BY LAW IBITOYE
The Ekiti state Government has mapped out climate Action plan to
mitigate the effects of climate change in the state
Climate change, a global phenomenon poses several risks for Ekiti State and Nigeria at large, now and in the future, hence, the need to brainstorm on how Nigerians would not be caught in the web. Nigerians were urged to explore historical and projected data, impacts, key vulnerabilities and adaptation measures.
Speaking at the Ekiti State Climate Action Plan Engagement Session with stakeholders on Friday in Ado-Ekiti, Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Chief Tosin Aluko in her welcome address, said the workshop became paramount to identify the risks climate change poses for government to work out strategies that would help Ekiti people adapt and mitigate the challenges.
Chief ALUKO, represented by the Acting Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr Tunde Balogun opined that the workshop would help government combine all the climate change -related elements into a single document for future use
According to the acting Permanent Secretary, “The overall intention is not to invent a new policy or to confuse existing plans, but rather to prompt us to think about how they will be affected by the challenges of climate change and to bring all of the climate change-related elements of our work into one document where they can be accessed and understood.
“This will give us something we can adopt, communicate to the public and then take to development partners, investors and the federal government in order to promote what we are trying to do and let people know that we are open for partnerships to remedy those challenges.
“In Nigeria so far, only Lagos and Kaduna have done exercises like this, so it will also mark Ekiti out as progressive and in the forefront of potential destinations for green investment and partnership.
“We have already begun with background research to find out the predictions for temperature rise, rainfall and other climate effects which are going to hit the State in the coming years.”
On his part, the Technical Advisor to the Ekiti State Governor on Climate Change, Oliver Orwell, tasked Ekiti residents to show concern towards climate change, saying it affected everybody.
He said the average daytime temperature of Ekiti state ranges from 24-28 °C. While Ekiti state would have extreme rainfall that would cause flooding .
Adding that flooding would affect soil erosion/ Agricultural produces, water and vector borne diseases that caused cholera while transportation would be adversely affected due to the wetness of the ground.
Mr Orwell further stated that sources of water would be depleted due to large numbers of boreholes and wells sunk in the state.
According to him, “This conversation is all about people thinking about everything this administration is about to do because it’s going to affect your security, our everyday life, infrastructures in Ekiti and the answers have to come from within. That’s why we are having this dialogue.
“No one can avoid climate change entirely. The way out is to become conscious so that you can think about the solution. This State is well-known for resourcefulness and intelligence and that’s an enormous resource to bring to bear about this problem because it requires everyone to proffer solutions ”
Also, Professor of Climatology and Environmental Management at Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Wole Adebayo said that adaptation is the only way out of climate change.
He advocated moderate lives for human beings , saying wasting water should be stopped, planting of fast growing trees and crops should be encouraged to replace the havock of deforestation among others
Prof Adebayo said ” activities of man such as deforestation, sinking of boreholes, concreting floors and over population are the major causes of climate change.
“When we have the weather, we have to adapt. Part of the adaptation is that when we are hot, we take water to cool our body systems down and we change our orientation to the type of clothes we wear. My own adaptation method is that people can now look for crops that can yield early and so many others.
“The activities of man because it is man that will go to the forest and cut all the trees in the forest. We destroy our environment thinking that we are constructing an environment. It is human beings that are causing the problem.
“For example, we are all sinking boreholes. It is going to deplete water in the soil. It happened this year. At a time, we didn’t have rainfall because there was not enough evaporation and our dams are equally failing which is affecting electricity and the ecosystem. The increase in population is even a major factor in the cause of climate change.”
Attendance at the meeting includes all ministries in the state and top government functionaries.