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In Nigeria, efforts to introduce climate change policy have taken a back seat in the Government's priority list. The Climate Change Network – Nigeria have taken the approach of advocacy vists to government stakeholders and have had encouraging results. Moses Adedji explains.

At the national level in Nigeria, adaptation has not been taken seriously by the President of Nigeria, who has delayed in approving the adaptation policy document 'National Adaptation Strategy and Plan of Action for Climate Change in Nigeria' (NASPA-CCN), produced in 2011 and passed two rounds of Legislative approvals. Records revealed that another document, the 'National Policy on Climate Change and Resilient Strategy' (NPCCRS) remained on the Presidential table some years before being granted approval in September 2012. The National Climate Change Commission Bill that has been passed by the National Legislature is still awaiting Presidential assent for the third consecutive year.

This repeated inactivity by the President moved the Climate Change Network Nigeria (CCN-Nigeria) into action. CCN-Nigeria, a member of CANWA and the largest civil society coalition on climate change in Nigeria, initiated the National Advocacy Campaign on Adaptation in Nigeria (NACAN) in 2013 as an advocacy tool for mobilizing multi-stakeholders support for the presidential approval of the NASPA-CCN. 

NACAN 2013 theme is "NASPA-CCN; Our Responsibility"and its activities include: Advocacy Visits to relevant Government Stakeholders, Donor/International Community in Nigeria and the Media; capacity building; distribution of Information Education Communication materials; and Rally/Roadwalk, tagged "Nigeria Walks for Adaptation".

The implementation of the NACAN 2013 activities is supported by CANWA and ENDA Senegal, with more advocacy capacity strengthened by the adaptation advocacy training of Southern Voices Network of CARE Denmark and Community Based Adaptation (CBA)/Adaptation Learning Programme (ALP) training of CARE International.

So far, the CCN-Nigeria, with its membership strength of over 150 civil society organizations from across Nigeria has carried out quite a number of advocacy visits, produced and distributed advocacy materials. The outcome of the activities implemented so far include: Stakeholders awareness creation on the NASPA-CCN; Stakeholders overwhelming support in presenting the issue at the Presidential level, widespread media publicity, informed civil society and media Stakeholders, increased opportunity for more funding support. During the advocacy visits, one of the Donor Agencies in Nigeria, the Heinrich Boll Stiftung showed great interest in the Roadwalk activity while the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) supported two of our members to participate in COP19 in Poland.
 
In the light of this, Prof. Emmanuel Oladipo, Nigeria's foremost professor of climatology and the Chair of the Board of Trustees of CCN-Nigeria commended the CANWA/ENDA collaboration and funding support, which he described as a stimulant to the adaptation campaign in Nigeria. In the same vein, Surveyor Efik, the National Coordinator added that CANWA/ENDA partnership on NACAN did not only add value but also greatly helped in turning inaction to action regarding the state of climate change adaption in Nigeria. He commended the efforts of the Minister of Environment and the Head of the Climate Change Department, Mr. Darius Dickson Ishaku and Dr. Samuel Adejuwon respectively as well as that of the Upper and Lower Chambers of the National Legislature. While he promised to sustain the action in 2014 with his teaming members, Efik further stated that the success of the NACAN 2013 is made possible by the unalloyed support of the CCN-Nigeria members.

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