One and a half billion of the world's poorest people don't have access to safe drinking water.
The aboved slogan is well known all over the world the planet holds about 70% of its entirety on water the more reason it is called "the water planet". Unfortunately, the planet poorest of the poor numbering about 2billion still don't have access to safe drinking water. Bottled waters made by companies are beyond the reach of the poor, it is an open fact that larger percentage of people that fall victims to water related diseases are higher than those that fall to other forms of diseases now. The Water Forum held in Japan of recent fashion out various ways to bring this problem into control, yet the problem still remained unabated.

Dams are now pointed out to be contributing negatively to the sustenance of other living waters as cold waters released from large dams has been discovered to serve as threat to rivers and other nearby water bodies. When water is released from the dam, a slug of unnaturally cold water is released. The resulting cold water can kill fish eggs and larvae and cause localized extinction of some species. Due to this problem, over 25,000 kilometres of major rivers in New South Wales are estimated to be seriously affected.

We cannot continue to fold our hands and allow this, very soon this identified problem will be a global phenomenon. Please any help you feel you can render in that locality you are will be deeply appreciated if only you do it.

Dear Friend,
This is tomakint. Recently I have participated in a cyber action to help protect the
biodiversity of soya in China, and I would like to invite you to join this
meaningful action as well.

China is the homeland and center of diversity for soya. Soya originated in China
and has a cultivation history spanning over 5,000 years. China has more soya
varieties than anywhere else in the world. The genetic diversity of soya is a
global heritage and vital to sustainable development of agriculture.

However, the homeland of soya is facing the risk of contamination by genetically
engineered (GE) soya. GE soya is banned for growing in China, but import of GE
soya is rising. Last year China imported a record-high 20 million tons of soya
and it is estimated that 70% was GE soya. Every grain of GE soya is a seed, and
if it was planted in the farm, it will multiply and spread. Mexico, the homeland
of maize, has already found contamination of maize by imported GE maize from the
U.S. If we do not take actions now, the homeland of soya will soon face
irreversible contamination.

Greenpeace is campaigning globally against GE soya and determined to protect
China, the homeland of soya, from contamination by GE soya.

Take action, be part of the global effort to build the Cyber Great Wall and keep
GE soya away from the world, especially from China, the homeland of soya!

To protect the homeland of soya, we demand companies to stop importing GE soya
into China because every grain of GE soya imported into China is a potential
source of contamination.

Write to Bunge Ltd., the leading supplier of soya products to China, to commit
to a global commitment to supply only non-GE soya, but particular to supply only
non-GE soya to China because of the major risk GE soya poses to the homeland of
soya. As one of the world’s leading traders and processors of soya, Bunge has a
responsibility to protect the homeland of soya, a global heritage for all.

Click here to write to Bunge:

http://act.greenpeace.org/ams/e?a=1439&s=ensoya&r=1087318205_Fxp

I had earlier thought that life in the midst of fellow organisms with which we span the web of life would be an awkward relationship. But an adventure into the wild actually dusts out this wrong notion off my flexible mind.

A childhood friend, Kobi, was my mentor in this game of risks. A dark in complexion personality, pleasing character, towering figure , with a massive weight of about two hundred and forty-five pounds and in his late twenties. Being a chap with precocious knowledge on wild animals, he could say a lot on quite a good number of animals in the wild. He once narrated to me how he narrowly escaped death from the venomous fang of the feared, black mamba, which was indeed a breath-taking experience. Before embarking on this historic, adventurous trip, he had informed me on some crucial techniques one needs to adhere strictly to as we go on. Looking carefully at dark undergrowths in the thick rainforest, watching out for the dreadful driver ants, engaging in meaningful conversations so as to arouse the attention of unwary animals in order not to stumble on them suddenly, these techniques and many more are what Kobi called safety tips against unprecedented attacks from dangerous animals.

