Climate Crisis Now a Daily Reality in Nigeria –Kalu

By Oluwakemi Kindness

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu has lamented the devastating effects of climate change on communities in Nigeria, describing the menace 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.

According to a statement on Wednesday by Kalu’s Chief Press Secretary, Levinus Nwabughiogu, the Deputy Speaker welcomed the proposed partnership between the House and the agencies to help tackle the ecological challenges in the country.

He said: “I’m happy that you are here today, which means the journey of 1000 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.

“According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBC) that we work with, the data bank of our country, 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. So, if it’s affected, the nation, food security is affected”.

“In fact, the South East remains the headquarters of ecological problems in the world, headquarters of erosion in the world. In the South West, they are not left out. Coastal erosions and salt water intrusions are threatening livelihoods and fresh water ecosystem. Even the North Central region now faces erratic weather patterns that disrupt farming circles and food production. So, it is a paradox of climate change unfolding simultaneously across a single nation”.

The Deputy Speaker also highlighted the efforts of the legislature in bringing solutions, saying it has enacted appropriate legislation to tackle the problem.

Kalu also emphasized the importance of finances in achieving the needed goals, stressing that the partnership with Green Climate Fund was necessary.

“Climate Finance is the oxygen of climate action. I repeat that. Climate Finance is the oxygen of climate action. You have all the proposals for climate action, and you don’t have the finance, there’s no oxygen. And where there is no oxygen, there is no life. And so, we need you as a critical partner to be able to have life to what we have in our mind, so that they don’t become illusions to our visions and peotry as our policies”.

Earlier in her presentation, the leader of the delegation, Dr. Madueke underscored the need for Nigeria to articulate its own single country projects to enable it access funding from the Green Climate Funds as appropriately envisioned