Lead poisoning: Zamfara clean-up to cost $4million

About US$4m is required for an immediate clean-up of the environment to save the lives of thousands of children in the northern Nigerian state of Zamfara where villages have remained contaminated with Lead, the Human Rights Watch has said.


The group in a news conference in Lagos, Tuesday, said that the amount would also cover the implementation of safer mining processes as well as testing and treatment of all children at risk for Lead poisoning.


While launching a new video, 'A Heavy Price: Lead Poisoning and Gold Mining in Zamfara State'; the group stated that the federal government has remained mum on the epidemic which has claimed the lives of more than 400 children, according to official estimates. 




Artisanal gold mining - small scale mining done with rudimentary tools - is common in gold-rich Zamfara State.


In 2010, unsafe mining practices in dozens of villages in the state led to the "worst Lead poisoning epidemic in modern history." 


Exposed to Danger


Recent findings by Human Rights Watch in Zamfara State showed that children are exposed to Lead dust when they process the ore in the mines, when their miner relatives return home covered with Lead dust, and when the Lead-filled ore is manually or mechanically crushed at home.


"Between 1,500 and 2,000 children under the age of 5 have been exposed to extremely high level of Lead for at least two years," said Babatunde Olugboji, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch.


Healthcare workers in Zamfara told the Human Rights Watch that there have also been high rates of infertility and miscarriage among affected adults. 


"There seem to be an issue of mother to child transmission (of the chemical) going on now. This is a very delicate situation," Mr. Olugboji added.


Medical workers in Nigeria reported that the Lead concentration in the Zamfara State ore is so toxic that in 2010, villages like Abare, Dareta, Duza, Sunke, Tungar Daji, Tungar Guru, and Yargalma recorded unprecedented high levels.


"The mortality rate was estimated as high as 40 percent among children who showed symptoms of Lead poisoning," said Mr. Olugboji.


Jane Cohen, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that immediate remediation efforts and the co-operation of the federal government are vital to providing a lasting solution. 


"Remediation needs to start immediately, before the next rainy season," said Ms. Cohen.


"If remediation begins but is not completed, the rainy season would actually make a dire situation much worse," she added.


The Zamfara State government, in partnership with international organizations like Medecins Sans Frontiers and the United States Center for Disease Control, has treated over 1,500 children with acute Lead poisoning. 


However, thousands more children urgently need the life-saving chelation therapy treatment that removes the Lead from the body via urination.


'Uncommitted federal government'


Ms. Cohen said that efforts to get the commitment of the federal government have not been successful.


"There have been several visits from high profile federal government officials but no real commitment," she said.


"We have met with the Minister of Mines and Steel several days ago.


"His response to us was that they know about the situation...but currently the ministry does not have resources to commit to this," said Ms. Cohen.


In the short video, which tries to show the impact of Lead poisoning on the lives of the locals in Zamfara State; Amina, 20, narrates how she lost three of her six children to Lead poisoning.


"By failing to address this epidemic, the Nigerian government is needlessly sacrificing its children," said Mr. Olugboji.

“The worst lead poisoning epidemic in modern history” – The situation in Zamfara

Thousands of children in northern Nigeria need immediate medical treatment and dozens of villages remain contaminated two years into the worst lead poisoning epidemic in modern history, Human Rights Watch said today while releasing a video on the issue. Four hundred children have died, according to official estimates, yet environmental cleanup efforts have not even begun in numerous affected villages.

Artisanal gold mines are found throughout Zamfara State in northwestern Nigeria, and high levels of lead in the earth and the use of rudimentary mining methods have resulted in an epidemic of lead poisoning among children, Human Rights Watch said. Research by Human Rights Watch in Zamfara in late 2011 found that children are exposed to this lead dust when they process ore in the mines, when their miner relatives return home covered with lead dust, and when the lead-filled ore is manually or mechanically crushed at home. Children can also be exposed to toxic lead in contaminated water and food. Healthcare workers in Zamfara State told Human Rights Watch that there have also been high rates of infertility and miscarriage among affected adults.

“Zamfara’s gold brought hope for prosperity, but resulted in death and backbreaking labor for its children,” said Babatunde Olugboji, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch. “People living in Zamfara State should not have to trade their lives, or their children’s lives, for the chance to mine gold and make a living.”

The Zamfara State government, in partnership with international organizations such as Medecins Sans Frontieres and the United States Centers for Disease Control, has treated more than 1,500 children with acute lead poisoning, but thousands more children urgently need the life-saving chelation therapy treatment that removes lead from the body, Human Rights Watch said. Unless their homes are cleaned up and their relatives have access to safer mining techniques that minimize exposure to lead-contaminated dust, treatment will not be effective as children will be repeatedly re-exposed.

