Federal Government of Nigeria needs to develop gas infrastructure and waste management recycling factory in the country, in order to curb gas flaring, change energy sources from fossil oil to complete renewal energy which contributes to global warming and climate change. 
This was part of the issues discussed during a two-day training workshop on Gender and Climate Change, organised by Kebetkache Women Development and  Resource Center in Port Harcourt.
Guest Speaker, Dr Kabari Sam, regretted that Nigeria was practising extreme gas flaring, adding that the component of these gases was contributing to global warming and climate change.
Sam who spoke on Climate Change Crisis said, gas flaring was not likely to end anytime soon, due to the absence of infrastructure to collect the gas and convert it into useful purposes. 
“The impact point is the gas flaring. If Nigeria had the infrastructure to collect gases from artisanal refineries and conventional refineries, it wouldn’t have been a problem. Nigeria is practicing extreme gas flaring and the component of these gases is what is causing global warming and climate change.
“The main reason why artisanal refining or conventional refining is a threat to climate change is because of gas flaring. The development of an infrastructure to capture flared gas, without letting it into the environment and recycle or convert the gas for other things is key.
“Butane can be used for cooking gas, but it’s  flared into the environment daily, destroying lives, reducing life expectancy and causing a lot of environmental havoc.”
Sam, who is also a lecturer at the Department of Marine Environment and Pollution Control, Nigeria Maritime Academy, Okerenkoko, urged the government to set up policies and frameworks that would encouraged the private sector to invest in setting up gas infrastructure.
“Sadly they keep moving the goal post to stop gas flaring, from 2020 it has been moved to 2030 now. The possibility of stopping gas flaring seems invincible because we don’t have the infrastructure required to capture and use gas.
“The government does not have the enabling policies to encourage the private sector to convert gases into a usable sources. We should see a blueprint as to how the government will get to that point in the next three years, what plans to achieved.”
Earlier, the Executive Director of Kebetkache Women Development and  Resource Center, Ms Emem Bridget Okon, who spoke on Gender and Climate Change Action Plan,called for the implementation of women’s rights from the grassroots.
Okon explained that the aim of the Gender Action Plan was to get women involved and to influence climate change decisions.
“Women and men should be represented equally in all aspects of Climate Change as a way of increasing effectiveness. Since men and women experience the change differently.
She mentioned  that the action plan could be achieved through training of female community health workers on climate change related diseases, especially as it relates to women.

By:

Susan Serekara-
Nwikhana