Obinna Odogwu, Abakaliki
A don from the Department of Geography, University of Lagos, Prof. Emmanuel Oladipo, has raised the alarm over impending doom which might befall the country if the issue of climate change is not taken seriously and appropriate actions put in place.
He noted that the devastating effects of climate change have already started affecting the nation and, if not checked, the negative impact may extend to other areas of national life.
Oladipo made the disclosure, yesteday, at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo, in Ebonyi State, at a roundtable workshop on the way forward for Nigeria after the Katowice Climate Package, where he presented a paper on the topic: “Implementation process of the NDC and practical actions and activities needed to enhance its implementation.”
He said: “In Zamfara, people are dying of meningitis and so on. Various sectors will be affected. The prediction is that if we continue to do business as usual, our agricultural productivity may decline up to about 25 per cent. Our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) may be affected to about five and 11 per cent.
“A number of settlements along the Niger Delta and along the coast may be submerged, and some of them are already going. A lot of them as a result of sea level rise will be eroded. And the roads will not be lasting as before, as a result of heavy rainfall that will tend to flood them away.”