Media, Expert Advocate Urgent Action on Climate Threat to Abuja Indigenous Communities

Funmi Ogundare 

Coordinator of the Network of Journalists on Indigenous Issues (NEJII), Mr. Adewale Adeoye, has called on federal and regional authorities to take urgent and proactive measures to address the growing impact of climate change on Abuja’s indigenous communities.

He warned that environmental pressures are worsening livelihoods and social stability.

Adeoye made this known recently at a workshop titled ’50 Years After Abuja: Climate Change and Livelihood of Abuja Original Inhabitants (AOI)’,  in Lagos.

The workshop was organised in collaboration with the Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) and supported by the MacArthur Foundation.

Adeoye expressed concerns that five decades after the creation of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) through Decree 6, indigenous groups such as Koro, Nupe, Gwari, Ganagana, Ebira and Gade continue to grapple with loss of ancestral lands, forest depletion and declining living conditions.

He said the Nigerian media has a responsibility to set the agenda for national development, peacebuilding and conflict prevention.

He described the neglect of Abuja’s original inhabitants as a crucial democratic issue that must be addressed for the country to achieve inclusive development.

Adeoye stated: “There is a deep connection between indigenous people and their environment, their land and forests remain central to their cultural and economic survival.”

Also speaking, Fabian Anawo of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria listed major climate-related challenges affecting the communities.

These, he noted, include erratic rainfall, altered weather patterns, flooding, unusual heat and humidity, disappearance of protective tree belts, destruction of homes and farms, and the steady decline of plant and animal species.

In his remarks, a former Editor of The Punch Newspapers, Mr. Olalekan Adetayo, said his experience as State House correspondent exposed him to the harsh realities facing Abuja’s original inhabitants.

He explained that climate change, driven by industrialisation, deforestation, bush burning, mining, grazing pressures and rapid urban expansion, has manifested in flooding of rural settlements, shrinking arable land, forest loss, water scarcity, increased heat stress and declining biodiversity.

While acknowledging that Abuja’s development has expanded infrastructure, Adetayo warned that the growth has often come at significant ecological cost to indigenous territories.

According to him, “The situation threatens food security and traditional livelihoods built around subsistence farming, fishing, hunting and forest resources.

“When agriculture fails, poverty increases. When poverty increases, migration and displacement follow. When displacement occurs, identity and cultural continuity are threatened. Climate vulnerability is therefore not only environmental — it is economic and existential.”

He further linked climate stress to rising farmer, herder tensions, resource competition and land disputes, warning that shrinking resources often fuel conflict and youth restiveness.

He urged journalists to deepen climate reporting by investigating structural drivers of environmental injustice, humanising climate stories and amplifying indigenous voices.

“Climate reporting should not only cover disasters, it should cover resilience, adaptation and solutions,” he said.

Participants at the workshop called for inclusive peacebuilding strategies, climate adaptation funding for vulnerable communities, recognition of customary land rights and deployment of early warning systems, noting that stability in indigenous communities is critical to national cohesion.

They also raised concerns about marginalisation of Abuja’s original inhabitants in policy decisions, limited political representation and weak participation in urban planning.