Oil Spills in the Niger Delta: Does the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 Offer Guidance for Solving this Problem? 

By Dr Millicent Ele

https://www.ogeesinstitute.edu.ng/copy-of-volume-12-issue-2-2021

  

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES - MARINE PLASTIC POLLUTION

Plastic Bags Prohibition Bill: A developing story of crass legalism aiming to reduce plastic marine pollution in Nigeria

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308597X20303870#! 

From Passion to Influence: Dr Ndubuisi Augustine Nwafor on Marine Plastic Governance

To read about the awesome journey and positive impact of Dr Ndubuisi Nwafor on the management and control of marine plastic pollution in Nigeria please click on the link below. 

https://www.acu.ac.uk/get-involved/stories-of-change/ndubuisi-nwafor/ 

Fighting Lassa fever through Community-based Disease Surveillance in Nigeria

Millicent Ele

An Environmental and Public Health Law Consultant;

Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria;

Doctoral Candidate in Law, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. 

This is an abridged version of the full article published in 2015:

Millicent Ele “The International Health Regulations Mandate on the Development and Maintenance of Core Surveillance Systems: Prospects and Challenges of Meeting the 2016 Deadline in Africa” (2015) 34(4) Journal of Medicine and Law 569-594

millicent.ele@unn.edu.ng,  millicentele@gmail.com

Disease surveillance is primary and indispensable towards effective prevention and control of infectious diseases. It provides needed information for prompt detection of outbreaks and the initiation of response actions. An effective disease surveillance system must be able to produce valid, representative data in a timely manner; and these would be promptly analysed for early detection of outbreaks. The International Health Regulations (IHR 2005 or the Regulations) came into force on 15th June 2007 and mandates all Member States to develop, strengthen, and maintain core capacity for disease surveillance and response at most by June 2016. With no specific provision for funding, it is a challenge for low-resourced African countries (including Nigeria) to meet this deadline. It is equally a global concern because infectious diseases know no boundaries and can spread to other nations and continents in a matter of hours and days. Therefore, developing an effective surveillance system for African countries is an imperative.

Traditional surveillance that relies on exact diagnosis and laboratory confirmation is usually very slow. This is because data collection and reporting take a long winding route from the time the patient gets to the hospital and the doctor orders the laboratory test to the time the test result comes back and is reported if reportable. This journey could take days or even weeks especially in Africa where the bulk of the population lives in rural areas with few hospitals and inefficient transportation systems. Time is usually of the essence in infectious disease detection and control and a day or two could mean a lifetime in controlling the spread of such diseases. Additionally, even where a laboratory test was ordered and the results come back indicating a reportable disease, the doctor may fail to log in the report either because he is not aware of any obligation to do so or because the infrastructure to enable such reporting is not in existence.

Syndromic surveillance is a surveillance technique that monitors, and analyses routinely collected automated disease-indicator data for early signs of outbreak of diseases. These data sources may include for instance, pharmacy records of sales of medications, ambulance dispatch records, outpatient records, records of hospital emergency departments, requests for laboratory tests in public and private hospitals and health centres, etc., captured electronically, and capable of real-time analysis for early signs of disease outbreaks in a community. Syndromic surveillance could also be done using appropriate internet applications to mine the web, gather, and sort through disease indicator data and outbreak information in real-time, in order to detect possible outbreaks of disease before the actual identification of the pathogenic organism. Under this category are the use of initiatives like the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN), HealthMap, and EpiSPIDER, etc. However, due to the diverse nature, sources, and huge volumes of information collected through these techniques, it is difficult to classify and analyse the data without the possibility of losing vital materials. Therefore, improved algorithm for data classification and analysis is needed. Alternatively, a more targeted and well-structured form of data collection needs to be adopted so as to simplify, quicken and possibly standardise the analytical process. This could be achieved by the use of modern technologies like mobile phones and mobile devices equipped with appropriate applications (apps), and standard forms for gathering and reporting health events and outbreaks in a community. A good demonstration of such mobile phone app was the Open Data Kit (ODK) Collect application used for data collection and reporting for contact tracing in Nigeria during the Ebola outbreak response in 2014. So, rather than wait for laboratory confirmation of diseases before reporting them or collect desperate information via the web, members of the community will gather and supply outbreak information in a pre-determined format with their mobile phones and devices.

