News

HEDA Demands Climate Justice For Nigeria, Africa

Published

3 years ago

October 19, 2022

Still worried by the level of human insensitive and reckless actions and inactions towards the environment, a frontline civil society organisation, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has called for climate justice for Nigeria and Africa at large.
In preparation for the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly referred to as COP27, which would be the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference, to be held from November 6 to 18, 2022, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, HEDA took to the streets of Lagos over the weekend to create awareness on the need for Africa to stand out (regarding the climate change) in the conference.
The roadshow, which took place in Maryland, Ikeja and other strategic locations of Lagos, saw some concerned young men and women in branded T-Shirts and placards and other forms of display designed to draw public attention towards the unfortunate environmental realities which citizens themselves have advertently created.
With different inscriptions like: “What’s going on here?”, “The world is changing”, “We are killing the ecosystem”, “Trees are the lungs of the earth, let the earth breath, plant a tree today”, “Climate change is natural”, “Climate change is man-made”, “The climate is changing because you and I refuse to change”, “We pollute the environment”, “We block drainages”, “We demand climate Justice,” etcetera, the environmental justice and sustainability advocate (HEDA) called for caution and restrain in the way and manner people relates with the environment and its inhabitants including plants, animals, water and other creatures.
Speaking shortly after, the Executive Secretary of HEDA, Mr Arigbabu Sulaimon, said the world was changing but not in the best interest of mankind- due to human (individuals and corporate organisations) unfriendly activities towards the environment, urging Nigerians and Africans at large to shun any practice capable of destroying the environment.
According to him, what Africa deserves among other salient needs is climate justice: “Africa is in drought. Animals are dying. People are suffering. Farm produce is shrinking. Most parts of Nigeria including the food basket of Nigeria is over-flooded due to the failure of water and dams management system”.
HEDA’s scribe decried the level of Nigerians’ reactive response towards ugly incidents which were oftentimes predicted by NiMet and other organisations earlier, saying, “When the alarm is raised over an impending doom, like NiMet did since February on the flood which has destroyed lives, property and farm produce worth billions, we need to be proactive and take frantic actions to prepare for such days like this.
“Howbeit, on the side of the government, it’s not enough to raise the alarm, we need action, people especially farmers need to be mentally equipped with professional advice, for instance, they (farmers) need to know the kind/ varieties of seeds to plant and how to go about it the farming system for that particular season.”
By extension, he added that Africa needs money to adapt to climate change and meet up to its obligations in the international community.
“Howbeit, proper management of available resources like ecological funds and other foreign aids must be prudently utilised and deployed maximally.
“We understand that corruption is still eating deep into the fabrics of most African countries; that is why everyone must rise now and do something worth doing to mitigate the effects of climate change. As you may see, we are all affected by the calamity the floods have caused, because we all interdependent on one another for one exchange for the other, like food, and roads network, among others.
“Olams and other large farmers lost investments worth billions in Nassawara State. Across every state, you see people affected by one act of natural phenomena or the other which has always been there, but the sad thing is that we keep falling victim of their recurrence because of failure to plan by the government across the board.
“All hands must be on deck to preserve the environment, especially the government which gives policy direction and controls the financial resources. As friends of the environment, we are not leaving any stone unturned to see that we let people be aware of the dangers of treating the environment indiscreetly. Civil society organisations also should rise now and act in this regard before things get out of control,” he charged.

News

NELFUND Warns Students Against Fake Loan Portal

Published

2 days ago

November 19, 2025

The Tide

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund has alerted the public to a fraudulent message circulating online, claiming that the NELFUND Student Loan Registration Portal is open.

The message directs applicants to a third-party link (http://gvly.xyz/Nelfund-Student-Loan, which NELFUND confirms is unauthorised and fraudulent.

In a post obtained from its X handle, yesterday, NELFUND urged students and the general public not to click on the link or provide any personal information, emphasising that the official loan registration portal is only accessible through the Fund’s verified channels.

The agency reminded applicants to exercise caution online and to report any suspicious links or communications claiming to be from NELFUND.

“Applicants are encouraged to always verify official announcements via NELFUND’s official website and social media channels,” NELFUND said.

This advisory comes as part of NELFUND’s ongoing efforts to safeguard students and ensure the integrity of the student loan application process.

