Environmental degradation, health hazards in Niger Delta, Nigeria

Written by Blessed Adjekpagbon

Soot  rising from the site of  crude oil refiners 

The recurring experience of soot in Port Harcourt, River State capital city has become a source of concern to the residents of the city, considering the danger it poses to human and domestic animals health. 

The folks living in various communities where crude oil is being tapped in the Niger Delta of Nigeria have been facing environmental and health hazards from the beginning of time since multinational oil exploration companies began operation in the region from the 1960s till date.

In retrospect, from my childhood experience when l usually followed my maternal grandmother to farm to harvest cassava tubers, oil spill damaged her farm land and made the tubers decay underground. Since then, l have been wondering when the environmental degradation of the area will stop. 

Most of the local folks in the region are farmers and fishermen. They have no other means of sustaining themselves. When one of our farms land was damaged by oil spill, we suffered the consequences in silence for years, because the local government authority of our community was unable to assist us and other affected farmers to get compensation. 

The situation of the environment and health of the folks have become more threatened over the years due to the emergence of new illegal local refining oil groups and bunkering operations in the area. 

The people living in Port Harcourt especially, are the worst hit in recent times as the activities of oil explorers have been producing soot spreading in the atmosphere and settling into residential buildings from time to time. 

Hence, the residents had vehemently cried out following the increase in horrible black soot that blanketed the atmosphere due to the unchecked activities of illegal refiners in the state.

Nonetheless, not quite long, Bulkybon News gathered that there has been renewed worry by some folks in the state capital as the 2023 general elections in Nigeria draws nearer. Some folks said the amount of black soot in the atmosphere may return again soon as it usually happens when some local politicians suspected to be sponsors of oil bunkering resume their activities in order to make brisk petro - dollar to pursue their political activities. According to some observers, the usually naturally bright weather of the city turns into a deadly harmattan - like hazy atmosphere when it is not yet the season, whenever local illegal oil refiners intensifies their operations.

While speaking with one of the folks on the condition of anonymity, he said, "l just hope people will not start dropping dead soon before government do something about it as we are approaching elections period in Nigeria. Our government from local to federal level is not proactive. It does not usually take proactive steps to checkmate life threatening environmental and human health situations, until it gets out of control just like other societal ills like kidnappings and banditry that were not nipped in the bud at their early stages of happening.

"One other reason illegal refiners of oil engage in such bad business is when there is fuel scarcity. Many people usually cough due to the effect of soot on their health. Those suffering from asthmatic disease can easily die as a result of the choking effect of the soot."

He further pointed that people found it difficult to go about their daily compulsory activities without putting on nose mask (face mask) because of the health threatening situation, especially during the twilight of 2021 when soot blanketed everywhere in the city. 

Moreover, other respondents that also choose to speak on the condition of anonymity to avoid falling victims of attack by those responsible for the soot said a lot of folks coughed uncontrollably and fell ill due to constant inhalations of soot during such occasions. 

"Even dogs kept barking and became restless when they could not properly breath," one of the respondents said.

Therefore, at this point in time, they want government to take drastic action to stop the recurring decimal of environmental and health pollution by both multinational and illegal refiners of oil in the region, as fuel scarcity is being experienced at present, in some states in the country.

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Book Review: Geo-info crucial in Nigeria’s development

Book:         Geo-information Technology and Development: A Compendium of

Selected Papers

Author:      Peter Adeniyi (PhD)

Publisher:   Wura-Kay Prints, Lagos

Year of Publication: 2009

Reviewer:   Adjekpagbon Blessed

Geography and information technology don, Peter Olufemi Adeniyi’s capsular publication of his core field of long research, geo-information is quite impressive. It is an enlightening collection that offers even the green horn an ample view of the subject. The Professor emeritus, who joined the service of University of Lagos (UNILAG) in 1973 as Lecturer II and rose to through the ranks to become a professor in 1986, marked his retirement some years ago from the teaching service of the ivory tower with a public launch of the new book entitled, Geo-information Technology and Development: A Compendium of Selected Papers.

The 321-page book of 12 chapters contains the author’s selected papers, spanning several issues on the research field. Issues of land-use, census preparations, agricultural development and statistical analysis, applications of remote-sensing among others, feature in the collection which comes across as a deliberate attempt to create and establish the scope of a relatively less known field of study.