A new community-based syndromic surveillance system called the “Call-in system of syndromic surveillance” is built on the above idea. Under this system, data collection is outsourced to a distributed group in the community and the data collected are reported to a centre which could be a hospital, health centre or a designated section of the ministry of health. These data are tallied and analysed for early detection of outbreaks like Lassa fever Cholera, Zika virus etc. This system is event-based and as such is supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the International Health Regulations (2005). The Regulations embraced a comprehensive syndrome-oriented approach that would take care of both known and unknown infectious diseases. It defined ‘surveillance’ as the systematic ongoing collection, collation and analysis of data for public health purposes and the timely dissemination of public health information for assessment and public health response. This operational definition can be actualised where there is a system set up for continuous collection and collation of data, and analysis of the same in real time; where the result of such data analysis is promptly disseminated to relevant agencies and institutions for rapid response and control actions.

For well over a decade now and mostly in developed countries, logs and records of automated disease-indicators like records of hospital emergency departments, nurse advice lines, data from poison control centres, school/personnel absenteeism, ambulance dispatch records, pharmacy records of sales of medications, etc., have been used for syndromic surveillance. For instance, an unusual or unseasonable spike in sale of certain medications at the pharmacy will be an indication of an outbreak of the disease the medication is meant to cure or control. In 2003 following the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic, it was discovered that two months before the outbreak, there was a spike in the sale of an anti-viral herbal medication used in treating flu-like symptoms in the Guangdong province of China from where SARS originated. If this pharmacy sale had been tracked for purposes of syndromic surveillance, perhaps, SARS would have been detected earlier and the epidemic prevented. In the same vein, spikes in school/personnel absenteeism, records of hospital emergency room on certain diseases, or an unusually large influx of calls on nurse advise lines on the same or similar symptom/syndrome have been used as outbreak indicators. Unfortunately, in developing countries like Nigeria, most of these data sources are either not available, or not usually in electronic forms. They are commonly kept manually in notebooks with attendant laxity and inconsistencies due to human error. Besides, such manual information can neither be transmitted automatically nor aggregated in real-time for outbreak detection. This is a handicap for most developing countries which may want to join the trend in using automated data sources for syndromic surveillance.

However, today, there is extensive use of mobile phones and applications even in developing countries. There is equally a broad agreement in literature and practice that these mobile devices could be used to report incidents of disease outbreaks, collect health related data for surveillance purposes, and reach patients in remote locations in order to offer medical advice and diagnosis. This practice is becoming increasingly popular in Africa especially because of its advantage of taking healthcare services to the hard-to-reach areas and getting health related information from there, for surveillance and planning purposes. For instance, the government of Kenya has introduced and piloted several mobile devices for health services and disease surveillance. Also, in Rwanda, in 2013, an electronic integrated disease surveillance and response (eIDSR) system was built and launched in all district hospitals and health centres in the country. This system is used to report potential outbreaks of diseases like Cholera, Ebola, Lassa fever, etc., as well as help health workers contain the spread of diseases. With this eIDSR, the users can collect timely information from the field via the web and mobile phones and electronically transmit them to all health facilities at the same time. This has reportedly helped to improve timeliness, accuracy and completeness of reporting, and helped officials detect outbreaks rapidly, investigate them and mount a quick response within the country.

Also, some African countries have used select members of the community for delivering basic health services. For instance, in Rwanda, community health workers (CHWs) are simply select members of the community assigned to designated geographic area for basic health services delivery. There is also the “Nyateros of Gambia” (Friends of the eye) who because of the prevalence of eye disease, Trachoma (or Ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection), are employed to deliver basic eye care services in their community. In the Call-in system of syndromic surveillance, select members of the community are trained for surveillance purposes and early detection of infectious diseases. Implementation of this in Nigeria could lead to early detection, prompt reporting, as well as early investigation, and rapid response to outbreaks like Lassa fever.

During the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa (mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria), a text message was sent on 17th August 2014, by the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria, through MTN to all subscribers, asking them to help prevent the spread of Ebola by reporting any suspected case. The message gave the phone number and the government email address to which these messages would be sent. Though such reporting is clearly unscientific, one must agree that when many of such reports flow in from a particular area or village, the Ministry is bound to investigate further to determine whether an outbreak is actually occurring.

