Senate urges FG to approve funds for #SaveShikira

Hamzat Lawal June 3, 2016 2

The Senate on Thursday, June 2, urged the federal government to urgently approve and release the needed intervention funds from the ecological funds office for urgent remediation to help #saveshikira and affected communities.
In a three paragraph motion read by the Niger East senatorial district representative, David Umaru, the Senate called on the key federal government (ministry of health, solid minerals and environment) to re-mediate the environment and promote safer mining programmes for artisan miners.
The motion  is titled: The urgent remediation of lead poisoning in Shikira community of Niger state.
Hence, the Senate also called on  the Senate committee on solid minerals to review the 2007 mining act to reflect present realities in the sector as it affects local communities and artisan miners.
While-making contributions on #saveshikira, Umaru said the Senate is shocked at the survey result of the Federal Ministry of Health, confirming that 149 children who were under age five were tested for lead.
He added that the Senate is worried that environmental testing of residential buildings during the same survey indicated that there was a severe contamination of the environment.
“That early childhood exposure has been linked to violent criminal behavior later in the early adult life,It is therefore estimated that childhood lead exposure is costing developing countries 992 billion dollars annually due to reduction in IQ’s and earning potential according to a new study published recently,”he said
He noted that “The potential of lead poisoning to irrevocably inflict long term neurocognitive deficits on generations, there is need to urgently address this issue of national importance,
“This is a community that is already living below poverty line. All the children are already infected by this epidermic,” he said.
Also speaking , Shehu sanni representing Kaduna central senatorial district said the nation should work towards establishing a nuclear act.
“What the senate can do is to take the activities of illegal matters seriously. We have seen foreigners and Asians siphoning our resources. We should take an action that will address the problem,” he said.
There was a lead outbreak epidemic that recorded 65 cases in May 2015 in Rafi local government, which killed more than 28 children below the age of five. Many of which have  died in Shikira village of Madaka district, Rafi local government area of Niger State.
The affected children suffered convulsion and weakness of limbs as medical examination proved that the children died from lead poising arising from illegal artisan gold mining activities in the area.

Ten Nigerians to Attend 2016 Sustainaware African Regional Conference in Zambia

Hamzat Lawal May 28, 2016 0

 

Ten Nigerians have been confirmed to participate in the 2016 Sustainaware, a regional partnership conference taking place between 30th and 31st May, 2016 in Lusaka, capital of Zambia.

The participants constituting journalists, environmental rights campaigners as well as sustainable development advocates are expected to join other partners to share knowledge, solve complex challenges bedevilling environmental safeguards and proffer possible solutions on how to accelerate sustainable growth in Africa.

Initiated by Connected Development [CODE] in 2014 in collaboration with the European Union (EU), the key objective of the project is to improve knowledge and inspire young people to take leadership roles in environmental health, green economy and social-entrepreneurship.

It has since inception being implemented in eight countries namely – Nigeria, USA, Argentina, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Liechtenstein and India. Somalia and Zambia have been included as participating countries in the 2016 edition to signify progress and success in execution of work plan.  The scope of work in 2016 is targeted at mobilising more spirited volunteers to join the network and champion its gospel across the continent. 

We at CODE, access to food, medicine, portable water, education and effects of climate change on environmental conservation as well as livelihood sources are some of the priority advocacy issues in our pursuit for transparency and accountability in public service.

We are committed to our promise and mission – improving of access to information and empowering local communities in Africa.

Our enthusiasm in ensuring that Nigeria is part of this epic event reveal our internal strategy towards strengthening and building a network of advocates to help mobilise the required grassroots  support to achieve our mandate.

 

Tracking to ensure Accountability on Great Green Wall project in Jeke in Jigawa State

Hamzat Lawal May 27, 2016 0

Tracking of the  GGW project in Dutse the State Capital of jigawa

The team reached Jeke community and met with Jeke ward heads in his compound together with some of Jeke Community Families

However, things have  change compared to the last visit by the team to Jeke community.  Although the community  is demanding the Wind Mill be converted to solar owing to the fact that Wind only blows in season and not on a daily.

They also urged the concerning bodies to look over some certain issues which some haven mentioned by the ward head and community group of Jeke District Development Association.

Interactive Section between CODE and Jeke community

YAHAYA HUSSANI (JEKE DISTRICT HEAD SAID)

GGW is one of the must important national projects that Jeke district ever benefited from in history, due to its Environmental protection methods’ on Agriculture and Clean Water Aiding to our Community, but I will like to remind the concerning bodies that; Still this project have some certain challenges ware I hope GGW will put this challenges in to serious considerations for the success and sustaining the GGW project, which are:-

  1. Compensations of the farmlands, Still the landlords of the farm Land are waiting for the Compensations, nothing have been given to them and raining Season have stated in the area. They are telling us that they must plant their farms because they still haven’t earn the farmland compensations’ and the working is moving so slowly.
  2. Vegetable session is not complete, some of the water pipes have been laid in the farm land and nothing is going on the the last two years until now.
  3. Terminations of the forest guard Assignment, All the forest guards Assignments of GGW project in Jeke have been terminated by the responsible bodies.

