DO NOT JOKE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE THREATS – EXPERT CAUTIOUS
REPORTER: ALFRED AJAYI
A climate change expert, Dr. Emma Ezenwaji, has urged government at all levels not to gloss over the threats of climate change, which include the recurring flood disaster.
Speaking in an interview with Radio Nigeria, Dr. Ezenwaji, who is the Director, Centre for Water Resources and Climate Change at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, said climate change crisis had been triggered by human activities which had disrupted the stable system created by God.
“It is dealing with us, and we are the ones to reverse its negative impacts around us. Flooding is very much linked to climate change in several ways. That is why you have very intense rainfall regimes.
“So, as long as we sustain those unwholesome activities, we will continue to have these extreme weather conditions. Flooding can never stop unless we begin to check all these unwanted human activities,” he warned.
Dr. Ezenwaji cautioned against unregulated felling of trees which he noted, had aggravated the situation.
“To add insult to injury, we are fast turning every space around us into concrete surfaces. So, when rains fall, they don’t go down as an infiltration to recharge the underground water.
“They now flow and end up in the nearby rivers. When the rivers are filled up, you have these terrible river floods.”
“Another thing is the cutting down of trees that give oxygen to the atmosphere. When oxygen is depleted, we may move from flooding into terrible droughts like we are having in Somalia and other places,” Ezenwaji lamented.
He also identified poor refuse disposal as a national concern, which threatens human existence and must be addressed by relevant government authorities.
“From every dump of refuse, unpleasant methane gases, which are hostile to the environment, are emitted into the atmosphere,” he stated.
He called for a sustained sensitization campaign by government and non-governmental organizations across the country to increase the knowledge of Nigerians about the menace of climate change.
“We call it a soft infrastructure because it is invisible, but impactful. Unfortunately, federal, state and local governments do not pay to sensitization. They don’t spend money on enlightenment; hence, their orientation agencies are very weak,” Dr. Ezenwaji stated.
The climate change expert appealed to communities and non-governmental organizations to take up the sensitization as a way of boosting government efforts.
“Communities can also fill in the gap if the government mobilizes them well. They have traditional ways of disseminating information and even enforcing laws.
“NGOs are equally relevant, but they need funding to do well. They are all out when there is funding. But once funding stops, they disappear into thin air,” Ezenwaji said.
EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU
