By Faridat Salifu
Civil society leaders in the Niger Delta have warned that Nigeria’s highly centralised climate governance structure is failing to deliver practical solutions for the frontline communities most affected by climate and environmental crises.
The concern was raised on Friday, July 11, 2025, during the Third Niger Delta Annual Climate Change Conference in Port Harcourt, which convened activists, legal experts, and community representatives.
Mr. Friday Nbani, Convener of the conference and Director of Lekeh Development Foundation, said the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) must decentralise authority to state and local governments to address environmental degradation at its roots.
He stated that climate impacts such as flooding, coastal erosion, deforestation, and loss of livelihoods are experienced most acutely at the subnational level, yet remain invisible in national-level strategies.
“Our people in the villages are being displaced and losing their means of survival, but their realities are not reflected in Abuja’s policy approach,” Nbani said.
He called for state and local climate action desks to be institutionalised across the country, particularly in high-risk areas like the oil-producing Niger Delta.
The conference, hosted by the Leadership Initiative for Transformation, was also designed to consolidate regional advocacy positions ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil.
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Keynote speaker Mr. Ken Henshaw, Executive Director of We the People, said Nigeria’s continued reliance on oil and gas is both a national development risk and a global climate liability.
He criticised multinational oil corporations for driving ecological destruction in the region and faulted the federal government for failing to diversify the economy.
Henshaw called for a transition that prioritises energy justice, community resilience, and reparative investments for impacted populations.
He warned that climate strategies rooted in fossil fuel expansion will only deepen inequality, environmental collapse, and long-term insecurity.
Environmental rights lawyer Anthony Hayward also supported the call for decentralisation and said legal remedies must be used to secure accountability for pollution and environmental loss.
He said Nigeria must move beyond pledges to enforce environmental laws and ensure that oil-producing communities have access to legal protection, redress, and funding for adaptation.
Participants at the conference expressed frustration that climate decisions are made without the participation of those living with the consequences.
They stressed that the structure of Nigeria’s climate governance must shift to empower those on the frontlines of impact not just those in federal boardrooms.
Speakers also called on the media to spotlight the disconnection between federal climate planning and local realities, and to amplify voices from underserved, degraded communities.
The conference concluded with a collective demand for more equitable distribution of climate finance, legal accountability for polluters, and subnational access to adaptation resources.