 

WHAT WE WANT FROM RESPONSIBLE BODIES OF GGW PROJECT IN JEKE ?

Our must importantly needed on this projects are:-

  1. To achieve the desired goals of this project and to benefits from.
  2. To settle and compensate the farm landlords for the successful implementations of the project.
  • To re-employ the forest guards or to renew the previous offers in order to sustain the project and to achieve better results.
  1. To complete the uncompleted session of the project more especially a vegetables session in other to achieve the project goals and to benefits from the vegetable session of the project.

NEW DEVELOPMENT COMPARED TO THE CODE PREVIOUS VISIT

In recent times, water problems have reduced due to the rotation of wind turbine of GGW water project, consider to the act that the  raining season wind is now available in the area and  many people are fetching water, our animals watered from and must of our water problems are solved through GGW water project, but I will like to remind you that when there is no wind in the area means no water, because wind turbine can stop rotating for up to two weeks, we need GGW to provide another alternative of water source in Jeke.

Presently we have nine hand pumps in Jeke but only two are working, we also have one MDGs overhead tank which has its  own issues, so presently we are managing the MDGs water source and GGW water project due to the wind condition (availability of wind and rotation of wind turbine) Jeke’s main water source is GGW water plan, and we hope GGW Authority will look over our needs concerning project in Jeke and take all the serious/necessary action on all what they hear from Jeke community.

 

Muhammad Hussaini (chairman Jeke District Development Association)

Honestly speaking, things have stated moving but very slowly, I will like to add more on what our district head have just said, concerning the organization roles in the in a view of sustaining the project we will like to put more concern about the promises that have been made to the organization concerning GGW project so as to uplift the development of the project as well as Jeke community.

 

Having said that, water is very essential in our everyday life. And this community  are still very hopeful that more wind mills are provided to them  by the government, not just more but be converted to solar.

 

 

#WaterBachaka: Bachaka, Still a Shadow of itself in the hands of GGW Agency

Hamzat Lawal May 27, 2016 0

Sequel to our past findings and reports on the challenges militating against the #WaterBachaka, Follow The Money (Bikudi) Team once again visited Bachaka community to engage the people on the progress so far and whether GGW Agency has eventually looked into the issue of inadequate provision of Water for the dry crops and Orchards within their community. The responses we got from them were documented below:

The Head of the community who is also the Maiyaki of Bachaka Community spoke us first. “We are just waiting for them to complete what they started, they came callings on us to make the GGW project a success by getting our women and youth involved, yet they are the ones that have messed up the project themselves because most of the trees and plants in the Orchard are dying off due to unavailability of water source to wet them”. he explained.

Alhaji Barmu Liman, Head of Farmer in Bachaka bore his mind on the plight of GGW water project, “I even persuaded my wife to support the project since inception when they came. During the launching they brought two tractors that have tank for watering the Orchard, when the Orchard were at still nursery stage. But after sometimes we didn’t see them again. We later discovered that those tractors are still within a nearby community close to Bachaka. They have been abandoned there, he explained.

Speaking as the head of farmers in Bachaka, he said their annual yields and farm produce have dropped since they do not have water to support their plants and crops. “we have to wait for raining season for us to plant any crop because without adequate water supply they might dry up” he affirmed.

“Myself and other women within the community were given some portion of the Orchard which consist of varieties of plants at the nursery stages such as oranges, watermelons, mangoes, tomatoes, Dongoyaro trees to wet and nurture till they grow big, but they have refused to build more water sources to ensure the success of these project. They promised us that we wont lack water to wet those Orchards since there would be several water sources for us, till now we are yet to see those water sources” said Hajia Hauwa Barmu Liman.

She added that Bachaka women suffer to access potable water on daily basis, we have to spend more than N1,500 monthly to buy water. Our fear is what if the only borehole we fetch water from suddenly pack up what will become our fate?, she lamented.

Hajia Barmu Liman, Bachaka Women Leader

Hajia Barmu Liman, Bachaka Women Leader

GGW Local Supervisor in Bachaka, Yayah Mohammed in his comment said, GGW States Representatives had come with good intention at the beginning but refused complete it. “We were given quite a lot of assignment to do but they wouldn’t compensate us” They promised to provide us with accommodation close these Orchards for effective and proper monitoring, they are yet fulfill it. he affirmed.

Saliu, who is an unskilled labourer, has a different story to tell, he said, himself and other community youth were employed as labourers and as securities at the commencement of the project, but they have not paid their entitlement and wages till now.

We are appealing to the National Agency for Great Green Wall in Kebbi State, to come and fulfill their promise to Bachaka, and also to save these Orchard from drying up” Currently the only source of water is solar powered water tank which is not enough to cater for these Orchards, another major barrier is transporting the water to Orchards to the nearby communities to wet the plantations. No vehicle is available to do this said Salihu, APC chairman Bachaka Community.

FOLLOW THE MONEY TEAM EFFORT

Having engaged the Bachaka community previously to know the efforts that GGW Agency in Kebbi state has made towards reviving the dead Water Sources for the GGW projects within their community, we further engaged the major stakeholders of the GGW projects in meeting at Modiyawa Hotel in Birni Kebbi on the 25th May 2016. The meeting commenced exactly 10am. We had representatives from Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Water Resources, more than five representatives from Bachaka Community and Media houses such as Kebbi TV and NTA Kebbi.

