Leaders and stakeholders have celebrated the World Ocean Day. The event drew concerns over the state of water bodies in the country, as they relate to pollution, especially of plastics. Nigeria is on the United Nations’ list of top 10 biggest plastic polluters. The day was a wake-up call for all to ensure the continued safety of the environment, reports MUYIWA LUCAS.
IN this decade, more campaigns have been held on how to make planet earth safe.
Organisations, local and international, have more than ever galvanised support for the environment, especially in the wake of climate change.
The World Oceans Day, which was celebrated last Friday, was a day nations made further commitment to healthy, thriving oceans and seas free from plastic pollution under the aegis of Clean Seas Campaign.
The campaign, an initiative of the United Nations (UN) Environment, is considered the largest global compact for combatting marine litter, with commitments from 51 nations, covering 62 per cent of the world’s coastlines. No fewer than eight new countries joined the campaign.
India – which also joined on June 5, the World Environment Day – promised to address plastic pollution upstream by banning single-use plastics by 2022. The country pledged to address the problem downstream, with its coastal audit, developed in partnership with the campaign.
Other countries, who pledged to step up their protection of the ocean and their coastlines include Argentina, Cote d’Ivoire, United Arab Emirates, Honduras, Guyana and Vanuatu.
At a meeting with Minister of State for the Environment, Ibrahim Jibril, in Abuja, the Executive Director of the UN Environment, Erik Solheim, Nigeria officially joined the campaign.
“There is now more momentum than ever before to beat plastic pollution and protect the oceans that we all share from the tide of disposable plastic,” Solheim said.
He added that seeing so many countries joining the campaign meant that we were moving towards having many pollution-free oceans.
Recycling plants
According to Jubril, as part of Nigeria’s commitment to the campaign, the country is developing a national plastic waste recycling programme, as well as establishing plastic waste recycling plants across the country in partnership with state governments. At present, a total of eight plants have been completed and handed over to the states while 18 others are at various stages of completion.
The Federal Government is also collaborating with state governments to establish plastic waste recycling plants under the community-based waste management programme in the ministry.
“Two plants have been completed in Ilorin, Kwara State, one in Lokoja, Kogi State, while work on another is ongoing in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. The plants are located at Bola Jari in Gombe State and Leda Jari in Kano State. The establishment of the plants would assist to turn waste to wealth and ensure the sustainability of the environment,” he explained.
Solheim disclosed that the UN Environment would support Nigeria’s waste management initiatives aimed at reducing, reusing and recycling plastics. He expressed happiness over the way the private sector in the waste management sector organised itself to provide technical solutions for effective collection and recycling of bottles in the country.
Ogoni land clean up
The UN Environment boss, as part of initiatives of protecting the environment, urged the Federal Government to fast-track the clean-up of oil spill in Ogoni land. Solheim recalled that the UNEP report on Ogoni clean-up was launched by former President Olusegun Obasanjo-led administration, noting that people were interested to see physical development in the land. He regretted that had Nigeria showed commitment by contributing its own quota, the $1 billion counterpart fund set aside by the UN would have addressed the clean-up project.
Jubril, however, noted that the Federal Government, oil companies and other relevant stakeholders in the oil sector had opened explorer account for the Ogoni clean-up project, assuring that from this week, the account would begin to get funded. He revealed that out of 400 contractors that bided for the project, 150 were pre-qualified.
Groups take the lead
To celebrate the day, an environmental group, “Let’s Do It Campaign” and the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Lagos Metropolitan, took to the initiative to clean up Elegushi beach, Lagos.
Let’s Do It Nigeria Campaign Manager Mr Gafar Odubote, said the clean-up would cover plastic pollution in the waterways.
“In collaboration with our partners, we are taking a stand against plastic pollution with a massive clean-up project at the Elegushi beach to commemorate the World Oceans Day. The Day is an opportunity to further emphasise the need to bring people’s attention to the increasing rate of plastic pollution in Nigeria both on the lands and beaches,’’ Odubote said.
The Elegushi Beach Clean-up, he said, was inspired by concerned members of the society who wanted to take action to reduce the amount of trash and plastic that enters the ocean. With 51 volunteers, Odubote explained, they were able to bag 107 wastes sorted into plastic bottles, glass bottles, rubber slippers, polythene nylons and food wastes.
“There are many things we can do as individuals to reduce our plastic consumption. Individuals must control their consumption pattern, stop patronising single-use plastics and develop a positive attitude towards waste disposal,’’ he said. He called on the Federal Government to enact and enforce policies and regulations to quell plastic pollution in the waterways.
Similarly, JCI Lagos Metropolitan President, Adeyanju Adeonipekun, said the cleanup was aimed at enlightening the people on the risks of an unclean ocean.
“This Beach cleanup project at Elegushi is to enlighten the people on the risks of unclean oceans and its hazards to health. The World Oceans Day is a wakeup call for everyone in Nigeria to ensure their environment is clean and healthy. Our planet is dying gradually of wastes and as active citizens, the responsibility is on us to act fast to save the planet,’’ Adeonipekun told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Protection of marine lives
Also, the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR) called on Ngerians to do more to ensure safety of marine lives.
Its Assistant Director, Dr Mabel Yarhere, who spoke at the institute’s clean up of the Alfa Beach and Up Cycle Training as aprt of activities to mark the day, said there was the need to save aquatic lives because they were source of food for humans. The event was organised in partnership with the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), Lagos, and FABE International Foundation.
“Plastic prevents the dissolved oxygen that is supposed to penetrate the ocean and marine resources are affected. Plastic also affects our fisheries; when plastics enter the tracks of fishes, they die. The endangered species in our water, especially the turtles, are killed by plastics, and they are supposed to produce minerals into the ocean for fishes to reproduce. Plastics also affect the navigation of vessels in oceans and prevent the productivity of the oceans,” she said.
Yarhere noted that the Sustainable Development Goal 14 is aimed at making marine productive. This, she said, would make the world to feed well and have oceans devoid of plastics that cause casinogene in the body.
Global unity
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said everybody should bd involved in the campaign and that they could contribute “from carrying your own water bottle, to volunteering for a local clean-up”.
The UN chief reminded everyone of the major role the oceans have in their lives, as the lungs of the planet, providing most of the oxygen that we breathe.
“The oceans make our blue planet unique in our solar system – and not just visually,” he said.
He added that they help regulate “the global climate and are the ultimate source of the water that sustains all life on earth, from coral reefs to snow-covered mountains, from tropical rain forests to mighty rivers, and even deserts’’.
“However, the ability of the oceans to provide their essential services is being threatened by climate change, pollution and unsustainable use,” he stressed.
Plastic pollution alone is wreaking tremendous havoc on the marine resources of the world, he said, highlighting the problem of plastic pollution in particular.
About 80 per cent of all pollution in the sea comes from land, including some eight million tonnes of plastic waste yearly.
This has cost the lives of one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals, while it causes eight billion dollars in damage annually to marine ecosystems.
Guterres said pollution “chokes waterways, harms communities that depend on fishing and tourism, kills turtles and birds, whales and dolphins, and finds its way to the most remote areas of the planet and throughout the food chain on which we ultimately rely”.