- As report for German foreign office says Climate change will fuel terrorism recruitment
The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has expressed his determination to mitigate the high level of road accidents which currently, has resulted in loss of 416 lives and 2, 498 injured in the last one year on Lagos roads.
Ambode indicated this as he commissioned the Ojodu computerized Vehicle Inspection Centre, highlighting the Center as one of the 57 to be built in all the Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas in the state, so as to address the issues of the true conditions of vehicles on the roads and determine their road worthiness.
Speaking at the event the Governor represented by the Acting Commissioner for Transportation, Prince Olanrewaju Elegushi stated that Lagos State being the fattest growing megacity in Africa has come to a stage where the establishment of the computerized vehicle inspection centre is very necessary, to enhance the inspection of vehicles both private and commercial in line with international best practices.
He stated that the State Government will continue to innovate and create a platform for opportunities and accomplishments in discharging its responsibilities of protecting lives and properties.
Describing the Centre’s commissioning as the end of an era of subjective testing of vehicles, the Commissioner noted that the State is determined to join the League of Nations committed to the UN Decade of Action which targets global reduction of carnage by 35%.
Stressing that crash statistics was too high, he further observed that the State Government`s investment and partnership with the Lagos Computerized Vehicle Inspection Services Limited (LACVIS) is designed to reduce carnage.
While reiterating his commitment to a promise of a safe, secured, reliable and efficient transport system, the Commissioner said the Centre will enhance a faultless and human error proof system of certifying vehicles.
He urged citizens to embrace the opportunity and effectively check their vehicles and obtain necessary licenses and certification at the Centre.
He also highlighted that services to be provided would include emission testing, beam system, brake and suspension system and the body.
Elegushi added that it is the responsibility of vehicle owners to at all times maintain their vehicles as stated in the Road Traffic Law 2012.
In his remarks, the Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) represented by Mr. Olalekan Morakinyo praised the State Government for removing subjectivity from vehicle testing to objectivity, adding that minimizing hazard and determining the state of vehicles will go a long way to reduce carnage.
He promised that the FRSC would continue to partner with the Vehicle Inspection Services (VIS) to promote the use of the Centre and urged the State Government to ensure the sustainability of the project.
He also enjoined other States to emulate Lagos by setting up such facilities in their states to curb road accidents.
Presenting the project, the Managing Director of LACVIS, Mr. Segun Obayendo observed that in approving the project, the State Governor had demonstrated courage and respect for good ideas, and tasked Nigerians to do the right things, by taking positive actions that saves lives.
It is however not indicated yet, the cost of under going a computerised test or penalties for failing to meet the high expectations of a computer.
In the meantime, climate change will fuel acts of terrorism and strengthen recruiting efforts by terrorist groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram, a report commissioned by the German foreign office has found.
Terrorist groups will exploit the natural disasters and water and food shortages expected to result from climate change and allow them to recruit more easily, operate more freely and control civilian populations, argues the report by Berlin thinktank Adelphi.
“Terrorist groups are increasingly using natural resources – such as water – as a weapon of war, controlling access to it, and further compounding, and exacerbating resource scarcities,” Lukas Rüttinger writes in the report, titled Insurgency, Terrorism and Organised Crime in a Warming World.
“The scarcer resources become, the more power is given to those who control them, especially in regions where people are particularly reliant on natural resources for their livelihoods.
“As climate change affects food security and the availability of water and land, affected people will become more vulnerable not only to negative climate impacts but also to recruitment by terrorist groups offering alternative livelihoods and economic incentives.”
The Adelphi report cites several examples where the impacts of climate change are already spurring or exacerbating terrorism.
In the drought-ravaged region around Lake Chad in central Africa, food and water shortages, near-economic collapse, and weak governments are providing a ripe recruiting ground for Islamist fundamentalist group Boko Haram.
“In north-eastern Nigeria, the region closest to Lake Chad and where Boko Haram is strongest, 71.5% of the population live in poverty and more than 50% are malnourished … This kind of economic deprivation provides an ideal breeding ground for recruitment by Boko Haram.”
In Syria, the now six-year civil war and rise of Isis was, not caused, but exacerbated by one of the worst and widest droughts in the country’s history, which drove hundreds of thousands from the land, and sent millions into extreme poverty and food insecurity.
Isis is using water as a weapon of war, the report argues, controlling dams to harm enemies and expand its own territory.
“In 2015, Islamic State closed the gates of the Ramadi dam to more easily attack regime forces further downstream. Weaponisation of water can also take the form of using it as a source of funding by taxing it, as Isis did in Raqqa. In other instances, Isis did not cut the supply, but rather used water to flood land in order to expel people from their homes.”
And in Afghanistan, a country riven by internecine conflicts and acutely vulnerable to climate change, more than half of local conflicts are over land and water. Diminishing rainfall and advancing desertification are likely to spark further violent clashes between nomads and pastoralists over access to pastures and water and food.
Rüttinger told the Guardian climate change alone did not cause terrorism, but “creates an environment where terrorism can thrive” and exacerbates existing tensions and conflicts.
Additional report from Guardian
