…As Nigeria, 189 countries agree to scaled up climate action***
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Tin-Can Island Command, on Monday said it had handed over a 40-foot container containing confiscated and falsely declared pharmaceutical goods to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Yusuf Bashar, listed the items to include: Spectradol (Tramadol) capsules, Spectra-Doxycycline capsules and Jinart tablets that were falsely declared as vehicles.
Bashar in a statement said that the area handed over the container to the NDLEA, Tin-Can Island Port commander, Mr Nse Jack.
Bashar listed other seized drugs to include; Clarinthromycin tablets and Jincold-Extra Strength capsules.
The controller said the service would continue to build on the existing inter-agency cooperation with all concerned regulatory agencies, in its efforts at ensuring that illicit goods were intercepted at ports.
Bashar lamented the increasing negative effects that fake drugs were having on the teeming Nigerian youths.
He also decried the level at which Nigerian youths consumed these drugs illegally, making them to exhibit despicable acts.
The controller, who linked the frequency of drugs seizures in recent times to the forthcoming election year, said that consumption of such drugs by the youths usually gave them false illusion to perpetuate deplorable acts.
He said the command recently seized arms, cars, drugs and other goods.
Bashar said that an importer, who falsely declared some pharmaceutical products as imported vehicles and another container as containing computer accessories, could never be described as a patriotic citizen.
“It is not just about money but the health and well-being of the people.
“Every Nigerian should show care about the lives of Nigerians and it is not about revenue nor trade facilitation but about the good of Nigeria and Nigerians, so this must stop.’’ the controller said.
Bashar gave the name of the importer as Jin Spectra Pharmaceutical Ltd., based in , Kano.
He also said the name of the clearing agency was Febeaco Nigeria Ltd., with office along Apapa/Oshodi Expressway, Apapa, Lagos.
The controller expressed confidence in the officials of the NDLEA to complete its investigation and prosecute offenders.
He, however, said that the NCS would not allow unpatriotic and inconsiderate importers and agents to use the Tin-Can Island Port as a dumping ground to perpetrate their illegal operations.
Bashar recalled that some weeks ago, two containers of falsely- declared pharmaceutical products were also handed over to National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
According to him, there are over 100 million youths in Nigeria. If they are allowed unregulated access to these drugs that will portend great danger for the nation.
Mr Nse Jack who received the consignments on behalf of the Chairman of NDLEA commended the controller for his consistent commitment to the concept of inter-agency collaboration and synergy over time.
He said that the NDLEA would conduct further due diligence test to unravel details of the importer for eventual prosecution of suspects.
In the meantime, after two weeks of negotiations, Nigeria and other nations have agreed to launch the next steps toward higher climate action ambition before 2020.
The decision was reached at the close of the annual UN climate conference held in the German city of Bonn at the weekend.
Backed by a wide range of positive announcements from governments, cities, states, regions, companies and civil society, delegates from over 190 countries agreed to a 12-month engagement focusing on: ‘Where are we? Where do we want to go? And how do we get there?’
The ‘Talanoa Dialogue’, inspired by the Pacific concept of constructive discussion, debate and storytelling, will set the stage in Poland in 2018 for the revising upward of national climate action plans needed to put the world on track to meet pre-2020 ambition and the long-term goals of the two-year-old Paris Agreement.
With so many climate action pledges and initiatives, a further strong message from all sides at the 23rd Conference of Parties (COP23) was the growing need to coordinate efforts across policy, planning and investment, to ensure that every cent invested and every minute of work contributed results in a much greater impact and boosts ambition under the national climate plans.
Countries welcomed progress but also urged greater efforts to deliver the agreed $100 billion per year by 2020 for support to developing countries to take climate action. The target for adaptation funding this year was $80 million. But funding announcements including by Germany and Italy exceed this by over $13 million taking the total to $93.3 million.
Among the outcomes are historic political breakthroughs in respect to agriculture that may lead to a faster and more coordinated response by nations to address a sector that is the second biggest emitter after energy. The Government of Norway, multinational company Unilever, and other partners also announced a $400 million fund to support more efficient agriculture, smallholder farmers and sustainable forest management.
The Bonn-Fiji Commitment was made, a commitment to action adopted by over 300 local and regional leaders to deliver the Paris Agreement at all levels, supported with 20 initiatives including those focusing on Africa, islands, post-industrial cities and climate reporting standards.
The Paris Agreement’s central goal is keep the global average temperature rise below 2 Celsius and as close as possible to 1.5. The lower limit is deemed crucial for survival by many small islands and vulnerable countries.
Over one degree of this rise has already occurred since pre-industrial times. The current set of national climate action plans, known as National Determined Commitments (NDCs), are still heading for a path towards 3 Celsius, possibly more.
Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Change secretariat, Patricia Espinosa, which hosted the conference with support from the Government of Germany, said: “The conference has, with the adoption of the Talanoa Dialogue, delivered a launch-pad that can take us to that next stage of higher ambition.
It has also advanced the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement so that by 2018 it can truly support sustained international cooperation and national efforts to realise a more secure, prosperous and better world for all.
“But Bonn 2017 did more than that. It underlined that support for the Paris agreement is strong and that the journey upon which the world has embarked is an unstoppable movement supported by all sectors of society, across all parts of the globe.”
With additional report from Guardian NG
