Kaduna governor offers tips for tackling climate change at regional conference

Governor Uba Sani has described climate change as not just an environmental crisis but a profound challenge that can destabilize nations, worsen inequalities and provoke violence. He made the remark at the opening ceremony of the regional conference on climate change-induced conflicts in Northern Nigeria and the meeting of the 19 Northern State Governments, religious functionaries and agencies on Monday.

He further stated that climate-induced conflict is not an abstract concept but a reality that the North must confront with urgency and determination.

According to Governor Sani, the facts about climate change as can be seen in ‘’rising temperatures, shifting weather patterns, and extreme weather events are no longer distant threats.’’

‘’The recent menace of floods in parts of Nigeria and especially in Kaduna State, the fast-encroaching desert sands rendering most of our arable lands infertile, the shrinking of rivers and gradual deforestation of our forests are stark reminders of the urgency of our situation,’’ he recalled.

Mr Sani maintained that these phenomena disrupt livelihoods, displace communities, and create fierce competition for increasingly scarce resources like water, arable land, and food.

‘’The reality before us is that natural resources will become more limited, and tensions will mount. Historically, we have witnessed how environmental stress can lead to conflict. The farmer-herder conflict is still with us today’’, he argued.

The governor noted that rural communities in the North are mostly agrarian farmers and pastoralists, adding that ‘’climate change and unfavourable weather conditions and diseases have caused severe loss of people and animals. ‘’

Mr Sani said that although conflicts have led to population displacement and food insecurity, as well as worsened poverty, he however called for collective action, viable strategies and resilience to combat the challenges of climate change in the North.

‘’Despite the dire situation, we must pull ourselves together and confront the challenges facing us. We must give hope to our people. We must work collectively to fashion strategies to cope with the current situation and prepare for challenges in the future,’’ he advised.

He also counselled individuals, communities, organisations and countries confronted with the challenge on the need to be resilient to disasters and crises and underlying vulnerabilities.

According to him, they should ‘’anticipate, prepare for, reduce the impact of, cope with, and recover from the effects of shocks and stresses without compromising their long-term prospects.’’

‘’The starting point towards raising community understanding of resilience to hazards and conflicts is to initiate participatory consultations at the grassroots level.

‘’The goal is to identify past and potential future hazards and conflicts and mobilize communities to take action for future resilience to such hazards and conflicts,’’ he advised.

The governor listed community-level action plans to include training community organisations on governance processes, and project and financial management.

He also stressed the need for ‘’improving infrastructure, conserving and expanding local natural resources, and developing partnerships and linkages to agencies and service providers that can assist in implementing those actions through provision of technical and financial expertise and resources.’’

Governor Sani charged fellow Northern leaders to brace maintaining that ‘’we must also invest in climate resilience. This means supporting sustainable practices in agriculture, improving water management systems, and enhancing disaster preparedness.’’

‘’Additionally, we must make concerted efforts to address the root causes of conflicts. We can come up with peace-building initiatives,’’ he added.

According to the governor, ‘’this includes fostering dialogue among communities affected by climate change, encouraging collaboration over competition, and ensuring that the voices of the poor, vulnerable and underserved are heard and their needs are prioritized.’’

He said that his administration has taken some proactive steps to combat climate change and its impacts.

‘’We have developed a policy on climate change to safeguard the future of our environment and people. The policy outlines our vision for a Climate-Resilient Kaduna State, detailing objectives, strategies, and targets for key areas such as sustainable Agriculture, Renewable Energy, Waste Management, Water Resource Management, and Biodiversity Preservation, amongst others. The policy’s overall goal is to promote a low-carbon, climate-resilient, gender-responsive and sustainable socioeconomic development in Kaduna State,” he pointed out