Sunday 29 May 2016

Zamfara State, Nigeria

In March 2010, the international humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, MSF) discovered an outbreak of lead poisoning in remote villages in Zamfara State, Nigeria. More than 17,000 people were severely poisoned and 400-500 children died as a result of soil lead contamination associated with artisanal gold mining/processing in residential compounds. International organizations collaborated with Nigerian health authorities and local civil and traditional governments to provide emergency medical, environmental, technical, and public health response.

Remediation activities, conducted in three phases from May 2010 to July 2013, were modeled on Idaho/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “Superfund” protocols. Post-cleanup activities included medical treatment in MSF-run clinics, monitoring the sustainability of the remediation, and implementation of safer mining practices. The epidemic has been characterized as unprecedented, and the ensuing cleanup one of the largest and most comprehensive ever undertaken by an African government. 

Remediating the villages presented numerous resource, logistic, cultural, institutional, and technical challenges. The remote area is difficult to access and has little infrastructure. Village life is ruled by overlapping civil, tribal, and Sharia governments, exhibits gender-segregated social structure, suffers numerous endemic diseases with limited healthcare, and a workforce dependent on primitive tools and labor practices. The cleanup evolved from an emergency response initially developed and directed largely by international personnel from TerraGraphics (TG) to a multi-disciplinary program carried out by Nigerian federal, state, and local governments employing village workers.
On 14 April 2014 the insurgency group Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from their local school in Chibok in Nigeria. Two years on, most of the girls are still missing. And they are not alone: We estimate that a total of 2,000 women and girls, as well as many boys have been abducted.
Distressingly, girls and women that do return face mistrust and persecution. Communities fear they may have been radicalised, and their children born of sexual violence 'tainted' by the blood of Boko Haram fighters. This puts them at risk of discrimination and even potential violence in the future.
A new project by International Alert and UNICEF seeks to address this. We aim to give returning women and girls a future and support their re-integration.
Together with our partners, Federation of Muslim Women's Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN) and Herwa Community Development Initiative, we run collective therapy sessions and dialogue clubs where survivors can talk about their experiences. We also help local communities prepare for their return by fostering empathy and trust.
The project is in early days, but is already helping transform lives. Read some of their stories below.
But there is an urgent need - and opportunity - to scale up this work. This is why we are calling on the international community to not only #BringBackOurGirls, but also step up support for the girls and their communities when they do return.
Please join us to help raise awareness of these issues, and help build a better #FutureForOurGirls
- See more at: http://www.international-alert.org/future-for-our-girls#sthash.X30lD0sX.25QU3GtR.dpuf
Ado-Ekiti-Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has lamented that one year of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of President Mohammadu Buhari, has recorded nothing but woes and unprecedented hardship. He said the country’s economy has been ruined so much that States could no longer pay workers’ salaries, millions of jobs were lost, prices of essential commodities skyrocketed to the extent that Nigerians could no longer afford common tomato to cook and the middle class wiped away completely. In a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said; “Despite President Buhari’s electoral promise to reduce petrol pump price from the N87 per litre that he met it and make life more bearable for Nigerians, he increased the price of petrol to N145, increased electricity tariff in spite of lack of power supply.” He said; “food scarcity last experienced when Buhari was military Head of State between 1983 and 1985 has returned to the country, with Nigerians being unable to feed.” The governor who said Nigerians should remove party, ethnic and religious sentiments and ask themselves what they have benefited in the last one year, reminded Nigerians that “Foreign Reserve was $28.6 billion, Excess Crude Account (ECA) was $2.07 billion, dollars was less than N200, petrol was N87 per litre and most importantly, one bag of rice was N8, 500 and power generation was over 5,000MW when Buhari assumed office. The statement read in part; “Today, power generation is less than 1,400, Foreign Reserve has reduced to $26.5 billion, dollar is now over N350, petrol has increased to N145 per litre and one bag of rice is now over N15, 000!” “I read the president’s speech and all that I saw was a president still sounding like he was campaigning for votes more than one year after winning election. It is disappointing that the President’s speech was once again about promises, not about what has been done. “Not even a mention of one kilometre of road tarred by this administration, no single job was created except the ones created in Central Bank of Nigeria for their cronnies and children, not a single megawatt of electricity generated. This is shameful. “The reward Buhari gave to Nigerians for electing as president was to increase petrol pump price by N58.50 and get the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo to justify the increment by saying Nigeria was broke! “In other words, President Buhari increased petrol pump price because the country was broke and it needed to shore up its revenue base. The N58.50 added to the previous pump price of N86.50 was an Indirect Tax imposed on each litre of petrol purchased by Nigerians.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/05/one-year-anniversary-buhariapc-ruined-nigerias-economy-fayose/
In March 2010, the international humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, MSF) discovered an outbreak of lead poisoning in remote villages in Zamfara State, Nigeria. More than 17,000 people were severely poisoned and 400-500 children died as a result of soil lead contamination associated with artisanal gold mining/processing in residential compounds. International organizations collaborated with Nigerian health authorities and local civil and traditional governments to provide emergency medical, environmental, technical, and public health response.

