Apart from being a cornerstone of the international climate regime, the Kyoto Protocol (KP) is also a legally-binding agreement under the United Nations Frameworks Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the BASIC group of nations has reaffirmed.

Even before petroleum was found in commercial quantity in the Niger Delta, the British Colonial Government appreciated the sustainable development needs of the region and its inhabitants before Nigeria’s independence in 1960.

Tatiana Terekhova, Programme Officer, Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, United Nations Environment Programme was in Nigeria on a training programme on prevention of E-Waste and other Hazardous wastes that enter Africa from developed nations. He spoke to Tunde Akingbade on what the Basel Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland has been doing and how they are trying to sensitize Africa through their linkage centres on the continent. Excerpts;

It is no news that different parts of Nigeria combat varying degrees of environmental  challenges, such as coastal flooding and erosion, (mostly in the southern cities of Lagos and Ibadan), massive gullies and land slide (notably in Anambra),surging desertification around the sudano-sahelian region of northern Nigeria and oil and gas related environmental degradation  in the  Niger Delta region. These environmental issues no doubt pose a great threat to Nigeria’s economic, social and political functioning as a corporate entity.

Nanji Tyem, an environmentalist is also the Public Relation Manager, Sheraton Abuja Hotels Abuja as well as the Area Public Relations Coordinator for Star Wood Hotels in Nigeria. An award winning public relations practitioner, Tyem is “Green Ambassador”for the Hotel and a UNICEF Ambassador. The daughter of a former Nigerian diplomat, Tyem had her early education in the United Kingdom, Pakistan and completed her degree in Nigeria. As an ambassador to many projects in Nigeria and Middle East, she seems to be following the footsteps of her father in the diplomatic world. She spoke to Tunde Akingbade in Abuja on her work, projects and related issues. Excerpts;