Senate urges FG to seek foreign climate financing to protect Nigeria’s coastal settlements

The Senate on Thursday urged the federal government to explore appropriate budgetary provisions and international climate adaptation financing to protect coastal settlements threatened by ocean surges and sea incursion across Nigeria.

The upper chamber also directed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and relevant state authorities to provide immediate humanitarian assistance, including safe water, healthcare services and temporary shelter, to residents whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed by ocean surges.

The lawmakers adopted the resolutions during plenary while debating a motion on the urgent need to construct shoreline protection infrastructure to save the Ayetoro community in Ondo State from sea incursion.

The motion was sponsored by Francis Faduyile (APC, Ondo South).

Mr Faduyile expressed concern that about 80 per cent of homes and infrastructure in Ayetoro community, Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, had been lost to sea incursion.

He said the scale of destruction in the affected communities required urgent intervention by the federal and state governments, relevant development commissions and international development partners.

The senator urged the Federal Ministry of Environment and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to collaborate with the Ondo State Government to implement a comprehensive and adequately funded shoreline protection programme for Ayetoro.

He also called on the Senate Committees on Environment, NDDC and Special Duties to liaise with relevant ministries, agencies and stakeholders, monitor the implementation of the proposed measures and report back to the Senate within four weeks.

Debate

Most senators who contributed to the debate supported the motion and its proposed measures.

Ekong Sampson (APC, Akwa Ibom South) said communities in his district were also grappling with the threat of sea incursion.

Adeniyi Adegbonmire (APC, Ondo Central) said the Ondo State Government lacked the financial resources required to address the problem, urging the Senate to press for federal intervention to protect affected communities.

In his remarks, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said the legislature would take the threat of sea incursion seriously, noting that some state governments lacked the resources needed to tackle the problem.

Mr Akpabio pledged to look into the situation in Ayetoro and other affected communities across the country.

Ayetoro sea incursion

Ayetoro, a coastal community in Nigeria’s Southwest state, has battled recurring ocean surges and coastal erosion for decades, with the Atlantic Ocean progressively swallowing homes, public infrastructure and parts of the community’s landmass.

The crisis has displaced residents, disrupted economic activities and destroyed essential facilities, including schools and electricity infrastructure. Many residents depend on fishing and other coastal livelihoods, making the loss of homes, fishing equipment and access to productive land a threat to both their livelihoods and food security.

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The NEMA, following an assessment of affected riverine communities in Ilaje in August 2024, reported that ocean surges had submerged 1,820 buildings, displaced 2,470 households and affected 14,820 people. The agency said the damage had also destroyed schools and the community’s independent power system, leaving residents without electricity.

Efforts to protect Ayetoro from the encroaching sea have faced challenges. The NDDC awarded a shoreline protection contract for the community in 2004, but the initial contract was terminated after the contractor reportedly failed to execute the project satisfactorily. The contract was subsequently re-awarded in 2009, but the protection works remained incomplete.

The failure to establish effective shoreline protection has left residents exposed to repeated destruction and displacement.

The crisis has also drawn attention to the need for long-term coastal adaptation measures, including effective shoreline protection, land reclamation and sustainable financing.