The climate change sensitisation campaign is part of activities mapped out under the organisation's "African Activists for Climate Justice" project.
The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) Resource Centre, a not-for-profit organisation, has urged residents of flooding prone communities in Nigeria's capital city, Abuja, to adopt sustainable environmental practices to mitigate climate change effects.
The officials of the organisation said this during their visits to Piwoyi and Ushafa located in the Abuja Municipal (AMAC) and Bwari Area councils, respectively.
The sensitisation campaign is part of activities mapped out under the organisation's "African Activists for Climate Justice" project.
The awareness campaign movement was organised by HEDA Resource Centre in partnership with Oxfam, with the aim of amplifying the voices of climate vulnerable communities in the country.
In his remarks, Sulaimon Arigbabu, the executive Secretary of HEDA Resource Centre, lamented the lack of government presence in Piwoyi, a community in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), the local government area that covers the heart of the federal capital.
"It is worrisome that despite being in the FCT, and the massive population it has inhabited, there is no government presence," he said.
Advising the community on what to do, he urged residents to plant more trees to complement the trees they cut down and used as firewood and prevent further depletion of the ozone layer.
"God has created the world in a balanced way, we are the ones disturbing the balance through cutting down of trees and improper disposal of plastic wastes within the community. It has to stop," Mr Arigbabu told residents of the communities during the visit.
He noted the massive flooding and erosion occasioned by intense rainfall in the community. This causes the river (River Upah) to overflow its banks, thereby washing away farms and infrastructure.
"A bridge constructed for the community by a private company located within has been washed away and rendered useless, making it impossible for some of the community people to either get to their farm lands, or ferry their farm produce back home or to the markets," Mr Arigbabu noted, adding, "No infrastructure support to ameliorate sufferings."
Women farmers, others lament
At Piwoyi and Ushafa, women farmers and their male counterparts vented their concerns about the losses they incurred as a result of flooding and lack of intervention from the government.
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Jenima Ezekiel, a farmer in Piwoyi, lamented her losses to floods, which she said usually destroyed her crop field.
"This year, I planted maize and beans but the overflowing water washed off the crops, we could only harvest a few," she said.
Another farmer, Elizabeth David, who farms across River Upah, said farming had been difficult due to the overflowing river and her lack of canoe to cross it.
"We are begging the government to come to our aid," she said.
"Ushafa residents' problem is occasional flooding that comes whenever there is intense rainfall due to "poor physical planning".
Mr Arigbabu added that, despite hosting the Asuma Dam, a major source of water in Abuja, the community has no reliable water supply.
While appreciating the HEDA Resource officials for bringing climate awareness to their community, the village head of Ushafa, Muhammadu Baba-Kwanga, and his council asked the organisation to assist them to call on the government to address their plight of inadequate water supply.
He expressed his community's conviction that planting and nurturing more trees in their community was the only way they could be part of the climate change solution.
"We are also calling on HEDA Resource Centre, other NGOs and the governments to come to our aid with a robust tree planting program," Mr Baba-Kwanga said.
