Growing up in Nigeria has been fun and challenging. I played most of the games kids do and had a memorable primary school life. I watched the news a lot not just because I love to but because Dad demanded that from me. There were periodic news of natural disaster like earthquakes, drought and flooding but those stories come in the foreign news segment of the national television. It never happened in Nigeria. In fact, when disasters happen, we feel a kind of confident consciousness that we are well placed to commiserate with the victim countries as such can't happen here. And it didn't until recently. I was in secondary school then when talks about global warming started getting attention. It was such a novel issue that whenever it was mentioned, it was only the elite or ones passionate about it that will engage in the consequent discussion. Of course, I was one.  We were told that the ozone layer will soon melt drastically and the sun will then shine hard and undiluted on our skins. We were always temporarily scared whenever this is mentioned but the scare lasts longer in some that had strong interest in the environment. My teacher said all these were due to global warming which will cause climate change. It sounded like a prediction.  Like one that wouldn't happen in our lifetime. Little did I know that my generation will witness it in full glare and shoulder the responsibilities of remedying it.

FLOOD DISASTERS

If we were ever in doubt of the effects of climate change in Nigeria, the historic 2012 flood disaster is an unforgettable moment in the history of disasters. The country witnessed heavy rainfalls that year and what followed has changed the lives of some families permanently and has left an indelible mark in our national history. The heavy flooding which submerged many parts of the country affected 30 out of the 36 states in Nigeria killing 363 people and destroying farmlands and crops. The nation recorded a 2.6 trillion naira loss to that dreadful time. The flood took over homes, churches and schools bringing in various species of reptiles and displacing about 2.1 million Nigerians most of who are yet to recover from the shock both economically and otherwise, four years on. The rivers overflew their banks and found a new abode flowing on our lands as the rain refused to recede. According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the flood generally affected over seven million people and has been the worst in over 40 years in the country.  It had been raining before, but that year the effects of climate change came into full force. It came with a flash flood and it hasn't changed since then.

INSECURITY/MIGRATION

As though that was not enough, the shrinking of Lake Chad has hit Nigeria so badly. It is true that the lake serves some other nations in the Chad basin, but the effects of its gradual shrinking have cost Nigeria unquantifiable losses including human capital. The shrinking of the lake from about 25000 square kilometers to 1500 square kilometers which can no longer support farming and fishing activities has reportedly displaced 2.5 million people who are majorly poor. It has also rendered a majority of the youths in the Chad basin jobless- a situation that has repeatedly been sighted as the reason why most of them are been recruited by the Boko Haram terrorists. Others fled the region to Europe which resulted in the worst migrant crisis in the history of the world as they sought to escape Boko Haram, poverty and hunger.  The shrinking of the lake has also paved way for the terrorist to attack the area more. Droughts about three to four decades ago are chiefly responsible for the current state of lake Chad compounded by various government administration?s refusal to heed the warning of the lake Chad Basin Commission which had always warned of the security threats the lake will pose if it is allowed to continue shrinking. Young people around the basin are now easily attracted to join Boko Haram terrorists owing to a grave lack of livelihood. Many have been left poor, hungry and insecure. Many Nigerian migrants have died on the Mediterranean Sea and a lot of people from the Lake Chad basin are the new face of the current migrant crisis, a situation discussed at the Europe-Africa summit 2015 in Malta.  You can imagine they probably wouldn't have known this hardship had the rain smiled more on basin. The Lake had been there since the days of creation but climate change is threatening to wipe it away from creation. A rough estimate by the Nigerian government revealed that the recharging of Lake Chad will cost about $15 billion dollars, which can fund our national budget for more than two years with the current economic rates.

FULANI HERDSMEN CONFLICT

If I was told about a decade ago that climate change will fuel conflict and wars, I would probably have looked on in shock. I would have tried to imagine how but now, I am witnessing this in my own country, region and state. The ferocious attacks of the Fulani Herdsmen on farmers in their host communities this year, has grabbed more attention than anything Boko Haram could muster within the same period. These clashes between the farmers who innocently protest the grazing of cows on their crops and Fulani herdsmen who inexplicably feel they have the right to do so. According to a Punch Newspaper report, attacks by herdsmen have killed at least 525 persons in the last one year. The herdsmen now move more of their cattle from the North to the South as there is little for the animals to feed on in the North owing to desert encroachment in most of the Northern states caused by periods of drought. This has been a big security challenge in Nigeria in the last one year and it risks boiling over to an ethnic conflict if a remedy is not found soon. 

NIGER DELTA

The situation of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria needs no introduction. Multinational oil companies from Europe have kept on sucking the riches of this land while leaving her with ashes and oil spills. No drinking water, no fertile land, no food, no infrastructure for the land that makes them such wealthy. Nothing! No other place in the world do oil companies flare gases but they do in Nigeria, in the Niger Delta and heat the environment up so much that nothing ever grows and even the water permanently boasts a black colour. They have forced indigenous people out of their inherited place of abode. More disheartening is the fact that most of these multinationals come from countries that have ratified the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. Some environment activists have been killed for speaking up for the land of Niger Delta but not even one of the oil companies have stopped operation because of the damage they have done to our planet and humanity. The current government administration in Nigeria wants to clean-up the mess inflicted upon her land by industrialized nations. It will cost an estimated $1 billion dollars. We know who should pay for this but will they?

It is unfortunate what a country like mine has to suffer. For contributing less than 2% of global emissions, we suffer majority of the consequences while those contributing over 50% of the same emission can afford to channel their resources into further development. We are called a ?developing country? but in our quest to match our ?developed? counterparts, we clean the mess they have done to planet with the resources which we should have used to match their development.
When the importance of keeping global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees is discussed, many may not understand or are not interested but a combination of its effects in various countries of the world will have such a devastating impact on countries of the Global South and that will be even more damaging for Nigeria owing to our population. I hope this helps us think deeply when next climate justice is discussed that countries who have contributed so much to the damage of our planet should contribute as much to its remedy. That is justice for the climate. It will make a lot of difference for our planet and the time is now. The big emitters must take more responsibility now. 1.5 degrees is not a cliche, it?s a reality. Help the Global South live, show the humanity you should possess.

Photo by: Pulse.ng