Business Day

Shell says it requires an additional $3 billion (N375 billion) and the resolution of the Niger Delta crisis to be able to end gas flaring in the country, insisting that it will be unable to meet the December 2008 deadline due to insecurity in the oil-rich region and funding shortfalls.

The sixteenth session of the United Nations' Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD16) kicked off yesterday at the UN headquarters in New York, USA.

The issues being discussed are very much on the top burners of concern in the world today: agriculture, drought, desertification, land, water, sanitation and Africa.

There is a sizable team of NGOs present at the meetings among which is ERA, represented by Nnimmo Bassey.

Click here to read the first edition of daily NGO newsletters (from the Sustainable Development Issues Network, SDIN) that will emanate from proceedings at the meetings. 

Daily Independent, Thursday, April 24, 2008.

There is a good deal of reason why we should be perturbed with the rather flippant manner in which the Minister of Science and Technology, Mrs. Grace Ekpiwhre, is treating the issue of the introduction of Genetically Modified Crops (GM crops) into Nigeria's agrarian system.

At a two-day round-table meeting with stakeholders on the subject recently, the Minister clearly jumped the gun in announcing that, "the meeting is intended to produce a blueprint for the introduction of Genetically Modified crops into Nigeria. It is therefore essential that you are part of this important effort of developing a road-map for the introduction of GM crops in Nigeria." The Minister, as we can see, has already come to the conclusion that GM crops are good for the country.

LOCATION: Lasuku Gbene, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Bayelsa State.

Lasuku Gbene is an Ijaw community in Boma clan of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.  A trip to the community from the State Capital, Yenagoa, takes about two hours by speed boat through the rivers and creeks. It is situated along the River Nun, with Peremabiri and Baberegbene as close neighbours.

The community can only be accessed by boat or aircraft. The major occupations of the people are fishing and farming. ERA  monitors visited the town as a result of an oil spill that occurred in the area on February 23^rd 2008. The spill emanated from Agip's Brass/Tededaba pipeline which passes through their land.

On arrival at Lasuku Gbene, ERA monitors established contact with the Paramount ruler, Chief Franel Christian Akenika and the Chairman of the Community Development Committee (CDC), Mr Famous Ezekiel. According to them, the community has been disheartened because of the oil spill that destroyed their farms, fish ponds and rivulets; killing fish and other animals found in the affected area.

Daily Independent  

Consumers in Nigeria and the entire West African sub region may begin experiencing the health hazards associated with biotech products if the result of a laboratory test of rice samples from the countries are anything to go by, participants at a one-day public awareness forum on "Biosafety Issues and Experience Sharing" in Benin City, have warned.
Of the 47 samples of 17 brands of rice on the market shelf in the three countries that were used for the test, it was confirmed that there was a preponderance of GMO varieties; Liberty Link Rice 62 (LLRICE62) and LLRICE601 in two.
Six of the eight brands of rice samples from Nigeria tested positive to the GM-strain while it was found in one out of three from Ghana. All the brands tested in Sierra Leone tested negative however, there are fears that the level of illegal rice imports in the sub region may result in an infiltration of the contaminated brands in that country.

PRESS RELEASE

New report: GM crops increase pesticide use and fail to alleviate poverty

BRUSSELS (BELGIUM), KUALA LUMPUR (MALAYSIA), LAGOS (NIGERIA),January 13th, – Genetically Modified (GM) crops have led to a massive increase in pesticide use and have failed to increase yields or tackle world hunger and poverty, a new report by Friends of the Earth reveals today.

The report coincides with the annual release of biotech industry figures on GM crop cultivation around the world.  Friends of the Earth International’s GMO coordinator in Nigeria, Nnimmo Bassey said: "GM crops have failed to deliver the long-promised benefits of the biotech industry. Instead, increased pesticide use caused by these crops threatens the environment and communities around the world.”