By Chuks Oyema-Aziken
Mr. Daniel Oladoja, Country Lead, Global Strategic Communications Council said Nigeria stands to lose four hundred and sixty billion dollars by 2050 to climate change, which would be about 20 percent of GDP.
Oladoja disclosed this at the African Climate Caravan which featured the first inaugural Climate Media Spotlight Award and Arts for Climate event in Abuja on Tuesday.
The event was organised by the Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation (GIFSEP) and OXFAM
“A lot of time when climate change is reported, it is reported as an environmental issue, but every day we’re beginning to understand that climate change is an economic issue, it’s a social issue, it’s a health issue, it affects our productivity, it affects our well-being, it affects our economy, it affects everything we do,” Oladoja said.
“So that is how we come about the four hundred and sixty billion dollars that we’re talking about by 2050, which is just about 26 years away from where we are, right? And the efforts here, the ironic thing about climate change in Nigeria is the fact that, despite the fact that we’re one of the most affected, we’re the least concerned.
“People don’t understand that there are human activities that is leading to increased insolation we’re getting from the sun, or reduced cloud cover, or increased precipitation from rainfall and all of that, or increasing plant and crop diseases, all of these things happening at the same time.
“All of these things are driven by emissions and increasing CO2 in the atmosphere. Of course we are not the ones who created the problem, that has to be said, but we are the ones suffering from it and we should be concerned.
“Even though we cannot reduce emissions, we should be able to speak up, understand the problem, adjust ourselves and prepare for the changes and the transformations we’re seeing.
“And of course the most important thing is climate change is a political problem and Nigerians have to speak about it. We need to get our politicians to talk about and act on climate change.
“When we talk about lack of electricity or the cost of diesel or petrol, who is the first person that is responsible? Government. Because we understand that those issues are political. It’s the same thing with climate change. Politicians can play a role. They can create subsidies, they can create a lot. There’s a lot that politics and politicians can do in terms of policy design about climate change.
The Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Environment, Hon.Terseer Ugbor, in his remarks advised Nigerians to take responsibilities and learn to adapt to all forms of climate change.
The lawmaker commended the organizers, saying the event is to set the course for engagement at COP 29 by also creating awareness and sensitization on climate change.
He said the National Assembly would address coastal challenges, issues of climate change and farmers/herders conflicts through the speedy passage of bills.
Executive Director for Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation, GIFSEP Dr Michael David, noted that climate change reporting for journalists in Africa is essential for educating the public, driving policy change, empowering communities, and fostering resilience.
He noted that the Climate injustice in Nigeria and Africa provides a platform for the continent’s unique climate challenges to be heard and addressed, paving the way for a more informed and proactive society.
“Today, we will be recognizing some of you journalist some a small grant to further tell our story and to encourage others here and those who are not here to increase your climate change reportage.”
“I welcome all the schools participating in the Art for Climate competition. This is the 4th Edition, In 2019 we organized the first FCT schools Environmental Festival after establishing ECO Clubs in over 7 schools. I thank the Patrons of these clubs.” He said .
Country Director OXFAM, Mr John Makina said the event was to sensitise the public on climate issues as Nigeria move to COP 29, adding that the Nigerian government needs to do more in addressing climate change inequality
“Here we are on the Africa corridor we want bring together mobilized our boys with different messages from every corner of the countries so that we can present this to our representative, those that are going for COP 29 in Baku-Azerbaijan.”
“We are doing something but not to the level as you heard the for example the latest report OXFAM published they were actually tagged to some of the billionaires in Nigeria In terms of carbon emissions we are talking about climate change inequality so the climate change inequality looks at who is basically contributing to the emmission more than others, some of these billionaires have big vehicles private jets etc, the government needs to do more.” He explained
He also called on the world leaders to fulfill their 2009 global commitments to support the Africa continent with funds in addressing climate challenges.
“So that we can inform the globe particularly the Western world because these are the countries that are emitting so much on carbon challenges we are talking about here, yes we are affected here but much of the things in terms of level of things the level of how we are impacted much of the challenges are actually coming from the other side, so we want to communicate to them and the whole commitment they made for example in 2009, to support Africa countries with funds, those funds were coming to us in a form of a loan that is not what we want, we want the funds to come to us as a form of a grants so that we can work on things that affect us.” He said.
Some schools in the FCT were given arts exhibition awards as well as some journalists that were given climate media awards for their publications.