The stakeholders meeting was interactive session aimed at getting the Kebbi State GGW Representatives to interface with people of Bachaka and also to suggest possible way out.  Engr. Aminu Umar from Kebbi State Ministry of Water Resources, who gave vivid explanation of the involvement of Kebbi State Ministry of Water Resources in GGW project. “Ministry of Water Resources was never part of GGW project we only came in to help built borehole and  water Tank for the project at the initial stage of the GGW project, which we later got compensation from GGW” In other words, we were paid back the money spent in building the borehole at Bachaka Community.

When asked whether he is aware of the condition of borehole, he said, he knew the borehole got spolit later when the GGW project began, “Initially, it was built and powered by solar but some unscrupulous people stole the solar panel, till now we couldn’t find the culprit. In spite of this we were able to provide them with small generator which they to pump the water for use, yet they refuse to fuel it.

Representative from the Ministry of Environment, Alhaji Umar B. Diggi, he is the Head of Forestry and also double as the Spokesperson for GGW project in Kebbi State, commenting on the issues of #WaterBachaka, “We knew from the outset of this project that such incidence of vandalism and theft may occur that was why we made the project a community owned project, giving them sense of belonging in GGW project,”

When asked the efforts of GGW to revive the water source, he said, “I want you to know that GGW doesn’t have an office in Kebbi, it is just a programme that is being run under Ministry of Environment, so there are still many challenges confronting this project, “There is institutional challenge for GGW project in Nigeria”. Although GGW is gradually becoming an Agency on its own, despite this, at state level we are still struggling.

He also gave some spending analysis on 10 million Naira that was released for the project in Kebbi state. He said the money were divided according to the communities that are beneficiaries of the GGW project. “We did water projects in several other communites in 2 Local Governments, namely:(Arewa LGA) which includes Koro Ango, Bachaka and Tsulawa; (Dandi LGA) which include Agwa Hassan and Tukuruwa amongst others.

Diggi stated further that there are plans on the part of the Federal Government to collaborate with the 11 frontlines states in the North where GGW project is ongoing. “There is a deliberation on the collaboration between the 11 states involved and National Agency GGW for counterpart funding agreement, albeit yet to implemented still in the pipeline” We are hoping that this collaboration yield good results he said.

Boiling with anger, Head of Women in Bachaka, Hajia Barmu Liman, asked the State Ministries in Hausa what have they been using the funds meant for the GGW for? “What have you been using all the money government has been releasing for GGW for? Who is eating the money? We cannot continue to use our money to fuel the generator after giving our lands to support the GGW projects” She said.

There was an intense interactive session between the people of Bachaka and State Ministries Representatives, however they recommend that People of Bachaka could form a committee that would manage the borehole and Water Tank by raising funds to buy fuel to power the generator to pump water temporarily, pending the state government and possibly GGW Agency’s intervention.

Regarding the non-payment of securities and labourers they said they have disengaged them temporarily because of the issue of funding. And promised to pay them as soon as it is resolved.

 

Where Data Wranglers Meet: The School of Data Summer Camp

Hamzat Lawal May 26, 2016 0

What makes Potsdam thick? The breathtaking castles; what about Ottawa? It’s War Museum and the Rideau Canal; and what about Ibiuna? Does it even sound familiar? So this year the School of Data annual summer camp moves to Ibiuna in Sao Paulo, Brazil. With a population of 76,432, the School of Data will be adding 36 amazing participants from 24 countries in 5 continents to this small municipality. For me, it was a pleasure to be attending the 3rd summer camp in a row. Yippie! and what about this summer camp, hosted by the amazing guys at Escola de dados – lets ride!

The opening sessions on day one was grand with Dirk Slater introducing participants to what to expect in the next 5 days, followed by a breakout interaction where participants get to share why they are interested in this data work or data movement. One fascinating A-ha moment for me in my group was meeting Mariano, a tall, middle aged lawyer from Greece. “I don’t believe in working without been paid, we should find how to create business models that can pay for the good works we do. And just to let you know money motivates me” – He further said. Meeting the likes of Natalia, a Lawyer, teacher and now turned data journalist; Kabu, a new fellow from Zambia who is interested in health data because she feels the relevant datasets are not available in Zambia; Jennifer from South Africa, with a background in commercial ,now in interested in tech for social change, and working with Code for South Africa inspires her many times to continue doing the kind of work with do.

Participants at the Opening Circle

                                Participants at the Opening Circle

The “spectrogram” a facilitation type which breaks participants into groups to figure out controversial statements relevant to the data movements’ and afterward participants will have to move to a side that agrees, disagrees or in between followed, and this got participants thinking with statement ranging from if public interest should override personal privacy; collecting data about ethnicity; open society is better than equal society; data journalism takes too long to be effective; and if we can make open data without computer. These are all great thoughts as we enhance data literacy, but what are your thoughts around these questions? Feel free to add your comments at the end of this post.

