IMPACT OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE ON NIGERIA’S EVOLVING DEMOCRACY

Abstract

There is now a widespread belief underpinned by growing scientific consensus that one of the biggest
challenges facing humankind today is the issue of global warming caused by climate change. Climate
change is simply any change in climate over time caused by natural variability or as a result of direct
or indirect anthropogenic activity. This study has adopted sociological perspectives bordering on politi-
cal economy, human ecology and environmental impact approaches to explain how human factors
have been chiefly responsible for climate change which has altered the composition of the global at-
mosphere leading to negative environmental and social consequences. In Nigeria, environmental deg-
radation, ecological crisis, waste management problems, flooding, deforestation, spread of gully and
erosion, reduction of food production, local health problems like asthma, cholera, cancer, chronic bron-
chitis, blood disorders, and other diseases, are highlights of climate change in the country. Even
then, the adverse consequences of accentuated climate instability are predicted to increase. Conse-
quently, the question of whether democracy matters for climate change or whether climate change
matters for democratic sustainability in Nigeria is the focus of this paper. The study concludes that
without addressing the negative impacts of climate change in Nigeria, the democratic stability in the
country may be threatened.