My attention was drawn to an opinion piece published in the Daily Trust newspaper of July 31, 2021 calling on columnists and analysts of the Global South to continue sounding the alarm of the scary wide-ranging consequences of climate change in their countries.
In my opinion, the professionals of the Global South have tirelessly been playing a key role in shedding more light on the underlying causes of climate change, its hazardous effects for the entire living creatures and the ways to halt it. Now, it is the turn of the top leaders to act on climate change for all citizens to follow. The cardinal question here is, what sort of effort is Nigeria making to reduce its emission of greenhouse gases and deforestation?
Without mincing any words, Nigeria’s authorities are unfortunately handling the issue of climate change with kids gloves despite knowing that the entire cumbersome challenges and the current incessant insecurity striking the country have something to do with this terrifying climate change that includes the rise in prices of food items, floods, herders-farmers conflicts, shortages of food, abject poverty, banditry, kidnapping, increasing unemployment, decrease in crop yields and rural migration.
Being a party to the Paris Agreement on climate change, Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Great Green Wall Initiative of the AU, Nigeria should strongly contribute its own quota in stemming the rise in atmospheric temperature by adopting renewable energy massively.
The country should also spare no effort to complete all its abandoned hydroelectric power dam projects with a view to diminishing emissions of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere from petrol-powered engines and stoves of firewood, kerosene and charcoal. The frightening growing population of the country exacerbates the effects of climate change.
In his inaugural speech on May 29, 2015, President Buhari pledged to earnestly fight against climate change. A crucial poser here is what Mr President is doing to keep his promise?
Fortunately, the 9th National Assembly has recently revisited the Climate Change Bill passed by their predecessors in November 2017 which was rejected by the President because of its huge negative impacts on Nigeria’s toddling economy.
Conclusively, the future generations of the entire world are in ineffable jeopardy as global warming or climate change is being fuelled by the current frightening fastest-growing population of the Global South, more especially the African continent.
The leaders of the Global South have to wake up from their deep slumber and come to their senses to earnestly combat this biggest threat for the human species.
Mustapha Baba Azare, wrote from Alkali Musa Street, Bauchi State