Of course the summer camp can’t be more energized without the 15 minutes breaks – so much a time for you to quickly ping your loved ones, have a CAMEL cigarette ;), roll down the cliff, feed on some biscuits, and also have some coffee. “Hey guys, it’s nice to see the sun rising” exclaimed Dirk. Yes, at this time of the year, the mornings were always cold, and no thanks to the heavy storm a night before day 1 which did not allow participants like me have early morning hot bath. However, I was thrilled when Marco said a call was put through to their power holding company at 3.30 am and they came to the neighborhood 1 hr 30 minutes later to fix the electric poles that were affected by the lighting during the rain. Fantastic, right! Especially if you come from my part of the world. Oh I might be wrong, so if you know of any government servicing company in Nigeria that responds to emergencies like this swiftly, please give some thumbs up to them in the comments box below, we’ll be glad you did!

Participants at the Governance track setting up indicators for data trainings

Participants at the Governance track setting up indicators for data trainings

But can you crowdsource the Agenda for an event? That was exactly what we did after the break on day 1, with sticky notes flying around the wall on what participants would love to learn or achieve before they leave the event. Why not? There must be a reason for you travelling far down to Sao Paulo, and you must let the organizers know. The Agenda were grouped into skillshare, communications, membership, Opportunities for Collaboration, and talking about the later the next session was dedicated to knowing what School of Data is in a “standing fair mode”, another instance of speed dating where you get to know how members got started with School of Data, what the role of Open Knowledge International, and the steering committee is, and what members do. It was memorable listening to Sanders narrative on how Open Knowledge started School of Data, and its exit strategy; very captivating listening to Natalia as she patiently defined the 5 members of the steering committee while engagements with Bardhyl (Bar – deal if you need some beers ;)) of Metarmophosis  in Macedonia, and Sylvia in OK France was simply amazing.

So afterwards, was the 2 hours break which was followed by the governance track and the fellowship track. So every summer camp has a list of fellows who are embedded in their countries with different organizations to work on projects with CSOs, and journalists to achieve specific goals. The fellowship track allows fellows (this time we have 10 of them) to meet their partners, work on their deliverable, and help them curate activities they will be carrying out for the entire six month.

The Fellows track where new fellows set up a road map for their activities

The Fellows track where new fellows set up a road map for their activities

Just like you may know, talking about governance could be a tasking and unending issue among non profits, especially when the movement is a network or coalition. I remembered in Potsdam, where the governance talk started, it went into the nights and the conversation was heated up. One good thing that has happened was that the network has moved on from where it was back in 2014 to fixing its governance right, especially with an effective framework, which was consolidated on, at this summer camp. Talks at the governance session included fundraising, membership, fellowship, member support, and of course relationship with Open Knowledge International. In all, one thing remains clear that the School of Data is a small and young organization which would want to grow in a less chaotic way.

It is noteworthy that the School of Data accepts members, however the requirements you will need to look at includes you or your organization being able to establish a relationship of trust with school of data coordinators; send a plan to the steering committee, and if approved, expect to sign an MOU with the school of data. With the present 12 members, perhaps the School of Data might move into another learning year, with conversations that will shape its future for the coming year.

The closing circle at the Summer Camp

The closing circle at the Summer Camp

One week, so many sticky notes, wobbly internet (no thanks to the heavy rain), great food (No thanks to the hardworking caterers),29 skill shares: The data literacy track which started on day 2 had different skills shared by participants for one hour;and maybe no need to swim in the Itupararanga lake, as the rains were always in to the rescue. As we look forward to the next summer camp, some good memories will linger, like the energetic turkish – Pina; Guatemalan Danny the Elvis; Dirk for his opening and closing circles, and all the sharpies and sticky notes that will forever live in our memories. DATASCHULE!!!

There is  a Wiki at http://wiki.okfn.org/Summer_Camp_2016 where you can get more information about the 2016 summer camp.

Access to information, and the Data Journalism movement in Latin America

Hamzat Lawal May 22, 2016 0

Sao Paulo, with the 3rd-greatest concentration of buildings in the world, after New York and Hong Kong hosted the biggest conference on data journalism on May 21, 2016 in Brazil. The conference organized by Escola de dados, and NIC.br  had participants from every continent of the world, thus giving a larger context of how “informediaries” are leveraging on data in writing compelling stories.

With opening remarks by Natalia Mazotte of Escola de dados, the event was kick started by thought provoking insights by panelists on how access to information has not been upheld by government institutions. “There is a particular trend in Latin America, whereby government announces to the world that they have an open data portal, however if you check the portal, you will find it was updated last a long time ago” explained Juan Manuel of SocialTIC. But isn’t this another way of “information – washing” as journalist will be deprived of the information needed? “Journalist should not wait till governments make information public, and also do not rely on the Freedom of Information Act before you start investigating, and that is why we are journalist” Manuel further said.

