Business Post Contributor
By Rahaman Abiola
Of the current pressing issues in the world, climate change takes the centre aisle of global discussion. It is hugely responsible for rising temperatures, changing patterns in rainfall, and harsh weather, continuously damaging the ecosystem.
China, India, the US, and the European Union have been fingered as responsible for 83% of emissions triggering climate change in the world. However, African communities are at the receiving end as these impacts linger from cities to villages across West Africa, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted.
From extreme heat to increasing food and water scarcity, vulnerable African communities with smallholder farmers and coastal populations experience severe effects of climate change. People’s means of livelihood, like farming, are crippled with limited access to help by the victims.
Highlighting some of the problems in Africa, the United States (UN) puts climate change atop the log of challenges. Its terrible effects include but are not limited to, reduced crop yields, biodiversity loss and damage to natural resources.
In 2022, over 600 casualties were recorded in a disaster that was overwhelmingly attributed to climate change, while 200,000 homes were destroyed and 1.3 million people tragically displaced across West Africa.
In Nigeria alone, Africa’s most populous country, the impacts of climate change cannot be underestimated. Between June and August 2023, many communities in Southwest, North Central and Northwest Nigeria were severely hit by flood, destroying livelihoods and causing food crises in a country already enmeshed in insecurity and farmer-herder crises.
In July 2023, 14 states and 31 communities were projected by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to witness heavy rainfall that might lead to flooding across the country from July 4 – 8.
So far, in 2024, Nigeria has been beset by extreme heat waves in what appears to be unprecedented – at least in recent times. Experts have noted that the current heatwave in the country is signalling broader climate change and global warming trends. At the same time, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has also warned that the heatwave may continue for some months amid debilitating impacts.
With the unpredictable nature of climate change in the world, and Africa continuing to be the victim blocks, the adverse effects of climate change in the future may be potentially devastating, which may not be limited to massive droughts, floods, and desertification as experienced in the Sahel states.
Although the government, institutions, policymakers and global powerhouses have prioritised climate change actions and shown commitment to ending its atrocities, as exemplified in the discussion during the just concluded COP 28, where the agenda was driven towards ending the fossil fuel era, the use of media action becomes pertinent in the fight against this monster.
Combating climate change through media action and advocacy is essential for sensitisation and awareness. Over time, media has proved to be the fastest way of bringing information down to people in the language they understand.
Over the years, a few news publishers like Legit.ng have played their part in advocating climate change financing by reporting news about the gaps in climate adaptation. A recent interview conducted by Legit.ng’s Business Editor, Ridwan Adeola Yusuf, with environmental expert, Engr. Ibrahim Kolawole Muritala on the individual and community actions needed to reduce carbon emissions and promote climate resilience, is an example of how Legit.ng creates awareness about climate change. This alongside the simplification of complex climate change discussions like the COP28 fossil fuel debates, reports the conversations in easily digestible content that can be understood by the audience, among other things.
The media plays a vital role in public education and the fight against misinformation. Hence it should be engaged and supported to create awareness on global warming trends and innovative solutions that can be used to mitigate its effects.
This can be channelled through constant news reports and educational programmes dedicated to climate change actions, report simplification, and even house-to-house sensitisation.
The media is very powerful in establishing global literacy and influencing opinions and perceptions. From documentaries and radio/TV programmes to multimedia amplification of local stories of resilience and adaptation by affected victims, media as a driving tool for change, will help strengthen the chain of understanding of these effects and, by extension, help fight against climate change in its entirety.
Grassroots sensitisation through media outreach and collaboration with civil societies and social media platforms will bring information about climate change to people who over time marginalised in climate change discussion, and further help to pull key stakeholders on their feet, through the encouragement of robust dialogue and action plans across levels. There is no better way to educate young people, communities, schools, and community-based organisations on how to mitigate the effects of climate change than through the media.
As African and global leaders continue to invest heavily in the fight against climate change, supporting media and advocacy to sensitise the public and make the world aware, becomes necessary. It is a sustainable pathway to policy reforms that will guarantee strong actions, and inclusiveness and help build climate resilience for a better future.
About Rahaman Abiola
Rahaman Abiola is Legit.ng’s Editor-in-Chief, and a Reuters-trained journalist with a firm grip of over 7 years of experience stranding diverse roles in digital & traditional media and social media communications.
He is currently a board member of the International News Media Association (INMA)’s Africa Advisory Council. He is an award-winning fact-checking, digital, with speciality in human interest reports and has a track record of modern editorial practice including a demonstrated history of social media and newsroom management.
Rahaman has had over 10 speaking appearances across local summits, covering diverse issues on economy, politics and current affairs, media literacy, ethical journalism and leadership. He is a recipient of the Kwame Karikari Dubawa Fact-checking Fellowship (2021), and beneficiary of the Nigeria Health Watch’s Solution Journalism Fellowship (2022).
He has been published in Nigerian national newspapers, including The Nation, The Punch, Nigerian Tribune, and THISDAY. His works have appeared in top digital media platforms, including Sahara Reporters, The Cable, The Capital, YNAIJA, Lawyard, and Paradigm.
