In an effort to provide catastrophe victims with prompt assistance, the Federal Government has obtained the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) consent to establish humanitarian response centers throughout the nation.
Following her meetings with Emirati government representatives at the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), Dr. Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, revealed this information to press in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
According to her, Nigeria asked the UAE for help in resolving humanitarian issues brought on by the insurgency, especially in the northeast, and in putting an end to the widespread poverty in other regions of the nation.
Edu declared that the Red Cross equivalent, the UAE Red Crescent, was now prepared to construct a more robust humanitarian response network throughout the nation.
She said, “We have had numerous interactions at all levels with the UAE administration, including with the country’s Minister for Tolerance, who also happens to be the President’s brother. We had a long conversation on how we can cooperate to lift millions of managers out of poverty.
We have communicated with our own DG of the World Trade Organization. Our conversations with the head of the Islamic Development Bank have mostly focused on ways that they may assist the nation with humanitarian relief efforts and other initiatives aimed at reducing poverty.
Finally, we spoke with the Red Crescent, which functions similarly to the Red Cross in Dubai, and they expressed their readiness to travel to Nigeria to assist us in creating a more robust system for responding to humanitarian emergencies there.
The minister pointed the finger at climate change, saying it has led to insurgencies and security issues in Nigeria and is to blame for the poverty and humanitarian crises in most of the country.
“See how we can be part of the climate change adaptation, to get support to provide jobs for people to lift them out of poverty, to key into the Paris Agreement,” she stated as the ministry’s mission at COP28. And consider how we might work together to guarantee that all of the natural disasters that cause people to become in humanitarian crises are avoided or at least lessened.
Edu continued, saying, “The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation places a high priority on climate change. Climate change is primarily responsible for the majority of our humanitarian issues and the majority of the poverty that we are currently addressing.
Climate change is to blame for the frequent flooding that occurs in Nigeria. Of course, there are problems with the Lake Chad Basin’s drying up as well as the Sahel’s overall conditions, which have caused nearly 40 million people who depend on the basin to lose their means of subsistence.
These folks are now extremely credulous. They fall into destitution, which makes them easy pickings for anyone looking to join the many terrorist groups instigating the insurgency.
“We cannot work to rescue people from humanitarian crises while permitting more people to become entangled in them as a consequence of climate change.” We are present at this gathering for that reason.
Meanwhile, the federal government has noted that the developed world’s actions, which account for the majority of greenhouse emissions, are to blame for the climate change and its effects that are sweeping the planet.
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In an interview with State House correspondents on the fringes of COP28, Environment Minister Balarabe Lawal reiterated that the Nigerian delegation was committed to advocating for policies that would benefit the nation and its citizens, stating: “So, I think this year’s COP we are expecting a lot from it.”
“The issue of adaptation, mitigation has to do with this year’s conference,” he continued. The largest problem is loss and damage, which I believe impacts the majority of us since we have long been victims of climate change, which is mostly outside of our control.
“The industrialization process has resulted in a multitude of climate-related problems that have impacted vulnerable nations, including Nigeria. These problems include desertification, coastal erosion, and other related issues. Thus, I believe we are fortunate this year. The COP president in office is a fierce individual. His speech really impressed me.
Given the stance that President Bola Tinubu had previously taken at the gathering, he gave his guarantee that the summit would be beneficial for Nigeria.
Lawal stated: “So, I think this year’s COP is going to be very good for us… Nigeria will present its feelings on the various issues on climate change effects and remediation.”Because of this, you see a lot of Nigerians traveling to different sectors, addressing issues such as carbon grading, mitigation, methane, which the President addressed yesterday, and Nigeria’s position.
The minister emphasized that the developed world has spoken its opinions and that “we have over $100 billion in the area of loss and damage, which is the issue of those that have been victims of flood and all sorts of consequences,” and that “we are already paying $30 billion in that area.”
