GOVERNOR Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State was among the governors across the world that attended the Global  Governors Summit, hosted by the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, last month, in the United States.

The burning issue for discussion was climate change which has taken its toll on Nigeria, but, Uduaghan  is sad that despite the danger, the nation is living in ignorance as far as pollution of the air and other practices that cause climate change are concerned while other countries of the world are taking advantage of some internationally
sanctioned restorative programmes.

In this interview with Sunday Vanguard at Asaba, he sheds light on what happened at the summit, what Delta State and Nigeria stand to benefit from it and what should be done to ensure that Nigeria is not left behind by other countries of the world on the issue of climate change. Excerpts:

YOU were recently in America over the issue of climate change, where you and other governors from others parts of the world were hosted by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California. What  is it all about and what can the state benefit from it?
First of all, I want to explain that with what has happened over the years, there has been a lot of pollution, mainly from industries, which occurred in the process of industrialization and  what that has done is that it has increased the temperature of the atmosphere, increased the water level and, of course, you can see that there is a lot of flooding and erosion going on around the world now.

In our state, many of the villages in the coastal areas have been washed away by flood as a result of climate change. But to us, it’s beyond just atmospheric pollution, it also involves the pollution of our water and our soil and so, when I went to California, where the governor of California invited some other governors across the world, the issue was how to deal with climate change that is now ravaging the world. For the industrialized countries, they are saying,‘look, we must put systems in place and we must put in place new equipment for the industries that will reduce the quantity of the pollutants in the air.’

That means that a lot of their industries have to have new engineering technology to do that but,  for us, as a developing country, we are just starting, do we follow them to say the things we are doing now, we have to put them aside because of climate change?

We are saying no, as a developing country, we are strongly behind China, Brazil and India, which have said, ‘look, these developed countries that have polluted this world should bring money for us to deal with the pollution for us to change the processes so that we will get to where you are. If you tell us to start changing our own now, it will be very difficult for us to get to where you are.’

For us as a state, we are going to benefit from a group in that body, which is going to mount pressure on the oil producing companies that are the major pollutants, Chevron, Shell and Agip in Delta State, to stop all their processes and have practices in Nigeria that is similar to what they have in California for instance.

In California, they don’t pollute the air, they don’t do gas flaring but they are still doing gas flaring here. What we are saying is that their technology must be towards ensuring that the air is not polluted, that is one. Two, we are saying that a lot of pollution has taken place, the waters are polluted, the soil and polluted to the extent that people are not  able to carry out their traditional occupation of fishing and even  farming.

So they should come and clean the waters and we must also regenerate the soil. Because of these two, we have been able to key into the UNDP programme on trying to clean the water and  regenerate the soil and, through that process, they will also be doing some projects for us, so there is a lot to be gained by us.

Actually, when people saw you on television and in the papers in a photograph with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the thinking  was that you went to dine and wine with your colleague governors from other parts of the world. However, one wants to know, how did you suddenly become an apostle of climate change?
The interest is not sudden, there are so many things you have to deal with when you come into office as  governor and, of course, you don’t take on all of them at once, you take on them one at a time as the opportunity arises. I had this opportunity to deal with this issue of climate change but it was during the amnesty period and I told myself that if the amnesty succeeds, one of the things I would do is to provide the means for our people to have alternative means of livelihood that is different from oil.

And the alternative means include agriculture, aquaculture and crop farming but, right now, they cannot even go to the river to fish because the river is highly polluted and so you have clean the water and let the fishes come back, you have to regenerate the soil so that farmers can come back, you have to start planting trees and all that.

So it is part of our comprehensive programme and I believe that as a nation, we are just ignorant of  climate change, there is a lot in climate change. Algeria has keyed into the programme and is benefitting so much from it, it’s well ahead of us; you know, through climate change, you can industrialize your country, you can improve on your agriculture, you can improve on your economy if you know how to key into it and, secondly, it is known all over the world that some state governments can start a programme, which the national government can take over and two countries can benefit from it.

What should Deltans and the state government under your leadership do to ensure that they benefit from available funds and programmes on climate change?
The first thing is really to say, do we even have a comprehensive study or survey of the climate situation in the state? For now, a lot of people have done various things in terms of climate, but, there are studies that are acceptable internationally and, for now, we don’t have any acceptable climate study in the state.

No matter how good anybody thinks it is, depending on where it’s coming from, a body like the UNDP, of course, has the clout, and if they come out with, of course, that is the first stage, the first stage is for them to do the study and determine say, for instance, the level of pollution and what can be done about that. It is with such study that we can make our case, attract some funds and get donors.

Major source of emissions

I must confess, nevertheless, that this is also part of my government’s post amnesty plans. We want to see how we can restore to our people their lands that had been destroyed because we noticed that without any meaningful activity, they resort to pressurizing oil companies to meet their every need.

Deforestation emits a lot of carbon dioxide and is, therefore, a major source of emissions, but is also known that reforestation in the tropical region like ours can help greatly to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In Delta State, this is one area we want to pursue with a lot of seriousness. As a state, we should also be scientific the way we handle landfills with wasters because it’s a major source of emission. The little lessons we can teach, we would do so to the best of our ability.

You said Nigeria is ignorant of climate change. How do you intend to draw the attention of the appropriate authorities to the problem?
Definitely, I am going to encourage the rest of the country to take the issue of climate change more seriously than we have. Let us not be deluded, the weather patterns are changing, ocean levels are rising, many of our riverine communities are being washed away, there is intensification of desertification and we have to be careful not to be caught unprepared. Already, our emissions from wide use of generators, vehicles of whatever sizes and shapes that have exceeded their mileages, animal wastes that are not handled properly, constitute a major source of global warming.

Are you prepared to discuss the matter with President Umaru Yar’Adua?
You people always want to put words in one’s mouth. I have told you that I’ll encourage the rest of the country to take the issue of climate change more seriously. I should not be discussing every matter I want to discuss with Mr. President with you on the pages of your newspaper. But what I can tell you is that Alhaji Yar’Adua is a listening president. This nation can benefit and use the climate change diplomacy to attract support in technology and develop infrastructure to curb its emissions.

The way you spoke, you seem to  have planned ahead since you envisioned that climate change would be part of your post-amnesty plans in the state.

That is what governance is all about, that is what I was elected into office for. It is not to sit here in my office in the Asaba and leisure away. It’s to plan for the future of the people, what will benefit them and key into it. That’s why, as you know, in Delta State, we are already looking beyond oil, we envisaged a state that will be without oil one day and, so, we are improving on our agriculture and diversifying our economy.

When we talked about interest in gas, some people said we were wasting time because they don’t see what we are seeing, they don’t even know that gas can give us more money than oil if we tap into it; we have seen all these, that is why we will not be tired, as people that were elected to serve, working and exploring all available opportunities for the growth of the state. On climate change, yes, we know it will benefit us if we key into it, but, certain things have to be sorted out first; there is time for everything, now is the time for us to take advantage of it and we are doing that already. We pray that God will help us actualize our dreams for the state.