IMG_1117

Natalia Mazotte of Escola da Dados giving opening remarks

Although this was tagged a conference, it turned out to be a series of workshops in one. I love it! Rather than the conference style gathering of people, there were hands-on knowledge exchange sessions that can help participants leapfrog from being a traditional journalist to a data journalist. Sessions that followed the tea break included data analysis for journalist facilitated by Marco Tulio of the Open Knowledge International, which put journalist through how you can use rate, percentages, mode, mean and medium to tell compelling stories and how you can secure yourself digitally as a journalist facilitated by Vadym Hudyma

The data are always out there for journalist, find them, as they are locked in excel spreadsheets, PDFs etc. So Allen Johnson wanted to publish a story on how footballers and technical advisers were earning big in Europe, he found a spreadsheet from France Football Magazine, that has the 2014 salaries of football players and their technical advisers. Voila! It was also in excel, and not PDF (so he won’t be looking for Tabula or online2pdf to convert it). All he did was to use the calculation functions to find the highest paid player, convert the currency to his local currency, and find the average amount that was paid a player. Certainly, you can hand out three different stories to your editor with this table alone, and don’t forget this makes the rule of thumb easier – Start with data and end with a story.

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Marco Tulio taking the session on Data Analysis for Journalist

“I have signed up on so many website, and while doing that I use the date of which I first joined in as my password” said Cruz Delirios, “what? That can be dangerous, and I think you should see me after this digital security for journalist session, we need to do a one on one” said Vadym who was totally stricken by Cruz utterance. As journalist, and also a data journalist, hold on a second, a data journalist, also is an investigative journalist who uses data to trail his story, do let me know by commenting below, if you have other insights.

As anyone described above, you should, No! We must use passwords that are not in the dictionary as passwords; encrypt your hard drives, there are now cheaper ways to encrypt; use longer alphanumeric (combination of alphabets and numbers) passwords, so if you are using a 7 digit password, it will take up to 9.2 days, and on average 4.6 days to crack, while if you password is 12 – digit, it will take up to 2,536 years, and on average 1,268 years to crack; cultivate the habit of putting password on your start up screen (either mobile or laptop), I just did! Stop using finger patterns to unlock your screens, patterns are mostly same for everyone; if possible, do not use fingerprints, use PIN and passphrases. Don’t just get an antivirus, always update them.

Furthermore, if you have several passwords to keep, do not save them on your laptop, or write them on your work desk, or in a piece of paper, you can save them at lastpass.com Did you just say why should a newsroom be a target? Perhaps you should read how Newsweek was compromised and how much it cost them to gain back people’s trust, if they ever! Aside this digital attacks, a journalist can be targeted for  physical threats which can be confiscation of your laptop’s, video or digital camera, midget or your backpack, as such you need to always have a backup of your hard drive (probably in the cloud); always copy out data on your video or digital camera immediately after use; and always watch out for someone behind your shoulder – you can be trailed!

You might think you will be covered by human rights law as it regards information, or as a whistle blower, but that is not the case. Even in Australia,with a freedom rating of one, meaning the best in the world, their Border Force Act of last year stated that any disclosure by any current former worker of “protected information” is punishable by up to two years in Prison which led us to the discussion or privacy and transparency at the panel that followed the data literacy workshops that took place after lunch.

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Daniel Brammati sharing his work on using data to find Maria Magdalena Tiul Ac

Is Panama Papers or Wikileaks the kind of journalism we should entrench? Shouldn’t journalist consider the motives behind finding this set of data referred to as leaks before publishing them? Fernanda Becker of Intergentes, and Joana Veron of Coding Rights says yes to the latter , and No to the first. Both largely emphasised that journalist should consider that they do not have rights that can protect them, while Vadym Hudyma reiterated the importance of engaging governments at the legislative level, in such a way that they are not allowed to pass bills that encourage their own privacy.

Absolutely, the quest for data journalism is increasing, and great works other than leaks are ongoing, as we saw in the works of Antonio Cucho who worked on tracking electoral data Ojo Publico in Peru; Daniel Villatoro mapping Data in Central America through Plaza Public;Luisa Brito engaging on Data Journalism on TV Globo in Brazil; Daniel Bramatti, using death data to find Maria Magdalena Tiul Ac who has been missing for over 1 year, 1 month and 5 days in Guatemala, and Daniela Flower’s work on Mapping LGBT fobia in Brazil on Huffpost Brazil

5 ways to prevent LEAD poison

Hamzat Lawal May 20, 2016 0

Earlier, we talked about what LEAD poison is and ways one could get in contact with it. This week I will be talking about the ways in which it could be prevented. As the saying goes “prevention is better than cure,” the essence of this is to ensure that we are all aware of the deadly disease and strife to end it. Additionally, to lend a helping hand to victims across the world. It is noteworthy to bear in mind that it is easier to prevent LEAD poisoning infections than to reverse its consequences;

1.  Ensure your Homes are Clean – Remember in the previous edition I noted that LEAD could be found in paints of old houses, therefore houses mostly those with over 20 years record of construction should at all times be kept clean by dusting regularly, mop as often as possible.

2. Always Wash your Hands  – Many people find it more stressful or tiring to wash their hands as expected. I have met lots of people who would “ abeg I don bath in the morning watin i wash again, abeg I no get sopa to waste.”  Most importantly it’s advisable to teach children to always wash their hands after playing before eating.

