Climate Change Fuels Conflict in Nigeria

The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution has sounded a warning that climate change is now a direct driver of armed conflict and mass displacement in Nigeria and the wider Sahel region.

It, therefore, called for urgent and coordinated action to combat it.

At a high-level seminar held in Abuja on Wednesday, the Director-General of IPCR, Dr Joseph Ochogwu, described the environmental crisis as a destabilising force, worsening insecurity and fuelling humanitarian emergencies in fragile areas.

The seminar, titled “Climate Change, Armed Conflicts, and Internal Displacements in the Sahel Region,” was part of events marking IPCR’s 25th anniversary and drew participation from regional experts, government officials, and civil society organisations.

It was supported by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung–Nigeria.

Ochogwu highlighted how ecological degradation was intensifying competition over dwindling resources, particularly in communities reliant on farming and pastoralism.

“Shrinking water sources, reduced agricultural yields, and vanishing grazing lands are pushing communities into conflict, especially where governance is weak and adaptive capacity is limited.

“Climate change is no longer a distant threat; it is a present and destabilising force.

“The rising temperatures, erratic rainfall patterns, prolonged droughts, and desertification are undermining livelihoods, particularly in communities dependent on agriculture and pastoralism.

“In the Sahel, this environmental degradation exacerbates existing tensions over land, water, and grazing routes and directly fuelling intercommunal violence and cross-border instability,” the DG said.

He noted that Nigeria was facing severe consequences, including the displacement of millions, particularly in the Northeast, North-Central, and North-West regions, where environmental collapse intersected with violent extremism.

“In Nigeria alone, millions have been forced to flee their homes due to the twin scourges of environmental collapse and violent extremism, particularly in the North-East, North-Central, and North-West regions.

“These internally displaced persons face not only loss of livelihoods, but also exposure to poverty, marginalisation, and cycles of secondary displacement. For Nigeria, and indeed the Sahel, this poses both a humanitarian imperative and a security priority,” he said.

Ochogwu called for a shift from reactive to preventive strategies, urging the integration of climate adaptation into peacebuilding efforts.

He advocated for policies that are conflict-sensitive, inclusive, and future-focused.

“Therefore, our response must be holistic, involving peacebuilding, climate resilience, social inclusion, and regional cooperation,” Ochogwu said, emphasising that reactive measures are no longer sufficient,” he said.

The IPCR boss also stressed the importance of empowering communities, particularly youth and women, to become agents of resilience.

He proposed early warning systems, climate-smart agriculture, alternative livelihoods, and improved access to justice as essential pillars of a sustainable peace agenda.

The DG advised, “We must adopt a preventive approach, integrating climate adaptation strategies into our peacebuilding frameworks, and ensuring that our conflict-sensitive policies are inclusive and forward-looking.

“Moreover, we must empower communities, especially youth and women, to become agents of resilience and transformation.

“Therefore, the early warning systems, climate-smart agriculture, alternative livelihoods, and access to justice must form the pillars of a sustainable peace agenda,” he said.

In his keynote address, a former Deputy Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, Amb Usman Sarki, called for urgent and holistic measures to address the complex crises facing the Sahel region.

Sarki outlined the critical intersections between climate change, conflict, and mass displacement in the region, urging a collaborative approach to stabilization and development.

The retired ambassador welcomed the seminar as timely, particularly in light of recent political shifts in the region.

“The convening of this seminar is both timely and appropriate, especially against the backlog of the emergence of disputes around climate and security issues in the region.

“That ostensibly sent the countries of the Association of Sahelian States, or AES, namely Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, out of the eco-scoping to form their own political and security axes,” he said.

He warned that the region’s security and development challenges are worsening, pointing to “widespread and egregious insecurity, lawlessness, state fragility, general criminality, and armed conflicts.”

He urged participants to use the forum to move beyond theoretical discussions.

“I think today’s conference provides us with the opportunity to move beyond the challenge and academic disposition to address the security and humanitarian situations in the Sahel region,” Sarki stated.

He added that any effective approach must be inclusive and multi-dimensional.

“Stabilisation, therefore, requires a holistic approach, based upon various parameters, mainly of good and credible governments, effective security, people empowerment, and food security, tackling the challenges of climate change, among other factors,” he said.

The discussions at the seminar aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s eight-point agenda and Nigeria’s 4D foreign policy framework- Democracy, Development, Demography, and Diaspora, which were cited as key to addressing the growing overlap of environmental stress, insecurity, and displacement in the region.