Climate change is no longer just an environmental problem but a growing driver of insecurity, violent conflict, disease outbreaks and economic hardship in Nigeria, scientists have warned, urging governments at all levels to treat the climate crisis as a national security emergency rather than a purely ecological challenge.
The warning came on Thursday at the Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS) Media Roundtable in Lagos, where environmental scientists and science communicators said rising temperatures, flooding, desertification and food insecurity are increasingly fuelling migration, farmer-herder clashes, violent extremism and criminal activities across Nigeria and the wider Sahel region.
Read also: NHIA enrolment hits 22m as health insurance coverage expands
Presenting a paper titled “Climate Change, Health, and the Nigerian Reality: Securing Our Climate Future for a Resilient Nigeria,” Babajide Alo, Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science, said climate change has evolved into one of the greatest threats facing the country because it now affects health, agriculture, livelihoods, economic growth and national security simultaneously.
Alo explained that prolonged droughts, shrinking grazing lands, declining agricultural productivity and worsening food insecurity are forcing populations to migrate in search of survival, creating fresh tensions between herders and farming communities while increasing the risks of organised crime and violent conflicts.
