The Africa Policy Research Institute in collaboration with the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Centre for Social Studies and Development Agenda with support from the Ford Foundation convened a high-level dialogue to discuss Nigeria’s energy transition process and bridge the gap between high-level policy discourse and its impact on communities that host vital energy minerals for the transition.

Experts at the event brought into focus Nigeria’s energy landscape, highly marked by environmental degradation and socio-economic disparities, predominantly evident in the Niger Delta region where severe environmental damages from decades of oil exploration leading to a widespread destruction of farmlands, pollution of water bodies, and significant air quality issues, gravely affect the health and livelihoods of local communities.
Executive Director of HOMEF, Mr. Nnimmo Bassey, in his keynote presentation on Nigeria’s energy transition process, noted that the federal, state, and communities must transparently engage with companies carrying out exploration and mining activities to adequately hold them responsible for repercussions of their activities in the communities.

“As a nation looking to navigate the new energy transition process it is imperative that we address the root cause of the crisis of the oil and gas sector in our environment. It is time energy companies and the governments take up responsibility and accountability for their explorative activities and fully engage community members and its leadership on their activities and its outstanding consequences on the community.”

To successfully achieve accountability and responsibility in this sector, there is a need for clear conversation between the government, energy companies.