Environment
Nigeria Highest In Deforestation Rate – NEWMAP Boss
The National Coordinator, Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), Mr Salisu Dahiru, has said that Nigeria ranks the highest with deforestation rate in the world.
Dahiru said this on Tuesday in Benin, while delivering a lecture, entitled “managing land degradation in Nigeria: the challenges, action and remediation,” at the 10th Environmental Outreach Magazine public lecture and environmental awards.
According to him, “24 billion tons of fertile soil are lost every year globally. Also, 7.3 million of hectares of forest are lost yearly globally.
“Nigeria is said to be one of the countries with the highest deforestation rate in the world with about 450,000 to 600,000 hectares of forest lost annually.”
He identified population pressure, deforestation, bush burning, overgrazing, agricultural depletion of soil nutrients through poor farming, inappropriate irrigation and indiscriminate mining as some the causes of land degradation in Nigeria.
Dahiru said that NEWMAP had succeeded in reclaiming some land lost to degradation.
He said that inconsistency in policies, inadequate budgetary and unhealthy rivalvary between environmental agencies adversely affected management of degradation and deforestation in the country.
He said that addressing the challenge required political will in terms of funding, policy execution and stakeholders cooperation.
Earlier, Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, the Vice Chancellor, Igbinedion University, Benin and President, Nigeria Environmental Society, regretted that the Institute of Environmental Practitioners Management Bill, sponsored by the society, had yet to receive the president’s assent.
He said that the bill would help to ensure that the Nigerian environment was adequately protected, in line with global best practices.
He said that it would further give room for experts and competent hands to manage the Nigerian environment.
The Tide source reports that Media Trust reporter, Mrs Chidima Okeke, won the 2019 Environmental Outreach Magazine Media Excellence Award.
Okeke was recognised for her stewardship, commitment and leadership in environmental issues in her reportage.
37 others, including Mr Frankland Briyai, the Cross River Resident Electoral Commissioner, and Ezemonye received leadership awards.
Responding on behalf of the awardees, Briyai said that the award would spur them to do more in ensuring that the environment was protected and not degraded by human activities.
He said, “as REC in Cross River, I have ensured that grasses are planted and that drainages are built in all INEC offices in the state to check erosion.”
Presenting the awards, Chief Noble Akenge, the Publisher of Environmental Outreach Magazine, said the award was in recognition of the awardees’ contributions towards improving the environment.
He said the public lecture was designed to bring together stakeholders in environment toward finding lasting solution to the environmental challenges in Nigeria.
President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Mrs Margaret Oguntala, has inaugurated the construction of 18 units residential terrace in highbrow Alausa area of Lagos toward bridging the nation’s shelter gap.
Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation has launched the 1GOV Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS) to enhance digital governance and improve service delivery.
The launch, held on Thursday in Abuja, marks the ministry’s transition from paper-based operations to a smart, integrated and technology-driven work environment.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, said the deployment aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Utsev said the system would improve data management, streamline workflows and strengthen transparency and accountability across the ministry.
According to him, the ECMS will enhance productivity, preserve institutional memory and reduce operational costs in the ministry.
Launching the platform, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, said the initiative is a major step in public sector reform.
She said the ministry’s mandate affects Nigerians through water supply, sanitation, irrigation, river basin development and climate resilience programmes.
Walson-Jack said the 1GOV ECMS enables secure digital records management, automated workflows, electronic approvals and real-time collaboration across MDAs.
She added that the deployment aligns with the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021–2025 and the directive for full digitalisation by December 2025.
“Effective governance cannot afford delays caused by manual bottlenecks or avoidable inefficiencies,” she said.
She directed that all official correspondence in the ministry must henceforth be processed through approved digital registry channels.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Emanso Umobong, said the system would eliminate workflow inefficiencies and improve service delivery.
She urged staff to fully adopt the platform and engage in continuous capacity building.
Research shows that local communities and citizens living at the grassroots, particularly women, are directly impacted by the environmental degradation, flooding and others that result from these manifestations.
In the light of this, non-governmental organisation, Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development (EUFORDe), has held a forum for women and other members of oil impacted communities, tagged: ‘Voices from the Grassroots,’ and aimed at building their resilience and mitigation efforts against climate change and environmental degradation
The forum, with the theme: ‘Building Resilience for Oil Spill Impacted Ahoada Communities,’ organised with support from Global Green Grants, was held in Ahoada Community, Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, on December 5, 2025.
Executive Director of Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development, Mercy Elemchukwu-James, said women are at the forefront of efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change and environmental degradation.
The event, therefore, was “designed for community women impacted by oil spills, flooding and other environmental degradation,” she said.
Community women were enlightened by resource persons on new opportunities for sustainable agricultural practices and water management techniques that cushion the impact of oil spills.
Lectures were also delivered on Self-care and Trauma-care, with focus on physical and mental health of the population, and increasing access to health-related resources and services; as well as on Food security and women’s critical role in decision making in oil spill and flood situations in communities
Elemchukwu-James pointed out that the event created a forum for stakeholders, civil society actors and others to dialogue on measures at advancing inclusive and sustainable livelihoods of community women.
She stressed the need for collaborative efforts towards achieving mitigation efforts, while underscoring EUFORDe’s commitment to “fostering partnerships as a critical driver for achieving a healthy community and sustainable development.”
Elemchukwu-James described participants’ design of ‘Community Resilience Plan,’ to manage and combat environmental degradation and crises, as part of achievements recorded at the event.
The forum also witnessed the launching of EUFORDs’ Center For Resilience and Rights.
“This center is established to build resilience as Trauma-Care for victims of environmental degradation, support for survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and a platform where victims of environmental injustice and other GBV cases can seek redress,” Elemchukwu-James said.
Participants celebrated the milestones achieved and charted a path toward greater impact in the coming years. They also described the event as “an inspiring and transformative experience.”
Elemchukwu-James said the awareness creation workshop “reaffirms EUFORDe’s mission to create an equitable society in which the rights and capacities of women, youth, children and underprivileged are integrated in the socio-economic planning and development of communities, for the attainment of equity and peace.
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