The Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, has called on the UN and other relevant stakeholders to support the Federal Government`s commitment in curbing environmental challenges in the country.
Omo-Agege made the call at an event to commemorate 2022 World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (WDCDD), on Friday in Abuja.
The WDCDD, officially declared by the UN General Assembly in 1997, is celebrated annually every June 17. The theme of 2022 WDCDD is ‘’Rising Up from Drought Together’’.
The objective of the celebration is to promote public awareness about desertification and drought and to let people know that desertification and drought can be effectively tackled.
The deputy senate president also stressed the need for a Nigerian multi-stakeholder approach to be adopted to help curb the environmental challenges in the country.
He said that the UN and other stakeholders should rise to put a concerted effort, adding that such commitment would effectively offer support in addressing the menace.
“Government at all levels, inter-governmental bodies and agencies, public-spirited not-for-profit organisations, as well as individuals, must rise up to the occasion and join a concerted effort.
“This is a battle we all must fight till we reclaim every inch of our land taken by the impacts of climate change.
“Indeed, desertification has been a perennial problem in Northern Nigeria, and the rest of the Sahel region, with increased aridity due to climate change taking over a huge portion of erstwhile farmlands.
“This as well as drought have clearly threatened livelihoods in vulnerable communities due to land degradation and acute loss of rain-fed agriculture and biodiversity health,’’ he said.
Omo-Agege said that the challenges posed by drought and desertification have also taken a toll on the humanitarian situation in the country.
According to him, escalating cases of forced human migration, refugee flow and the internally displaced have all been traced to the crisis of climate change.
He said that desertification and drought have adversely affected the vulnerable communities and local Southern edge of the Sahara desert belt located in some Northern states.
Omo-Agege was represented by Hon. Abdulmaumin Abdulsalam, Senior Legislative Aid on Environment and Climate Change.
The Minister of Environment, Alhaji Mohammed Abdullahi, said that the 2022 theme emphasised the need for an early action to avoid disastrous consequences for humanity and the planetary ecosystems.
Abdullahi, represented by the Press Director of the minister, Mr Saghir el Mohammed, said that drought is increasing in frequency, severity and could be predicted to affect over three-quarters of the world’s population by 2050.
According to him, “I will like to remind us that desertification and drought are among the greatest threats to global sustainable development, especially in developing countries.”
The World Meteorological Organisation said that the number and duration of droughts have increased by 29 per cent since 2000, as compared to the two previous decades.
“With the increasing impacts of climate change, it is obvious that no country will be immune to drought incidence.
“Today, we are calling on all stakeholders to treat land as a limited and precious natural capital, prioritise its health and push hard to restore degraded land resources.
“Everyone has a role to play because everyone has a stake in land use and management.
“Let us not forget that a growing human population and roaring consumption are putting unsustainable pressures on the natural resources we depend on for survival.
“Our misuse and abuse of land and water is changing fertile land into deserts,’’ he said.
Abdullahi also appealed to development partners to fulfill various pledges made toward sustainable environmental development.
He said that the Federal Government had made efforts for funding most of the environmental projects, through instrumentality of the green bond programme.
He said that finance still remains a major bottleneck in achieving the commitments within the timelines.
Prof. Juaro Aliyu, the Director-General of National Environmental Standards and Regulation Agency (NESREA), said that the need to rehabilitate desertification and drought in the region is pertinent.
“To achieve this, a robust sensitisation is vital as well as enforcement of the extant laws where need be,’’ he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ministry planted some trees at the National Airspace Research and Development Agency`s premises to commemorates the 2022 WDCDD. (NAN)