Prof. Peter Adeniyi

From the outset, it strikes clearly that author is consciously charting a course. He intends his book to assist policy makers, government agencies, researchers and students to improve on the current state of information gathering and use in the country. In the preface, Adeniyi states that the selected papers are collected in book format because Nigeria still does not have a comprehensive geo-spatia data about how its land resources are being used.

Interestingly, Adeniyi introduced the teaching of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) into the curriculum of Geography Department, UNILAG and served as the Director of the Laboratory for Cartography and Remote Sensing in the university from 1980 – 1983. He also served later as Coordinator of Remote Sensing and GIS Laboratory from 1993 to 1994. Given this background, Akin Mabogunje, a UNILAG Professor, who wrote the book’s foreword offers that the material “underscore the wide range of research activities with which Professor Adeniyi has been concerned over the many years of his university employment.”

Topics in the first section of the book include, Land and Land-use Planning in Nigeria; Land-use Charge Analysis Using Sequential Arial Photography and Computer Techniques; Digital Analysis of  Multi-temporal Land Suit Data for Land-use / Land-cover Classification in Semi-arid Area of Nigeria; Land-use/Land-cover Change Evaluation in Sokoto-Rima Basin of North-West Nigeria Based on Archival Remote-Sensing and GIS Techniques. This part contains four chapters. In Part Two, the book beams light on the knotty issue of census and population estimation. The author handled the topic with focus on aerial photographic method for estimating urban population. He also engaged the matter of using remotely sensed data for census surveys and population estimation in developing countries using examples from Nigeria. Mabogunje primes the reader’s taste through his in-let into the author’s scholarship trait. He informs that Adeniyi is largely concerned with improving the Nigerian situation. Hence, there is a certain penchant for national questions in the topics. “Adeniyi worries a lot about how development and growth can come to Nigeria. More than this is conveyed in the book’s pages,” notes Mabogunje.

It is therefore, from this perspective that the thrust of Part Three can be well appreciated. The section which contains two chapters takes a periscope of Agricultural Land-use Investory and Mapping in Nigeria; Application of Remote Sensing; and Using Remotely-sensed Data for Tackling Fundamental Agricultural Problems in Nigeria.  Some of the sub themes in the part include – Agricultural Programmes in Nigeria; Status of Remote-sensing Applications in Nigeria; and Application of Remote-sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) in the Mapping and Monitoring of Agricultural Resources in North Western Nigeria. Borrowing from Hardy (1982), the author states: “Remotely-sensed data provide information about physical and cultural environments with unique and valuable characteristics. The information can be generated in unbiased form, acquired at a known point in time; displayed accurately; geographically referenced; prepared in real time (or nearly so) and assembled in useful, storable format.”

He points out that given those characteristics, several scholars such as Reining (1974); Tobler (1968); Conant (1982); and Stem (1982) have used remotely-sensed data to identify settlements and to revise topographic maps, such as the maps done by Moore (1982) and Gregory and Moore (1986). Adeniyi captures the current status and challenges facing geo-information technology adoption, application and development in the book’s fourth part, which comprises four chapters. Themes analyzed in this part include – Some Lessons of the Nigerian Radar Project (NIRAD); Remote Sensing, Resource Development and Education in Africa; Issues and Strategies for Developing and Managing Resources Information in Africa; and Geo-Spatial Information and Disaster Management. Throwing more light on remote-sensing in this part of the book, Adeniyi rubs in that good use of the technology can equally help food production, general economic employment and welfare of the African continent.

“Africa accounts for approximately 28 per cent of the earth’s land surface.  Since land is basic for the production of the most essential resources such as food, fibre, minerals, fuels, shelter and water, Africa has therefore been generally claimed to be endowed with abundant resources. Yet, over 50 per cent of the total annual revenue of many African countries is spent on the importation of food and related items,” he writes. The Remote-sensing expert adds that there is hardly any aspect of social development where the lack of basic resource information has not inhibited the advancement of the continent. According to him, “to date, most African countries do not have current and accurate information about the number of inhabitants they purport to plan for.” Though it dwells on a very technical subject, the use of simple language helps the reader through the book. Any averagely educated person can read it and understand. The language is simple and straight devoid of circumlocution. Adeniyi writes like a good communicator, passing across his message without creating ambiguity with the use of complex words.

