By Rotimi Ajayi

If there is anything that is bothering the minds of experts monitoring the manner in which Nigeria is responding to the dangerous threat of climate change, it is that just as other African Nations are perfecting their positions on how to cut gainfully into the gains that will accrue from the climate change negotiations taking place in Durban, South Africa, next month, Nigeria’s chances of getting concrete benefits from the outcome of the17th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) may be in serious jeopardy.

Already feelers from other nations show that Nigeria is being left behind in the continental efforts at mainstreaming climate change into the development agenda. Information coming from the Federal Ministry of Environment indicates that even though all the needed expertise for the preparation of documents that would put Nigeria in good stead at the the UNFCCC deals negotiations are in place, the Federal Government efforts has always been blighted by Environmental Governance.

According to an inside source in the ministry, Nigeria’s efforts at tackling environmental challenges have always been impaired by two main factors; the inability of the top echelon of Government to recognise the impacts of climate change on the aggravating poverty level in the country and this inevitably leads to inconsequential budgeting for issues of Environment at all levels of Government except recently when Lagos, Delta, and Cross River states are beginning to change the direction.

Perhaps the most excruciating problem confronting climate change governance in Nigeria today is lack of deep political will on the part of the Federal Government officials to mainstream climate change into the national development agenda. The familiar song at the Federal Ministry of Environment is lack of finances to carry out necessary engagements that will reverse this trend.

Speaking at the last National Council on Environment ended in Kaduna penultimate weekend, Professor Olukayode Oladipo, one of the experts that have represented Nigeria in some key climate negotiations over the years decried the lacklustre attitude of the Federal Government to issues of climate change and threats it holds for Nigeria.

Quoting the Inter-Government Panel on Climate Change, (IPCC), Professor Oladipo warned that with the latest scientific finds, Nigeria is a country that would be heavily impacted by the extreme events of climate change. He mentioned some of the dangers ahead, which are cross-sectoral, as including heavy precipitations over most of the states of Nigeria leading to the kind of flood that recently occurred in Sokoto, Lagos and Ibadan. Other dangers include greater expansion of the Sahara Desert inward to Nigeria and food insecurity.

Food insecurity is a major problem which inevitably would threaten unity in Nigeria. President Goodluck Jonathan made this much known in Ethiopia last year while addressing his colleagues on the Committee of African Heads of State on Climate Change. He told his colleagues that with the findings made by climate science so far, climate change is bound to cause shortage in essential resources for life in Africa and that this will generate social tension that can trigger civil war in parts of the continents.

While advising his colleagues on what should be the focus of the Climate Change negotiations engaged in by Africans, President Jonathan said “I would like to add that we need to emphasise in our negotiations that peace and security on the continent are being threatened by climate change. Climate Change would trigger and intensify critical resource-related conflicts on the continent.

This would provoke migration that could lead to insecurity and social conflicts by compounding existing environmental crises such as drought, water and land use.” If anyone is still in doubt about the social and security impacts of climate change, the person should study the trend of violence in Plateau State and some of the northern parts of the country.

However, in spite of the overwhelming evidence of the dangers posed by climate change to cross-sectoral development efforts in Nigeria, it still baffling that not much attention is being given to issues that will ensure Nigeria is properly prepared to combat the problem.

By now, it is expected that the country would have finalised on the position to be taken on various items of negotiations coming up in Durban next month. The report of the Committee set up by the Minister of Environment, Mrs Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia, is still to be subjected to the inter-ministerial meeting that will okay it ahead of the Durban Conference.

Sources at the ministry disclosed that the inter-ministerial meeting could not be held due to lack of money. It was learnt that the Minister of Finance, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo Nweala had to intervene last week by calling for meeting with her on the Nigeria position so that she would know how the Finance Ministry could assist in getting funds for the Durban conference.

Apart from the Finance Minister’s intervention, sources at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) also revealed that the development agency is ready to assist Nigeria on issues of climate change adaptation, mitigation and governance.

The importance of Durban to Nigeria and other African nations lies in the fact that unlike years back when it was easy to expect much from the developed countries that have contributed immensely to the green house gases causing climate variability and change, much of continental efforts at tackling climate change impacts may now rest largely with Nigeria and the other developing and least developed nations given the global recession in the economies of the west.

This philosophy might have informed the submission of Professor Oladipo at the Kaduna Council meeting that Nigeria should begin to translate global findings and discourse on climate dangers to suit our local needs through strong climate governance and good funding that will see the policies and strategies that have been drafted approved and implemented.

Similar view was expressed by Mr Ewah Eleri of ICEED, a non-governmental group focused on Environment, Energy and Development. According to him, “ given the scenario of economic recession globally, we must look inward and see what we can do with green technology. Government wants to create Transformational Agenda, in doing this, we should focus on how to create green jobs.

“How much can we adapt green technology to creating green jobs? The content of Nigeria’s participation in Durban should reflect the needs of ordinary people in the country in areas of power, poverty reduction and protection of Agriculture. These are critical issues.”

Meanwhile, just as this was going to the Press, the news came that the Nigeria’s proposal for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) was approved by the 7th meeting of UN REDD Policy Board held in Berlin. This will be in focus next week.