3. Use Cold instead of Hot Water – For many homes with access to water heater, it is highly advisable to use cold rather than hot water especially homes with old plumbing system.

4. Buy LEAD Free-products – Many Nigerians for instance are found of buying old things, popularly known as second hand products. Try to avoid old or products that have no label to guide you on their uses.

5. Conduct regular Blood test – It is advisable to always have a regular blood test and check-up to ensure physical fitness and free from not just LEAD contamination, but any other possible disease.

CODE SUPPORTS HOUR WITH A BOOK AND OTHERS TO PROMOTE READING CULTURE IN NIGERIA

Hamzat Lawal May 18, 2016 0

CONNECTED DEVELOPMENT has supported HOUR WITH A BOOK, EDU-ROOM, AND ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIAN AUTHORS (ANA), AND NIGERIA YOUTH COALITION ON EDUCATION, as they took the lead in Nigeria by joining the rest of the international community to create the awareness by educating the general public the need to read and encourage writers.

According to Hamzat Lawal, Chief Executive of CODE, “education is of the thematic areas that CODE has been committed to since its inception, our vision is to see an improved standard of education in Nigeria where all Nigerian youth will be able to acquire and access quality education, from elementary to tertiary level”.

The initiator of Hour with a Book, Babatunde Ismaila said we do this every year to commemorate World Book and Copyright Day”. He added that there is need to combat mass failure in examination, which has contributed to out of school children, touting and cultism etc. which  is as a result of lack of good learning environment, lack of technology skills to impact on the student. While addressing members He also emphasized the need for students to read hard in other to gain maximum understanding and curb the issue of mass failure in our education system in Nigeria.

He also used the medium to urge the federal government of Nigeria to intensify its effort for the rescue of Chibok school girls.

Ojonwa Deborah Miachi, Policy Advisor of CODE and Nigeria Youth Coalition on Education delegate, who in her short speech highlighted the need for Nigerian authors to write books that will interest the younger generations emphasizing the need to catch the interests of these children. She also spoke of the need for parents to lead by example by through commitment in reading books thereby building healthy reading culture because these children most times follow their footsteps.

HOUR WITH A BOOK is an initiative designed to advocate for good learning environment, Computer for all schools and also to set aside a day to encourage students and young pople to know the importance and benefits of setting aside an hour to read their books so as to have a better understanding of what they have been thought in school and also help them make research on educational books in other to build the needed confidence in them thereby curbing the rate of massive failure in examinations.

8 things to know about LEAD Poison

Hamzat Lawal May 13, 2016 0

Many Nigerians only hear about LEAD Poison and how it is affecting children in most of the mining states in Northern part of Nigeria. But careless of how its been contacted or passed on.

Many people have that tiny voice in their head that tells them (any way, wetin concern me, na village people na, dem get the sickness,dirty people, farmers dem).

Many of us already have a nonchalant attitude towards the disease, not knowing the mode of transmission, causes, symptoms or even how deadly it is. I am so sure i just spoke your mind. Not to worry i will give you an insight to it.

Let me start by explaining what LEAD Poison is?

According to research carried out by scientists, LEAD Poison is a very serious and highly fatal condition which only occurs when it builds in the body system. Aside from that, it is also a highly toxic metal and very lethal poison.

From that definition, one would know that in one way or the other we touch or hold metal which simply means it affects us all. Having said all of that, here are eight (8) things you need to know about LEAD poison.

1) It is found in lead based paints (Paints on the walls of old houses); Ever since we all heard about the poison, all we hear is, the farmers from one community went into illegal mining and as a result of that came in contact the poison. But here it is, go to urban areas; you would find old houses with paints falling out.

2) It is also found in toys; Let me ask, how many villagers buy toys for their kids? I am sure your answer is none. Ninety percent (90%) of our kids today all have toys with which they play with it. For instance, it could be seen in old toys or imported toys. It gets to them while making them in the factories.

3) Pregnant women are at a high risk of getting it; All over the world today, from villages, to communities, to town to city, we have women who get pregnant and also give births on a daily basis. They are at higher risks of getting it.

4) Drinking water also can be contaminated by the poison; It is often said that “Water is life” and we all drink water, but ironically LEAD poison can be found in water. This happens through metal corrosion or the wearing away of pluming materials in the water system and households.

5) It also breeds in soil; Do you know that soil and walkways around industrial areas may contain LEAD. It could get contaminated through past use of LEAD in gasoline.

6) Children are also at risk; Children below the age of six (6) can contact the poison because their brain and nervous system are still developing, and they often play with soil, aside from that pregnant mother could pass it on from the womb through the intestine.

7) If discovered early, it could be treated but if not it cannot be reversed; Once it’s detected early enough, it can be treated with Chelation therapy and EDTA , but in  cases where it leads to severe damages, it cannot be reversed. Chelation therapy is a series of intravenous infusions containing disodium EDTA and various other substances. It is sometimes done by swallowing EDTA or other agents in pill form.

