Experts from across the health, climate, and environmental sectors have called on the Nigerian government to take urgent, people-centered action to address the devastating and interconnected impacts of climate change, water scarcity, and tobacco use on human health.
The experts spoke during a webinar organized by the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), to commemorate the 2025 World Water Day with the theme ‘Healthy Beginnings: Hopeful Futures’.
While delivering his opening remarks, Akinbode Oluwafemi, the Executive Director of CAPPA emphasized the deeply intertwined nature of environmental issues and human wellbeing.
“The human being is a representation of the environment we live in,” he said, calling on government at all levels to step up and address preventable deaths linked to environmental degradation, water scarcity and tobacco use.
CAPPA’s Senior Programme Manager on Climate, Olamide Martins, who spoke on ‘The Imperative of Climate Action for Human Health and Sustainable Development’, shared that “our lived realities have confirmed the connection between climate change and human health”
He said, “the impact of climate change on our health is both concerning and alarming. It is not only worsening existing health issues, but also reversing progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
Quoting reports that reveal the status of climate change impact on Africa continent, Martins shared that “the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) noted that Africa is the most vulnerable continent to climate disasters, and it is affecting millions of people on the continent. The World Health Organization (WHO) report projects that climate change-related deaths could reach 250,000 between 2030 and 2050.”
He thereafter called for the harmonization of climate and health policies, urging government bodies to adjust existing policies to prioritize climate mitigation and adaptation strategies that ensure survival and resilience, particularly among the most vulnerable populations.
Sefa Ikpa, Program Officer for CAPPA’s water campaign, raised concerns over Nigeria’s dire water situation. “In Nigeria, access to water is abysmal. Some people wake up every day with no assurance of clean or safe water.”
Ikpa also buttressed that lack of access to clean and safe water can expose people to health dangers and mentioned that “availability of water should be non-negotiable because it is a basic human right.”
On the health complications of tobacco use, Anjola Fatuase, Digital Media Officer at CAPPA, emphasized that tobacco remains a leading cause of deaths caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly among the youth.
Fatuase said, “despite increased awareness, tobacco remains one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide. Each year, it claims over 8 million lives, with more than 7 million of those resulting from direct use and over 1 million from second-hand smoke exposure.”
He explained that “there are no safer tobacco products. All tobacco products are deadly. Any campaign that glamorizes tobacco use is mainly to entice the youth. When the youth are addicted, the future is compromised.”
Fatuase called for stronger regulation, including a ban on flavored tobacco products and increased nationwide education campaigns to raise awareness of the dangers of tobacco.
Abayomi Sarumi, CAPPA’s Senior Programme Manager, who spoke on Healthy Food Policy also called for increased pressure on governments to implement policies that will safeguard public health.
He also charged the youths to speak up and join CAPPA’s campaigns that cut across diverse sectors.
While mobilizing the public for increased action to safeguard public health, Oluwafemi said, “the system continues to choose profit over planet, but we must put the planet over profit. The system continues to choose profit over people, but we must resist and choose people first.”
The webinar concluded with a unified call for policy harmonization across sectors—climate, health, water, and tobacco control—urging the Nigerian government to ensure coordinated reforms that protect human health and prioritize the well being of both people and the planet.