Awareness of Climate Change and Implications for Attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) in Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Abstract

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is at the centre of both the economic wealth and climate change in the context of pressing national economic issues. It produces the nation’s major foreign exchange earner- crude oil, has abundant fishery and marine resources- all of which are threatened by vagaries in climatic factors. The study was conducted to evaluate awareness of climate change and implications for attaining the MDGs in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The study made use of a multi-stage sampling technique to select three hundred and sixty respondents across three Niger Delta States (Delta, Edo, Ondo). Data for the study were collected with the aid of well-structured questionnaires assisted with interview schedules administered on the respondents. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics. The analysis of awareness of climate change indicated that level of awareness is low but improving. It was found, however, that the mass media has played the most significant roles in climate change awareness in the study area. The results also indicated that the respondents had been practicing some indigenous and emerging adaptive strategies to climate change for many years. This study concluded that more awareness about climate change in the Niger Delta region have implications for attaining the MDGs.