8) Basic symptoms of LEAD poison; This is a list symptoms of patience with Lead Poison; i. Abdominal Pain, ii. Abdominal Cramps, iii. Aggressive Behavior, iv. Constipation, v. Sleeping Problems, vi. Headaches, vii. Irritability, viii. Loss of Developmental Skills in Children, ix. Loss of appetite, x. Fatigue, xi. High Blood Pressure, xii. Numbness or Tingling in the extremities, xiii. Memory Loss, xiv. Anemia, xv. Kidney Dysfunction.

One would realize that LEAD poison is not only restricted to the people from the mining states. Yes, they might have one way or the other gotten exposed to the poison due to ignorance and lack of job by going into illegal mining. But anyone could be a victim of Lead Poison.

Let’s give a helping hand to the affected victims, as it is often said “Health is Wealth”.

Next episode promises to be interesting as we talk about prevention of the LEAD poison.

 

Communique for the Abuja Anti Corruption Summit

Hamzat Lawal May 13, 2016 0

 

(5th May, 2016) Corruption undermines growth, erodes trust in governments, fuels support for extremism and hinders the fight against poverty and inequality. Governments have a special responsibility to prevent, detect and punish corruption.

The basis of Nigeria’s fight against corruption lies in its domestic legal and policy instruments such as the Code of Conduct for Public Officers which include Asset Declaration and Verification, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission Act, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Act, Advance Fee Fraud Act and Money Laundering Prohibition Act, the Public Procurement Act setting up the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). In Decemebr 2003, Nigeria ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption which commits Nigeria to taking necessary steps in the fight against corruption as shown by the various domestic laws enacted.

We, the representatives of the government of Nigeria, representatives of civil society and the media met on 5th May 2016 in Abuja and are committing to implement critical measures that will ensure that the space for corruption to flourish will be curtailed.

  1. Cross Cutting Issues

Flowing from the presentations and discussions, the need to address a number of gaps relating to the present effort at fighting corruption was highlighted. The gaps include:

  • The present effort at fighting corruption should not only pay attention to legal and institutional issues but also to the sociological issues which are the root cause of corruption.
  • There is need to approach the fight with a greater sense of urgency, including creating an effective partnership between the government, business and civil society.
  • Defining an overarching vision and strategy for the anti-corruption fight that takes into account the importance of society wide attitudinal change as a way to ensuring the sustainability of the fight.
  • Devising effective means of communicating this vision and strategy to the citizens, including those in the rural communities. This is to ensure that citizens are not disconnected from government efforts, thereby securing their continued support.
  • The need to fast-track efforts at legal and institutional reforms, including the enactment of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Repeal Bill, 2016 and the Mutual Assistance in Legal Matters Bill, 2016, which seeks to ensure effective prosecution of corruption, financial crime, kidnapping, trafficking in persons and trafficking in drugs, kidnapping, oil theft cases and all other forms of crimes referred to as “Predicate Offences” as long as it has a financial implication and that it eventually leads to the laundering of the stolen funds.
  • The need to strengthen anti corruption institutions and make them independent and less prone to political manipulation.
  • The role of the Auditor General of the AGF and the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly should be more proactive in generating reports of the financial dealings of the government in a timely manner and making these reports publicly accessible to enable citizens interrogate the financial dealings of the government.

 

  1. Stolen Asset Recovery

People who benefit from corruption need somewhere to put the money. All too often they want to spend that money in global cities – making use of secrecy in the global financial system to do so with impunity. We need robust steps to assist in the recovery of corrupt assets. Countries where these assets are held should expedite the process of repatriating these assets, without penalties, where they originate in low or middle income countries. There is also need to address the high legal cost of recovering and repatriating these assets. The countries to where these assets are being returned could commit to invest these assets in, among other things, healthcare, basic education, etc. To do this we should:

  • Support the enactment of the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Center (NFIC) Bill, 2016 and the Proceeds of Crime (POC) Bill. The NFIC bill seeks to empower the FIU currently located within the EFCC with additional powers of receipt, analysis and dissemination of intelligence to all law enforcement and security agencies.
  • Identify priorities for spending on public goods and ensure this spending is made transparent.
  • At the London Summit on 12 May 2016 , to commit to increase transparency in the management of returned stolen assets, to ensure ease of access in the recovery of stolen assets, to ensure that “illicit enrichment” or non-explainable wealth can be used as the basis for recovery of stolen public assets.
  • Support the President of the federal republic of Nigeria’s commitment to hosting a Global Forum on Asset Recovery in May 2017.
  1. Requiring companies to disclose who owns and profits from them

Anonymous companies, trusts and similar legal instruments play a central role in money laundering, concealing the identity of corrupt individuals and irresponsible businesses involved in activities including the trafficking of arms, drugs and people, the theft of public funds, and tax evasion. This robs governments of resources that could otherwise be invested in improving public services and stimulating inclusive economic growth. Public disclosure of beneficial ownership information would enable law enforcement, journalists, and citizens to easily access and use this information to follow the money and root out corruption and would help businesses know who they are trading with. To do this we should:

