Group Seeks Renewed Commitment to Tackle Climate Change

Sonia Mayomi

A group, the New Environment Corporation (NEC), has expressed concerns that the grave issues associated with climate change are not being given the urgency they deserve in Nigeria.

Chief Executive of the corporation, Mrs. Nancy Durodola, at a media briefing in Abuja, said majority of Nigerians do not accord climate change the required attention needed to address the situation.

She said the group had resolved to intensify efforts in. “tackling the vexed issue of climate change in Nigeria. We have seen over the years and of recent what nature is capable of doing and the impact such activities have on the people. While many understand this, but believe they have no role to play in tackling it, others just feel that it is a natural phenomenon and bound to happen anyway.”

Durodola, further explained that it was due to the lukewarm attitude by especially those who ought to know about the dangers of climate change that NEC was established to “make sure we don’t continue on the same trajectory to doom with our eyes fully open”.

She said, “Our focus will also be on the grassroots where majority of Nigerians believed that they do nothing to contribute to the situation the world is in today.

“An average person believes that climate change issues are for the elite because of the terminologies we use and even some of the places that such issues are discussed and actions plans arrived at.”

She expressed regrets that Nigerians still regard climate issues as foreign problem that has no bearing on the country

She said, “Our hope is that we will be able to bridge that gap, domesticate the issues and call for more actions from all stakeholders, government and the people and this is where the media comes in.”