The d-day rolls in. After trekking some kilometres that took us about two hours we got to the heart of the forest, it was indeed a sight to behold. I can burst into a hearty laugh without shocking the ridiculous propriety of a crowded street; I do not require to wear this kind of clothe material or that; to all intents and purposes, we were absolutely free; there is no vexatious etiquette to be observed. Though the forest is a place where life is action, it gives a man a great deal of time to think: it peels from his mind the trivial veneer of civilization and leaves him to brood upon the elemental things which lie at the heart of life.

Herds of antelopes, gazelles, troops of monkeys, all litters the jungle, while birds of different plumage rendered melodious tunes that only an orchestrated choir could match. Later on, as we approached the evening time, Kobi took me to a hut at the border of the forest, it was another trek of about a kilometre away from where we were, as he said, “it belongs to a family friend.” We were given a warm welcome; a cane-rat stew was served us with a locally made orange drink for dinner. Before we lay down to sleep on our wooden framed bed completed with eiderdown-like stuffed mattress, I watched in awesome wonder the wondrous work of nature, I cannot but show my appreciations to the artistry work of God, the author of nature and as well say a big thank you to Kobi, a worthy personality for availing me this golden opportunity. The sentinel stars have already set their watch in the sky, and now the moon rising with glorious effulgence, pales the lesser lights of heaven to insignificance and silvers the forest with a mystery that thrills me silently.

Consequently, our last day of expedition came and it creates a sort of reminiscence of nature within me. The motives behind our expedition was strictly on observation and not to hunt, in fact I had a lot to snap that I exhausted the set of films I took along with me. Within me I felt like another David Attenborough, George Schaller, David Shepherd, Peter Jenkins and even envied the likes of female naturalists like; the legendary Jane Goodall, the late Dian Fossey and others. The journey homeward began; Kobi continued with his loaded narrations on some selected animals, I remembered him telling me about the huge rock python that is so big enough to swallow a leopard, the lion’s power to subdue a full grown buffalo, the ferocious, fearless ratel that turns away from nothing when fending for itself. Truly, I had a nice time in the wild through Kobi’s company.

Alas, our expedition came to a close and as we approach home though, still in the wild, Kobi, a friend, probably would have escaped the ill-fated experience still in the shell about to hatch as he stepped on something slippery and before he could adjust his steps, he had been bitten, the culprit, a black mamba. I did all I could to revive my bosom friend, but all efforts proved abortive. I ran wildly after the eight-foot slippery animal, though succeeded in killing it, yet, before my tearful eyes, I watched in a stone cold, squatting posture as my only “cicerone” in the other world passed out from a known world to an unknown world. Few days later, he was committed to mother earth. I will forever remember and also miss him dearly. Adieu Kobi, a worthy friend.

Setting: Kabunda Forest.
Location: Sebandu Village, western Africa.
Time of Event: November 1989.
Published: 23rd September 2003.

Author: Tope Akintola, tomakint2002@yahoo.com

Our World, our hope, our World, our life, our World, our vocation, our World, our mission and our World, our future. What’s more – it needs an attention!

The issue at stake stipulates that in every minute that ticks on the clock, a wake of extinction is left behind by every human activity right on this planet. Oppressions are well represented in some regions than others, what of hunger, poverty, terminal diseases, drought, flood, protracted civil wars and many other maladies that have long defy all forms of solutions ever devised by stakeholders. Of course, it’s our world, but do we care about it? Of course, it’s our world, aren’t we rendering it useless? Of course, it’s our world, shouldn’t we be mindful of next generation’s means of livelihood? These are potential questions still begging for cogent answers. Geographers have tagged the EARTH; “water planet,” which is no gainsaying because earth is filled with lots of the stuff, say about 70% of this stuff covers the earth surface. Unfortunately, this 70% has since gone up perhaps moving towards the brink of what I called, “water deluge.” Must we continue to fold our hands and start looking as though things are normal? Of course, they are not.

