The Lagos State Government on Tuesday said it was in the best interest of Nigerians to be educated about the realities of climate change in order to “mitigate and adapt” and be saved from its devastating impact.
Commissioner for the Environment, Tunji Bello, said the media would be a good tool in the task of educating the populace so that victory against “the scourge of climate change” would be achieved.
Bello, who was represented by the Special Adviser to the Governor on the Environment, Dr. Taofeek Folami, spoke at a two-day workshop for the media on climate change in Lagos.
The workshop with the theme, ‘Taming the Climate Change Monster with the Power of the Pen: Nigeria Journalists in Focus’, was organised by the ministry in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme.
Bello said, “The relationship between the media and the society is symbolic, while it will be mostly impossible for the media to do well without the society, we cannot imagine the backwardness and danger the human race would suffer if the media is absent.
“One of the determining factors that will guarantee our victory against the scourge of climate change is the task of educating on the dynamics of climate change the over seven billion people inhabiting our planet. The role of the media in achieving this function is therefore key.
“If the needed societal transformation to meet the climate change challenge is to be achieved, then the media must rise up to its traditional roles in the society.”
The commissioner urged the media to do more in the areas of advocacy and exchange of climate change information.
He said the government had been creating awareness on the climate change challenges by organising the 2009 climate change summit, establishment of climate change clubs in the state schools, flood abatement mechanisms and annual tree planting exercise.
He said, “But the achievement Lagos State Government has recorded in creating awareness on the challenges of climate change would not have been possible without the cooperation of the media.”
Deputy Country Director, Programmes, UNDP, Janthomas Hiemstra, said Nigerian journalists’ contributions had helped in the appreciation of challenges of environmental issues in Nigeria.
He said, “In most cases, Nigerian journalists’ contributions have inspired actions targeted at finding lasting solutions to these challenges. In spite of the various challenges, they have risen beyond the borders of Nigeria and Africa to tell the Nigerian stories and have touched the world with their rendition.
“I will like to enjoin us to continue to publish stories that encourage community participation, as they bear the brunt of these challenges and thus build communication bridges between the government and the communities.”