N8 billion not enough to address effects of climate change – Representative Chief Sam Onuigbo

www.odogwublog.com reports that the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Climate Change, and member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South federal constituency, Chief Sam Onuigbo has protested that the N8 billion appropriated by the Federal Government  in the 2017  budget is not enough to address the challenges of Climate Change in Nigeria.
The lawmaker who stated this yesterday at a media chat  in Umuahia , Abia State , said Nigeria's budget for climate change was a far cry from the 8 billion USD budgeted by Morrocco, and about USD50billion by Saudi Arabia.
He called on the federal government and all stakeholders to take the issue of climate change seriously because of its grave implications on human existence.
“One cannot stress enough how impactful climate change  has been on our society, and the need to take it seriously. Within the week, I will make a full presentation on this, and hope that from now on, more attention will be paid to Climate Change, as it has the power to affect other key areas of our lives”.
He identified food scarcity, poor access to energy, poverty, insurgency and general insecurity in the land as some of the immediate threats caused by climate change in Nigeria.
Onuigbo blamed the above challenges on desertification, drought, drying up of Lake Chad, clashes between farmers and herdsmen among others.
"When these disasters caused by climate change occur, we have seen a pattern that livelihoods are destroyed and women and children are usually disproportionately affected", he said.
“One cannot stress enough how impactful Climate Change has been on our society, and the need to take it seriously. Within the week, I will make a full presentation on this, and hope that from now on, more attention will be paid to Climate Change, as it has the power to affect other key areas of our lives” Rep. Onuigbo stated.
Onuigbo called for collaboration among the arms of government as well as the stakeholders to effectively tackle the challenges of climate change.
He noted that the numerous interactive sessions that his committee had held with the  "MDAs were  aimed at closing the obvious knowledge gap through creating awareness so as to earn public acceptance and behaviour change sorely needed to attain success in all ramifications of the fight against Climate Change."
The lawmaker advocated  public awareness campaigns on the harmful effects of climate change so as to enable the citizenry particularly farmers to make the necessary adaptations.