The Call-in system of syndromic surveillance presents a more structured arrangement in the sense that each select member of the public is assigned specific geographic area in their community to cover and will be instructed to collect and send outbreak information to a designated health centre or hospital. They would be taught what to look for and a standardised way of reporting it. The advantages of engaging the community in this way is that they would help to quickly point out where outbreak is likely occurring for prompt investigation and urgent laboratory confirmations. It is therefore a good supplement to traditional surveillance for early detection of outbreaks; faster control and containment of infectious diseases.

Like all syndromic surveillance, the Call-in system is intended to alert public health officials of possible outbreaks leading to further investigation. Generally, if incoming reports show an increase/unseasonable spike in a particular syndromic group; a manifestation of an unknown syndrome/disease; or an event that is either hazardous to health or could create a potential for disease; then a response is triggered. This response, depending on the kind of disease or event could vary from mere preliminary investigation, to emergency control measures if the disease is highly infectious.

Under the Call-in system, preliminary investigation starts with call-backs to participants, health centres/hospitals from where the reports were originally submitted. This is a way to also cross-validate the information and ensure that it is not a fluke. Depending on the outcome of this preliminary investigation (e.g., if the suspicion of outbreak is sustained), detailed reporting including location of the victims/source population, age, gender, occupation, date and time of the onset of symptom, and its severity etc., may be required so that the sick could easily be tracked for control and treatment protocols.

Some of the challenges to this system include: Poor understanding of how to operate the apps; difficulties in actual disease detection through a syndromic approach and understanding case definitions; also training the participants may not always produce the assurance that they will know how to use the disease surveillance applications or correctly recognise reportable disease syndromes; there may be problems of how to appropriately fashion incentives to participants in order to improve the willingness to participate and sustain enthusiasm in reporting; analysis of the data may pose a problem at the implementation level due to a dearth of equipment for instant analysis, qualified manpower and enabling environment like steady power supply and other ancillary and supporting technology.

The challenges anticipated to arise in the operation of the Call-in system much like any other smart phone-based system of data collection and analysis could be cured with intensive training and retraining of the participants. This systematic training will improve the quality and accuracy of the system with respect to outbreak detection and reporting. To improve the willingness to participate and sustain enthusiasm in reporting, some incentives in form of bonus airtime minutes, free medical screening and some monetary stipends should be given to the participants. However, full time CHWs have to be paid. In Rwanda, performance-based financing (PBF) is used for this purpose and may be adopted by Nigeria with necessary modifications. Availability of funding both for equipment purchase and maintenance, training of the workforce and payment of remuneration, etc., is a big issue. This may be improved by intense advocacy in support of the system so that the government would increase funds allocation for healthcare and disease surveillance. Appeal for funds should also be made to international organisations, and corporations.

In conclusion, syndromic surveillance for infectious diseases outbreak alert and response must be taken seriously if we must remain a step ahead of any pandemic. Nigeria should invest in the training of CHWs and health professionals to act as health vigilant eyes and ears for reportable diseases/syndromes and health events in their communities. Also, Nigeria needs sustained capacity building in health personnel and services in order to make healthcare accessible to the vast majority of the people and supply the workforce for surveillance activities.

The Call-in system’s community-sourcing paradigm will help to energise community participation, improve public vigilance and situational awareness leading to early detection of outbreaks like Lassa fever in the community. It will also be an effective way for Nigeria and other low-resourced African countries to meet the IHR’s deadline for the development and maintenance of core surveillance systems. The adoption of this system or at least a variant of it is therefore, recommended for Nigeria.

HOW TO WRITE A PhD PROPOSAL

Millicent Ele
Law PG Researcher, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK.
Email: m.ele@abdn.ac.uk

INTRODUCTION

Research proposal for a PhD programme is a pitch to the school to tell them what you intend to work on, why it is important, the gap in the current scholarship you intend to address. You must clearly justify your topic - why does the work matter? For what and to who? You must equally be clear about the method you intend to use and how you plan to accomplish this work within the usual allotted 36 months.

Value is placed on the right language and originality. Be clear and specific and interests the reader right away.