News

Eastern Port Police Boss Promises On Crime-Free Operations

Published

2 days ago

November 19, 2025

The Tide

The new Commissioner of Police Eastern, Ports Command, Mr Tijani Fatai has promised to ensure a crime- free ports operations in the zone.
He said effective policing will be mounted across the ports in the zone in tackling the high rate of community unrest, activities of port rats and other social vices.
Fatai while speaking to newsmen shortly after taking over as the 17th commissioner said he wants to be remembered as a peace maker during his tenure as Commissioner of Police in the Eastern Ports Command.
According to him,’’the community policing is the sure way of addressing most conflicts and other social vices bedeviling our society today and I will explore it to its fullest” .
The Commissioner also assured officers of the rank and file of improved welfare whoch he described as a cardinal objective of the present efforts of the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
He said,” the Inspector General of Police has sent me to assure you all of welfare, promotions as and when due,no officers particular rank and file will be left behind in the coming months.
Fatai before his recent posting was an operational officer,who spent most of his years with the Police Mobile Force (PMF) where he served as Unit Commander (UC) and Commander, PMF.
Before his redeployment as a Commissioner of Police,(CP), he was the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations, DCP, Operations, Lagos State Command.

News

Kalabaris Celebrate New Year Amid Fanfare

Published

2 days ago

November 19, 2025

The Tide

Thousands of Kalabari indigenes from Akuku- Toru, Asari-Toru, Degema and Port Harcourt City Local Government Areas last Sunday gathered at Elem Kalabari in Degema Local Government Area to celebrate what they said is the Kalabari new year amidst pomp and pageantry
According to stakeholders, the event which started over 200 years ago normally falls on the 16th of November every year.
The of this year’s celebration which was organised by Kalabari Renaissance Foundation was “Our Heritage, Honouring Our Waters and Renewing Our Spirit.”
Stakeholders said this year’s celebration was symbolic as it was holding at Elem Kalabari which is the home of the Kalabari people.
The event also featured various masquerade displays from cultural troupes within Kalabari and beyond.
Speaking on the significance of the event, the Amanyanabo of Elem Kalabari (The Source), HRH Mujahid Asari Dokubo, said the celebration signaled a return to the traditional values of the Kalabari people and the need for self-recreation.
“It’s not just about celebration, It’s about recreating ourselves, bringing us back from death.
“The organisation that has come to take over this celebration – Renaissance – really fits the description of what ought to happen to us as a people.
“It’s not just Kalabari; it’s about all of us and our values. We have to look at ourselves and our values,” he said.
Dokubo called on all Kalabari citizens to join hands together to revive their traditional values and heritage in order not to lose their cultural identity and spiritual trajectory.
Also speaking, Harry Awolayeofori MacMorrison, Chief Administrator and Chairman of Kalabari Renaissance Foundation, organizsers of the Kalabari new year festival, said the event marks the beginning of a new calendar year for the Kalabari people, after November 15 of every year when the tide cleanses the pollution from the Sombreiro River inflows, describing it as a renewal of the Kalabari people.
“It’s the renewal of the people. Kalabari area is saline environment and at a time, the Sombreiro River comes in and pollutes the river.
“On the 15th November, across Kalabari, the tide turns and takes all the fresh water that polluted the saline river back to the Sombreiro River
. “On the 15th is the end of the year. Normally when there is an end, there is a new beginning. On the 16th (November) is the beginning of the Kalabari calendar,” he said.
Awolayeofori Mac Morrison said the Kalabari communities had been holding the new year festival separately in the past until the Renaissance Foundation decided to champion a unified celebration to enable them forge a common front of trado-cultural and socio-economic development across the entire territory.
He said last year’s event held at Abalama while they decided to bring this year’s celebration to Elem Kalabari because of it significance to the Kalabari nation.
Also speaking, a member of the planning committee and media lead, Journalist Ibiba Don Pedro, said there was need to reawaken the consciousness of their people on the need to embrace their traditional values without reservations, noting that there was nothing fetish about the festival.
She said the celebration was to unite the Kalabaris as well as project the cultural heritage of the people.
Don Pedro said time has come for Africa to go back to their root , adding that development will continue to elude African countries until the people rediscover themselves.