THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY
Nigeria as a nation has suffered from diverse issues ranging from corruption to bad governance, poor infrastructure, brain drain, and climate change. A Nation where 33% of the population according to a recent report by World Poverty Clock (WPC) in 2022 is struck by poverty. This metric was defined by the number of people living below $2 a day. If you look at the stats further, optimism becomes an expensive commodity to shoulder. One of the many areas where the Nigerian government got it all wrong is in its poor handling of climate change because this alone threatens those sectors that are solely reliant on climatic conditions like the agricultural and the hydroelectric sector. For a country like Nigeria big on agriculture, little or nothing has been implemented to combat climate change-related issues. There is not a glimmer of hope.
The extremes of the seasons in Nigeria; wet and dry, as a result of climate change have led to serious drought and flooding, which has affected agricultural activities and loss of shelter as well. A report by the National Emergency Management Agency in 2019 recorded about 1.9 million displaced Nigerians as a result of flooding, further plunging the country into more economic crisis. When we talk about climate change, we are referring to the varying change in the average weather conditions like temperature, humidity, rainfall, and sunshine over an extended period. Scientists say the sole reason for climate change is the depletion of the ozone layer. The ozone layer is responsible for preventing solar ultraviolet radiation from getting to earth at very high intensities. If we look at the common causes of climate change in Nigeria, that is, those things that contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer, we get to discover that most of it are a result of man-based activities. A lot of gases called greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere each day, for example, Carbon Monoxide, Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), Sulphur dioxide, etc. When these gases are released over a long period, it results in a greenhouse effect, which further exacerbates global warming — where the heat from the sun is trapped on the earth’s surface.
Emissions from vehicles, deforestation, burning of hydrocarbon products, and industrial emissions all contribute one way or the other to climate change. As I mentioned earlier, sectors that rely on climatic conditions to thrive are the biggest hits, it becomes ironic because these sectors form the backbone of the Nigerian economy, if anything affects the agricultural sector, for instance, it reflects in the state of the economy; we begin to experience a shortage of food due to low crop yield, and inflation in prices due to scarcity. It is not surprising because crops or crop production depends on location and climatic conditions. The southern part of Nigeria experiences more rain, so the majority of the crops grown in the region rely on adequate rainfall. On the other hand, the northern part of Nigeria has crops that need little to no rainfall for survival. So when there are changes in the climatic condition, we see adverse reactions in the form of drought and excessive rainfall affecting the natural distribution of crops in Nigeria and also the productivity of the farmers to meet the demands of the population.
Reduced livestock production is negatively impacted as well in the sense that these animals rely on plants for survival and without adequate supply, there is a diminished return in regards to the commercial value of the animals with beef and milk production hitting rock bottom. Farmlands are not left out of this mishap, excessive rainfall results in flooding which destroys the livelihood of farmers, invariably affecting the production of food as well. Lack of available lands for farming and poor road networks due to flooding affects the agricultural sector; zero income to farmers at national and personal levels; this is how much the economy gets impacted by climate change. Another important sector is the power sector. The kainji dam is responsible for generating the majority of the power used in the country. Periods of drought and, or unpredictable rainfall reduces the water level in the dam, affecting power distribution across the country. And it is also important to note that a lot of industries rely on the constant power generated from the dam to run. When all these resultant effects are put together, we see an economy struggling to provide for its people.
The best way to mitigate or control climate change is to enforce policies that would bring about a positive shift in the status quo; imploring the use of clean and renewable energy that are sustainable in the long run. I am aware of policies like National erosion and flood control policy, National forest policy, National environmental policy, and National drought and desertification policy put in place by the government to checkmate climate change but then, it goes beyond creating these policies, they have to be properly enforced and executed as well. If all of these are enforced, we would see advancements in the agricultural and hydroelectric sectors — all of which would translate into a better economy for Nigeria.
