PAMACC, Abuja - NIGERIA Between February and March 2017, three students of Queens College Lagos; Vivian Osuinyi, Bithia Itula and Praise Sodipo, died from consuming water from a contaminated water tank in the school.The story made headlines as a result of the magnitude of the issue and the effect of negligence on water pollution.These issues were further compounded with reports of persons dying and getting illnesses from consuming water from unsafe sources.There have been reports of deaths from cholera cases and from other water-borne diseases in parts of the country.Although Nigeria has made considerable progress in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector, access to high-quality, reliable, and sustainable services remains low.According to the 2017 WASH Poverty Diagnostic by the World Bank, Nigeria needs to invest three times its current investment to improve the decaying WASH sector and also to meet the Sustainable Development Goal six on water and sanitation by 2030.The report offers an overview of poverty in Nigeria, considers the relationship between poverty and WASH, explores demographic patterns influencing access to WASH, and analyzes the relationship between WASH and child health outcomes.Experts say the 2018 World Water Day with the theme, 'Nature for Water' is an opportunity to explore nature-based solutions to the water challenges in the 21st century.According to the UN Water Website, damaged ecosystems affect the quantity and quality of water available for human consumption, with 2.1 billion people globally living without safe drinking water at home; affecting their health, education and livelihoods.The SDG six commits the world to ensuring that everyone has access to safe water by 2030, and includes targets on protecting the natural environment and reducing pollution.In Nigeria for instance, stakeholders have, on many occasions, called for adequate funding of policies on water resources to achieve greater socio-economic developments.Mr Hassan Bdliya, Chairman, Global Water Partnership in Nigeria, said apart from funding, Nigeria needed to understand that water was a resource that could finish if not properly used in line with the principles of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).He said the IWRM emphasised the need to use water, putting in consideration sustainability, equity and reduce conflict that might come from poor use of water resources..Bdliya said stakeholders were fond of developing water resources without following guidelines or principles and they somewhat ended up creating problems.Corroborating this view, Mr Michael Ale, President, Association of Waterwell Drilling Rig Owners and Practitioners (AWDROP), said 85 per cent of Nigerians depend on underground sources which are overburdened and usually contaminated.Ale stressed the need for the Federal and state governments to address pollution of water sources by illegal drilling activities in the country, saying failure to do so could lead to more outbreaks of water-borne diseases in the country.He said the water situation in the country was a time bomb, which needed to be addressed, adding that so long as drilling was done indiscriminately, its benefit may be lost.At a two-day retreat on Revitalisation of Nigeria's Water and Sanitation (WASH) Sector, recently, participants recommended that the President, Muhammadu Buhari…

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (PAMACC News) - The Cameroon government says it is intensifying efforts to protect wetlands. An inventory conducted recently by the ministry of environment shows that of the hundreds of wetlands existing, the country can boast of six wetlands of international importance. These, according to the Minister of environment, Hele Pierre, include the flood plain of Waza Logone, the wetlands of the Bakassi Peninsula, part of the Ntem and Sanaga Rivers, the crater lake of Barombi-Mbo and Lake Chad. Speaking at a workshop in Yaounde recently, Hele Pierre said heavy sanctions will be taken against people who encroach into wetland areas in violation of the law.He recalled that wetlands are no go areas for human habitation and potentially disastrous for the population.Environment experts say Wetlands are ecosystems with depth of not more than six metres and where water is the most determinant factor and constitute a potentially dangerous zone for habitation.The minister stated that by adhering to the Convention on wetland protection, Cameroon is manifesting its willingness to manage the wetlands for the wellbeing of the population. This was marked by the creation of the National Ramsar Committee and the national focal point to deal specifically with issues of wetlands. In addition, and projecting the importance Cameroon attaches to wetlands, a Network of Parliamentarians on wetlands was created while several integrated management project such as the Ebogo Ramsar site, Cameroon’s portion of Lake Chad and the Bakassi Peninsula are being elaborated officials said.“We need to give the wetland ecosystem the importance and value it deserves,” says Prudence Galega, secretary general in the ministry of environment and nature protection.She also disclosed that since November 2008, Cameroon is a member of the Conference of Committee – the highest decision making organ of the Ramsar Convention. Galega acknowledged however, that in spite of the progress made, the government still needs to put in much for the population to directly feel the impact of the results recorded so far.Government recommended the elaboration of a national policy on wetlands as one of the priorities for the said objective to be attained. "To succeed in drawing benefits from wetlands by the population, we must ensure the respect of environmental norms in their exploitation," Helé told his collaborators and other stake holders working in the domain of nature protection, preservation and conservation. Public administrations, NGOs and development partners were also urged to adopt a multi-sectoral approach in the management of ecosystems. The government called on people recovering wetlands for construction purposes in the Yaounde VI council area to desist from such practices which are not ecologically friendly. The Minister of the Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development, Hele Pierre, who led a delegation on a field visit to wetlands in the Simbock neighbourhood condemned the uncontrolled occupation of wetland areas by the population. The field assessment of the marshy area was to mark the 21st edition of the World Wetlands Day in Cameroon. The commemoration was celebrated under the theme “Wetlands for a sustainable urban…

