A Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Media Awareness Initiative (MAJI), in support of the United State Consulate has unveiled an electronic application capable of monitoring and calibrating air and soil pollution in the Niger Delta.
The Executive Coordinator of MAJI, Mr Okoro Emmanuel, made the presentation of the App known as “Datacab” to newsmen in Port Harcourt.
Emmanuel stated that the unveiling of the application was born out of the project “Citizens Science For Newsroom Project, Data Tools Validation Session” funded by the United State Consulate in Nigeria.
He stated that the App was primarily built for newsrooms, investigative journalists, researchers, CSOs and community based organisations working in the Niger Delta region.
Emmanuel said that the application which is in its trial stage has the capacity to collate the level and frequency of air and soil pollution in the Niger Delta.
He explained that the application, when fully functional, would aid journalists, civil society organisations, community based organisations, researchers and other members of the public to access accurate data of pollution in the Niger Delta.
The Executive Coordinator further explained the capabilities of the app, as identifying air quality in different forms and in different locations using devices deployed in the various communities.
“Today, we present our Datacab mobile application, we opened it up for revalidation and review.
“As an organisation that is progressive in nature, we intend that our outputs and technical outcomes are reviewed by our target audiences.
“Our primary audience are newsrooms, journalists, CSOs and community based organisations.
“We believe that their review of this app will further improve the efficiency and the overall usability of the app.
“We will ensure that the app attains the desired professional standard so that it can be used by newsrooms, CSOs, CBOs and researchers for their independent work across the Niger Delta,” he said.
Emmanuel mentioned other benefits of the mobile application to include Identification and reporting of crude oil spillages, among other pollution.
According to Emmanuel, the app identifies the number of spills in Rivers, it simplifies it in such a way that users of the app can identify locations of oil spills from the app.
“The app also identifies air quality in different forms and in different locations using devices which have been deployed in these communities,” he said.
Emmanuel mentioned some of the communities monitored with the app across the Niger Delta as Ndokwa West, Yenagoa, Ahoada East, Ahoada West, Warri South, Warri North, West, Degema, Etche, Eleme, Isoko North, Emuoha, Ohaji-Egbema, Bonny, among others.
He said the app can also be used to inform the general public on how much pollution had affected the communities within the Niger Delta.
“This is why our secondary targets are actually the public users and people in the public space who sit down and read news and also engage with news reports.
“We believe that a combination of these two targeted groups will improve the efficiency and usability of the app.
“This app will also ensure that enough people can be able to have access to quality data stories that can inform policies, advocacy campaigns and the way the government deals with these issues going forward,” Emmanuel explained. (NAN)
