110m Nigerian children among 1bn at high risk of climate change

From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

Nigeria’s child population of more than 110 million accounts for 10 per cent of the 1 billion children worldwide who live in extremely high-risk countries from the effects of climate change.
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) stated this on Monday during the 2023 World Children Day themed: ‘The Impact of Climate Change on Children.
Speaking at the event commemorating the day in Kaduna, the Chief of UNICEF Field Office, Kaduna, Gerida Birukila who was represented by Joyce Eli said, Nigeria ranked 2nd worst worldwide in terms of children’s exposure and vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.
While noting that opportunities exist for sanitation to contribute to climate resilience in the WASH, agriculture, and energy sectors, the UNICEF Chief, however warned that, unless urgent action is taken, years of progress in the sanitation sector can be undermined by climate change.
According to him, “Nigeria’s child population of more than 110 million accounts for 10 per cent of the 1 billion children worldwide who live in extremely high-risk countries from the effects of climate change. Nigerian children are disproportionately affected by climate change. Rising temperatures, flooding, drought and intense storms are the most serious climate-related threats to children in Nigeria.
“For example, between 2016 and 2021, 650,000 children were displaced across the country due to floods, and more than 3.1 million children could be displaced by riverine floods over the next 30 years.
“Among the direct health effects are physical dangers that lead to injury, heat stress, diminished access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene services, and an increase in waterborne diseases such as cholera, diarrhea and malaria.
“Environmental degradation and climate change also contributes to malnutrition due to a shortfall in food availabilitv and contributes to increasing poverty and displacement.
“From a child rights perspective, the impacts on learning, water access and health are of utmost concern. The lack of climate-resilient sanitation services poses a substantial public health hazard for Nigerian children. Diseases can spread across communities when people lack access to safely managed sanitation services (78% of Nigerians) or practice open defecation (46 million Nigerians), and when toilets are damaged due to more frequent and severe floods.”