"Let's tackle desertification

Page 20: September 11, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
AN environmentalist, Chief Dr Newton Jibonuh, has warned that Africa will face the worst form of hurricanes if desertification is not tackled with the needed seriousness.
He said the United Nations estimated that 87 billion trees needed to be planted on earth within the next five years.
Chief Jibonuh gave the warning when he presented a copy of a report of his eight-week journey from Africa to Europe between February and April, this year to the Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana, Senator Muhammed Muslim O. Obanikoro, in Accra yesterday.
The report, which would be made public after it has been officially presented to African governments, looks at the perspective of what is happening to Africa and how Africa is prepared to cope with any environmental hazards such as hurricanes and the consequences of desertification.
Chief Jibonuh, whose team included five young scientists and environmentalists, said it would not be long when Africa experienced the magnitude of Hurricane Ike.
He said it was, therefore, important for Africans to talk together to put a programme in place to fight desertification.
He explained that the research tour, which took his team through Benin, Togo, Ghana, Mauritania, Morocco, Spain, France and finally ended in London among other countries, was his third such journey, which he started in 1967.
Chief Jibonuh said his earlier journeys did not receive the needed support until recently when the former US Vice-President Al Gore launched a similar climate change and global warming project.
He was grateful to the Nigerian government and other sponsors who supported the journey.
Chief Jibonuh, who is 70, said he decided to select young researchers to accompany him so that they could keep the flame burning even after his death.
He said the team interacted with both government officials and academia during stops in the countries they visited.
For his part, Senator Obanikoro commended Chief Jibonuh for the good work he continued to do for Africa.
He explained that Africans were in a better position to take their destiny into their own hands than relying on outsiders to determine their destiny.
He, therefore, called for support for researchers in Africa to unearth solutions to the challenges confronting the continent.