Journalists have expressed concern over the growing impact of climate change on Abuja’s indigenous communities, calling on federal and regional authorities to take proactive measures.
The media practitioners spoke at a workshop titled “50 Years After Abuja: Climate Change and Livelihood of Abuja Original Inhabitants (AOI)” held in Lagos State on Tuesday.
Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory was created in 1976 through Decree No. 6, which moved the nation’s capital from Lagos to Abuja.
A statement made available to The PUNCH stated that the participants noted that for five decades, indigenous groups — Koro, Nupe, Gwari, Ganagana, Ebira, and Gade — had expressed concerns that the development of the new capital led to the loss of ancestral lands, decimation of forests, and a decline in their quality of life.
The guest speaker and Editor of PUNCH Digital, Mr Olalekan Adetayo, in his paper titled “Abuja Original Inhabitants and the Task of Living with Climate Change,” said that during his time as State House Correspondent in Abuja, he observed changes in climate patterns and their effects on indigenous communities.
Climate change, he said, refers to long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns driven by industrialisation, deforestation, bush burning, mining activities, grazing pressures, and urban expansion in the FCT.
According to him, for Abuja Original Inhabitants, climate change manifests in flooding of rural settlements, loss of arable land, forest depletion, water scarcity, increased heat stress and declining biodiversity.
He said the development of Abuja as Nigeria’s capital under the Federal Capital Territory Administration had expanded infrastructure, often at ecological cost to indigenous territories.
Adetayo noted that many indigenous residents depend on subsistence farming, fishing, hunting, forest-based resources and indigenous energy systems such as firewood and biomass.
He listed the effects of changing climate dynamics on planting cycles, crop yields, livestock survival, and access to clean water.
“When agriculture fails, poverty increases, and when poverty increases, migration and displacement follow. When displacement occurs, identity and cultural continuity are threatened. Climate vulnerability is therefore not only environmental — it is economic and existential,” the PUNCH Digital editor said.
He added that climate stress contributes to farmer-herder tensions, resource competition, and land disputes, which could fuel youth restiveness. “When resources shrink, conflicts expand,” he said.
Adetayo said indigenous people often face challenges related to equality, non-discrimination, and constitutional inclusion. “AOIs often face marginalisation in policy decisions, limited political representation, and weak participation in urban planning.
“Climate justice demands participation in decision-making, constitutional protections, inclusion in environmental policy, and access to climate finance. Indigenous communities must not be treated as obstacles to development, but as partners in sustainable development,” he said.
Adetayo urged journalists to go beyond event reporting by investigating structural causes, humanising climate stories, tracking environmental governance, reporting data alongside lived experiences, and spotlighting indigenous voices.
“Climate reporting should not only cover disasters — it should cover resilience, adaptation, and solutions. Journalists’ reports must highlight: Who benefits from land conversion? Who bears the environmental cost? Are indigenous voices consulted? Good journalism can prevent conflict. It can also hold institutions accountable,” he said.
In his welcome address, Mr Adewale Adeoye of the Network of Journalists on Indigenous Issues said the Nigerian media was known for setting the agenda for national development, peacebuilding, and conflict prevention.
He said the issue of the neglect of Abuja Original Inhabitants remained a crucial national concern.
“In traditional societies, the land and the forest represent motherhood, without which life would be void. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the trees, the plants, the flowers, the animals, the stream, the mountains and the highlands, the plain fields and the lowlands — the entire ecosystem is the pillar on which humanity derives its being and essence.
“The most precious resources that mankind has transformed into various resources like the aircraft, telephone, oil and gas, solid and liquid minerals all came from the environment that we live in,” Adeoye said.
He added, “It is very important for journalists to pay attention to the environment and how it determines the success or peril of indigenous peoples. Of all peoples in the world, indigenous peoples are often the greatest custodians of nature, which they have preserved and held in trust long before industrialisation and commercialisation of nature.”
Also speaking, Mr Fabian Anawo of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria listed some of the challenges climate change had imposed on AOI to include irregular rainfall and weather alterations, flooding, unusual rain and sunshine patterns, rising heat in areas previously considered temperate, loss of trees that served as windbreakers, destruction of homes and farms, and changes in the ecosystem as plant and animal species diminish.
Participants called for peacebuilding strategies to include inclusive land dialogue, climate adaptation funding for vulnerable communities, recognition of customary land rights, and early warning systems, noting that stability in indigenous communities strengthens national cohesion.
The workshop, attended by about 30 journalists, including students from Mass Communication departments and the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, was organised in collaboration with the Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education and the MacArthur Foundation.
