By: Nonye Ekwenugo
Kaduna State Commissioner for Information, Ahmed Maiyaki, has linked the rising insecurity, farmer-herder clashes, and food shortages in Northern Nigeria to the growing impact of climate change.
Maiyaki stated this on Wednesday at a one-day training organised by Earthwell Climate Change and Environmental Initiative for journalists, media practitioners and content creators in Kaduna State, where he urged journalists to prioritise human-angle reporting on environmental issues affecting communities.
The commissioner said climate change had gone beyond environmental discussions and was now contributing to insecurity, poverty, food shortages and displacement across the country.
“You cannot separate climate change from many of the challenges we are facing Today. It is affecting agriculture, food production, insecurity and conflicts in communities,” he said.
Maiyaki linked the drying up of the Lake Chad Basin to rising unemployment and insecurity in the North-East, noting that many fishing communities had lost their traditional livelihoods.
“When people lose their jobs and livelihoods, they become vulnerable to crime and recruitment into insurgency,” he said.
The commissioner further said farmer-herder clashes across the North-West and North-Central were largely economic and environmental issues rather than religious conflicts.
According to him, shrinking grazing areas, desertification and pressure on available land have forced herders into farming communities, leading to recurring clashes.
“As a farmer, you cannot spend months cultivating crops only for cattle to destroy them overnight. These are realities driven by environmental challenges and pressure on land,” he stated.
Maiyaki also disclosed that the return of relative peace in parts of Kaduna State had enabled farmers to reclaim over 500,000 hectares of abandoned farmlands previously occupied by bandits.
Earlier, Head of Research and Documentation at Earthwell Climate Change and Environment Initiative, Madiba Ibrahim Lapinni, explained that climate change has become one of the major drivers of insecurity and economic hardship in Nigeria.
He said environmental degradation, desertification and irregular rainfall patterns were worsening poverty and displacement in many communities.
“Every day we talk about kidnapping, banditry and insecurity, but many of these problems are linked to climate change”.
“When people can no longer survive through their normal occupations, they become vulnerable to criminal activities and extremist recruitment,” he said.
Lapinni also warned that deforestation, pollution and rising temperatures were threatening agricultural productivity and biodiversity across the country.
According to him, irregular rainfall and extreme heat have made farming increasingly difficult for rural communities.
He called on governments, civil society organisations and the media to intensify advocacy and public education on environmental sustainability.(Leadership)