Sometimes in the year 1977, the then President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, commissioned a study to examine changes in global population, natural resources and the environment to the end of the century. The end result tagged, “Global 2000 Report” was submitted in 1980. It concluded that by the year 2000:

• World population would increase by a half, the greatest growth being in less developed countries;
• The gap between the richest and the poorest – measured in terms of per capital GNP, and the consumption of food, energy and minerals – would widen;
• There would be fewer resources available – notably land, water and petroleum;
• Important life supporting ecosystems – such as forests, the atmosphere, soil and wildlife species – would be reduced;
• Prices of many of the most vital resources would increase;
• The world would be more vulnerable to natural disaster and to disruptions from human causes.

Judging from the above-stated reports it is very obvious that issues like these are still living with us till date. In fact, the World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in South Africa, discussed vividly on these issues. One will only hope that a lasting solution will come upon these teething problems, as human existence can no longer co-exist with them. The first point centers on over-population, the second on poverty, the third on over-exploitation, the fourth on extinction, the fifth on astronomical rise in prices of goods while the last talks on natural disasters and political instabilities. This is to bring to the fore that cases of these natures are prevalent in the third world countries or better put, “the world’s poorest of the poor.”

Examining these issues critically well could be found in the suggestions of the United Nations Special Session on Disarmament {UNSSD} in the year 1995; “Around one billion people live below the subsistence levels; half of the world’s population may not have access to safe drinking water, three-quarters of the developing world have no adequate sanitary facilities, at least 200 million people lack even basic shelter. To meet minimum health care needs, the developing world requires an additional 4.5 million hospital beds, half a million physicians and 3 million other health workers.” These requirements appear daunting, yet their cost is less than what the WEST spends annually on frivolities.

Really, the move by experts to stop a future earth deluge is being disrupted by the so-called “world powers” perhaps it didn’t serve their interests – what a world! The United Nations, the “mother of all think-tanks” is even helpless on vital issues that are pivotal to the liberty of poorer nations from the claws of oppression. The Security Council, an arm of the United Nations has been dominated by the United States and other powerful nations and many times, their national interests have come to be described as the “will of the international community.” One can imagine, if the WEST, with one-fifth of the world’s population compared to the third world countries one-third capacity, consumes seventy-five percent of the world’s resources and produces over sixty percent of carbon dioxide {CO2} emission coupled with environmental pollution, which seems to have negatives effects on the third, or perhaps, fourth world countries. It is indeed a notable fact that the developing countries cannot enjoy equal benefits with the WEST.

Going by the way things are in the area of the environments, which seems to be the bed-rock upon which a vital and concrete decision can be tabled in order to avert future crisis, the environmental issues almost invariably involve a degree of scientific uncertainty that complicates decision-making. We are yet to understand fully the world we came to live in, since all these “donkey years.” Of course, awareness and concern for the environment evolved in the 1800s, yet the world is still far from making a transition to an “environmentally oriented international security system.” The unfortunate part of the story is that the US, which happens to sell the idea of “environmentalism” to the entire world, is fast drifting away from its principles. Solid examples to this claim could be seen in the way and manner the US continues to oppose any linkage between the global environment and national security.

In 1991, at the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, the US opposed a Swedish resolution calling for an expert study of the potential uses of resources such as know-how, technology, infrastructure and production currently allocated to military activities to protect the environment on the ground that issues of security and environment should not be connected. The resolution passed by 113 to 3, and 12 abstentions. Ironically, it was the UK and France that joined the US in voting against the resolution while most of the rest of NATO abstained -----Disarmament Time, 1990:1. {Later in the year 1996, all five declared nuclear states have signed up to the comprehensive Test Ban Treaty}. The US voted against the Biodiversity Convention of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in the year 1992. According to the 1992 report of the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency {CIA}, to the US Senate, he did not consider global environmental degradation as a threat.

