Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
Environmental stakeholders in the Niger Delta have urged Nigerians to demand concrete local weather change and vitality transition insurance policies from political candidates forward of the 2027 common elections.
They made the decision on the 2026 annual assembly of the Africa Just Transition Network (AJTN), held in Port Harcourt, with the theme: “Building Collective Power for a Just Transition in Nigeria.”
Executive Director of the Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation (GIFSEP), Dr. Michael David, mentioned Nigerians wanted to unite to demand insurance policies that addressed local weather change, meals insecurity and vitality poverty.
David mentioned the 2027 election campaigns ought to concentrate on candidates’ plans to construct local weather resilience and guarantee entry to inexpensive, clear vitality fairly than being dominated by ethnic, spiritual and regional concerns.
He mentioned weak Nigerians struggling to satisfy primary wants typically discovered it tough to organise collectively, stressing that environmental safety and entry to scrub vitality affected everybody.
According to him, Nigeria dangers accumulating stranded fossil gas belongings because the world transitions to cleaner vitality, whereas communities proceed to undergo air pollution from oil and coal operations.
David mentioned the nation already had insurance policies, together with the Climate Change Act and Just Transition Policy, however implementation remained weak, significantly at state and native authorities ranges.
He urged state governments to utilise the Electricity Act, which empowers them to generate, transmit and distribute electrical energy, to broaden entry to scrub vitality.
The GIFSEP government director additionally referred to as for elevated funding in clear cooking options, noting that the excessive price of gasoline pressured many households to depend on firewood and charcoal, exposing ladies to dangerous air pollution.
Coordinator of the Africa Just Transition Network, Mr. Friday Nbani, mentioned the organisation was working with neighborhood teams and civil society organisations to deal with gasoline flaring, coal mining and different actions contributing to local weather change.
Nbani mentioned the community, which had 88 member organisations throughout 28 African international locations, would develop a roadmap for partaking authorities on environmental safety and a good vitality transition.
He mentioned neighborhood consciousness and training have been important to making sure that the transition didn’t undermine livelihoods, including that the community would advocate elevated funding in renewable vitality and local weather finance.
Also talking, Co-lead of the Africa Just Transition Network in Nigeria, Dr. Stella Amanie urged authorities to make sure that vitality transition insurance policies have been inexpensive, inclusive and gradual, significantly for girls and weak communities.
Amanie, who can also be Executive Director of the Society for Women and Youth Affairs, mentioned communities have to be carried alongside in the transition to cleaner vitality to forestall additional hardship.
A participant from Benue, Agernor Torkuma, mentioned rising adoption of photo voltaic vitality in Nigerian properties demonstrated the potential of renewable vitality, however referred to as for measures to deal with affordability issues and the nation’s dependence on crude oil income.