His book is a highly recommendable compendium on geo-information technology and development in Nigeria and the African continent. It is a very resourceful material not only for researchers but for governments and citizenry as anyone willing to be well enlightened about his environment can gain a lot from it.

Adeniyi who obtained his PhD in Geography, with specialization in Remote-sensing and Geographic Information System at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, (1978), is a former Vice-Chancellor of Federal University of Technology, Akure. The Professor also had a diploma in Photo Interpretation for Geography and Masters Degree in Agricultural Land Use from the International Institute of Aerospace Survey and Earth Science, Enscede, The Netherlands.

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Freedom From Spiritual, Physical, Emotional Darkness Of Disobedience

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Title: Grow Where You Are Planted

Author: Saviour Ekere

Year: 2022

Reviewer: Blessed Mudiaga Adjekpagbon

Saviour Ekere's newest work titled "Grow Where You Are Planted," is an inspirational book which the author says the Holy Spirit inspired him to write for the benefit of mankind in this period of global crisis.

Its foreword is written by Pastor Daniel llori who says: "To connect with purpose, you need to connect with the purpose driven God who is interested in opening you to what matters most in your life. This book opens the mind to the need to get connected and grow purposefully. It gives insight to why you need to be planted where God's purpose for your life can be fulfilled. Once you are connected and stay connected, you will be directed (Psalm 37:23, 32:8)."

Mr. Saviour Ekere

Divided into six chapters, the topics in the book are: "Grow Where You Are Planted," "The Garden ls Your Place," "Adversity ln The Garden," "You Are A Fruit Tree," "Everyone Created by God ls Great," and "Just Trust And Obey."

The cover title, "Grow Where You Are Planted" is very insightful as it tends to advise folks to obey the voice of God by following the direction He asks them to follow to their promised land, instead of just following or copying others blindly in a world where many people prefer to listen to the voice of men instead of God's. Hence, the cover story xrays why some folks fail to prosper in life. lt however, provides remedies to how one can overcome the spirit of disobedience to God's voice, so that one can grow where he/she is ordained to prosper.

"The garden is your place," is a reminder about where God originally created humans to live and enjoy. Aside the beauty of the garden, this topic says the garden nourishes and enriches the body with various herbs and fruits in it. It dwells on how some folks fall out of their garden of enjoyment into the abyss of suffering into a "forest of life" that involves pain and sorrow. What to do to avoid falling from the garden of enjoyment are also pinpointed in the chapter.

"Adversity in the garden," portrays a saying that "Life is full of ups and downs." Here, the author shares his experience about the adversity of life. He refers to a poem about the adversity of life, which is one of his creative works, to boost folks moral in the face of adversity. The poem is titled "Press On." It is a  stylistically woven  sonnet, crafted with heroic or even couplet rhymes of aa, bb, cc, dd, ee and so on and so forth. This shows the creative gift of the author by using poetry in a simplified manner to pass across a message of encouragement to inspire readers to be hopeful by the grace of the Holy Spirit. He delves the reader's mind into different situations that have been overcome by those that positively press on.

"You are a fruit tree," is a periscope of what Psalm 1: 3, says, "He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither, and whatever he does shall proper." Using this as a bedrock, Ekere talks about the folly of being ignorant and pretentious. He posits that "If you are operating below the benchmark of God's expectation, there is a problem. You need to go back to God who will recreate, rebrand and remake  you." One could sense his play with alliteration in his quoted advice to those that want God's immediate intervention in their life. It is one of the author's hallmarks of writing as a creative scholar with inspirational light.

Moreover, "Everyone created by God is great," is an expository of the author's experience as a teacher in a secondary school. He shares his observation in his interactions with students, teachers and parents on one hand, and the underrating of latent  skills in students by parents / teachers who give too much attention to grades, on the other. ln this regard, he avers that "My concern is this, most of these students we label 'poor' have potentials of creating something apart from being confined to school subjects and grades." What the author is simply saying in this chapter is that "Education should develop the minds and not to confine children to conventional life style." 

He makes reference to Albert EInstein, Robert Kiyosaki, Thomas Edison, Lao Tzu and Psalm 4:7 to buttress the need to also develop skills of students instead of focusing only on the grades they make in subjects.

