By Rotimi Ajayi

The alarm has gone off now. The Nigerian Meteorological Agency penultimate week sounded the warning that Nigerians should expect wet spells and floods  especially in the Northern states of the country. The warning as contained in the 2012 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction also added that the deluge and the attendant flood will not limit only to the above states.

“It should also be noted that wet spells and flash floods could occur even in areas with a likelihood of near normal to below normal rainfall. Such flash floods may lead to physical damage to crops in the field, agricultural equipment and structures like dams as well as physical damage to infrastructure-roads, railway lines, telecommunication networks etc.

Also loss of lives and displacement of large populations due to disruption of agricultural activities as result of extreme weather is VERY likely.” Those are the words of the the Agency.

Now the warning has gone off. Adaptation and Mitigation responsibilities rest squarely with many stakeholders in this country. First in the line now is the Federal Government. When eventually the floods  and attendant damages and destruction come, the Federal Government would definitely have to render a very crucial role although this role had in the past merely been financially cosmetic.

Things must however begin to “transform” from year. We cannot continue to pay lip service to the fact that the impacts of climate change is here with us and the only national authority to rally the country along adaptation and mitigation path is the Federal Government.

So far, there is nothing on ground to show that we are prepared for what the late President Umaru Musa Yar Adua said in Denmark in 2009 while addressing the United Change Nations Climate Change Conference plenary through the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ojo Maduekwe.

In his speech, the late President pointed out that Climate Change was no longer a theory for Nigerians, it had become a reality. He went on to add that if the international community do not rise up to tackling the rising threats, it would become and apocalypse for Nigerians.

The apocalypse is getting close to the national boundaries. Anyone that witnessed the floods that took place in Sokoto, Lagos, Cross River, Ibadan, Abuja and many other towns in recent past would certainly know that bad climate is here with us and that there is no other choice for us than to rise up nationally to the challenges.

So far, most of the activities of the Federal Government has been window dressing. The inability of the country to handle the rising impacts of climate change evolves from lack of proper administrative coordination of issues of Environment. Yes, there is a Federal Ministry of Environment, but this Ministry is largely nomenclature or better known as Ministry of Erosion Remediation.

In reality, major functions of the Ministry are undertaken by many other ministries of government. Apart from erosion projects which are largely “financial tunnels” through which many government officials especially the members of National Assembly Committees on Ecology and Environment carry out thier oversight,  nothing significant is being put on the table by the ministry to tackle environment matters asd it does not have the money required to even handle awareness activities.

The bulk of activities in the ministries are ceremonial and speech rendition. The fault rests squarely with the Presidency which did a very shoddy job of creating the ministry without following through with all the necessary legislative amendments that would accrue real functions to the ministry. The result is that many of the functions presently handled by the ministry are duplicated in some others.

Now with NIMET prediction, which is a confirmation of berthing of extreme weather events of climate change with us, the President should quicken the process of harmonization of the functions of the ministries and properly streamline those of the Federal Ministry of Environment in a way that will enable it carry out the necessary adaptation projects  and program for the benefit of Nigerians.

Of course many of the States have so far behaved as if the issue of Environmental protection and sustenance have been an exclusive preserve of the Federal Government. Even though, the states take their percentage of Ecological Fund monthly, not many of them have used this money to tackle issues of Ecology and Environment yet the activities of indigenes of such states have collectively render negate impacts to environment in the country.

NIMET warnings should be a wake-up call. States that have tasted the bitter pills, Lagos, Bayelsa, Sokoto, Delta, Ekiti, Oyo, Adamwa, Kebbi, should rally their colleagues to take a national and individual commitment to ensuring that their citizens are properly educated on the dangers ahead and what their should do in behavioural terms to adapt and protect the Environment.

The Industrial Sector including the Transport owners in the country cannot also pretend not be concerned about the merging dangers. Even though Nigeria is yet to carry out the inventory of its Green House Gases, there is no doubt that emissions from the Transport Sector will take good chunk of the sectoral profile of the GHGs in Nigeria.

The relevant authorities should begin to sensitize the Transport sector to the fact that they will need to take commitment to tackling the impacts of climate change as well.