The Kyoto Protocol {Japan} which was similar to the Montreal Protocol {Canada} of 1986 in principles {the reduction in ozone depleting agents} was turned down by the US simply because it didn’t serve their purpose of capital gains. To worsen the whole thing, the US happens to be the greatest polluter of the environment via its massive production of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. Addressing this issue from a critical point of view, we ought not to entertain “sacred cows” when it comes to issue that are stern like this. The United States may be important but we need not forget so soon that the entire world is more important. Developing countries that have suffered from neglects should be encouraged financially, socially, scientifically and infrastructure wise. Size for size, Africa is the largest reservoir of basic natural resources yet in penury due to over-exploitations from our “white brothers.” It’s high time the world’s poorest of the poor pooled their resources together and discontinue their former status of sustaining industries in the WEST.

The result of the “Global 2000 Report” carried out in 1977 and submitted in 1980 is too much with us to be overlooked and be chasing shadows. He, who plays the piper, dictates the tune. Obviously, the WEST possesses the remedy to their pre-destinated maladies. Afterall, the media and the scientific data of the world reside with them. The posture of the WEST’s claimed solutions to the plight of the world’s poorest of the poor is well painted in this picture; “I was hungry and you formed a committee to investigate my hunger. I was homeless and you filed a report on my plight. I was sick and you held a seminar on the situation of the underprivileged. You investigated all aspects of my plight and yet I am still hungry, homeless and sick.”- Author unknown.


- Tope Akintola.


tomakint

The only means through which a reasonable and lively environmental policy can be achieved in the area of a clean environment void of waste shopping bags that litters the whole land mass of planet earth and as a result of the course of nature, find their ways into water bodies is to replace plastic shopping bags with biodegradable ones.

A survey was supposed to be carried out, principally in search of the dirtiest place on earth, going by the world’s continents; Africa, Asia, Australia and Oceania, Europe, North and Central America, and South America. Of course, except for Antarctica, it will be an immature approach to things if I should go ahead to pick a continent out of the selected ones. The fact still remains that, all over the world, virtually every country has an affinity with dirt littering its water bodies or land mass, no exemption not even Switzerland the once named “cleanest country” in the world nor Hawaii, an outlying state in the USA, once acclaimed and still is the state with the “cleanest air”. A report once claimed that worldwide, about 100,000 mammals, birds and fish die as a result of eating or being suffocated by discarded or used plastic bags.

Now to the mainstream of my postulations, plastic shopping bags come in varieties and sizes, some are used to carry goods, some come in form of pure water sachet, some as cellophane nylon bags for multi-purpose usage, the usefulness is endless. But what happens when it becomes useless, sure it is thrown away to the dustbins. Considering the above painted picture, about 70% of used plastic bags worldwide is not properly disposed off. Nigeria, a country I came from can be taken as my case study. I would have loved to start from shopping bags and the likes but for the sake of uniqueness and peculiarity, let me limit my discussion to our “pure water packs or sachets”. In fact, the menace of these plastic disposables in our metropolis, you talk of Lagos, Kano, Onitsha, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Akure etc is staggering. Lagos happens to be the most badly impacted, as these sachets have taken over every available space due to poor disposal system, our drainage systems, streets, highways, enclosures, open spaces, residential areas and even commuter vehicles all play host to these plastic disposables. A major problem they constitute to the metropolis is the issue of flooding, since these block most waterways. Obviously, during rainfall the whole metropolis will be flooded and that is the exact picture of Lagos during raining reason. Being a non-perishable waste, that remains intact for more than 20 years unlike perishable ones that decompose off the surface of the earth within 2 – 3 months, then the issue of plastic bags should be considered a critical issue.

In my own candid opinion, a vote for biodegradable substitutes can reverse this menace for the better. How do I mean? Biodegradable bags may feel like plastic when held in the hand, but they are actually made from tapioca starch and will decompose within 3 – 4 months. At least, the cost is comparable to normal plastic bags. These would curb the carnage to wildlife and menace to our environment. Personally, I would love to see a world that will stand up tall to phase out plastic bags by the year 2005, indeed this is possible after all it is for the sake of our world. The question now is, which one do you vote for, plastic or biodegradable materials? Your vote will either prove whether you are truly an environmentalist or not.


-‘Tope Akintola
tomakint2002@yahoo.com