By Promise Eze
John Barilubari Lucky was heartbroken when his father said he couldn’t pay his school fees because the farm didn’t produce much in 2022. Lucky had worked hard to complete his first year at Rivers State University and didn’t want to drop out in his second year.
To help him stay in school, his father had to sell the only land he owned. For Lucky, this showed just how badly oil exploration and spills had damaged Ogoniland, their home in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta.
“Our farmlands have been cloaked in oil and destroyed. We are not farming anymore. Wherever you plant, it will not even grow. You will not even see the benefit of what you planted. My father was a farmer, and growing up it was a struggle to even reap what he planted. This meant there were things he couldn’t afford for me. When I entered university, it became worse. My dad went to take loans to see that I survived,” Lucky said.
Polluted Niger Delta
Nigeria’s discovery of oil in the 1950s was envisioned to bring progress and development, particularly to the Niger Delta region, which has the largest crude reserves in the country. But a mix of pollution and poverty has only ensued in the decades since then.
The Niger Delta is one of Africa’s richest oil-producing regions, but many communities, especially in Ogoniland, have suffered deeply from years of oil exploration. When oil was discovered in the 1950s, people hoped it would bring progress. Instead, it brought pollution, poverty, and hardship.
No fewer than 40 million litres of oil are spilled every year across the Niger Delta. In Ogoniland, frequent oil spills have destroyed farmland and poisoned rivers, cutting the livelihoods of local farmers and fishermen. A 2011 report by the United Nations found that water in some areas was so polluted as to be unsafe for drinking. While the government has promised to clean up the land, very little has been done.
Public frustration spilled over. Left without jobs and support, some youths joined militant groups to register their grievances against the oil damage. protest the damage to their land and the lack of attention from the government. These groups began attacking oil facilities to draw attention to their demands.
The government responded with force. Soldiers were sent to the region, in what became a serious violation against human rights. and in many cases, entire villages suffered. Homes were set ablaze, many were arrested, and several were killed, including the notable environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was executed in 1995 alongside eight others by the Sani Abacha administration.This shocked the world and showed how far the government would go to silence protest.
In 2009, the government introduced an amnesty programme to encourage peace, but the problems of Pollution, poverty, and lack of development still affect the people of the Niger Delta. For many residents, until these issues are addressed, peace in the region will remain uncertain.
Youth-led Initiative for Change
It was these nagging frustrations that pushed Lucky into seeking change. Lucky wanted change and sought it through peaceful means, avoiding the traditional path of joining armed groups, a reality that has deeply afflicted the Niger Delta. Triggered by his own experience, Lucky joined the Lekeh Development Foundation, a collective of youths pushing for environmental justice in communities across the Niger Delta.
He became a member of the organisation while still an undergraduate in 2023. Since then, he has led outreaches, organised events, and held meetings with community members to raise awareness about climate change and environmental issues, while enlightening young people on how they can engage the government diplomatically rather than resorting to violence.
“I really believe young people in the Niger Delta should be part of an initiative that caters to the rights of the environment and the well-being of the Niger Delta people. The Lekeh Development Foundation has opened my mind to a wider understanding of the environment and why we need a clean, healthy environment as well. I help organise programmes in my community three times a year on environmental and climate justice,” Lucky said.
The foundation derives its name from the Ogoni word “Lekeh,” which means “a comfortable, beautiful environment where every human being would love to be and live,” explained Friday Nbani, who founded the initiative. “Our passion and interest is already in this space of protecting and defending Mother Earth.”
Unlike the militant groups, Nbani believes that climate justice in the Niger Delta can be pursued only through peaceful means.
Experts reckon that the young demographic, particularly vulnerable to the ruinous legacy of oil exploration in the region, has a crucial role in bringing about change.
“Mobilising them means tapping into their creativity and deep connection to the region. It can help bridge the gap between traditional knowledge and innovative solutions, demand accountability, and drive grassroots-to-national advocacy for sustainable development,” remarked Dolyamba Bara Gabriel, Conservation Education Officer with the Forest Citizen Conservation Foundation.
Nbani’s inspiration for the foundation draws from his heartrending memories of families in his hometown pushed into misery in the wake of an oil spill.
He has also seen how young people are forced to take up arms in the name of clamouring for justice, engaging in oil bunkering and illegal refining in an attempt to secure for themselves what the government has failed to provide. These experiences are what motivates him to train a diverse group of young climate enthusiasts through bootcamps on non-violent means of holding the government to account.
“Our mission is to ensure that these resilient camps can train and equip a network of young leaders through an intensive residential programme that combines practical environmental restoration, sustainable environmental knowledge, cultural preservation, and social justice advocacy,” he said.
Gabriel of the Forest Citizen Conservation Foundation notes that programmes like this will serve as a remedy for past harm, offering unbiased access to adaptation resources and ensuring full community participation in shaping climate policy.
“It is about restoring dignity and health to unrepresented or marginalised populations,” she said.
The foundation has led campaigns in many communities across the Niger Delta, including Port Harcourt, Ogoni, Bori, and several others with over 20 active volunteers working closely with hundreds of youths and community leaders. One of them is Shalom Amakiri, an undergraduate student of law in Rivers State.
She says her community has never been spared of gas flaring from multinational oil companies. She argues that gas flaring has led to severe air and water pollution, causing respiratory illnesses, damaging crops, and disrupting livelihoods. The problem in her community piqued her interest in climate justice, and being part of the community of young people with the Lekeh Development Foundation has given her a voice to speak up for the rights of her community.
“I know that there are laws that govern oil spillage which are meant to regulate the companies responsible for oil spills. To a large extent, however, these laws are not enforced and that’s why we continue to have all these problems,” she said.
The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), passed in 2021, was created to improve how Nigeria’s oil and gas sector is managed. It aims to make the industry more transparent and ensure that communities affected by oil activities benefit from it. One part of the law mandates oil companies to fork out three percent of their annual spending to support development in host communities. The law also sets rules to reduce pollution and protect the environment.
The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act requires companies to check how their projects might harm the environment before they begin. This includes getting input from the public and finding ways to reduce any damage. However, many companies ignore these rules or carry out weak assessments. In both cases, enforcement has been poor, and many communities say they are still suffering from oil spills, pollution, and broken promises.
For Amakiri, this is exactly why she believes young people should be involved in the fight for climate and environmental justice.
“We are the ones who can think quickly and look for solutions. We are the ones who can do more of the grassroots work, by that, I mean coming together as a group, raising awareness, and helping people understand what is happening,” she posited.
She added that “it’s not by carrying arms that you get what you want. It’s by putting practical aspects, be strategic about your movement.”
For Lucky, who is determined to make a change, the work is filled with challenges, the biggest of which is getting the attention of government officials and those responsible for addressing environmental and climate issues.
He fears that if the government continues to ignore the cries of the people in the Niger Delta, militancy could worsen.
“When the people have been tampered with, and their cries, their pleas, are not being heard or properly addressed, I think they will look for the next opportunity to help themselves, which often means resorting to violence. But we will not stop advocating for justice,” he said.