A PhD proposal should include the following:

1.      THE TITLE

This is a provisional title which could be modified as the research progresses. In one or two sentences, give the reason why you choose the topic.

Some schools may require you to give the reason for choosing their school for the PhD programme but this is usually covered in the personal statement.

2.      THE RESEARCH CONTEXT

Briefly give the background to the core problem the research intends to tackle and the general subject area. Give the current state of knowledge and recent thoughts and debates on the issue. In this segment, you should give footnote references of your assertions. This is about the only part of the proposal that requires references.

 

3.      THE RESEARCH ISSUE, AIMS OR QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED 

Based on the background, current knowledge and recent debates on the topic, outline the contributions your research will make to the body of knowledge or in furtherance of the debate.

It is better to clearly outline these intended contributions in form of research questions and or hypothesis.

Here clarity and focus is key. So, your research questions should be clear, simple and straightforward. Often but not necessarily a rule, each question is addressed in a chapter of the thesis.

4.      THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH 

Say why your research is important; why it is worth working on; what gap it will fill in the existing literature or body of knowledge; what it will help to solve or highlight both nationally and/or internationally (depending on the topic) towards the solution to a problem or in furtherance of a debate. This is usually the longest segment of the proposal.

5.      THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Say what method you intend to use in tackling the problem and why that method is appropriate.

·         It could be purely doctrinal i.e., a library-based work (most legal research fall into this heading – relying on already existing information on journal articles, case laws, legislation, and treaties etc.)

·         It could also be socio-legal i.e., mostly empirical involving fieldwork in form of interviews, questionnaires, or court observations etc.

·         It could be a comparative analysis involving the study of two or more countries, approaches etc.

·         The research could also be a combination of two or all of the above or an off-shoot from any of them e.g., reform oriented approach, functional comparative analysis etc.

It is important to state how you access your data or information. If the work is library-based, do you get your materials from the library, internet, data bases like Westlaw, LexisNexis etc.? Will your research involve a comparative study that will necessitate travelling to other countries for materials? If yes, explain how you will obtain these materials. If field work is involved in your research, state why that method is necessary, who you intend to interview, how many interviews you intend to carry out; if with questionnaires, your sample size, sampling and/or the category of people to distribute the questionnaires to etc. State how you intend to analyse the information and present the result.

Say how the research will commence and progress and where necessary explain any special skills that will enable you get the information you need e.g., language proficiency. 

6.      TIME TABLE (or Research Schedule)

·         Provide an operational timetable of how you intend to accomplish the task within the usually allotted 3 years.

·         This timetable is not necessarily set in stone. It only provides a guide for the research.

·         So, you need to say what you plan to do from month to month for the duration of 36 months. E.g.,

1 – 6 months

7 – 12 months

13 – 21 months

22 – 27 months

28 – 33 months

34 – 36 months

Advice:

i.                   Choose to work on what you are passionate about. It makes the work a lot easier.

ii.                Visit the law school website to learn what it requires on proposal. For instance, some have limitations on word counts.

iii.              Avoid plagiarism as the originality of your proposal may be tested with a software.

Sustainable Environment - A Key to Business Development

Millicent Ele

Environmental and Public Health Law Consultant,

Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus.

Email: millicent.ele@unn.edu.ng

This article has already been published by BusinessDay Newspaper on 24 August, 2017 and on BusinessDay Online

The Environment is simply everything that surrounds us. Generally, a safe and positive environment makes employees feel good about coming to work, provides the motivation for doing the work and ultimately leads to increased productivity.

A sustainable environment is characterized by a practice that attempts to maintain, protect, and prolong the natural environment optimally. To pursue sustainability in this sense according to the United States, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations. Therefore, sustainable environment can only be produced through sustainable development.

The general misconception out there is that factoring environmental consideration into any business plan for the sake of pursuing environmental sustainability is anti-profitability and growth. For this reason, many companies attempt to increase their profit margin and competitiveness by disregarding the environment. This of course, is wrong because when we pay attention to our environment – keeping it safe and free from pollution, we are likely to have a healthy workforce which will translate to increased productivity. We’ll not have to worry about spending money on litigation or settlement of claims. For instance, Bp had to pay a total of $20.8 Billion to settle environmental and economic damages in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. Also, when we keep the environment safe and free from pollution, we will neither worry about loss of earnings due to people staying home because of ill-health, nor huge pay-outs on worker’s compensation etc. Avoidance of these will translate to a net increase in productivity and growth.

