Pollution and Climate Change: A Nigerian story
Climate change has impacted my country, but the causes have often been kept unclear: until now.
Abuja, just like Washington DC, isn’t the country’s largest city, but it is the capital of Nigeria. And it’s the city where I grew up. An urbanized city located in the Northern region, it’s characterized by either very high temperatures during the dry season or quite lower temperatures during the harmattan trade wind.
The part of Abuja where I lived was just a few meters away from a reserved land with huge igneous rocks and untouched vegetation, making the area mostly always cool and comfortable even when the the rest of the city was experiencing high temperatures. But I began to take note of the significant increase in the heat I felt whenever we had to go into town.
As a kid, I had no knowledge of anything concerning global warming, climate change, afforestation and the environment, and could only wonder at what the cause could be, without having the confidence to ask some of the elders for fear of being deemed ‘too inquisitive’. I could only share my observations with kids my age who also confirmed that they had experienced what I did too.
When I reached teen age, while still living at our home and taking regular trips to town, the same observations were made as previously stated but with reference to the “weather being much hotter” than before. Even at this time I had not understood the reasons why but just took it as part of life.
Getting into University in the Eastern part of Nigeria was the game changer for me, not because of the region but because of the exposure. I began to learn about the environment and related topics, owing to the course I studied, Geology. This was the point of my enlightenment and hence the inception of my advocacy for environmental conservation.
Climate change in a nutshell is a long-term variation in the average weather condition of a region, such as it’s typical temperature and rainfall. What, then, does this mean for Nigeria? Of what disadvantage — or even benefit — is it to my country?
Increased global temperatures lead to more destructive storms due to elevated moisture evaporation, exacerbating extreme rainfall and flooding, more frequent wildfires, longer periods of drought in arid regions, and an increase in the wind intensity and rainfall from tropical cyclones.
The preceding conditions mentioned are general descriptions for various parts of the world, but in particular the Nigerian climate. Beginning from late January this year, exasperating heat waves hit the Nigerian state in ways it has never done before. The previous temperature for a normal day in Nigeria was a range from a high 30°C to a low 25°C. With our location at the equator, we should have the advantage of having consistent temperatures all year long. Yet if that temperature rises, we are at the mercy of climate change. And the temperatures have already risen.
March, 2024 saw temperatures rise to as high as 39°C and even peaked at almost 40°C. While as recently as Saturday, April 6, 2024, The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) issued a weather prediction alert, warning of the likelihood of heat stress and thunderstorms across various parts of the country. Even when the storms arrive, they don’t always alleviate the pressure. On several occasions now, rain has fallen but without having a cooling effect on the weather — and not just in Abuja, but across various cities in Nigeria.
A number of citizens have come forward to voice their concerns about the present climate situation, seeking to know the source of the problem and possible solutions. It’s common to hear such calls as “are we moving closer to the sun?”, or “Who opened the gates of hell?”
One of the most immediate ways this affects daily life is the scourge of air pollution. In Nigeria, major sources of air pollutants are from bush burning activities, emission from vehicles, especially heavy duty vehicles which are now very rampant, smoke from slaughter houses and abattoirs and burning of very large household wastes. All of these, of course, also cause further carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere.
Air pollution also contributes to localised warming by trapping heat in the atmosphere. Certain pollutants, such as carbon dioxide, act as a blanket that prevents heat from escaping into space. This leads to an increase in the overall temperature of the Earth.
Due to the excesses of human nature and the unending quest for materialistic gain, the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is now rapidly accelerating, leaving many with thoughts of uncertainty about what the future holds, and many advocating for degrowth economy.
I’ve witnessed several injustices in different ways and forms towards the environment by ignorant citizens, which has greatly contributed to the deterioration of our environment and climate in my country, with many of the contributors and recipients being ignorant of the cause, which I would not count as their fault due to the low sensitization on such matters in my country, and hence this piece to both readers in and outside Nigeria.
While we know that the causes of pollution are not only anthropogenic, we all must be watchmen for the environment, each one of us, in order to reduce the effects caused by our own making. The questions asked by individuals, “Are we moving closer to the sun?”, “Who opened the gates of hell?”, can now be answered. Dear human, you drove us closer to the sun and opened hell’s gates with your very own hands.
So, what can we do to close the gates? In addition to reducing our carbon footprint, which is our total Green House gas emission production that contribute to climate change in Nigeria, we must also plant trees. Trees are a natural and cost-effective way to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air as they grow, and store it in their trunks, branches, and roots. A single mature tree can absorb as much as 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. By planting trees, we can offset the greenhouse gas emissions from our daily activities, such as driving and using electricity.
In as much as ignorance by the masses has contributed to a declining climate in Nigeria, a good number of informed individuals and groups have made several positive investments to securing the Nigerian environment from further decay. Some of these investments include various tree planting projects across Nigeria. One of such projects is the “Great Green Wall”. The Great Green Wall is a massive tree planting initiative that is taking place across the Sahel region of Africa and the semi-arid northern region of Nigeria, where desertification and drought are serious problems. The idea for the Great Green Wall was first proposed by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005, who saw the effects of desertification and land degradation in Nigeria, and believed that a wall of trees could help to protect the land and improve livelihoods in the region. He proposed the idea at the African Union Summit in 2006, and it was later adopted by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
The goal of the Great Green Wall is to plant a belt of trees spanning over 8,000 kilometers, from Senegal to Djibouti.
In Nigeria, the project aims to plant trees in order to create green belts and provide protection against the encroaching Sahara desert. The Great Green Wall has already had a positive impact in Nigeria, by restoring degraded land, improving soil fertility, significantly improving air quality, thereby tackling climate change among others.
Another tree planting initiative which I personally have been involved in, is with a Non Governmental Organization, Alliance for Progressive and Sustainable Environments, headquartered at Anambra state, at the Eastern region of Nigeria. This region is known for industrialization and high emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The aim of the initiative — similar to the great green wall — is to plant trees that can absorb carbon dioxide and help mitigate climate change in the future.
Now that our eyes have been enlightened once more, we must drive back from the sun to the Earth and permanently shut the gates of Hades. We now know what to do, let’s take action.
Published in The New Climate. Follow for the latest in climate action.
