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017.

State counsel, Alheri Daudu, told the court that the congregant and her daughter attended a church programme at Gathsamen Prayer Ministry, Kafanchan, in 2016 where Foni was the General Overseer.

Foni singled out the congregant’s daughter and declared that God revealed to him that she would study abroad and not in Nigeria.

He consequently asked the congregant to invite her husband to the ministry, where he repeated the “revelation’’.

The couple told Foni that they lacked the resources to fund overseas study and he advised that they should raise N1.7m which he would invest in crypto currency on their behalf and they obliged.

The cleric also told the couple that the return on investment in the crypto currency would be more than enough to cover for the daughter’s school fees and flight ticket.

Each time the couple went to Foni to inquire about the return on investment, however, the cleric would browse on his laptop and declare that the investment had not matured.

The matter was reported at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Kafanchan.

When the charges were read to Foni, he pleaded not guilty.

His defence counsel, Amba Adze, applied for bail, to which the state counsel objected on the ground that if granted, Foni might defraud more unsuspecting individuals.

In his ruling, presiding Magistrate Michael Bawa granted the defendant bail in the sum of N1million and a surety in like sum.

Bawa ruled that the surety must be a village head with at least N1million deposit in his bank account and must produce the bank statement.

In the alternative, Foni would be remanded at the Kafanchan Correctional Centre pending the next hearing on April 11. (NAN)