Global economy is slowly but surely moving towards environmental responsibility of producers, and energy efficiency of goods. In fact, environmental responsibility indicators have long been incorporated in the ratings of investment attractiveness e.g., the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes incorporated this indicator as far back as 1999. Also, international voluntary environmental certifications are now popular among big corporations for tracking environmental compliance e.g., the ISO14001 and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Corporate consumers and government procurement agents particularly those from the developed countries are gradually rejecting goods which do not meet adequate environmental standards. A 2013 study on the Implementation of International Standards in Environmental Risk Management shows that China is far ahead in the acquisition of ISO14001 certifications. This is probably because Chinese companies, having realised the general misgivings about Chinese goods due to the suspicion of being produced under lax environmental conditions, saw the need to improve the reputation of their products and increase their market share by going for ISO Certification in large numbers. This helps them to meet international standards on environmental responsibility and thereby improve their image and reputation. Just like in China, the Russian companies are becoming aware of increasing environmental demands in competitive global markets and are reacting by faster relative growth in the number of ISO 14001 certifications obtained.

The rapid growth in the number of companies going for voluntary certification in international environmental standards in countries with relatively high rates of economic development is a testament to the fact that it is a brilliant business strategy and a show of managerial competence to be environmentally sensitive in an increasingly environmentally sensitive global market.  A study on UN Global Compact (GC) suggests that reporting firms that voluntarily embrace corporate social responsibility (CSR) have statistically significant higher return on assets, return on equity, greater profitability and less systematic risk. Besides, both the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as well as the World Bank now require reporting on sustainable development for participation in some projects. So, refusal to strategize in line with this global trend may eventually lead to the exclusion of products from global markets.

However, some have criticized the concept of voluntary non-financial certification as promotion of box-ticking and superficial compliance with the potential to mask actual non-compliance and dishonesty in business practice. This is because companies have been known to look good on paper in terms of environmental compliance but bad in actual practice. There is no denying that some companies will cut corners and still report that they took the highway. For this reason, third-party verification and confirmation of compliance have been recommended to ensure that compliance reports are accurate.

Advantages of being environmentally compliant include cleaner process, improved efficiency, fewer liabilities (less fines/penalties and clean-up costs), reduced risks and better resource management. It promotes recycling & reuse, and extended producer responsibility (EPR), leading to less waste and pollution. It also improves public and environmental health as well as worker safety thus, resulting in high productivity and profit margin; it improves attractiveness to investors, access to credit and it strengthens brand name, improves consumer loyalty, market share, profitability, and goodwill.

It is, therefore, recommended that corporations should adhere to policy options and mechanisms that address environmental risks, pollution control standards and regulations. They should embrace development policies that encourage renewables because climate change and renewable energy developments are the next big things in environmental and energy law. Environmental considerations must always be factored into business decisions for better and cleaner environment, improved public health, operational and worker-safety procedures in the industry. Businesses especially those with high capitalization, international in scope and which may need international finance, should introduce environmental consideration into their corporate governance and produce voluntary non-financial reports on a regular basis. Obtaining international environmental certification should be made a condition for all tender participants especially in sectors that are highly impactful on the environment e.g., Mining, Oil & Gas, and the Power Generating Sectors etc.

In conclusion, it clearly makes better business sense to be environmentally friendly and compliant than not to be. Environmental compliance leads to environmental sustainability which indeed is [a] key to business development. 

BUDDING ENVIRONMENTALISTS AT THE FACULTY OF LAW UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, ENUGU CAMPUS CELEBRATING THE WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2017

By Millicent Ele

The environmental law class at the Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria has always been vibrant and engaging. It is an elective course for the final year class. For this reason, students that elect to offer environmental law are generally the ones that truly love the environment and desire not only to enjoy and be part of it but to preserve and protect it for the present and future generations. I consider it quite fulfilling and indeed a privilege to help in training these future Nigerian environmentalists and policy makers.

The World Environment Day celebrated globally every 5^th of June is a unique day for the environmental law class as the theme of the celebration is usually discussed in class with students coming up with fresh ideas and solutions relating to the theme. Canada, the host country for 2017 World Environment Day chose the theme “Connecting people to nature.” This enjoins people to get outdoors and enjoy nature, to appreciate its beauty and importance and to take positive action to protect the environment.

