REPORT ON THE NIMSA-SCOEPA SUMMIT ON ENVIRONMENT, HELD ON 6TH & 7TH OF SEPTEMBER, 2012 AT UNIVERSITY OF ABUJA TEACHING HOSPITAL,

GWAGWALADA, ABUJA - NIGERIA. BACKGROUND In the last couple of years in the country, going by our environmental indices it has gone worse; There was flash flooding in Lagos and Ibadan Erosion claimed most of our roads in the East There were outbreaks of cholera and Lassa fever There was a number of under-reported oil-spills in the Niger Delta There were minor cases of famine and desert encroachment in the North Population boom occurred, maternal and infant mortality was very high Most of these were due wholly or in part to a deteriorating global and national environment. In all indications, these ugly trends may only get worse. These and more necessitated the SCOEPA team to put together this timely summit to proffer answers to these questions as well as attempt to nip this ugly trend in the bud. The Nigerian Medical Students Association (NiMSA) is the umbrella body of all Medical Students (over 60,000) in the thirty-eight Colleges of Medicine across all the states of the Federation and the FCT, the parent body being the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA). NiMSA is also affiliated to the Federation of African Medical Students (FAMSA), and the International Federation of Medical Students Association (IFMSA). The Standing Committee on Environment and Population Activities (SCOEPA) is the arm of the Association saddled with the arduous task of following the Environmental trend as well as the Population of the Nation. OBJECTIVES
i. ii. iii. iv.

To carry out health and environmental surveys yearly To enlighten the populace on way and means of population control. To train peer educators and activists Advocates to both the Government and Policy Makers on the need to institute and implement good environmental friendly policies.

v.

To work with the media in ensuring every issue on environmental and population abuse is well covered and properly addressed.

AGENDA DAY 1: WEDNESDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER 2012 ARRIVALS DAY 2: THURSDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER 2012 (OPENING CEREMONY) MORNING SESSION i. Arrival of Participants 9.00 am ii. Arrival of Guests 9.30 am iii. National Anthem 10.00 am iv. Introduction of Guests 10.05 am v. Opening Prayer 10.15 am vi. Chairmans Openings Remark 10.20 am vii. Welcome Address by SCOEPA Director 11.20 am viii. Keynote Address 11.25 am ix. Symposium on Keynote Address 12.10 pm x. Lecture I by DG NESREA 12.40 pm xi. Q and A on Lecture I 01.20 pm xii. Closing Remarks 01.40 pm xiii. Vote of Thanks 01.50 pm xiv. Lunch Break 02.00 pm DAY 3: FRIDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER 2012 MORNING SESSION i. Arrival of Participants ii. Arrival of Guests iii. National Anthem iv. Introduction of Guests v. Opening Prayer vi. Speeches by Special Guests vii. Lecture II by DG NIMET viii. Q and A on Lecture II ix. Presentation by Ecobank x. Training Session I by ICEED xi. Training Session II by FBI 09.00 am 09.30 am 10.00 am 10.05 am 10.15 am 10.20 am 10.50 am 11.30 am 11.50 am 12.10 pm 01.00 pm

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Vote of Thanks Lunch Break

01. 50 pm 02. 00 pm

DAY 4: SATURDAY 8TH SEPTEMBER 2012 DEPARTURES

PRESENTATIONS In line with our growing unease with too much talking and little action, very few lectures were penned down and their aims was just to set up the tempo and spur up the youths in the training sessions to come. The keynote address was given by PROF. ISHAKU I. Y. MALLO, Director General Studies Unit of the University of Abuja as his Passion for the environment was immediately captured by his opening few statements. He went on to unravel the complex Theme of the summit, letting us know that not all changes in the climate would be negative but that changes in our climate unfortunately was predominantly negative. Being a sincere scholar his presentation also captured the various theories and Phenomena of climate change and how the process of climates dimming could be of great help. He went on to proffer a plethora of solutions which he believed would help us in halting Climate change. The next presentation was a lecture from D.G of NESREA, DR.MRS. NGERI S. BENEBO who was represented by LADY EZINWA EZEKA from the same agency. Her mostly pictorial presentation brought to bear the devastating consequences of environmental degradation in Nigeria. I was for once physically distressed to see the squalid conditions in which a Nigerian man, woman or child would live in an average squatter settlement, she said. The issue of how poverty was pushing people into illegal mining which were potentially hazardous to their health in places like Zamfara and Ebonyi state was so disturbing that when NESREA made mention of the Green Corp which was a Volunteering offer to act as environmental Vanguards, many youths jumped at it and were concerned that it should not be like any other Governmental initiative. The presentation threw light on 24 regulations of NESREA and it was heartwarming to know that at least prosecutions of offenders or defaulters were taking place. The participant threw Questions and there were all answered respectively.

