Curbing effects of climate change in
Nigeria through legislation

By Archibong Asuquo
Posted: Thursday, July 8, 2010

Majekodunmi, the owner of a large agro-forestry farm at Lekki Peninsula, Lagos State, urged the Federal Government to urgently address epileptic power situation, while embarking on a massive tree planting campaign.
He also implored the government to explore ways of acquiring alternative energy, while embarking on effective waste management.
Majekodunmi, who blamed the government for tacitly promoting global warming, said that the regeneration of Nigeria’s forests through afforestation schemes is the immediate and short-term solution to climate change problems in the country.
In his paper, “Understanding Climate Change: Context, Drivers and Impacts,” Prof. Popoola said that 80 per cent of the people of the Niger Delta area faced the risk of being displaced as a result of climate change effects.
He said that the adverse consequences of climate change included intensified desertification, flooding and land degradation, among others.
“Climate change may also cause Nigeria to lose 800km of its coastline to erosion,” he warned.
Popoola said that the government could reduce the menace of climate change by planting trees by roads and walkways, in open spaces and recreation areas, adding that home gardens, woodlots and landscaping should also be encouraged.
In another paper, “Sectoral Impacts of Climate Change”, the professor said that the human drivers of global warming included increased human population, increased consumption of earth’s resources, technology, economic advances and changes in organisation of human societies. 
He said that global warming was caused by the alteration in the balance between incoming and outgoing radiation in the earth’s atmosphere, warning that climate change would have serious consequences on the agriculture, environment and health sectors.
In his paper, “Understanding the Mitigation Challenge and Nigeria’s Mitigation Strategy”, Prof. Francis Adesina, the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, said that the country’s natural resources should be effectively managed to mitigate the impact of climate change,
“The problems in the environment are linked to climate change. And if we are to address climate change, we must address the challenges of our environment.
“Our leaders should also pay attention to our expanding population; we cannot watch our population grow uncontrollably. The land area in Nigeria is fixed and limited and there is an amount of land each person needs to live well and that amount of land is reducing,” he said.
Adesina added that if the country’s escalating population were not controlled, it would create chaos in the society, while he bemoaned the neglect of the rural areas.
“The rural areas are dying and the food we eat comes from those areas. The rural areas are the life of the entire society,’’ he said.
Besides, Adesina argued that there was a correlation between climate change and corruption, a problem, which pervaded the entire African society.
“In fact, it has been established that when people amass wealth corruptly through stealing, they usually use their ill-gotten wealth in clearing forests in their localities to build mansions or housing estates.
“That somewhat destroys the ecosystem; so, corruption tends to destroy the environment,” Adesina said.
At an interactive session with Obasanjo at his residence in Abeokuta, the former president stressed the need for Nigeria and other African countries to adopt a green economy, so as to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on the continent.
“Green economy is the vogue now; people are talking and doing something about it. We in Africa should also do something about it,” he said, adding that there was sufficient evidence to prove that climate change was effecting Africa.
“One of the effects is that our own Lake Chad will no longer be in existence in the next 50 years,’’ Obasanjo said, adding that the lake provided livelihood for some 1.5 million people in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
He said that the high level of coastal erosion and intensified desertification in Nigeria also subscribed to the fact that climate change was real.
“We are not immune to the impact of climate change; if anything, we are the victims of climate change,” Obasanjo says.
The former president said that instead of blaming industrialised nations as the biggest polluters of the environment, Africans should seek ways of mitigating the adverse effects of climate change.
“Our challenge should be how to produce battery-powered cars that will prevent emission of carbon dioxide?’’ he advised.
Obsanjo noted that industrial countries were establishing research institutes to deal with Green Economy issues, saying that Nigeria should not lag behind in the quest to find alternative sources to fossil fuels.
“If we cannot go to the moon, we should at least be able to make life around us better.
“Those who want to go to the moon; let them go. If they even want to stay there, let them stay there, that should not be our mission.
“Our mission should be to make our environment a little bit more hospitable and sustainable that it would ordinarily have been,” Obasanjo said.
Will our legislators heed the warnings on the imminent threats of climate change? Are they prepared to enact the necessary legislation that will assist Nigeria to adapt to the situation and mitigate climate change effects? These are the stark questions but regarding the answers, time will tell.

Asuquo is of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).