With different inscriptions like “What’s going on here?”, “The world is changing “We are killing the ecosystem”, HEDA sensitizes Lagosians on climate change
By Eberechi Obinagwam,
A Civil Society Organization, Human & Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Center) in preparation for the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, has called for Climate justice in all of Africa, especially Nigeria.
The group spoke through its Executive Secretary, Mr Arigbabu Sulaimon while on the street of Lagos to raise awareness towards the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference, otherwise known as COP27, holding from 6 to 18 of November 2022, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The rally was also to educate the public on environmental sustainability, waste management, and climate change. He said Africa needs and desires climate justice for a friendly environment for all to live in.
According to him, the whole of Africa for some years now has been in a drought. “People are suffering, animals are dying, farms are failing, farm produce are shrinking. Most parts of Nigeria including the food basket of Nigeria is flooding now due to intense rain and the failure of water, river and dams management system.
“A large part of food growing states of the nation is under water. We have lost people. People have lost their farmlands and livestock,” he lamented.
He expressed worry that the poor inland water management system which has destroyed lives, valuables and farm produce worth billions were predicted oftentimes by NiMet and other organisations earlier, but the government did not do much about it to avert the situation.
He said: “When the alarm is raised over an impending doom as NiMet did since February on the flood which has destroyed lives, property and farm produce worth billions, we need to be proactive and take frantic actions to prepare for such days like this.
“Howbeit, on the side of the government, it’s not enough to raise the alarm, we need action, people especially farmers need to be mentally equipped with professional advice, for instance, they (farmers) need to know the kind/ varieties of seeds to plant and how to go about it the farming system for that particular season.”
He added that Africa needs money to adapt to climate change and meet up to its obligations to the international community. Howbeit, proper management of available resources like ecological funds and other foreign aids must be prudently utilised and deployed maximally.
“We understand that corruption is still eating deep into the fabric of most African countries, that is why everyone must rise now and do something worth doing to mitigate the effects of climate change. As you may see, we are all affected by the calamity the floods have caused, because we are all interdependent on one another for one exchange for the other, like food, and road networks among others.
“Olam’s and other large farmers lost investments worth billions in Nassawara state. Across every state, you see people affected by one act of natural phenomena or the other which has always been there, but the sad thing is that we keep falling victim to their recurrence because of failure to plan by the government across the board.
“All hands must be on deck to preserve the environment, especially the government which gives policy direction and controls the financial resources. As friends of the environment, we are not leaving any stone unturned to see that we let people be aware of the dangers of treating the environment indiscreetly. Civil society organizations also should rise now and act in this regard before things get out of control,” he charged.
HEDA moved on the streets of Maryland, Ikeja, and other strategic locations in Lagos over the weekend in a roadshow with some concerned young men and women in branded T. shirts and placards and other forms of display designed to draw public attention towards the unfortunate environmental realities which citizens themselves have advertently created.
With different inscriptions like: “What’s going on here?”, “The world is changing “We are killing the ecosystem”, “Trees are the lungs of the earth, let the earth breath, plant a tree today”, “Climate change is natural”, “Climate change is man-made”, “The climate is changing because you and I refuse to change”, “We pollute the environment”, “We block drainages”, “We demand climate Justice,” etcetera, the environmental justice and sustainability advocate (HEDA) called for caution and restrain in the way and manner people relates with the environment and its inhabitants including plants, animals, water and other creatures.
HEDA said that the mobilization is being done in all African continent in awareness of the 27th climate change conference. HEDA was also in Bariga, Lagos earlier to educate the people on environmental sustainability, waste management, and climate change.