  • Support the passage of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Repeal Bill, 2016 and the Mutual Assistance in Legal Matters Bill, 2016 which has incorporated the definition of ‘beneficial owner’ that captures the natural person(s) that ultimately own(s) or control(s) a company or trust.
  • Implement publicly accessible central registries of beneficial ownership of legal entities including bulk access to open data.
  • As a first step this should be taken forward for the extractives sector as already committed under EITI.
  • Advance these issues at the London Summit, including securing a commitment from Prime Minister Cameroon to enforce Public Registers for the Beneficial Ownership of companies throughout UK’s Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
  1. Ensuring budgets are available for anyone to view in a way that is easy to read and re-use, so that citizens can see how public funds are spent

Budget transparency is critical for enabling citizens to hold their governments to account for the use of public resources in order to ensure that funds are managed efficiently and effectively on things that citizens want and need, such as quality health care, education, infrastructure and social services. We will work to ensure that budgets are publicly available and easily accessible so that citizens can see how public funds are being allocated and spent. To do this we will:

  • Support the publication of key budget documents in standard open data formats and creating accessible interfaces to display budget information, including but not limited to the Executive’s budget proposal, the enacted budget, a year-end report on budget outcomes including all off-budget revenues and expenditures, and an end-year audit report.
  • Work to link budget, project planning, procurement and spending data.
  • Increase public participation in budget formulation and execution, including holding public hearings during the budget process.
  • Work to disclose budget data at the federal, state and Local government level.
  1. Opening government public procurement and contracting and publishing contracts

Public procurement is critical to economic growth and development. It is also government’s number one corruption risk. It sits at the nexus of revenue generation, budget planning, resource management and delivery of public goods. Openness in contracting also encourages entrepreneurship, a fairer business environment, and a thriving small business sector. We will ensure that all our public contracts are awarded and managed openly and fairly, supporting business & civic oversight and providing open data on public contracting activities.  To do this, we will:

  • Support the disclosure of information across the entire chain of government contracting and procurement from planning to tender, to award and to the contract itself (including publishing contracts by default) to implementation to closure.
  • In particular, disclose all existing oil and mining sector contracts between the government and companies, including those governing exploration and production activities as well as other important deals, e.g. the crude oil for product swaps.
  • Share all this information as open data with unique identifiers to aid analysis, sharing, reuse and interoperability (using the Open Contracting Data Standard).
  • Adopt tools and methodologies for market analysis and monitoring to fix problems and ensure better solutions for public problems, across government, business and civil society and throughout the contract cycle.
  • Require that the beneficial owners of companies bidding or receiving government contracts be publicly disclosed.
  • Work together to establish common information set for contract debarment.

 

  1. Extractive Industry Transparency

In Nigeria, it is estimated that over $400 billion has been lost to ‘oil thieves’ since the country gained independence in 1960. All-too-often, opacity enables corrupt actors to divert these funds away from development promoting activities. Transparency of payments would enable citizens to hold governments accountable for the effective use of natural resource revenues. Commodity trading contributes substantially to state revenues. In recent years, up to 70% of Nigeria’s total government revenues came from sales from the state oil company, largely to oil traders. To remedy this situation, we will:

  • Seek to improve transparency and oversight in the sales of crude oil by the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by publishing sale-by-sale data.

 

  1. Follow up and international cooperation: The Open Government Partnership
    • Strongly urge the Nigerian Government to follow through with its publicly declared commitment to join the Open Government Partnership without further delay. Joining the OGP will help Nigeria improve transparency in the management of natural resources, and public funds as well as citizen participation in governance.

Insitutional Participants:

Government Institutions

  • Federal Ministry of Justice
  • Office Of The Head Of The Civil Service Of The Federation
  • Min Of Finance
  • Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency
  • Securities And Exchange Commission
  • Central Bank Of Nigeria
  • Bureau For Public Procurement
  • Nigeria Extractives Industries Transparency Initiatives
  • Code of Conduct Bureau
  • Office Of The Vice President – Rule Of Law
  • Ministry Of Foreign Affairs
  • Of Budget & National Planning
  • Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption

International Partners and Embassies

  • Department For International Development – Nigeria
  • African Development Bank
  • European Union
  • The World Bank
  • Ghana High Commission.
  • High Comm. Of Canada
  • Australian High Com.
  • Us Embassy – INL Office

Civil Society Organizations

  • BudgIT
  • ONE
  • Open Society Initiatives Of West Africa (OSIWA)
  • Freedom Of Information Coalition, Nigeria
  • Natural Resource Governance Institute
  • Socio Economic Rights Initiative
  • Centre For Public Private Cooperation
  • Human Rights Writers Association
  • Federal Public Administration Reforms
  • PANAC STRAG
  • Centre For Leadership And Strategic Development
  • Publish What You Pay, Nigeria
  • Civil Society Network Against Corruption
  • West Africa Non Government Organization Network (WANGONET)
  • Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ)
  • Enough Is Enough, Nigeria
  • Amplified Radio
  • Afri-Dev
  • Fenrad
  • Trust-Inc
  • West Africa Civil Society Forum
  • Center For Social Justice
  • Center For Women And Children
  • Amplified Radio
  • Public Private Development Center
  • Connected Development
  • Trust Africa
  • Center For Democracy And Development
  • Open Society Justice Initiative
  • Say No Campaign/YIAGA
  • Action Aid, Nigeria