Benjamin Kalu, Nigeria’s Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives has spoken out on the devastating effects of climate change in Nigeria which he has described as a living crisis.
Kalu made the submission when a delegation from the National Council on Climate Change Secretariat (NCCCS) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) led by the Director General and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Nkiruka Madueke paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Deputy Speaker welcomed the proposed partnership between the House and the agencies to help tackle the issue of climate change in Nigeria.
He said: โIโm happy that you are here today, which means the journey of 1,000 miles begins with a step if the first step is well taken. And starting from here, considering you as a major stakeholder in this conversation, is a step well taken, and also it is in the right direction.
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Speaking further, he said โWeโll talk about climate change, national security, economic and humanitarian crises. And I would like you to have the view of the parliament as you go back, what we think about the subject matter, and the issues around it as a nation and as a parliament. So, in Nigeria today, climate change is not a looming threat, it is a living crisis. So, that is one of the things you take home; that we see it as a living crisis. Its fingerprints are visible across our economy, across our environment and in our most vulnerable communities.
He quoted data from the the National Bureau of Statistics (NBC) which holds that flood has affected over 4.4 million Nigerians in year 2022, alone, with more than 2.5 million people displaced as a result of this and an estimated $6.8 million in economic losses.
“These floods wiped out livelihood. This flood destroyed harvest. This flood displaced countless figures. So, desertification continues to encroach on about 63% of our land, particularly in the north, pouring fertile fields into dust and deepening food insecurity, because the north has always been the food basket of the nation,”.
He said โSo, if itโs affected, the nation, food security is affected. We are witnessing longer, harsher drought in the north, devastating flash floods across the middle belt and rising sea levels in the Niger Delta. In the south east, where I come from, gully erosion is swallowing entire communities. In fact, the South East remains the headquarters of ecological problems in the world, headquarters of erosion in the world.
The speaker said that it was about time we began to look at our problems as a single nation before organizations like the NCCC because the situation in Nigeria is unique, and itโs like they are racing against each other.
โWe are sharing with you our understanding of what is happening so that when we formulate laws, policies, when we engage funding partners like you, you know the direction that we are coming from. The cost of these issues is not only environmental but economical and social. It is also existential, because if will keep quiet, it will wipe out a community, and or more.โ
Story was adapted from Tribune.
