Global Warming: The Shadow Over Africa

In Africa poverty and want are prevalent, hunger and needless war becoming more and more incessant, and the rigor of bad and irresponsible leadership is eating away the souls of its inhabitants.

Prior to the emergence of globalization with its gospel of exposing developing nations to the logic of free trade, which as a result gave rise to an alarming rise in the influx of costless, used and, in many instances, substandard products like the so-called "Belgium cars" (a catch-phrase for used cars in Nigeria), e-waste in the form of used and hard-to-dispose-of computers and their accessories, etc., the continent of Africa has been a so-called "heaven on earth" and an irresistible tourist destination for many years. It boasts its prowess and grandeur by being the host to so many endangered species, calm waters, culture and centuries-old traditions, and most importantly its hospitable people.

As a young man working in a media consultancy firm in Kano State in 2005, I have been a part of a massive sensitization campaign carried out in conjunction with the Office of the Special Adviser to the Executive Governor of Kano State on Nongovernmental Organizations with sole aim of sensitizing commercial motorcyclists popularly known as Achaba on the dangers of reckless driving and how good and careful driving will contribute toward curbing the rise in the number of casualties recorded as a result of daily motorcycle accidents. Being a coordinator in the project, I had the opportunity to go through the results of research surveys that sought to achieve the objectives of the project and it is there that I came face to face with a striking but horrendous revelation -- a revelation that is casting a very big shadow on the future of this most populous state in Nigeria. A head count was carried out on the number of motorcycles available in the state, and the result showed 3,000,000 plus or about 30 percent of the state's overall population with about 87 percent daily on the streets. This means about 2.7 million motorbikes emitting CO2 daily on our streets! This number is reflective of what has been obtained in 2005, which means the numbers of motorbikes emitting CO2 today have quadrupled considering how politicians are importing these motorcycles in large numbers from China for distribution to their cronies and subjects.

Many will say global warming is the creation of the most developed nations as a result of their all-swallowing appetite for energy. People subscribing to this notion may likely be right in their assertion. But one cannot easily with the wave of a hand dismiss or rule out the complicity of African governments in the global rise in global warming. This is more evident in the fact that these governments care less to formulate and put into action good, effective and earth-saving import policies and regulations. As in the case of Nigeria, the politicians are happily or rather naively contributing toward global warming by squandering state resources in importing motorcycles unwittingly in large numbers for distribution to the young party faithful in order to buy their votes and loyalty.

In a partnership between Indian companies and some northern Nigerian state governments, about a million of tricycles are daily matching on our roads, thereby contributing their own quota to the rise in CO2 emitted from Africa and released into the already harmed atmosphere. If we add the carbon monoxide emitted by mostly ageing Europe-originating imported used cars, the result will come out to be horrendously overwhelming! Little wonder today that one finds people wearing masks that cover their noses on the streets of most northern Nigerian cities, especially metropolitan Kano; the mask selling business is also booming this days, but for how long will the mask be able to filter the air?

If our governments are serious about safeguarding the future of tomorrow's leaders, then large-scale importation of motorcycles and automobiles is not and will never be the right answer. Governments have experimented with Information Communication Technology for Development tools and the result has been very overwhelming. Youths with little or no formal education have been trained and empowered with ICT skills and they are doing well today, either by being gainfully employed or satisfyingly self-employed.

Empower the youths with education and never with overbearing CO2-emitting machines; this way governments can easily achieve the long-term goal of safeguarding the future of its youths and curbing global warming-instigated natural disasters that are claiming innocent souls, homes and shelters in Africa.