On the next day, 7th September, another well packed lecture by the DG of NiMET, DR. ANTHONY ANUFORUM represented by DR. ERNEST AFIESIMAMA, spoke on the topic A Climate at odds with itself He took us through the specific evidence of Climate Change from the standpoint of the weather. Onset and cessation of the change in rainfall pattern. Surface air temperature was up by approximately 2% and was expected to increase by another 1% in the decade to follow. Using the Lake Chad and the Lagos bar beach he also showed how water and land proportion was changing. According to him, the coastal areas of the country were under threat and amount of people dying from Climate related diseases was increasing by the day. NiMETs goals and aim as well as the tool to reach them were not left out and at this point I was greatly charged up to go out and do what needs to be done. TRAINING SESSIONS There were two training sessions on the 3rd day of the summit. The first was the training on Clean Cookstoves by HAMZAT LAWAL, who was representing ICEED and incidentally the National Coordinator of African Youth Initiative on Climate Change - Nigeria. He talked about the Nigerian Alliance of Clean Cookstoves, an Initiative of ICEED which seeks to introduce 10 million efficient clean cookstoves to Nigeria homes and institution by 2020. He further stated that according to a WHO report, Nigeria loses over 95,000 women and children annual from indoor cooking smoke. He stressed that this was a public private partnership which also reduces wood usage by 85% and eliminates the emissions of smoke, safe live money and our environment at large. The second training session was on Volunteering and Climate change which was taken by MISS. EUNICE, a Volunteer from Fresh and Young Brain Initiatives (FBI). She charged the participants on the need to volunteer for good courses like halting the climate change. She split the participants into three groups to Ponder on what they had learnt so far and discuss at length on what they think the youths and Government should do I mitigating the challenges of climate change in our local environment. This ended with a Questions and answered series.

RESOLUTIONS ROLES OF THE YOUTHS

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Planting of Trees, Flowers, and Cover crops: Since trees and flowers are very important in reducing atmospheric CO2, they are indispensable in the fight against adverse climate change. We want to look at the possibility of every individual planting a tree every two or five years of his life wherever he can. We also want to work with the Agricultural Technologists to see if they can genetically engineer trees and flowers that will trap more CO2. We also want to believe that planting cover crops in some erosion-prone areas may reduce this menace, especially lands that could eventually serve agricultural purposes.

ii.

Waste Bins: As far as our little funds would reach, we would buy waste bins or any container and leave them at strategic points in our cities. Places like busy bus stops and junctions and leave a note nearby to encourage people to dispose of their waste properly

iii.

Drainage: It was decided that where it is possible, we would begin evacuation of drains and drainage pipes to allow the free flow of water, industrial effluent, and other waste. We will also help prevent indiscriminate dumping of refuse where necessary and also educate people on the need to keep non-biodegradable waste away from drainages

iv.

Aggressive Awareness: It was identified that there was a very great need for awareness, because most people are either ignorant of habits that promotes climate change or are not knowledgeable about the consequences. For instances most of the consumables like perfumes, sprays, insecticides, etc which are used by the ordinary man everyday are environmentally harmful and thus alternatives should be sought. Also practices like bush burning for any reason whatsoever and tree cutting should be discouraged.

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Social Media: The world is now highly interconnected and we can use this to our advantage. We are creating an independent page on facebook, twitter, and yahoo where we can invite friends to join, and encourage our friends to invite others until we have a very large network. From this platform we can educate people on the harmful habits that must be discouraged and those that must be encouraged.

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Set up a Monitoring and Evaluation team to review our work Quarterly

THE ROLE OF GOVERMENT

i.

More Legislation and Stiffer Penalties: There is need for more legislation on environmental issues. Penalties should be more severe, in some cases as severe or close enough to the capital punishment. This is necessary due to the fact that a well-informed environmental offender is no different from a man who takes anothers life. In fact, it is even worse because most times environmental hazards caused by individuals or corporations can wipe out entire communities.

ii.

Environmental Education: This should be made compulsory in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.

iii. Compile a database of research works, statistics and other necessary information concerning the environment
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Implementations: We want to see the more implementations of papers signed and research works done which have promises of halting or even reversing environmental degradation.

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Funding: We want to see Government fund real empirical researches, and worthwhile initiatives that are proven to combat environmental issues, instead of paying money for people to sit in large conference rooms and talk without any work to go with it. Projects like the clean cook stoves should be funded totally and subsidized for the rural dwellers that need it.

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Collaborate with and support NGOs that are actually working to halt climate change, not those owned by their friends and family members

CONCLUSION This conference was timely and worthwhile and the resolutions that were reached will be carried out to the fullest. Awareness on environmental issues will go viral from hence forth, and our indigenous population of trees will increase. Our environment can be clean, safe and productive so lets keep the faith alive.

Ubong Anyang National Director, SCOEPA 08128014324

Etuk Eno-Abasi Etim National Secretary, SCOEPA 08037794575