By Faridat Salifu
Forest communities in Cross River State and a lithium mining host community in Nasarawa State have decried exclusion from decision-making and benefits in Nigeria’s climate and natural resource transition.
Their concerns were documented in research presentations at the National Policy Dialogue on just transition held in Abuja on Wednesday.
A study on “Political Economy, Rights and Developmental Sovereignty in Cross River’s Forest Transition” examined three forest landscapes — Northern Afi-Mbe, Central and Southern mangrove — and the state’s REDD+ programme.
REDD+ — Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation — is an international climate finance mechanism. The study noted that over $14 million has been invested in Cross River’s REDD+ process since 2008 by the World Bank and UNDP.
According to the researchers, conservation obligations and livelihood restrictions are moving to communities faster than decision-making authority, finance and secure rights.
The study, which covered 10 communities and drew on 20 community interviews, assessed the transition through six justice lenses: recognition, procedure, distribution, human rights, sovereignty, and compensation.
It found that community institutions are capable of governing conservation but lack legal recognition and financing to do so effectively.
A women’s group representative in Old Ekuri was quoted as saying consultation on REDD+ was “something that happened and then was explained to us afterwards — we were told it was in our interest!”
A community member in New Ekuri said: “We are asked to protect a forest we cannot farm, cannot log, cannot sell — and the benefit is a promise.”
In a related testimony, Prof. Yusuf Gandujo, Dean of Environmental Sciences at Bingham University and a resident of Tudun Wada in Nasarawa State, detailed the experience of his community hosting lithium mining by RSIN Nigeria Limited, a Chinese firm.
Gandujo said the company has operated for about two years, with trucks moving in and out daily opposite his house, operating day and night with noise disturbing residents.
He said the community requested seven development projects, including a primary school and health services, but none has been provided. He also said petitions to environmental authorities for an Environmental Impact Assessment received no response.
According to him, the access road remains untarred, causing severe dust in the dry season and becoming impassable during rains. He said the company’s only intervention was dumping boulders to allow its trucks to move.
Gandujo called for stronger enforcement of laws requiring companies to engage host communities and for a more prominent role for civil society organisations to support aggrieved communities.
