Climate change: Students task government to provide sustainable solution

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By Linus Ogbu, Lafia

Secondary School students in Nasarawa state have tasked government at all levels to redouble their efforts in the fight against impacts of climate change in order to provide sustainable solution to the menace.

They gave the charge during an inter schools debate on climate change, organised by Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in collaboration with Association of Small Scale Agro Producers in Nigeria (ASSAPIN) in Akwanga.

Speaking separately, students of Government Secondary School (GSS) Akwanga North and that of Government Secondary School, Akwanga attested to the reality of the climate change’s impacts.

Miss Marvelous Bassey, GSS Akwanga, said the that the Akwanga local government has been experiencing impacts of climate change some times now.

She listed some of the impacts of climate change that ravaging the LGA to include deforestation, drought, heat and dry spell that resulted in scarcity of water, as most borehole and hand dug well dried up.

“We are facing scarcity of water in my community, which I believe that it caused by climate change, we usually walk long distance in search of water, some boreholes and hand dug wells are drying up.

“I don’t support indiscriminate cutting down of tree even within school premises and my community, we should rather learn how to plant trees to checkmate deforestation,” she said.

She called on government at all levels to provide sustainable source of water to mitigate impacts of climate change on the people of her community and the entire Akwanga.

On her part, Miss Fatyitmwa Augustine, a student of GSS Akwanga North, said majority of people living in Nasarawa state were ignorant about the reality of climate change.

She, however, made case for the inclusion of climate change in school curriculum as well as supplying of instructional related materials by government to enable students and teachers have broader knowledge about the climate change.

Speaking Earlier, Mr Ango Adamu, Executive Secretary, YMCA Mada Hills, said the inter school debate on climate change was part of the campaign to disabuse the contrary perceptions among the students and the teachers on the reality of climate change.

He explained that the school debate programme was part of African Activists for Climate Justice Project, funded by Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in eight African countries.

Adamu said AACJ project consist of consortium of five Civil Society Organizations (CSOs); the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), Oxfam, Natural Justice, African Youth Commission and the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET).

Also speaking separately, Deputy Chief Education Officer, Akwanga, Momoh Yakubu, Supervisory Councilor for Agriculture, Jerry Ibrahim, Mr Bitrus Ikomo and Mr Akpus Alkali, Principals of GSS Akwanga North and GSS Akwanga, commended the YMCA for the initiative and pledge support.