In "Just trust and obey," the last but not the least chapter, the author presents a microscopic and macroscopic analysis of a popular song known as "Trust and obey." It examines the power of obedience in conjunction with Romans 4: 18 -12 and various biblical verses to encourage folks about how to become successful by growing where they are planted, instead of trying to dictate to God what He should do.

By and large, the messages in the book are very insightful about how we can overcome different challenges in life with reliance on scriptural and positive attitude of obeying the Holy Spirit towards doing things that may not appear significant to our egos, yet ordained by God to take us to great heights of accomplishing our individual destinies in life. A versatile reader will certainly observe that the author carried out commendable sociological, scriptural and scholarly researches that gave birth to the highly inspiring book. With the situation of happenings in the world today, the book could help to save many folks from loosing hope or going astray, and also help those that have already gone astray to retrace their steps, to embrace salvation and success.

Saviour Ekere has written various inspirational books over the years. One of them is titled "Think Outside The Box."  "Grow Where You Are Planted" is available on amazon platform via this link: https://www.amazon.com/GROW-WHERE-YOU-ARE-PLANTED-ebook/dp/B09Y98TYXQ/

Ekere teaches English Language at a private secondary school in Lagos. He is married and living fine with his family.

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Magazine Review: ln retrospect: Nigeria's private schools' proprietors activities in 2021

 Written by Blessed Adjekpagbon

The first edition of The Nigerian Education Times magazine of 2022 is replete with a lot of interesting and insightful stories concerning some notable news and events that happened in 2021 after schools fully resumed from Covid - 19 induced lock down.

The cover story titled NAPPS Establishes Conference Centre / Estate In Agbowa, Lagos, talks about the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) and its proposed establishment of a conference centre / estate in Agbowa, Ikorodu area of Lagos State, Nigeria.

According to NAPPS President, Chief Olawale Amusa, "NAPPS Conference Center / Estate will start soonest with the acquisition of already out 120 plots of land, fenced in an easily accessible area at Agbowa, Lagos State." 

Other interesting articles in the magazine's contents includes In search for quality education in Nigeria; Enough of distraction to education of the Nigerian child; Name Lagos State University (LASU) after Jakande, Curbing act of bullying in schools, Challenges in managing the secondary education sector, Press Release: Step up school safety measures, Lagos urges school administrators; There is the need to address the challenges faced by women and children in Nigeria.

ln addition, some notable topics that also feature in the magazine are: "Reforming Education in Nigeria; No nation makes meaningful progress in its development, without embracing science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship; WAEC announces release of results of the West African Senior School Certificate examination for school candidates; and My husband is not the true biological father of our son.

However, the press release by the Lagos State Ministry of Education is worth highlighting as it urges administrators in both public and private schools operating in the state, to step up school safety measures to curb negative happenings in their environment.

Part of the press statement by the state Commissioner for Education, Mrs Folashade Adefisayo says "School administrators should devise appropriate strategies to advance teacher/student interaction in order to gain an insight and expose negative tendencies before they metamorphosed into unfortunate situations." This is very imperative at this time because of recent happenings among some private schools’ students in the state, in terms of the death of a student of one popular private school in Lekki suburb, and a pornographic video of a junior female student of another private school that went viral on the internet.

Another noteworthy article in the magazine is the one titled "No nation makes meaningful progress in its development, without embracing science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship." This assertion is credited to Nigeria's current Minister of Science, Technology and lnnovation, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu. In the article written by Ebenezer Oloyede, the minister says the "political will" to provide quality education is important for innovation, sustainable growth and socio - economic development across nations.

Nonetheless, the concluding part of the magazine is a human interest story titled "My husband is not the true biological father of our son."  In the article, a woman confesses that she got married 35 years ago and the marriage is blessed with three children- a male and two females. The trio are university graduates. lt is an interesting read and highly recommended for those who might want to know the details in order to learn some lessons from it. 

Some commendable qualities of the magazine are its glossy and colorful pages from its beginning to the end, bright/clear pictures of various notable personalities, divers schools' advertisements; coupled with very simple diction. These make reading it worthwhile.

Chief Tunde Ogunsola is the magazine's Editor - in - Chief and CEO. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria.

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