I decided to give the students assignment to do something for the benefit of the environment in celebration of the World Environment Day 2017. Below are some of the things they did in commemoration of the day.

►Some went out to the general public on the streets, in buses and other modes of public transportation to teach and create awareness about the environment; emphasizing such issues as proper waste disposal and cleanup, recycling, and pollution control, sustainable consumption, global warming etc. Others went to the rural inhabitants in the Niger Delta area and Aba in Abia State of Nigeria also to teach and create awareness about proper environmental management. Others simply gathered/mingled among fellow students at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus (UNEC) also to create environmental awareness.

►Some students went to Youth Fellowship Centres to encourage the youths and their teachers to help in protecting the environment by avoiding activities that pollute and harm the environment. Some captioned the exercise “The Impact of Human Activities on the Environment” using charts and teaching aids for illustrations while others created Posters which they placed in strategic places to emphasize the theme for this year’s world environment day.

 

►Some decided to catch them early by teaching the younger ones about the environment. Quite a good number of students went to Primary and Secondary Schools again to teach the pupils about the environment. Some even distributed sweeping brooms as token gift.

 

 

►Yet other focused on clean and healthy environment through proper cleanup of the surroundings by cutting the grasses and cleaning litters around waste bins.  Some went with the motto “Keep it Clean, Green and Comfortable” and others went with the hashtag #Operation Keep UNEC Clean 2017” to depict their love for clean environment.

►Others decided to clean drainages to prevent clogging, contamination of ground water, water wells and boreholes as well as to prevent standing water that helps in breeding mosquitoes and other harmful pests.

 

►Some organized Operation Pick It Up, to pick up litters around the campus. They emphasized the need to always use proper waste receptacles for waste disposal rather than littering it around stressing that a clean environment is a healthy environment.

►Others emphasized tree planting under the hashtag #Operation Re-populate the Environment 2017. This was to replace cut-down trees. They found this necessary because trees provide natural air conditioning from the hot tropical sun, sinks for carbon dioxide, fresh air (oxygen) for animal respiration and brakes for wind and soil erosion. But others planted flowers to beautify the environment.

►Some decided to simply appreciate and admire the beauty of UNEC greenery and flowers.

►Others visited natural caves and waterfalls to connect with nature.

Some went to Awhum (Ohum) Caves and Waterfalls and others to Ezeagu Waterfall

     Courtesy: Enugu State Tourism Board

This is Awhum Limestone Cave located in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. It is close to a monastery and surrounded by lush, green vegetation which is home to a variety of biological species.

      Courtesy: Enugu State Tourism Board

This is a breath-taking view of Awhum Waterfalls located in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. The waterfall is 30 meters high cascading over a stretch of landscape. It is close to a monastery and the water is believed to have a therapeutic effect.

►Others decided to organized online campaign for the environment using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Nairaland to reach millions of users across the world including students and academicians. Some went with the hashtag #I’mwithnature in order to sensitize people about the World Environment Day and the importance of keeping a clean and healthy environment. Others specifically campaigned against the requirement of hard copies of undergraduate thesis for grading. They recommended going paperless through the submission of softcopies in order to avoid the problems of storage space and improper disposal of the hardcopies. They pointed out that apart from the environmental consequences of wrong disposal, going paperless will also help to avoid deforestation since trees are used as raw materials in paper mills. They encouraged the creation of online data base for students’ thesis/projects in order to guarantee not only a quick access to scholarly information but to help in research outcomes and improved environment.

Connecting People to Nature through Parks and Open Spaces in Celebration of the World Environment Day 2017

By Millicent Ele,

Environmental and Public Health Law Consultant,

Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus.

Email: millicent.ele@unn.edu.ng

 This article was already published by BusinessDay Online.

In 1972, the United Nations General Assembly designated 5^th June as the World Environment Day - a day set aside to raise global awareness about environmental issues and to take positive action to protect the natural environment and the planet Earth. It was celebrated for the first time in 1974 under the slogan “Only One Earth” and the global celebration started rotating from country to country in 1988. In 2016, it was hosted in Africa by Angola under the theme “Fight against the illegal Trade in Wildlife.” This drew attention to Africa’s magnificent wildlife now under serious threat due to overexploitation, poaching and habitat destruction. Millions of people, organizations, schools, corporate bodies and governments have taken part over the years in the celebration of World Environment Day – thus helping to create awareness and drive change in national and international environmental policy.

