NAN-AE-6
Climate
By Tosin Kolade
Abuja, May 3, 2017 (NAN) Dr Chris Maduabuchi, a Consultant on Groundwater Management, has called on all stakeholders, including the government, to reduce the impact of climate change on water resources development and management in Nigeria.
Maduabuchi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday that this would, however, require adequate funding of specific projects aimed at addressing the challenges.
He said that effects of climate change were evident in the rise in temperature to about 40 degrees centigrade in some states.
According to him, the impact has led to the degradation of tomato farms in some states in the central and northern parts of the country.
Maduabuchi said that this had also caused untold hardships to farmers, while triggering product scarcity in the markets.
“Climate change is a global phenomenon and it is evident in Nigeria. The negative impacts include temperature rise, erratic rainfall, sandstorms, desertification, low agricultural yield, desiccation of water bodies and flooding,’’ he said.
He noted that in Northern Nigeria, there were cases of drought and desertification, while in the South, the effects of sea level rise were becoming increasingly obvious.
Maduabuchi called on the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) to proffer solutions to the consequences of climate change on water resources development in the country.
“Water quality degradation has been very severe in Lagos, Rivers, Kano and Kaduna states, where most of the country’s industries are located, with its attendant effects on public health and economic development.
“There is the need for protection of water bodies in Nigeria, as millions of the populace rely on them for daily supply,’’ he said.
According to him, there is the need for the development of adaptation programmes to enhance the people’s capacity to cope via the training of stakeholders at the community levels to understand the effects of climate change at each catchment area.
Speaking on the way forward, the consultant underscored the need to thwart the threats of climate change to the nation’s water resources via integrated water resources management, where all sectors must synergise to achieve the desired results.
He said that the threats could also lead to increasing population pressures and intensive agricultural land use, adding that women and children were particularly the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Maduabuchi called for increased public awareness, the promotion of research as well as the establishment of a commission or an agency that would handle issues relating to global warming and climate change.
He also urged the three tiers of government, development partners to fund climate change projects in Nigeria so as to find sustainable solutions to the menace of climate change.
TAK/ JIE/OOK
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Edited by Julius Enehikhuere and Dayo Komolafe