Paper short abstract:

This paper seeks to give a solid enquiry into the hypothesis that Climate Change can be considered as a source of conflict and migration in Nigeria. The recent conflict between herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria shall be the major case study of this research.

Paper long abstract:

Climate change is hardly considered as one of the causal phenomenon of conflict in Nigeria. However, Violent conflicts between nomadic herders from northern Nigeria and sedentary agrarian communities in the northern, central and southern zones in the past 36 months has proven that alongside tribalism, religious intolerance, resource control, land disputes and trade related disputes; climate change has become a major source of conflict and insecurity in Nigeria. This is due to the lack of internal mitigation and resilience policies (which have led to expansive desertification, drought and unchecked deforestation in Northern Nigeria) and external factors (the shrinking of the Lake Chad Basin). In consequence, about 10.5 million people have been displaced and the herders are forced to seek more grazing pastures southwards which in turn creates tensions, conflicts and its corollaries. This paper seeks to demonstrate that climate change induced-displacement is a determinant of conflict and a major treat to security in Nigeria and that such conflicts have become a yardstick for interurban migration in and without Nigeria.