How Nigerians can fight climate change in traditional ways

Newton Jibunoh is a foremost environmentalist, who is passionate about mitigating desertification and climate change.

The octogenarian has embarked on several desert expeditions. Having seen the dangers of desertification, Mr Jibunoh founded the Fight Against Desert Encroachment (FADE), a Non-Governmental Organisation, as a vehicle for fighting desertification, drought, desert encroachment and its attendant issues such as migration, conflict and acute poverty in Northern Nigeria.

Mr Jibunoh, who is also the founder, Nelson Mandela Gardens, a conservation resort in Asaba, Delta State, has authored many books and published articles. His book, ‘Me, My Desert and I’, is a vivid account of his near-death experiences the second time he was crossing the Sahara.

In this interview with PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Jibunoh speaks about climate change, a global problem that is largely caused by human activities. It is a timebomb. Recent statistics from the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) reveals that over 110 million Nigerian children are at risk of the effects of climate change and Nigeria ranks second as the most vulnerable country worldwide in terms of children’s exposure to climate change.

Mr Jibunoh speaks to PREMIUM TIMES on how Nigerians can adopt cheap, traditional ways to mitigate the lingering scourge of climate change in the country.

PT: What are some specific traditional methods we can adopt to mitigate climate change in Nigeria?

Jibunoh: We have to give back to the land. The question now is what are you giving back to the land? You must give back to the land to replenish it. I remember in those days when a woman delivered a baby, the family of the new born baby would take the umbilical cord to bury it, and plant a tree, especially cash crops like orange, cocoa and kolanut. This was strategic for land preservation in the community. Just imagine a vast space of land that was being preserved back then. And nobody cuts those trees down carelessly. The people knew what they were doing. Those were our indigenous ways of fighting climate change. So, imagine a large community where a lot of trees are planted over the centuries through this traditional method. That’s the way we are. These trees are there, providing oxygen, standing as wind breakers. They provide shade for people during the hot season and also fight erosion. Even when any of the trees has fallen down, the owner quickly replaces it because he cherishes the connectivity. I also remember that in those days, our people used to have some reserved areas of land with a lot of trees. It could be a vast area that is said to be sacred. They called them evil forests.

Nobody was allowed to go in there or even cut down any of the trees. They left that parcel of land with trees for the purpose of regenerating the environment. It would remain there for centuries while it provides oxygen and cool, clean air for the environment. These were resilient methods of fighting erosion and flood. These were our traditional ways of helping the earth to regenerate. So, we need to go back and adopt these agel-ong traditional, indigenous ways to fight climate change, because our people were wise. Let us apply them. It is simple.

We cannot afford to sit and wait until the crisis comes. We must act now. About two years ago, Cameroon opened their dam and there was flood all over. Whenever the sea rises, there is a problem. Then, you can imagine what will happen if there is a burst in that dam because a lot of them are old. Anything can happen. The climate change issue is critical and I think a lot of people are beginning to understand what we are saying.

PT: What are the challenges of fighting climate change?

Jibunoh: The challenges are enormous. When I started this campaign of planting trees, I started by trying to educate people. I believe in advocacy. I was planting trees all over the country. I decided to start by planting my own tress. I planted hundreds of trees on the street where I lived but to get people to nurture them was a problem. The mortality rate was high.

It got to a stage where I was tired of borrowing money from the bank to do the project. We are talking about eight to nine years ago.

PT: From experience, would you say that there has been a behavioural change with regards to the way people relate to tree planting campaigns?

Jibunoh: It is a different story today. We must continue with the advocacy because when I started, I can say that only 5 per cent of my population believed in me. But today, I can proudly say that over 50 per cent of my population can now relate with the idea. Now, there are restaurants and vulcanizers under the trees. So, that is the result of people getting educated. People are now keying into the tree planting. When it’s hot, people go under the trees. We should keep planting trees and encourage people to continue to do so because climate change is very critical. It is a time bomb.

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I have just finished writing an article, where I asked the question, ‘Which one will come first, climate change or Third world war?’, because the drums of war are beating everywhere now. The only way is by what we are doing now, by planting trees because it’s the simplest thing, and by educating people

PT: Would you say that it is expensive to fight this scourge?

Jibunoh: It is not that expensive but the world is too busy to do anything. We must vastly increase our efforts. That is the difference between mitigation and adaptation. If it happens, not everybody has the infrastructure to fight it. We cannot keep taking from nature without giving back to it. The earth is everything to us. Now, that we are here and even when we die, that’s where we are going to. Is it so difficult to understand and regenerate the earth where we would finally go back to?

PT: Should we believe the government in their fight on climate change?

Jibunoh: COP is the Conference of Parties. And out of the 20 conferences, I have attended 18 all over the world. Out of all the conferences, I have seen people feeling cool like they are going to Dubai, Copenhagen and I do not feel it reflected. They all take joy in telling you that they are planting these numbers of trees, doing their bit to fight climate change. I have attended many launching ceremonies of tree planting where people said that they are launching 1 million trees, 500 thousand trees. But where are those trees? You can hardly find them. There was a time it became fashionable, in almost every state where they held tree planting ceremonies. But where are those trees? You can hardly find them. It means they are not doing what they preach.

PT: How would you react to the lack of sustainability plans regarding tree planting projects often carried out by various stakeholders, NGOs and governments across board?

Jibunoh: There is no way we can build anything without putting up a sustainability structure in place. I built this place, Nelson Mandela Gardens, about 10 years ago. If I go tomorrow, it could be anytime, I am going to be 88 soon, the structure is there. My children will continue. The problem is that we do not maintain what we build. The money is available for people to buy a million trees, put up a big show during the launching ceremony but they are not maintained.

What does it cost to plant trees? What does it cost to maintain them? What does it take to replace them? It takes foresight to understand that you should replace them when the need arises. Initially, I was into advocacy but I found out that advocacy wasn’t going to yield the desired result. I decided to practise what I preached. I started planting trees all over. It is not about writing and presenting papers to foreign bodies for funds. What do you have on ground that you have done so that those who want to give you money can see for themselves? You have to go beyond advocacy.

PT: You talk about advocacy. Why is it difficult for government or stakeholders to inject money into advocacy to sensitise Nigerians on issues of climate change?

Jibunoh: The problem is accountability and that’s why we are where we are today. People are not being held for accountability. If you create an agency, and you put people in charge with responsibilities and resources to run it, it is only proper that after some years, you will call for accountability. What is so difficult in calling to know what the man in charge has done with the funds allocated to him after a period of time? It has never happened. Until we start asking for accountability, things will not change. If we begin to get people accountable, the country will be better for it. I get some funding from outside the country and most of the funding agencies have come to see what I have done with their money. That’s what accountability is.

PT: There’s a recent report that Nigeria is the second most vulnerable country worldwide in terms of children’s exposure to climate change. What would you tell our leaders about the impending disaster of climate change?

Jibunoh: What do I tell them that they don’t know? Some of them are more educated than me. You say, tell the government, what government? What did we not tell President Buhari? Where is he now? What are we going to tell President Tinubu?

PT: Is it that you are tired of talking to them?

Jibunoh: Tiredness is not the word.

PT: Have you given up on them?

Jibunoh: The word I am looking for is accountability. I will say it over and over again, because there is no way the government will allocate funds to an agency and would not come back to ask them how it has been used. So, I take the blame to “we, the people”. I use the words, “we, the people”, because it’s the complete chapter of the Nigerian constitution. I tell you that “we, the people” are not practising what we preach. I am tired of talking about “we, the people” not doing the right thing.