Discussions on climate change have been a major issue in the global north and with political parties solely formed to advance the cause of climate change.
Effect of global warming
According to the Human Development Report of 2020, the causes of global warming can be identified in human economic activities which release enormous amounts of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. The global north is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gas and as such makes disproportionate contributions to climate change.
The effects of climate change have been brought closer home with the recent torrential rains that have led to flooding across the country. The recent flooding has been of catastrophic proportions. Hundreds have been killed, homes submerged, farmlands swept away and roads turned into rivers. Millions are fleeing from their homes, barely managing to escape from the devastating floods only with the clothes on their backs.
Now climate change is associated with long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, such as through variations in the solar cycle.
In general, human activities have been the main cause of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas all leading to global warming.
According to the United Nations reports, burning fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas emissions that act like a blanket wrapped around the earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures. Examples of greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change include carbon dioxide and methane. These come from using gasoline for driving a car or coal for heating a building, for example. Clearing land and forests can also release carbon dioxide. Landfills for garbage are a major source of methane emissions. Energy, industry, transport, buildings, agriculture and land use are among the main emitters. Greenhouse gas concentrations are currently at their highest levels. The last decade (2011-2022) was recorded as the warmest.
Though the generality of the people believe that climate change mainly means warmer temperatures, but the rise in temperature is only a part of the story. Basically, the Earth is a system, where everything is connected, hence changes in one area can influence changes in all others. The consequences of climate change now include, among others, intense droughts, water scarcity, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms and declining biodiversity, the UN report further observed.
The effects of climate change reveberated across the world with floods that ravaged Pakistan recently. Since June floods in Pakistan have killed 1,717 people. The floods were caused by heavier than usual monsoon rains and melting glaciers that followed a severe heat wave, all of which are linked to climate change. It is the world’s deadliest flood since the 2020 South Asian floods and described as the worst in the country’s history.
How prepared are public office seekers?
That’s why the recent floodings in Nigeria have opened up the opportunity to interrogate politicians on their plans for climate change. Much as man is a political animal and politicians are busy on the hustings, still it is right that we spare a thought for our compatriots who are bewildered and overwhelmed by torrential rains that have led to flooding and have rendered millions homeless across the nation.
Apart from that, many farmlands have been swept away and destroyed by the heavy flooding, which poses a major risk to food security. For example, Olam Farms based in Nasarawa state and one of the biggest rice farms in Nigeria suffered ernomous damage as 10,000 acres of rice farms were devasted by the floods. Increasingly, a link is being made between increasing flood incidences and climate change.
In this regard, the federal government says the current flood situation in the country has claimed over 600 lives, affected 2.5 million persons, displaced 1.3 million; and injured 2,407. Sadiya Umar Farouq, the minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, said 121,318 houses have been partially damaged and 82,053 others completely destroyed, as well as 332,327 hectares of farmlands damaged.
Indeed literally and methaphorically, it would be safe to say Nigeria is currently underwater. The massive effect of climate change and other environmental challenges have been most devastating this year. The losses are in billions of naira. At least 31 states are inundated by floods with hundreds killed and millions displaced by flooding. Though many consider those official figures conservative considering the ernomity of the damage caused by the heavy downpour across the nation.
Effects in recent times
According to reports, many communities have been submerged leading to overwhelming humanitarian crises. Both Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa and his Kogi state counterpart Yahaya Bello have called on the federal government to declare Bayelsa and Kogi national disasters. For instance in Bayelsa State over 300 communities have been submerged as a result of heavy downpour and the attendant flooding while more than 700, 000 people have been displaced. In fact, Bayelsa is cut off from other parts of the country and may be running out of essential supplies and medicines. The only access for now is through the Atlantic Ocean. Even the East -west road in the South-south has been cut off by flooding.
In Anambra state more than 76 people escaping in a boat from their flooded communities were killed when their boat capsized. Also 200 families have been declared missing in Anambra as a result of the flooding, while over 650,000 people have been displaced by the floods. In Jigawa State about 200 people were killed as a result of flooding in September. More than 200,000 homes have been completely or partially damaged, the ministry of humanitarian service has confirmed.
Mostly affected are Kogi, Niger, Kwara, Benue, Edo, Anambra, Ebonyi, Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers, Cross River, and the northeast region states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe. Also, Jigawa, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kano and Kebbi states in the northwest and the FCT, Abuja are equally devastated by the flooding.
In addition, the effect of the flooding has been gravely pronounced in Kogi State which is at the confluence of river Benue and river Niger. Communities have been submerged and the Abuja-Lokoja road cut off as a result of heavy flooding. This has affected petroluem products supplies to Abuja and other parts of the north.
At the same time, the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas Company LNG on Bonny Island has been forced to declare a force majeure as a result of flooding which has affected supplies of gas from its upstream partners. There are fears that disruptions in supplies might have implications for gas prices and supply.
Flooding has been a recurring decimal for the past several years with little or nothing done to ameliorate the situation and yet the situation keeps recurring year in year out with no clear and coherent national plan for flooding and post flooding management.
It is distressing to note that residents of the states along the banks of River Niger refused to adhere to the early warning given to them. Zainab Saidu, head NEMA Minna operations office, said many communities affected along the tributaries of River Niger turned deaf ears to flood warnings contained in the Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) and the Annual Flood Outlook (AFO).
Apart from environment challenges, blockage of drainages, building on flood planes, poor waste management, rapid urbanization, among others, the aftermath of the spillage from the Lagdo dam in northern Cameroon has further exacerbated the torrential downpour witnessed lately even though the federal government came out in denial. It is important to note that in September, the Cameroonian authorities reportedly opened overflow spillways at its Lagdo Dam to relax the pressure on the dam as a result of the rising water contained in it.
