Concerns over thriving firewood business in Maiduguri

Although with the advent of technology, the use of fire wood for cooking could be substituted alternatively with kerosene stove, gas cooker, and electric cooker among other means, the use of fire wood seems not to be fading in the rural areas.
In rural communities, the use of fire wood for cooking is mainly due to the peoples’ poverty and lack of access to new technologies to replace crude cooking methods.
Similarly, in urban communities, fire wood is still being utilised by bakeries and factories. This is also common during ceremonies such as naming, wedding, turbaning and so on. Apart from burning wood for cooking, wood can also be used for different carpentry purposes, such as building, furniture and canoes.
In fact, carpentry is regarded as one of the sources of income to many locals across Maiduguri as it is a thriving trade.
However, the challenge is how to stop the cutting of trees in the face of increasing encroachment of the Sahara desert and the accompanying sand storms and desertification. It is sad that people fell trees on daily basis without replacing them, leading to environmental problem such as deforestation.
Deforestation involves trees being cut down, leading to soil erosion, flooding, climate change and heavy wind.
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has recently ranked Nigeria as the worst country in the world in terms of deforestation, explaining that over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s forest has been lost as a result of deforestation.
Maiduguri is among the places in Nigeria believed to be affected by severe deforestation and it could be recalled that the town has experienced series of flooding over the decade with the worst flooding recorded recently in June 2012, where over 500 people lost their lives, about 10,000 residents made homeless, while properties worth billions of naira were destroyed.
The areas affected comprised Bulunkutu, Allajeri, Jajeri, London ciki, Polo, Bolori, Ummarari, Maduganari, Gomari Airport, Gwange and Mairi ward of the metropolis.
Recently, heavy wind occurred in the town of Maiduguri which destroyed many properties, including hundreds of shops within University of Maiduguri, vehicles and houses.
This form of disaster, no doubt, is greatly influenced by man made factors of cutting down trees for fire wood, overgrazing and bush burning coupled with natural factors, considering that Maiduguri is located in savannah zone of the country.
A research conducted by Amadin Bright also reveals that 57 per cent of the total population of Maiduguri has been using fire wood for cooking for over 10 decades.
The federal and state ministries of environment and agriculture made several attempts to curtail the cutting down of forest trees across the country without yielding the desired result due to the failure of the government to supply the communities with basic alternatives in place of fire wood.
The consequences would be more if care is not taken, so government should provide people with basic necessities that could stop them from cutting down trees.
While this is done, government should make standard laws like other countries to regulate and or ban cutting of trees and wood burning.

Halilu is a 400-level student of Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri