No fewer than 60,000 persons were rendered homeless and property worth over $10,000 were destroyed in the 2022 floods disaster across the nation.
The Director General, National Council on Climate Change, Dr Salisu Dahiru, disclosed this at the one-day sensitisation workshop for women in Keffi, the headquarters of Keffi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State on Wednesday.
He said the only way the effect of climate change could be controlled was by tree planting, noting that loss of trees was a major factor that had exposed the world to natural disasters.
He said, “Today we have seen changes in rainfall, we have seen too much rainfall at the wrong time and too much dryness at the wrong time, we have also seen rainfall even at the time we are not expecting rainfall to the extent that it goes beyond the capacity of our rivers and streams such that we were recording floods.
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“And in Nigeria, we know that one of the ways by which we harvest and use trees is for cooking. Remember, we have a population of over 200 million, if 80 per cent of this 200 million, which is 160 million are relying on firewood as the main source of energy for cooking and heating, whether it is direct firewood or you are using charcoal, and if concrete measures are not taken to address the menace of tree falling, we will continue to heat our forest or loose the soil,” he warned.
In his remarks, the chairman, Advisory Board of Atmosphere for National Climate Change Council, Germany, Ambassador Faouk Malami Yabo, said the one day sensitisation workshop aimed at tackling the persistence deforestation and ameliorate Fulani herders and farmers crisis across the nation.
