Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — In a bid to promote sustainable environmental protection through effective data collection, the Media Awareness and Justice Initiative, MAJI, has trained stakeholders in Rivers State on air quality monitoring and environmental sensor deployment.
The one-day training, held in Port Harcourt equipped journalists, civil society organizations, and local communities with skills to collect and analyze environmental data using low-cost sensors, as participants learned how to install and operate airnote devices, which measure particulate matter, humidity, and temperature.
MAJI Executive Director, Mr. Okoro Onyekachi Emmanuel, emphasized the importance of data-driven advocacy in addressing climate change, noting that the training aimed to empower stakeholders and local communities to identify environmental problems, create awareness, and support evidence-based campaigns.
According to him, by deploying environmental sensors, communities can monitor air quality, track temperature changes, and make informed decisions to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Okoro said, “Data for us is very important and we believe that data will further improve the efficiency, the sustainability, and the efficacy of CSOs campaigns, community discussions, engagements, and policy discussions.
“We believe that deploying key low-cost environmental sensors will help communities identify a problem and also create awareness. Secondly, it will also help CSOs to have more evidence-based campaigns, such that their engagements are very and more robust. Thirdly, to help journalists have more qualitative or quantitative data for their reports.
“We are giving out self-automated air quality sensors, they are solar based, once they are deployed they need little or no human interface, they collect data, they collect air quality data like particulate matter data 1.0, 2.5 and 10; 2.5 is what we witnessed in Port Harcourt some few years ago with the soot issue, 1.0 is what we always see from the gas flaring and 10 is the normal burning of fuel or tyres, wood, it also collects humidity readings and temperature readings.
“One of the impacts of climate change is increased heat, we wouldn’t know how hot it is, so we need to start analyzing the kind of temperatures that we are recording and analyze them over a period of time so we know if there is an increase or decrease in our temperature and this would further inform CSOs, government to do more,”.MAJI said.
Stakeholders at the workshop commended MAJI for the initiative, citing the importance of data collection in environmental advocacy.
Chairman of the Rivers State Civil Society Organizations, Mr. Enefaa Georgewill, praised the training, saying it would enable communities to make informed arguments with data-driven evidence.
“For us, this training on data, especially data relating to the environment, especially how to enhance advocacy around our environment using data analytical skills is very timely.
“Before now, I just have situations where community people and CSOs just say our environment is polluted but no evidence to prove it. There is an oil spill here, but you can’t really tell how much danger has happened in terms of air quality and humidity, but with this machine’s ability to capture and analyze data on the quality of the environment, it will help community people to make a better and informed argument, especially to multinational oil cooperations and even to our government.”
A stakeholder from Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, Mrs. Peace Nkpenwa,
emphasized the significance of accurate data collection and monitoring air quality to address environmental pollution.
“My take-home is data collection. I am now made to understand how to collect data; data is information but one must be sure of the information, and for one to make a good data collection, I will not collect from only one source, but from many sources and then compare and contrast them to ensure I am getting the right information.
“The device is also important for air monitoring, because our environment has been severely polluted due to gas flaring, oil spills and all the rest. So with the help of this monitoring device now, we will be able to monitor our area and know when it’s highly polluted and when it’s normal.”