Lead is highly toxic and can interrupt the body’s neurological, biological, and cognitive functions. Children are particularly susceptible, and according to the World Health Organization, high levels of lead exposure can cause brain, liver, kidney, nerve, and stomach damage, as well as permanent intellectual and developmental disabilities. Lead poisoning is rarely fatal, but medical workers in Nigeria reported that the lead concentration in the Zamfara State ore is so toxic that in 2010 in villages such as Abare, Dareta, Duza, Sunke, Tungar Daji, Tungar Guru, and Yargalma, the mortality rate was estimated as high as 40 percent among children who showed symptoms of lead poisoning.

In late 2011, the Zamfara State government took an important step when it put together a clean-up team, Human Rights Watch said.  The team is now cleaning up the largest and most contaminated village, Bagega, which is estimated to have at least 2,000 children in need of treatment. However, the scope of contamination in the region requires a sustained and comprehensive effort that will be difficult for the state government to manage without adequate funds, personnel, and expertise.

“For the past two months we’ve seen a renewed state government commitment to cleaning up heavily lead-contaminated areas in Zamfara,” Olugboji said. “This effort needs to be sustained and expanded, and international donors should help ensure that all affected children and villages are reached.”­­

Children as young as 8 work in Zamfara’s informal mining sector, dropping down into the mines, processing the ore, using mercury to extract the gold, and selling goods at the processing site. Much of this work, which can be extremely hazardous, qualifies as among the worst forms of child labour under international law, Human Rights Watch said.

Nigeria is party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Both treaties obligate Nigeria to protect the health of its children and to ensure their physical and mental development to the maximum extent possible. Nigeria has also ratified International Labor Organization Convention No. 182 on the worst forms of child labor, which protects children from hazardous labor, such as exposure to hazardous substances, agents, or processes.

“By failing to address this epidemic, the Nigerian government is needlessly sacrificing its children,” Olugboji said. “The federal and state governments need to educate people about the risks of lead, put safer mining programs in place, end child labor in gold mining, and dramatically expand treatment and environmental cleanup programs.”

By Human Rights Watch vi YNAIJA

Suspected suicide bombers attack Kaduna Army, Airforce bases

Suspected suicide bombers have attacked two military formations in Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria.

The attacks occurred at the First Mechanized Division of the Nigerian Army on  Zaria road and the Air Force Base in Kawo, both on the outskirts of Kaduna.

Both attacks occurred almost within five minutes interval. While one of the suspected bomber gained entrance into the First Mechanized Division of the Nigerian Army the other detonated his explosive under the Kawo overhead bridge in front of the gates of the Air Force base.

There are also reports of a third explosion but could not be immediately confirmed.

Spokesman of the police in Kaduna, Aminu Lawan, confirmed two blasts but could not give casualties rate.

“We have dispatched our men to the scenes to assess the situation,” he said.

He was also unable to confirm if the attacks were carried out by the deadly Boko Haram sect which has been attacking government security installations in northern Nigeria.

NEMA said its rescue team have been alerted to the explosion at the military formations. They could not also confirm the nature of explosion or casualty.

The Red Cross which also mobilised swiftly for rescue operations say the true nature of the blast is still unclear.

Eye witnesses however say three people were killed by the blast at the Airforce base Kawo. “One of them is the suicide bomber,” they said.

An eyewitness at the Zaria road scene said the explosion shattered several glasses on buildings around the First Mechanized Division area.

"Virtually all the glass has been shattered,” the eyewitness said. “I saw soldiers with glass cuts on their bodies being taken out, but it's difficult to say if there were any (more serious) casualties."

Spokesman of the First Mechanized Division of Nigerian Army Lt. Col. Abubakar A. Edun said the casualty figure is being ascertained and would soon be made available through an official statement concerning the attack.

The affected areas have been cordoned off and the busy Kaduna/Zaria road highway – location of the First Mechanized Division - has been closed to traffic.

Witnesses say the blast at Kawo was loud enough to be heard in Malali, 10 kilometres away from the scene.

The streets are filled with police and military officers as well as anti-bomb squad combing for undetonated bombs.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. But security agents says they have the imprimatur of the Boko Haram sect attacks.

