From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
A nongovernmental organisation located in Ega Ibilla Oju LGA, Benue State, Elim CVTC, has organised a two-day training for Benue journalists on environmental and climate-related risks mitigation.
The training was also to improve branding and visibility for the Enabling Resilience to Climate Change Related Risks through local civil society organisations strengthening (ER2CC) project.
The project is co-founded by the European Union (EU) and Christian Blind Mission, (CBM).
Welcoming participants comprising of the media, the DG of Council of Climate Change, and representatives from the state Ministry of Water Resources, Environment and Climate Change to the event on Wednesday in Makurdi, the Programme Manager/Executive Director, Elim CVTC, Emmanuel Egbodo, said the training was to equip journalists with a comprehensive understanding of environmental and climate related risks in Benue state, including their causes, effects and mitigation strategies.
Egbodo, who spoke through the project coordinator, Mrs Rachel Achimba, said the training was crucial for equipping journalists with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively communicate and advocate for climate change resilience in Benue State.
Speaking at the event, the Director General, Benue State Council on Climate Change, Dr Daniel Mailumo, commended the state governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, for changing the nomenclature of the Ministry of Water Resources and Environment to include Climate Change and also for creating a department of Climate Change at the ministry as well as the council on climate change.
Mailumo said the training was apt and came at the right time when climate change is affecting the world, Nigeria and Benue State in diverse ways.
While noting that climate change can crumble the livelihoods of individuals and nations if no action was taken, Mailumo commended the funders of the project and enthused that Benue State Government had long moved from the climate rhetoric to climate action and urged newsmen to join the government in sensitising the public on the effects and possible ways of mitigating the trend.
Also speaking, an Assistant Director, Climate Change at the Ministry of Water Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Paul Idyu, who noted that climate change had come to stay, lamented that environmental patterns are changing, and rainfalls are no longer predictable as flood now comes at will.
He urged all hands on deck to sensitise the public against inappropriate climate actions such as improper waste management, deforestation, bush burning among others and to also promote tree planting, taking advantage of government programmes to involve in climate smart agriculture among other practices to mitigate climate change.