For various accounts of the recently concluded 4th Nigerian Dredging Summit and Exibitions at Calabar, see the following reports:
Dredging Today: http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2010/09/30/nigerian-dredging-summit-exhibition-report/

Maritime Journal: http://www.maritimejournal.com/features/marine-civils/dredging/nigerian-dredging-summit-addresses-rapid-expansion

Dredging News Online: http://www.sandandgravel.com/news/article.asp?v1=13651

See picture gallery of 4th Nigerian Dredging Summit 2010

"How Imaging Can Improve Surveying
Workflow” by Leica Geosystems...More.

35th International Seminar on Dredging and Reclamation held in Singapore...More.

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in association with the Western Dredging Association is organizing three to four special sessions ...read more

Editorial

The dangers of indiscriminate red earth mining to the environment.

Since the gradual shift in the commonly used sand variety to include red earth, many parts of Lagos forests and green vegetation have disappeared, mowed down by the bull dozers of red earth miners.  The market is good right now for sand suppliers to the road construction companies. A trip along the Lekki-Epe expressway now under reconstruction shows that a lot of the sand in use all along the location is this red earth which some call laterite in local parlance.   Where does it come from?
This sand is mined from deep in the forests of Ibeju Lekki where huge holes and gullies have been dug in the ground and all the greenery formerly found there have been uprooted and destroyed.  Is this really good business or a ticking environmental time bomb? 
In our edition this quarter, we have zeroed into this activity to reveal a lot more than ordinarily meets the eye.  There is a history to this new line of sand supply business in Lagos state and it is recent, murky, hush-hush and covered in controversy and much underhand dealings between the operators and various officials of state at different levels of government. But where does it stand on the pedestal of sustainable usage of natural resources?  This is where a lot of disagreements would erupt especially if responsible local and international environmental agencies take a closer look at the degradation of such pristine forests that grew for centuries but are now left as gaping holes in the ground. 
In many parts of the state, the holes are not filled.  The sand miners, not having been regulated by the authorities, leave such locations without any post-impact remediation activity.  Some of the those DDH found at the various sites now under harvest of red earth say they have plans to build housing estates in the locations.  Others mention other programmes which they have written down in government forms to fulfill all righteousness.
It is however left to the appropriate environmental authorities to take a cue from the degradation that took place in the Niger Delta and move proactively to forestall a repeat in another sector of the economy or the nation’s social life.  It has been posited that these kinds of activities can cause erosion, landslides and similar dislocations of the environment.  Especially in a heavily aquatic state like Lagos, the indiscriminate mining of red earth to the extent that have been captured in camera ought to be a source of worry to the authorities.

Other Articles & Interviews

Capt Adeyemo on River Niger Dredging...NEW

Prof P.C. Nwilo on his assessment of NIWA during sabbatical ...NEW

Mr Nseyeng Ebong on his 8-year tenure as rector of Maritime Academy of Nigeria Oron...NEW

Chief Dumo Lulu Briggs as chairman of Maritime Academy of Nigeria Oron, his vision...NEW

Engr Muyiwa Omasebi: The face-off Between NIWA, MMSD and Lagos State Govt.

Otunba K Folarin: The Collapse of Nig. shipping lines.

P.L. Carrodano: How govt can revive Nig. shipping lines.

Sam Epia: The struggles of Nig shipping lines with cargo reservation scheme.

Jeff Gibb: Intricacies of the equipment market in Nigeria.

Environmental Quality Monitoring.

Environment: "How many choppers has DPR got?" - Chief Ogunsiji.

Dredging the Niger Delta: Interview of Ben Efekarurhobo.

Role of Surveying in the Dredging Industry

G.B Liman: Of Myth, Reality and Resource Control

Dredging Law: A judgment on the ownership of a sand dredging site by the Court of Appeal.

Dredging Law:
a. Lagos State Attorney General Interpretes state law on sand dredging and stockpile.

b. NIWA public notice on Lagos State intervention in inland waterways regulation.

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