The sect, whose attacks have killed over 1000 Nigerians since July 2010, is infamous for beating heavy security blockades to attack government security formations

via premiumtimesng

Oga Madam Opposition Party Of Nigeria (OMOPON)-By Chinedu Ekeke

Less than a month ago, Nigerians, in their millions, staged unprecedented protests that shook the foundations of the Nigerian establishment. They were angry with the insensitivity of the PDP-led federal government. And then last Saturday, a gubernatorial election was conducted in Adamawa state, Northern Nigeria, and PDP won. How do we explain that?
But that’s not the end of the puzzle. The man who won the election, Murtala Nyako, was reportedly owing workers in the state as a sitting governor. And on the Election Day, he was returned by the same workers. Again, how do we explain this?
And you may not need to remind me that PDP rigged the election. I don’t rule that out. I know rigging is to PDP what water is to a fish. Yet we must take a look at the figures from INEC:
• PDP – 302986 votes
• ACN – 260405 votes
• CPC – 107564 votes
If we sum up the votes recorded by the two opposition parties, we have a total of 367,969; which bests the PDP number.
Yet again, that doesn’t end the analysis. The election elicited my interest in many ways. The party which took second in that election is ACN, largely considered a Southern based party. By a very wide margin, they overtook the CPC which many analysts, including this writer, had expected to win the election. And as I heard, and saw from his name, the ACN candidate is a Christian, not a Muslim. He had more votes than a party considered North-dominated.
Now I see an area of interest in the whole election. They people seem to have become more conscious. The electorate seems ready. The voting pattern tells me so. They voted PDP out. Those against were more than those for PDP. The real unfortunate scenario is that those to whom the electorate look up for salvation aren’t ready. If they are, then we won’t have PDP winning an election after three weeks of PDP-stirred rage and eruptions.
So what’s the next step? The opposition goes to court. Which court? Nigerian courts. And what do they intend to get from the courts? I don’t know, really.
People were probably given money to vote PDP. It can’t be ruled out. There probably were cases of irregularities. Again, I don’t know. But even if there were, the votes against PDP still were more. Does that tell us anything? The opposition, not our people’s poverty or ignorance, handed down that victory to PDP.
Now let’s even ask: who really owns PDP? I can’t successfully hazard any guess. I could begin by naming up to a hundred people. Before I get done with that, I’ll remember another hundred, and then another hundred and more hundred. I will remember the governors, the ministers, Senators, Commissioners, and thousands of others I don’t know. There are the Local Government chieftains who aren’t even in government. There are the state heavyweights and the national big men in PDP. The party is owned by nobody in particular. It is owned by everybody. It is a gathering of those whose major interest is to lay their hands on Nigeria’s wealth and corner it to themselves, families and friends. PDP is bound by a desire to perpetually feast on whatever Nigeria can cook and bring to the dining table. PDP is a world-class rigging machine. But it is one party where almost everybody has a chance.
On the contrary, who own the other parties trying to take over power from the PDP? In a minute, I can run you through four or five of the opposition parties and the ogas or madams who own them. Each of the other parties have the seal of their owners stamped all over their plans and aspirations. Political parties have become private enterprises of their “owners” who seem very comfortable with PDP’s determination to run Nigeria aground. It does seem as though people are just comfortable with being called the owners of political parties than actually getting into government to offer Nigerians good governance.
Last year, during the elections, millions of Nigerians who didn’t believe in the power of shoes –or lack of them – to provide good governance for any country wished, begged and even prayed for a fruitful alliance or merger between the ACN and CPC. They wished that the leading opposition parties present a common front to confront the PDP rigging machine. What did we get? We got nothing. And why did it not work? They must have loved something else more than they loved Nigeria. And Nigeria could go to blazes so long as that which they loved remained. Well, they got it. But today, we see where that has kept us.
After disappointing their admirers and supporters all over the world, we had expected that some of these parties would, immediately after the elections, commence talks on how to form a formidable opposition using their regional strengths. But that has to be only in the imaginations of naive ones like us who know nothing. I may not be wrong to assume that the parties were probably formed for the sake of anything other than Nigeria. The Adamawa election has passed a clear message to us: in the opposition camp, ego is more important than Nigeria!
Before and during the protests, President Jonathan knew that all he had of the presidency was his first four years in office. His party’s image was brutally battered. The message was clear to him: just do one term and get out. Nobody will consider you for re-election. But with the Adamawa magic, and the fact that PDP will still win (I am certain of this!) in the remaining three of the five states where the governors were sacked, the president might start considering a second term in office. And the opposition, with their “ownership mentality” will lose it again!
We cannot continue with the same strategy and then expect a different result. PDP is evil, we all complain: yet to dislodge them, we set up minor ego-boosting groups and brand them political parties. If we do not latently nurse the ambition of being like PDP in government – or even worse, why haven’t we made the bold step of uniting as the opposition? If we do not feel sincerely that Nigeria’s pathetic situation demands that we bridle our egos and form an invincible coalition, we will remain with a PDP government for as long as Nigeria tarries.
And they’ll say it’s an ideology thing. That’s their alibi. How many people in opposition weren’t once in PDP? And even if there is indeed anything like party ideology in this clime, why don’t we make the rescue of Nigeria the real ideology and then work around it?
The PDP might be evil, but the opposition has to seek tutorials from them on how to not claim “ownership” of anything designed to have a national spread.
Nedunaija@gmail.com
Follow the writer on twitter: @ekekeee

Boko Haram Targets Wole Soyinka For Assassination?

