Nigerian Universities Ready for Conversation on Climate Literacy, Says UNILAG VC

Nigerian universities are stepping up to address climate change by incorporating climate literacy into their academic programs. The University of Lagos (UNILAG) recently hosted a dialogue focused on transforming curricula to embed climate education across Southwest Nigeria.

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It is therefore fitting that our response should equally cut across boundaries, drawing together law and engineering, the sciences and the arts, and now drawing together the universities from Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti States, in a shared region of effort.

UNILAG Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, emphasized that climate change is a defining challenge requiring cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional responses. She highlighted the importance of collaboration among universities in Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti states.

The event also saw the launch of a toolkit developed by UNILAG's Institute of Nigeria-China Development Studies in partnership with the Pulitzer Centre's Africa Impact Seed Fund. This toolkit is designed to integrate climate literacy into the Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standard (CCMAS) for all fields, including accounting, law, engineering, and the arts, not just environmental science programs.

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As you know, we are living in an era of climate change, misinformation, public health crisis, and social inequality increasingly in the lives of our learners.

Eric Selemani, Africa Pulitzer Centre's Education Manager, noted that the dialogue signifies a commitment to 21st-century education. He stressed that challenges like climate change, misinformation, and inequality demand creative thinking, evidence evaluation, and practical solutions from citizens, not just scientific knowledge.

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These challenges cannot be addressed by science alone. They require citizens who can think creatively, evaluate evidence, understand possible perspectives, and develop practical solutions.

Prof. Olufemi Muibi Saibu, Director of NCDS at UNILAG, underscored the need for tailored curriculum responses to the climate crisis. He stated that universities in Southwest Nigeria must develop and own solutions that are relevant to their specific contexts, leading to the creation of the Climate Literacy Toolkit and the South-west Nigeria Climate Literacy Educators’ Network.

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What we build today, and what we launch today, in the Climate Literacy Toolkit and the South-west Nigeria Climate Literacy Educators’ Network, must be ours: designed here, tested here, and owned by the institutions that will use it.