Environmental rights activist and Executive Director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, has urged communities in Rivers State and across the Niger Delta to resist the commercialisation of their environment, insisting that local communities remain the strongest defenders of their natural resources.
Bassey made the call while delivering a presentation titled “Literacy for Action” at the Environmental Education Summit held in Port Harcourt. He stressed that communities have borne the devastating consequences of environmental pollution and degradation for over seven decades and should not allow economic interests to undermine their environmental rights.
He cautioned against renewed efforts to reopen oil wells without addressing the long-standing environmental damage caused by decades of oil exploration and exploitation in the Niger Delta.
According to him, the region continues to suffer from widespread pollution, contaminated farmlands, loss of biodiversity, coastal erosion, flooding and declining livelihoods, while the world is shifting from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources.
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Bassey referenced the findings of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoniland, noting that pollution in some locations had penetrated as deep as five metres into the soil, making remediation increasingly difficult if left unaddressed.
He also highlighted the growing impacts of climate change on coastal communities, citing Ayetoro in Ondo State as an example of a community that has reportedly lost a significant portion of its land to coastal erosion and rising sea levels.
The environmental advocate described the situation in the Niger Delta as “environmental genocide,” arguing that decades of deliberate environmental destruction have shortened life expectancy, destroyed ecosystems and undermined the livelihoods of millions of people.
Bassey called for stronger citizen participation in environmental monitoring, community dialogues and environmental education, stressing that sustainable solutions can only be achieved when communities, researchers and civil society organisations work together.
He encouraged residents to embrace citizen science and grassroots environmental monitoring as tools for holding polluters accountable and protecting their environment for future generations.