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has disclosed that he is one of the prominent Nigerians on the list of Boko Haram sect marked for assassination.

In a down-to-earth interview with TheNEWS magazine which is circulated within outside Nigeria this week, Soyinka revealed that he was not only on the sect’s assassination list but very close to the top.
Soyinka said he has reported this to the security operatives in the country and they confirmed the information but he expressed disappointment that the security operatives have not taken action on the threat.

He said: “The reason for this programme (elimination) which I know is very much their third phase, is that those pushing this agenda know very well that this could be the last straw that will break the camel’s back.

And they would rather this country broke up and possibly in an inferno than continue to accept the loss, even though temporal loss of power in this country. For these people, government is the only business around.”

The Nobel Laureate said he was not against dialogue but the Boko Haram sect did not make public their demands so that they could sit at a round table with government.

He added that dialogue does not require a group to constitute itself into a terror, stating that PRONACO which he joined during former President Obasanjo’s administration successful organised its conference, amended the constitution of Nigeria and presented the document to the government without violence.

Soyinka said he cannot be cowed into submission by the Boko Haram or any other violent group, stressing,

“I believe that one should not beg for existence. If the price of not coming to table is that you want to eliminate me, and you can do so, please do so. I am 77.

“Please, come to the debating table, but you will not persuade me simply because you have the capacity to blow me and my family up. You can simply go ahead, blow us up if you think that is the way you can do your conversation. But you will not bomb me to sit with you at table,” he insisted.

Soyinka said President Jonathan is underestimating the desperation of the forces behind the Boko Haram sect not considering the Islamic struggle in countries like Iraq where fundamentalist Islamic groups attack one another even in their sanctuary of worship and they retaliate with higher casualty figure.


via pm news

Death of student sparks violence in Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo

Students of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo yesterday went on rampage in response to series of neglect by the school authorities which caused the death of a student . They invited the police to face students of a private university. A female student fainted as a result of tear gas shot at them.

It was said that basic needs of the students have not been provided to them despite paying for everything to the sum of five hundred thousand naira (500,000).

Trouble started when late ABU ELVIS PAUL, complained of a headache was admitted at the health center and placed on medication. His friends asked that he should be taken to a hospital in town but the medical personnel at the university declined, it was suspected that the university  ambulance was faulty that’s why the request was turned down. He later died.

He was also said to be a gifted artist, below is his one of his artworks

Students gathered around the medical center discussing the regular poor treatment they get at the health center. They complained the health center lacks drugs to treat even malaria and the CMD has told them several times to go buy drugs outside the school despite paying  fifteen thousand naira per semester for medical services.

They also complain about paying high school fees but not getting value for their money, their hostel has power and water issues and most students have claimed to go to class without bathing due to unavailability of water at the hostels..

The VC addressed the students but was unable to calm them down as they went on rampage and started destroying properties, starting with Mercedes 200 car belonging to a lecturer, they went ahead to destroy the CMD’s car and the already spoilt university ambulance.

They then proceeded to set the departments of economics, accounting and banking & finance on fire. They also set on fire a store called “charis store” belonging to the VC’s personal assistant’s wife.

The Vice Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University is Reverend Canon Professor Kolawole Timothy Jayeoba and the registrar is Dr. Mrs. Josephine Oyebanji.

Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, is owned by The Church of Nigeria, Anglican communion.

The students have been told to go home.

DEMOCRACY OR JUNTA? SSS BARS JOURNALISTS FROM PRESS CENTRE

The State Security Service (SSS) and the protocol department attached to the presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, have barred journalists from accessing the press centre used by aviation correspondents.
 

The SSS and the protocol department claimed they were acting on an instructions from the presidency.
 

Journalists have used the facility for over 30 years and not even the military regimes shut it down.

Inside sources said the presidency was uncomfortable with certain reports on  VIP movements around the airport, the most recent was a picture showing the Ooni of Ife using a Presidential Jet.

Trouble started Saturday when someone, who identified himself as head of the presidential crew, went into the press centre and told journalist that he had been ordered from the presidency to sack pressmen from the premises.

Heavily armed security personnel yesterday executed the order by denying journalists access to the presidential lounge, where the centre is lokcated.

Pleas by journalists to be allowed to go in and pick up their tools and personal belongings were rebuff  by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) personnel,  insisting that “we have orders from above not to allow you in; it is not our fault.”

via omojuwa.com