Remediation activities, conducted in three phases from May 2010 to July 2013, were modeled on Idaho/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “Superfund” protocols. Post-cleanup activities included medical treatment in MSF-run clinics, monitoring the sustainability of the remediation, and implementation of safer mining practices. The epidemic has been characterized as unprecedented, and the ensuing cleanup one of the largest and most comprehensive ever undertaken by an African government. 

Remediating the villages presented numerous resource, logistic, cultural, institutional, and technical challenges. The remote area is difficult to access and has little infrastructure. Village life is ruled by overlapping civil, tribal, and Sharia governments, exhibits gender-segregated social structure, suffers numerous endemic diseases with limited healthcare, and a workforce dependent on primitive tools and labor practices. The cleanup evolved from an emergency response initially developed and directed largely by international personnel from TerraGraphics (TG) to a multi-disciplinary program carried out by Nigerian federal, state, and local governments employing village workers.
On 14 April 2014 the insurgency group Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from their local school in Chibok in Nigeria. Two years on, most of the girls are still missing. And they are not alone: We estimate that a total of 2,000 women and girls, as well as many boys have been abducted.
Distressingly, girls and women that do return face mistrust and persecution. Communities fear they may have been radicalised, and their children born of sexual violence 'tainted' by the blood of Boko Haram fighters. This puts them at risk of discrimination and even potential violence in the future.
A new project by International Alert and UNICEF seeks to address this. We aim to give returning women and girls a future and support their re-integration.
Together with our partners, Federation of Muslim Women's Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN) and Herwa Community Development Initiative, we run collective therapy sessions and dialogue clubs where survivors can talk about their experiences. We also help local communities prepare for their return by fostering empathy and trust.
The project is in early days, but is already helping transform lives. Read some of their stories below.
But there is an urgent need - and opportunity - to scale up this work. This is why we are calling on the international community to not only #BringBackOurGirls, but also step up support for the girls and their communities when they do return.
Please join us to help raise awareness of these issues, and help build a better #FutureForOurGirls
- See more at: http://www.international-alert.org/future-for-our-girls#sthash.X30lD0sX.25QU3GtR.dpuf
On 14 April 2014 the insurgency group Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from their local school in Chibok in Nigeria. Two years on, most of the girls are still missing. And they are not alone: We estimate that a total of 2,000 women and girls, as well as many boys have been abducted.
Distressingly, girls and women that do return face mistrust and persecution. Communities fear they may have been radicalised, and their children born of sexual violence 'tainted' by the blood of Boko Haram fighters. This puts them at risk of discrimination and even potential violence in the future.
A new project by International Alert and UNICEF seeks to address this. We aim to give returning women and girls a future and support their re-integration.
Together with our partners, Federation of Muslim Women's Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN) and Herwa Community Development Initiative, we run collective therapy sessions and dialogue clubs where survivors can talk about their experiences. We also help local communities prepare for their return by fostering empathy and trust.
The project is in early days, but is already helping transform lives. Read some of their stories below.
But there is an urgent need - and opportunity - to scale up this work. This is why we are calling on the international community to not only #BringBackOurGirls, but also step up support for the girls and their communities when they do return.
Please join us to help raise awareness of these issues, and help build a better #FutureForOurGirls
- See more at: http://www.international-alert.org/future-for-our-girls#sthash.X30lD0sX.25QU3GtR.dpuf
On 14 April 2014 the insurgency group Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from their local school in Chibok in Nigeria. Two years on, most of the girls are still missing. And they are not alone: We estimate that a total of 2,000 women and girls, as well as many boys have been abducted.
Distressingly, girls and women that do return face mistrust and persecution. Communities fear they may have been radicalised, and their children born of sexual violence 'tainted' by the blood of Boko Haram fighters. This puts them at risk of discrimination and even potential violence in the future.
A new project by International Alert and UNICEF seeks to address this. We aim to give returning women and girls a future and support their re-integration.
Together with our partners, Federation of Muslim Women's Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN) and Herwa Community Development Initiative, we run collective therapy sessions and dialogue clubs where survivors can talk about their experiences. We also help local communities prepare for their return by fostering empathy and trust.
The project is in early days, but is already helping transform lives. Read some of their stories below.
But there is an urgent need - and opportunity - to scale up this work. This is why we are calling on the international community to not only #BringBackOurGirls, but also step up support for the girls and their communities when they do return.
Please join us to help raise awareness of these issues, and help build a better #FutureForOurGirls
- See more at: http://www.international-alert.org/future-for-our-girls#sthash.X30lD0sX.25QU3GtR.dpuf