Climate change has been declared as the greatest threat facing humanity as its impacts are now too apparent to be ignored. For the last seven years, each sucessive year has broken its predecessor's record to take home "The Warmest Year in History" award. The problem now and paradoxically, a source of relief is that this feat is being achieved practically unaided by any external influence.

The earth is being burdened with an estimate of some 7 billion tonnes of Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) annually, excluding other greenhouse gases such as Methane (CH₄), CFC and the various hydrocarbon that are equally damaging. This figure is not only staggering and monumental but also a cause for apprehension and I can't help but wake up everyday to the thought of "HOW MUCH MORE CAN THIS PLANET BEAR?" or "WHEN WILL WE EMIT THAT LAST MOLECULE OF CARBON THAT WILL BREAK OUR PLANET'S BACK?" An attempt to highlight all the devastating effects of climate change is tantamount to betrayal by time and space.

We go about our daily businesses, taking all we want from mother nature not minding whether she is hurt in the process or even if she can get hurt. We are fast becoming like the farmer in the 'Goose and Golden Egg' fable who on getting impatient and uncontent with getting an egg each day opted to get it all at once. He opened the goose up only to find it empty. He lost both the goose and its eggs! How pathetic!

However, there's a silver lining in the knowledge that without the presence of carbon in its atmosphere, the earth will be a giant ball of ice as there will be no mechanism to retain the needed heat coming from the sun. But a more than proportionate increase in the density of the said element in the atmosphere is being manifested in the absorption of excess heat, much more than is needed, resulting to gradual but steady increase in global warming, which is but first in a series of catastrophic development that will follow as it is now being witnessed by millions in various parts of the world.


Our dear country Nigeria has not be left out in the reprisal of climate change. Temperature has risen significantly since the 1980s. According to the MacMillan 'West African Atlas For Secondary Schools', Northeastern Nigeria loses 0.6km² of its arable land to desert encroachment each year due to heavy deforestation. Gombe state suffers massive land degradation from aggressive gully erosion. During the year, Southwest Nigeria also experienced an unusually protracted July-August break in rainfall that lasted roughly two months and kept farmers in a fix. Also, the Middle Belt and the Northwest region was subjected to a continuous wave of wreckful flooding.

As gloomy as these may seem, the worst is yet to come as rainfall variations is expected to keep on increasing. Precipitation in southern zones is expected to rise and rising sea levels is believed to accelerate flooding and submersion of coastal areas. Droughts are expected to gain ascension in a steady pace in Nigeria, and expected to be more severe in Northern Nigeria, this arising from a decrease in precipitation and increase in temperature. Lake Chad and several lakes in the country are evaporating and in danger of vanishing.

As a concerned citizen, not just of Nigeria in this context but of the world, it is my opinion that if majority of the 7.7 billion people (of which about 200 million are Nigerians) living on this planet -- the only one with life-supporting potentials -- are to be somehow made aware of the current global environmental realities and the imminent risks being posed by our continued indifference, then I can say with utmost certainty that we will be so proactive and collectively engaged that by tomorrow morning, the last internal combustion engine in the world will be placed in a museum as a relic to remind posterity of how destructive a civilization once was.

Let me reiterate in simpler terms: AWARENESS IS PREREQUISITE TO PROACTIVITY. Fortunately, the United Nations has been at the vanguard of activities aimed at sensitization and it has identified success in curbing climate change as a key determinant to achieving other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) . Equally promising is the fact that the government of many nations have also hit the ground running in their various domains.

Nevertheless, not much is to be desired here at home. The Federal Government is evidently aware -- at least, on paper -- of this universal issue as it is a signatory to many of the resolutions and agreement among and between nations of the world geared towards pursuing nature-based alternatives and green solutions. But the bulk of work has been left to foreign agencies and local NGOs. The government which is supposed to be saddled with the responsibility of galvanizing and mobilising its citizenry to tackle this menace has consistently displayed a lack of will and deep rooted apathy.

In a world where the Norwegian authorities seek to rid their highways of carbon-emitting vehicles in favour of electrics ones by 2025, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other oil companies profusely flare gas unchecked. Our country has become a dumping ground for toxic wastes in the name of used cars and gasoline generators -- again unchecked.

Now, am I advocating that we be sent back to the stone age and assume our new roles as hunters and gatherers? Not necessarily. I only wish that the government can be alive to its responsibility and do what every government does: INTERVENE. To begin with, the government can start by immediately declaring a state of emergency in the environmental sector and get the Ministries of Environment and Agriculture to embark on a massive tree planting exercise across the nation. The legislative arm of the government can then pass a bill seeking strict adherence to environmental regulations by individuals and companies operating within the country and to administer appropriate sanctions to defaulting entities.

The populace should be enjoined to compliment the actions of the government by desisting from indiscriminate felling of tree. Green plants especially tree are known to absorb carbon dioxide in their process of food making called photosynthesis. A tree felled means one less carbon absorber. Nigerians should also be advised to seek their energy needs from clean and renewable sources.

The colonization of Mars may not be feasible for another 100 years, this leaves earth as man's only home and source of sustenance in the whole universe. Lets come together for the protection and preservation of this planet for the commonwealth of all inhabitants --present and future.

Remember, CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL! and we may already be headed to the Seventh Hall of Extinction.


©O. Oluwafemi
Environmental Activist, ALRRA