6 reasons why Nigeria policymakers are silence on climate action

 

By Okechukwu Onuegbu

 

Nigerian policymakers, especially those in the government cycle appeared not to be interested in mitigating the climate change despite signing the Climate Change bill into law an Act since November 18, 2021. Everyday, houses and other properties are going down across the country, in addition to heatwave, pollutions and others.  Do you know why? Here are some of the obvious reasons...

1. Lack of political will:

Nigerian political leaders are not showing adequate attention towards mitigating the impact of climate change because of lack of political will. Political will stem from enacting and amending existing laws, implementing or enforcing laws, among others. We have Climate change Act, which provides framework for achieving climate action. But up to date, this has not been fully implemented. This also needs to be reviewed to clarify  climate finance , climate justice, redefine net zero and others.  Implementing this and engaging in other climate action seemed to pose challenge to the government at all levels because they are directly or indirectly violating the Act.

2. Economic dependency

The Federal and state governments depend mostly on oil and gas sector to run their affairs. This is why they cannot possibly invest into renewable energy, diversify the economy through agriculture and others. They appeared to be more interested on exploring oil and gas sector, where most of their political godfathers (including power brokers) depend solely for survival and control of the country's patrimony. Who wants to bite the finger the feds him/her? Owners of most of the oil blocks, refineries, petrol stations, etc. are not the type a political leader would love to engage in war with. Also, to stop this requires economic diversification...

3. Poor power supply failures

In Africa, Nigeria is the highest importer of power generating sets that uses petrol and gas to function. Would it be surprise to hear that companies and stakeholders benefiting from this businesses are not supporting the quest for renewable energy and other climate action? This is also a country where the power distribution companies (Discos) are not helping matters. There isn't any day you can boast of enjoying a 24 hours power supply in any part of Nigeria unlike Ghana and other parts of Africa. As a result, people often resort to petrol and gas power plants, charcoal, firewood and others for their domestic and commercial power use.

4. Illiteracy and lack of Public Awareness

The Nigerian society appears to still be wallowing in illiteracy, poor understanding of impact of climate change and climate action. This is probably why the government, manufacturers and importers are yet to pay adequate attentions to climate action such as use of electricity powered vehicles, renewable energy sources. This could also be why many hunters and farmers still prefer to set their bushes or cleared weeds ablaze. Use of organic manures in place of inorganic manures are still poor. Landlords and wealthy people still believed that they can control or dictate how, where and why their houses should be built without recourse to observations and professional advice from builders, engineers and labourers. They mostly believed that he/she who pays the Piper should dictates the tune.

5. Disregard to professionalism

There is an urgent need for professionalism to be paid attention to. All the professional bodies ought to support this course as their own cause. To achieve this, a builder must insist on building a sustainable home, medical doctors must respect the human sanctity and environments, journalists must preach the good news, lawyers must provide a judicial team, etc.

6. Poverty

Poverty is actually biting much in the skins of all Nigerians. It affects both brains and economy. That is why those who gain economic and political powers suddenly begin to build everywhere without caring to show a recourse to the rights of animals, land and other people. It is also why those who could not afford to buy gas or petrol go for firewood, and why those who see organic manures as time wasters go for inorganic manures not minding the health hazards.