Canada is the host nation for the World Environment Day 2017 with the theme “Connecting People to Nature.” This calls on us to get outdoors and find fun and exciting ways to experience and enjoy nature, to think about how we are part of nature and how intimately we depend on it, to appreciate its beauty and importance and to take positive action to protect the environment. In the spirit of this year's theme, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna encourages all Canadians to explore the country's beautiful natural areas, including the national parks and open spaces, nature reserves and wildlife areas, marine sanctuaries and migratory bird refuges, etc. With a population of about 36 million people, 81% of which live in the cities, successive Canadian governments have always placed premium on parks and open spaces because of their environmental and health benefits. In the light of this, Canada has made this year’s World Environment Day a major part of its 150^th birthday celebrations and has offered its citizens free access to Canada’s 46 national parks, all through 2017. This is expected to yield positive result because research has shown that the passion to connect with nature is lit and sustained once people make the initial minimal move to so connect.

Nigeria is to join the global celebration of World Environment Day on the 5^th of June 2017. But the question is – how many Nigerians will take the time out to connect with nature; to visit parks and open spaces to observe and experience other living things in their natural habitat; to hike or just to sit and relax in the park listening to the birds sing, taking in fresh air from the trees and fragrance from flowers. A more pertinent and perhaps disturbing question however, is whether Nigerians, especially city dwellers, who want to visit a park have a park to visit. Taking Enugu where I live and work as a point of reference, the trend for the past couple of decades is to re-designate parks and open spaces for other uses. For instance, the present location for Shoprite was formally Polo Park; Ekulu East Estate (commonly called Zoo Estate) was formally Enugu Zoo while Liberty Estate was formally an open wooded area used by the Enugu Rangers Football Club for their practice but which could have been converted into a beautiful park. Also neighbourhood open spaces where kids play have vastly been subdivided and built up throughout the coal city. In fact, it will not be wrong to say that there is an open war on nature in Enugu metropolis because the rate at which the government indiscriminately clear wooded areas and subdivide them for buildings and estates in Enugu is alarming. This is very sad because of the huge environmental implications on the ecosystem and human health. Indeed, a look at Okpara Square at pre-down every day with lots of people jogging and exercising will show you how much need people have for at least mini open spaces in their neighbourhoods.

Parks and open spaces are essential because they boost regular physical activities which in turn improves human health and fitness by reducing the risk of heart disease, hypertension, obesity and diabetes etc.; they improve psychological, emotional and mental health through reduction in stress, and symptoms of depression and anxiety; park trees produce oxygen, offer refuge to species, and help to counter climate change, pollution, deforestation, species extinction and erosion of biodiversity; they act as natural air conditioners that help to keep cities cooler and stimulate recreation. Parks are also important quality of life index that increases the value of neighbouring residential properties.

With all the above advantages, one wonders why any government that has the interest of its citizens at heart will routinely re-designate parks and open spaces for other uses. The amazing thing is that the attack on parks in Enugu metropolis is ubiquitous - affecting all neighbourhoods, low, middle and upscale neighbourhoods. For instance, in the case of the Zoo Estate, it is bad enough that the phased out zoo was replaced with an estate instead of a park but to worsen the situation, all the four areas designated for public parks and open spaces in the original plan for that estate have now been subdivided for private residential purposes. What is incomprehensible is that the rich residents are generally not bothered or at least not sufficiently interested to raise their voice in protest. Luckily a lone exception has been found in one resident whose property was particularly affected by this act and who has taken the state to court. His case is simply that by re-designating the parks for private residential purposes, the government has drastically changed the characteristic of that neighbourhood with the result that the property he bought overlooking one park and adjacent to another is no longer the property he now has. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this case and the attitude of the court to the impunity with which the government is short-changing the residents out of their parks and open spaces. 

The above notwithstanding, Nigerians are encouraged to step out and join the global community in celebrating the World Environment Day and to make individual or corporate effort to improve the environment.