Stakeholders Convene To Address Nigeria’s Conflict, Climate Challenges

International Alert, a non-governmental organisation, convened its inaugural stakeholders meeting in Nigeria on Monday, November 18. The gathering aimed to address the escalating challenges posed by conflict and climate change in the country.

A key highlight of the meeting was the launch of the Nigeria Conflict Sensitivity and Adaptation Facility (NC-SAF). This innovative initiative is designed to support communities and organisations working to mitigate the intertwined threats of conflict and climate change.

Speaking at the event held in Abuja, the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on International Cooperation, Mr Dapo Oyewole, said true peace is a collective undertaking requiring a joint investment by governments, communities, traditional and religious leaders, civil society, and all citizens to shape a better future.

He added that it is not just about Nigeria, as actors in the global community also have to play a role to ensure that the government, working with all the different key stakeholders, puts forth strategies, initiatives and interventions that could mitigate the impact of climate change.

“Government is not leading from the back in this instance; government is leading from the front. What the government is trying to do is bring together all the critical stakeholders, bring together all the key strategies and ideas that are required, and then be able to provide the resources that are required for implementation. This is exactly what Mr. President has been doing,“ he explained.

Oyewole noted that low-intensity conflicts, often driven by deep-rooted and sometimes historical grievances, economic insecurity, religious or ethnic differences, or the impact of climate change, destabilise communities, divide societies, impoverish economies, and delay the much-sought-after golden fleece of development, thereby hampering progress.

“According to the World Bank, by 2028, over 956 million people are estimated to be affected by severe food insecurity due to climate change, another driver of conflict that we need to tackle as humanity. A recent UNICEF report highlights that between 2017 and 2021, about 5,537 children were recruited by armed groups in Nigeria. These statistics remind us that conflict does not just rob us of our peace today; it also steals the future of younger generations. Therefore, we must embrace peace as the very foundation upon which sustainable development, economic growth, and social harmony must be built,“ Oyewole added.

The Country Director of International Alert, Dr Paul Nyulaku-Bemshima, providing insight, stated that it was a convergence of a range of stakeholders across the peacebuilding, humanitarian, and development space to discuss the existential issues of insecurity faced in Nigeria, some of the key drivers, and the impacts of climate change on communities, productivity, and food security.

“These are stakeholders operating in different phases, in different aspects of the spectrum of what we are discussing, we expect that it helps us to pull the threads together. Most conflicts in Nigeria are resource-based conflicts and we need to look at the issue of conflict and insecurity from a climate lens because if we fail to do that, then the very drivers of the insecurity that we see will continue to fester,” he said.

He urged participants to drive engagement around conflict-sensitive policymaking that recognises the drivers of conflict and response to them, noting that the intensity of increased competition between occupational groups, such as headers and farmers, is heightening conflicts in different parts of the country.

“The farmer-header conflict is driven by climate change impacts, and so we are asking ourselves very critical questions. Do we need to look at all these key areas driving insecurity? Do we need to look at the humanitarian aspects, the peace aspects, the development aspects, and how all of these help us to chart a course for peace and stability in Nigeria? We have government institutions here; we have the private sector; we have civil society; we have community leaders. All these voices coming together to define a pathway for how we address this existential issue of climate change and conflict across the country is very critical,” Nyulaku-Bemshima added.

In her remark, the Peace and Development Advisor, Office of the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator, Nigeria, Dr. Kimaris Toogood, said the UN recognises the strong intersection between climate peace and security and the role that a conflict-sensitive approach to the work of climate peace and security plays, as reflected in the number of transition initiatives around the cooperation framework in 2023 to help various member states achieve Agenda 2030 through the pathway of addressing climate change and resilience.

“The root of addressing and responding to climate change and conflict that is induced by climate change comes from understanding the root causes and a conflict-sensitive facility. It’s only if we diagnose or understand the conflict correctly that our response will be able to be accurate, sustainable, and resilient,” Toogood said.

The resultant impacts of climate change on security have been evident in food, water, and energy supplies, leading to increased competition over natural resources, loss of livelihoods, climate-related disasters, forced migration, and displacement.

Participants in various contributions cutting across panel conversations called for mechanised collaborations to address the existential challenge through climate financing, government budgeting for constituency upscaling and cascading adequate funding, and policy implementations.

They also asked for increased dialogue and advocacy, capacity building for the formal sector, gender sensitivity and inclusivity, and proper coordination of humanitarian assistance by civil and nongovernmental organisations to promote peace and not exacerbate further conflicts, amongst others.

The project, supported by Irish Aid and implemented through the Powering Peace Through Climate Actions, aims to increase knowledge and understanding among stakeholders, foster dialogue on addressing the adverse effects of climate change, strengthen coordination between humanitarian, development, environment, and peacebuilding actors and sharing best practices, models, and opportunities that could contribute to upscaling initiatives on humanitarian development peacebuilding nexus using climate lens.