Towards phasing out persistent organic pollutants in Nigeria

The concern was specifically raised on a group of 12 chemicals known as ‘Persistent Organic Pollutants’ (POPs) said to need immediate global action to minimise their effects and be eventually phased out.
It was the result of international efforts at minimising/phasing out POPs that gave rise to the Stockholm Convention on POPs in May 2001. The convention identified eight pesticides, Aldrin, Chlordane, DDT, Dieldrin, Endrin, Heptachlor, Mirex, Toxaphene, and two industrial chemicals, Hexachlorobenzene and Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) and byproduct Polychlorinated Dibenzo- para- Dioxins (PCDD) Polychlorinated dibenzo-Furans (PCDF) as Persistent Organic Pollutants.
A National Implementation Plan for Stockholm Convention on POPs of Federal Ministry of Environment states that the authorisation of 150 million dollars by Global Environment Facility (GEF) Secretariat (2000) in existing resources to be utilised in support of an Enabling Activities of the POPs project opened it to countries participation.
The report said the desire is to assist countries in preparation of their Implementation Plans.
Following the approval of GEF National Implementation Plans (NIPs), Nigeria applied to GEF and UNIDO as implementing Agency and solicited the inclusion of the country among the first group of countries to benefit from the 500, 000 dollars POPs Enabling Activities.
The project which will allow Nigeria meet her reporting obligation and prepare ground for the implementation of Stockholm Convention in Nigeria, will also strengthen national capacity to manage POPs and other chemicals in general by developing and endorsing its National Implementation Plan on POPs.
It was gathered that in order to develop NIP, a POPs coordinating office was established in the Federal Ministry of Environment, Housing and Urban Development in 2007 and having successfully developed the NIP, collaborates with UNIDO to implement the Enabling Activities for the Review and update of the NIP
Speaking at the inauguration of Project Steering Committee (PSC) on the “Enabling Activities to review and update the National Implementation Plan for the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants” in Abuja, the Minister of Environment, Mrs. Laurentia L. Mallam said the cross cutting dimension of POPs management and the magnitude of associated challenges call for collective responsibility among all stakeholders. As a result, a multi- stakeholder committee was inaugurated as part of institutional arrangements for the implementation of the Enabling Activities for NIP update and review.
She said it is a global fact that challenges of POPs management have immense socio- economic and public health implications, which can only be effectively addressed with enormous resources in terms of funding, infrastructural capacity, institutional framework, among others, that may be burdensome for a developing country like Nigeria to unilaterally mobilise.
The minister recalled the survey conducted by UNEP in 2005 on cost of inaction for sound management of chemicals (SMC) in Nigeria, in which the cost of injury to farm workers on small land holdings due to POPs –Pesticides poisoning, was estimated at 590.48 million dollars (N94.48 billion).
She said the development of NIP in 2007 by the ministry which documented national status, gaps and intervention policy thrust for addressing POPs management issues has enabled the country accessed international supports for executing priority POPs projects.
She said: “At this stage of our National Development Agenda and as we approach the post –Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) era, I wish to state that POPs challenges can only be effectively addressed by instituting participatory  measures and inclusive decision making process.
“It is against this background that my ministry has taken up the challenge to ensure that the NIP project is successfully reviewed, updated, endorsed and transmitted to the Convention Secretariat promptly and with integrative stakeholders’ involvement.”
Mallam charged the committee to deliver results that are of international standards and also reflect the national experience and circumstances
The project steering committee is headed by Mrs. Rabi Shuaibu Jimeta, the Permanent Secretary of ministry of environment and the committee’s terms of reference purely relate to policy input, functional guidance and resource mobilisation for the implementation of project result.
Speaking at the inauguration event, Jimeta said the NIP document is expected to be reviewed and updated subject to triggering factors such as amendment of the Convention by Conference of Parties (COPs).
The NIP document, she said, identified the National status, policy thrust, priority actions and capacity requirements for addressing the POPs challenges, while also serving as a vehicle for Nigeria to access GEF sponsorship for a number of priority POPs Projects.
“It has become obligatory for Nigeria to review and update her first NIPs, endorsed by stakeholders and transmit same to the convention Secretariat, in line with article 7 of the Convention,” she said.
She said the review and update, when completed, will facilitate actualisation of POPs free environment, better life and minimisation of POPs burdens of morbidity and mortality, particularly at the stage of our National Development Agenda.
She added: “The project steering committee has presented us an ample opportunity for integrating relevant sectoral stakeholders into NIP project decision making process in line with global best practices.”
“This gesture of inter-organisational collaboration and synergy will in no small measures ensure effective project implementation and actualisation of set objectives.”
Dr. Patrick Kormawa, the UNIDO Country Representative and Regional Director for West Africa, said the purpose of the committee is to support Nigeria and to ensure the successful implementation of the GEF approved “Enabling Activities project” for the review and updating of the national implementation of the Stockholm Convention on POPs while developing technical skills and expertise of all stakeholders, starting with the inventory work.
Kormawa noted that in order to achieve these objectives, the committee has to pursue some strategies which include the establishment of a coordination mechanism with stakeholders, validation of national means of action, approval and transmission of NIP as well as periodic monitoring and final evaluation of the implemented project.
“We have watched and worked closely with the Nigerian government in reducing these chemicals called POPs and also taken initiatives that will eventually eliminate their production, use, distribution, storage and releases to the environment,” he said.
While reaffirming UNIDO’s commitment to work with the ministry to achieve its mandate, Kormawa pledged to make available capacity and capability to support the implementation of the convention and make it a priority in its agenda and support the green industry for inclusive and sustainable development.  
“I hope this committee which has been carefully selected and comprises of a vast wealth of experience in environmental and chemicals management will coordinate the activities of the project towards achieving its said objectives,” he said.
POPs are a group of endangered chemicals that the whole world is making spirited efforts to phase it out and Nigeria cannot be an exception, considering that it is commonly found in pesticides used by farmers in controlling pests and the introduction of PCB into cooking oil which experts have warned is not only dangerous but a slow killer.