| Abstract [eng] |
Biodiversity is understood to be the variability among all life on Earth, it includes all organisms, species, and populations, the genetic variation and also all ecological complexes of which they coexist. It also involves the variety of all life form on earth, which provides the building blocks for human existence and our ability to adapt to environmental changes in the future (ESA 2012). Nigeria is a country with plenty of unexplored development potentials, with a population of over 160 million people and rich with environmental diversity. The GDP growth rate of Nigeria is currently 6.4 percent, higher than most countries but this artificial growth has obscured the effect of the country’s growing wealth on the poor and ill-educated populace. According to Munang, R (2013) sustainable development has to include environmental, political, economic, technological, and psychological aspects, all of which are interlinked in various crucial ways in one complex total system. An argument that seems too difficult to comprehend for Nigeria and most countries in the world. This paper analyses the major challenges Nigeria face as a country in the current globalized world we live in. Issues such as agriculture related problems, deforestation, pollution, high rate of poverty and mass migration have in recent times been the most damaging factors limiting social and sustainable development in the country. Environmental degradation, climate change and lack of proper policies are usually blamed for the continuous increase of biodiversity loss, Nigeria data on Forest loss and Natural resource indicated that the rate of depletion is excessive compared to data’s from selected countries: Germany, Ghana, Turkey, South Africa, USA and China. Meanwhile with such depletion rates in Nigeria the economy grows continuously in financial terms. The use of education in sustainable development and promotion of sustainable development policies are considered as an important tool in mitigating biodiversity loss. The analysis of scholarly articles, important socio-economic and environmental statistics, was vital in observing and concluding that economic growth in Nigeria has only led to worsening environmental conditions, whereby the most affected are usually the poor people. |