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - It will take more than policy change for Africa to shift from the fuel to the renewable energy economy, scientists have warned. Prof. James Nyang’aya, of the University of Nairobi, says governments must be ready to invest in clean innovation and technology, if the continent is to make the next growth leap. “It is not an easy replacement process,” says Prof. Nyang’aya. “Renewable energy must be accompanied by devices that are able to function with new power sources.”Experts at an April UN summit in Nairobi singled out the transport sector as the most urgent economic engine that needs to shift from ‘dirty’ to ‘clean’ fuel. According to the report, hybrid electric vehicles, continued use of old vehicles is one of the leading contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, using over a quarter of the world’s energy. It recommends the adoption of light duty vehicle fleets by African governments. “The push all over the world is about making renewable energy as efficiently accessible as fossil fuels,” says Prof. Nyang’aya. “Africa should find out what works economically and environmentally.” However, East Africa has made headways in ensuring its vehicle fleet uses petroleum products that are of very high standards, says Wanjiku Manyara, of the Petroleum Institute of East Africa. According to her, the region imports fuel products with less than 50 ppm, adding that: “The East African Community is the only one outside the AU that was able to enforce and harmonize regional standards that met the international threshold.” But a growing number of experts prefer innovation to ride along policy change, if Africa is to achieve the green mile. Jane Akumu of UN Environment says governments should build bigger lanes to enable people to walk and cycle. At the same time, walkways should be lined with fruit trees to protect pedestrians with shade and even provide edibles. “There is a lot of advancement in terms of the fuel economy,” says Akumu while wondering: “Why is Africa not taking advantage of where the world is moving?”

PAMACC, Nairobi-KENYA: Possibilities for swift transition to clean and efficient mobility exist more in Africa than other regions, experts have affirmed.Experts at the ongoing Africa clean mobility week in Nairobi, Kenya believe that Africa’s readiness for the much-needed transition remains exceedingly higher than those of other regions that are deeply entrenched in dirty and inefficient fuel economies.Africa, according to Rob de Jong, Head of the Air Quality and Mobility Unit of the UN Environment, is very ready to transit because the region depends largely on imported fuel to meet 80% of its consumption needs.The region he added, “is not producing a lot of vehicles, most vehicles are imported and more than any other continent in the world, Africa can today decide to import cleaner cars and efficient fuel and through this, leapfrog to a new era of clean mobility.”In other continents like Asia, where there is so much production of poor quality vehicles, its very difficult to introduce vehicle standards, but for Africa, it becomes easier for the region to set up policy frameworks that regulate the quality of fuel it imports and many African states are already doing that,” Jong said.Experts are also of the view that a larger part of Africa's vehicular need is yet to be met even though the region is motorizing very quickly. In Kenya for example, the number of vehicles doubles every 7 years while in Europe, there are already too many cars and if Africa adopts the clean transition policy today, it will successfully influence a cleaner future.Jane Akumu, Programme Officer at the Economy division of the Air Quality and Mobility Unit of the UN Environment sees great prospects in Africa’s transition to a clean mobility future.“We see good prospects for progress,” Akumu said. “when we started this move less than a decade ago, Africa was predominantly using lead petrol but today its only one country that is still using lead petrol out of Africa’s 55 countries,” she says.“What took other regions over a decade was achieved within less than 5 years in Africa,” Akumu added.The UN Environment, on its part, has been prioritising and bringing the issues of cleaner transport into the discussions of African ministers and various stakeholders including the private sector, civil society and the media.“Once issues are prioritised with cost-effective solutions, we see very good and remarkable progress in Africa especially when we link them with health, environment and climate change considerations, it’s a win-win situation, Jane Akumu said.