Minorities Voice Up for Climate Action (MVU4CC)

Introduction

The impacts of climate change are global in nature with local effects that validate its reality. In Nigeria drought and flooding are the major effects of climate change recorded lately (Fourcade et al. 2019; Ayanlade 2017; Odjugo, 2009;). Farmlands and surrounding villages have become barren due to drought and advancing desertification. This has led to massive migration of herders in search of more fertile terrain from the North East towards the Greener Plateau and the Middle Belt Regions.

People in minority groups are at increased risk of the adverse impacts of climate change – including threats to their health, food security, water, sanitation, and livelihoods.

  In order to minimize the adverse effects of climate change, it is important that the voices of the minority groups and their families are included in climate change initiatives focusing upon basic needs, livelihoods, healthcare, social participation and disaster preparedness and mitigation.

Objective

To assess the views of citizens with disabilities and uneducated youths on the realities, effects and mitigation strategies. With a view to designing wholistic, comprehensive, inclusive policies for mitigating climate change.

Activity Report for People with Disabilities

Background details of Interviewees

S/N Interviewee Gender Disability Vocation
1
A
Female
Collage Tanginamo, aform of polio
Teacher and advocate for people with disability
2
B
Male
Congenital deformity of my left leg
Civil Servant
3
C
Female
Polio which affected my left arm and right leg
Soft drinks business

Highlights

People with disabilities are very vulnerable to climate change effects such as flooding

They are more prone to further injuries during flooding or excessive rainfall

They are more susceptible to skin cancer due to harsh weather conditions for example Albinos

They should be given a voice in climate change mitigation

Highlights (Youths with Disabilities Speak Up)

Effects

  • “As a woman with disability, it is very challenging for me when it rains I use two walking aids. I can’t hold an umbrella. So, when it rains, except someone follows me, I will be drenched. People without disabilities can easily shield themselves from the rains but it is difficult for someone with my kind of disability”
  • “Excessive rains caused by climate change affects my productivity at work. When it rains I have to depend on people because I use crutches. I also get undue sympathy from people. Sometimes I am advised to stay back at home meanwhile I have pending work in the office. I am also allergic to cold, and whenever I am beaten by the rains, I feel pains all over my body”

    • Reality

    “When I went to the village last December, I noticed that there was no harmattan throughout my stay. Normally harmattan comes in December. I was told later that it rained in January in the village. This shows something is definitely wrong with the weather” “People take more water because the weather is hot. You just have to keep hydrating your system’’

    Strategies

    There should be policies to protect people. Even the open grazing should have a limit. We need to constantly assess our food production level otherwise we will be heading towards famine. “People with disabilities should be given a voice at all levels of decision making for climate change mitigation. No one can speak for them except themselves.

    Activity Report for People with Disabilities

    Youths with special needs share their views on climate change, at the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities, 26th August 2021
    RCE Members visit to the Centre with Citizens Living With Disabilities (CCD Nigeria)

    Activity Report on the Interview with the Uneducated Youths

    S/N Interviewee Gender Age Marital Status
    1
    A
    Female
    26
    Married
    2
    B
    Male
    29
    Single
    3
    C
    Female
    23
    Single
    4
    D
    Male
    30
    Single
    5
    E
    Male
    31
    Single
    6
    F
    Male
    31
    Single
    7
    G
    Male
    33
    Single

    Uneducated and unemployed youth may not know much about climate change but they can feel the effect of climate change

    Rising food prices and flooding are some of the most significant effects of climate change

    Older generation has sold off almost all the lands to developers and have left the younger generation with no farmland

    Agriculture will tackle food crisis and solve youth unemployment 

    Highlights (Uneducated Youths Speak Up)

    Reality

  • “I don’t know much about climate change. But I noticed that for some time now the rains may not come as expected, but when it comes it is excessive and this leads to flooding in our community ”
  • “No doubt there is a change in weather and we are feeling the impact in terms of high cost of food. We feel this more because our elder ones sold off our source of livelihood ”

    • Effect

  • “We are not eating well because we cannot afford good food. Two years back we buy a paint of garri for N400 or N500 now it is N1,200. We will still buy other ingredients to make soup. So, this change in weather is affecting food provision”
  • “People are to blame for the flooding effects. They throw waste into the drainages provided by the government and when the rains come the roads and our homes are flooded”

    • Strategies

  • “Monitoring and surveillance should be provided to prevent people from throwing waste into the drainage”
  • “Even though most of our lands in this community have been sold to developers, farming still remains the best way out of food challenges. Farming will also create jobs for unemployed and uneducated youths. You do need to have an advanced education before you can farm. Once a person can read and write and communicate he will be able to manage and coordinate the activities in the farm”

    • Activity Report for People with Disabilities

    RCE Ogun Member in the palace of the Olota of Ota, His royal Highness, Oba (Prof.) Adeyemi Abdul Kabir Obalanlege, Lanlege EKun II.
    An interview with the Uneducated Youth Group in Ota

    Statement

    • The occurrence of severe droughts and extreme floods validate the reality of climate change in Nigeria
    • Rising food prices, insecurity from the migration of herders and food shortage are threatening the economic, social and economic outcomes of all people particularly youths in Nigeria,
    • The calls from global leadership such as the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) would help reduce global temperatures to about 1.5 degree Celsius.
    • Recalling the pledge for environmental stewardship as contained in the objectives of other international movements such as the International Sustainability Campus Network (ISCN) and the Global RCE Network to which we belong.
    • Youths constitute an enduring source of indigenous capacity for tackling climate change, but are more likely to commit to reducing their carbon foot print and acting responsibly towards mitigating climate change when their basic needs are met because survival for the average youth is of utmost priority than environmental stewardship.

    Demands

    We demand that our local policy makers set up a climate change task force comprising of a representative from our local authority, local community, university, and diverse youth groups by the end of 2021

    We demand for direct access to climate finance for universities and research institutes to carry out climate change related studies from global policy makers beginning from 2022.

    We demand that our state government establishes climate-smart demonstration farms from 2022 in all the local government areas taking into cognizance the peculiarity of each region, using renewable energy to ensure food security, create green jobs, and reduce carbon emissions

    We demand that our state government begins to implement universal design principles in all its urban infrastructure projects to reduce the climate change effect of flooding particularly on citizens with disabilities from 2022

    Commitments

    Scale up supports for all forms of environmental stewardships particularly climate change awareness through formal and informal education beginning from 2022.

    Collaborate with the Nigerian Metrological Agency (NIMET) to support the dissemination of weather data in the local language of farmers dispersed all over our region beginning from 2022.

    Strengthen the capacity of youths to tackle climate change by championing climate science certificate and diploma courses for undergraduate students in Nigeria beginning from 2022.

    The time for Climate Action is now. We all share the responsibility of preserving our world for the future generations. RCE Ogun is committed to this course and we are open to ideas and partnerships in realizing these goals, both on regional and national scales.

    rceogun@covenantuniversity.edu.ng