GOODWILL MESSAGE AND OVERVIEW OF THE AFRICA ADAPTATION PROGRAMME NIGERIA (AAP)

GOODWILL MESSAGE AND OVERVIEW OF THE AFRICA ADAPTATION PROGRAMME NIGERIA (AAP) BY THE NATIONAL CO-ORDINATOR, DR. SAMUEL ADEJARE ADEJUWON, AT THE STRATEGIC MEDIA AND DEVELOPMENT PATRNERS' FORUM HELD AT THE LAGOS AIRPORT HOTEL ON FRIDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER, 2012

Gentlemen of the Press, Distinguished Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen. It gives me great pleasure to be with you at a time like this when our nation is being inundated with lots of environmental issues and challenges. The ongoing flooding in many parts of the country and the aftermath greatly underscores the vulnerability of Nigeria to the vagaries of nature while also highlighting the pivotal roles of the media as a critical and strategic development partner.As many of you are aware, the Africa Adaptation Programme was launched in 2008 by the United Nations Development Programme in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) and with US$92.1 million support from the Government of Japan. Specifically, the AAP Nigeria was established under the Japan-UNDP Joint Framework for Building Partnership to Address Climate Change in Africa, which was founded at the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in May 2008.The overall programme objectives of AAP are to enhance the adaptive capacity of vulnerable countries to climate change and disaster risks within the context of sustainable development; to promote early adaptation through evidence-based solutions and initiatives for action and to lay the foundation for long-term investment to increase resilience to climate change and other threats across the African continent.Under the AAP, development is considered the key to poverty reduction, and therefore development must be sustainable, and to be sustainable it must be resilient to all manner of threats, both climate and non-climate in origin.The AAP therefore focuses on strengthening five capacities that are crucial to designing and implementing a resilient development agenda. These are:  Data and Information Management, Institutions and Leadership, Analysis and Implementation, Knowledge Management and Innovative Finance.Projects to build these capacities are being implemented by a national team in each of the 20 AAP countries. Each team is led by the host government and assisted by the UNDP office in that country.In Nigeria, the high level of climate risk is related to a number of factors, including our densely populated low-lying coastline, which is also home to a high concentration of industry and infrastructure. The North of the country, which forms part of the Sahel, is at risk of further drought and desertification.Recent analysis by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) points to a trend of late onset of the rainy season, with most of the country experiencing a below-average length of rainy season. Climate projections indicate that mean annual rainfall will be lower in the North of the country and higher than normal in the coastal belt, with lower dry season contributions to annual totals in all belts. Sea-level rise leading to submergence of lowlands along the coast would result in much of the land currently used for agriculture being lost, with resultant devastating socio-economic and socio-cultural costs.Therefore, the interface between Nigeria’s high vulnerability to climate change and its challenging development context highlights the urgency for concerted action on climate change adaptation, to safeguard current and promote future developmental gains. In addition to responding to international obligations, the Department of Climate Change (DCC) coordinates the activities of the Inter-ministerial Committee on Climate Change.The need for effective communication of climate change thus necessitated the engagement of Messrs MediaLogistix, a public relations consultancy, to help put in place a functional, effective and effectual media strategy for the Africa Adaptation Programme in Nigeria. We are, therefore, here today to generate input from stakeholders; especially from the respected media family.To support our communication strategy, we have developed an electronic newsletter to update readers on the various activities and initiatives taking place under AAP in Nigeria. It will also interest you to know that the AAP Nigeria through the Climate Change Department of the Federal Ministry of Environment and with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) set up the AAP Media Network. Members of this network, some of whom are here this morning, are already doing Nigeria proud by winning laurels nationally, continentally and globally. I join other well meaning Nigerians and the global community in congratulating you, once again, whilst also challenging you not to rest on your oars because of the daunting challenges ahead. I will also like to invite other journalists, especially those reporting environmental issues to join this network. In this regard, I want to assure you all, gentlemen of the press, that the Department of Climate Change (DCC) will continue to engage and collaborate with you as its strategic partner in climate change issues.We earnestly await the final document which will have far reaching impact communicating climate change to the grassroots. I wish you fruitful deliberations.