By Jonathan Lois
A network of legislators in the House of Representatives on Wednesday held an inaugural meeting on climate change to brainstorm on issues in order to combat and stem the effects of the newest environmental challenge in Nigeria and other parts of the world.
Chairman of the Climate Parliamentary group Hon. Samuel Onuigbo who led other experienced legislators at the meeting, had call on the lawmakers to help strengthen global efforts to combat climate change.
He stated that the idea of a Climate Parliamentary group is to build support for legislators from Africa, the Americas Asia and Europe as we fight to stem the devastating effect of climate change globally
According to him, it has been identified that the fight against climate change needs to be backed by the political will to take ambitious actions and this has become so urgent.
He said: “Every where we turn, we are confronted by the harsh effects of climate change and the reality that if we do not take action now, we might not have a habitable earth in the next fifty years”
He noted that the impact of climate change is further seen in the loss of landmass (and indeed farmlands) due to coastal erosion and flooding and other challenges including the drying of the lake Chad.
The Abia born lawmaker also implored on his colleagues to vote for laws and policies that are environmentally friendly in order to support our country’s drive for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Other lawmakers in the group notably Hon. Benjamin Kalu from Abia State and Hon..Aisha Dukku from Gombe State also harped on the need for the necessary legislative instruments to tackle the challenges posed by climate change globally.
The Chairman also appointed zonal coordinators for Climate Change in all the six geo-political zones to help in charting a roadmap for tackling climate change in Nigeria.
The parliamentary group zonal coordinators are Hon.Omowumi Ogunlola South-West, Hon. Aisha Dukku North-East, Hon. Benjamin Kalu South-East Hon.Dagomie Abiante South-South and Hon. Shehu Kankale North-West.
