World Press Freedom Day: Addressing Environmental Crisis In North Central

On May 3rd, the 2024 World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) was celebrated in which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) aptly focused to address environmental issues around the world.

In dealing with this issue, the North Central region of Nigeria comprising states such as (Niger, Benue, Plateau, Nassarawa, Kogi, Kwara, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and often referred  to as the melting pot of the country is the focus of the article.

For over three decades, states in the region have been distressed by a protracted crisis arising from environmental concerns that have ravaged the lives of the people. These environmental issues include; climate change, air pollution, deforestation among others.  Climate change has triggered violence among communities along ethno-religious lines in the struggle for scarce resources.

World Press Freedom Day 2024 with the theme “A Press for the Planet: Journalism in the face of the Environmental Crisis” was aptly captured by UNESCO to elicit appropriate information about the crisis ravaging the region and get appropriate information in understanding the true nature of the crisis in the region.

The North Central  dubbed “ food basket of Nigeria” in recent times has come under intense and almost interminable crisis characterized by environmental metamorphosis that has pitched farmers and wandering cattle herders into very bloody and devastating clashes leading to countless numbers of people dead and many farmers displaced especially in Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau States.

A 2017 report by the International Crisis Group said “drought and desertification have degraded pastures, dried up many natural water sources across Nigeria’s far-northern Sahelian belt and forced large numbers of herders to migrate south in search of grassland and water for their herds.

In 2007 both the African Union (AU) and the Security Council of the United Nations held their first ever debate on the security implications of climate change. But Nigeria, despite being a key participant in some of the global efforts to end the environmental crisis, fared poorly in the Environment Performance Index (EPI) 2022, despite having the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) established to control the Nigerian Environment.

Apart from the crisis caused by climate change, the people of the North central also suffer from air pollution, which is a silent killer as many people suffer from diseases related to this scourge.

Dr. Sunday John, an Environmental Researcher with the Pan Atlantic University said in an interview that some Nigerian cities are rated as some of the most polluted in the world based on vehicular movements, because too many second hand vehicles are in use in Nigeria.

He said “citizens are very ignorant of air pollution such that there are a lot of undiagnosed diseases in the country because environmentally we are very backward.

“There are too many trucks on Nigerian roads that ply the road and emit heavy carbon dioxide and this is affecting the health of many Nigerians. The government is not proactive because most of the laws are not adhered to.”

Another expert and Executive Director of  the International Center for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Mr Dayo Aiyetan bemoaned the fate of people of the region especially those affected by mining activities that devastate communities in Benue and Plateau states.

He said apart from the fact the people are so ignorant about the harmful effects, “some traditional rulers are complicit in the degradation of the environment by mining companies, because they have obviously been paid by the companies and they become resistant to every move to force the companies to pay compensation to the communities.

He said further that “the people who work in those mines are not even bothered about the health hazards they face without adequate protection just because of the little money they earn. The people are so poor that they can’t think about their situation.”

Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, ranked 168 out of 180 countries in the Environment Performance Index (EPI) 2022, because it is not doing enough to address climate risks, the report showed.

The findings of the EPI are important since the Climate Change Act (2021) signed on November 18, 2021 is yet to be implemented in Nigeria. This means Africa’s largest economy has failed to protect its population from environmental health risks, which also include poor air quality, heavy metals, sanitation and drinking water as well as waste management.

The right to a healthy environment has been declared a human right by the UN General Assembly, which makes it incumbent on the media to hold governments to account to implement rules against violations in the environment.

To tackle this crisis, it has become imperative that policymakers must develop a clear view of the environment and security relationship in the context of environmental issues that present immediate danger to human security.

The Nigerian government must address pastoral nomadism where herders move cattle from one place to another in long distances by providing facilities for ranching as it is done in the modern time.

It has now been discovered that people suffer in silence and they hardly complain about the disastrous consequences of the violations of their environment.  It is therefore the role of the media to investigate issues affecting the environment by ensuring a safe and healthy environment through consistent reporting, in-depth analysis among others.