Environment
ERA Wants State of Emergency On Gas Flaring
Environmental Right Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has urged the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on Niger Delta environment to end gas flaring in the region.
The Executive Director, ERA/FoEN Dr Godwin Ojo, made the call in Port Harcourt, Rivers, while celebrating the World Environmental Day tagged: “Air Pollution”.
He said that the Federal Government should delineate the Niger Delta as ecological disaster area, establish a cleanup and remediation fund for the cleanup of the region to address the severe impacts of oil operations on communities and the environment.
Ojo said that Nigeria could survive without oil by investing in renewable energy sources.
“Government should immediately divest public finance, loans and subsidies from fossil fuel exploration and channel such as resources to investment in renewable energy sources to improve energy access for all.
“Government should decentralise energy production and supply system through an energy democracy transition model that allows communities and individuals to be co-producers of energy as well as suppliers as end users,” he said.
Ojo said that the vision could be achieved through mini-grid, feed-in tariffs, and off-grid system to promote environmental sustainability and generate green jobs that were environmentally-friendly.
The director said that Federal Government should dedicate a percentage of the national annual budget for research, developments, production and supply of renewable energy systems to improve solar energy access that was currently low in the country.
He urged the Federal Government to be courageous to ban diesel and petrol generator sets in ministry, departments and agencies and use the funds to provide solar energy systems for the offices.
“Government should also set a deadline to halt the importation and use of diesel, petrol cars and other means of transportation to achieve the 2030 environmental target and save Nigeria from being a dumping ground for obsolete cars from industrialised countries.’’
He said that government should demonstrate seriousness on environmental protection and establish a cleanup and remediation fund of 100 billion dollars for the cleanup of the entire Niger Delta to restore the environment and sustain rural livelihoods.
Mr Mike Karikpo, a member of the group also called on journalists to investigative the extent of the OGONI cleanup exercise before putting anything to the public domain.
Karikpo urged journalists to know the sites for the cleanup, find out if the standards set for the exercise was in place so that neighbouring communities would not suffer from the pollution caused waste dumped for them after the cleanup.
He said that Shell Petroleum Company should be withdrawn as member of the board of committee in the cleanup of Ogoni because as the pollutant, it would speak in the company’s favour.
President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Mrs Margaret Oguntala, has inaugurated the construction of 18 units residential terrace in highbrow Alausa area of Lagos toward bridging the nation’s shelter gap.
Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation has launched the 1GOV Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS) to enhance digital governance and improve service delivery.
The launch, held on Thursday in Abuja, marks the ministry’s transition from paper-based operations to a smart, integrated and technology-driven work environment.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, said the deployment aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Utsev said the system would improve data management, streamline workflows and strengthen transparency and accountability across the ministry.
According to him, the ECMS will enhance productivity, preserve institutional memory and reduce operational costs in the ministry.
Launching the platform, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, said the initiative is a major step in public sector reform.
She said the ministry’s mandate affects Nigerians through water supply, sanitation, irrigation, river basin development and climate resilience programmes.
Walson-Jack said the 1GOV ECMS enables secure digital records management, automated workflows, electronic approvals and real-time collaboration across MDAs.
She added that the deployment aligns with the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021–2025 and the directive for full digitalisation by December 2025.
“Effective governance cannot afford delays caused by manual bottlenecks or avoidable inefficiencies,” she said.
She directed that all official correspondence in the ministry must henceforth be processed through approved digital registry channels.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Emanso Umobong, said the system would eliminate workflow inefficiencies and improve service delivery.
She urged staff to fully adopt the platform and engage in continuous capacity building.
Research shows that local communities and citizens living at the grassroots, particularly women, are directly impacted by the environmental degradation, flooding and others that result from these manifestations.
In the light of this, non-governmental organisation, Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development (EUFORDe), has held a forum for women and other members of oil impacted communities, tagged: ‘Voices from the Grassroots,’ and aimed at building their resilience and mitigation efforts against climate change and environmental degradation
The forum, with the theme: ‘Building Resilience for Oil Spill Impacted Ahoada Communities,’ organised with support from Global Green Grants, was held in Ahoada Community, Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, on December 5, 2025.
Executive Director of Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development, Mercy Elemchukwu-James, said women are at the forefront of efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change and environmental degradation.
The event, therefore, was “designed for community women impacted by oil spills, flooding and other environmental degradation,” she said.
Community women were enlightened by resource persons on new opportunities for sustainable agricultural practices and water management techniques that cushion the impact of oil spills.
Lectures were also delivered on Self-care and Trauma-care, with focus on physical and mental health of the population, and increasing access to health-related resources and services; as well as on Food security and women’s critical role in decision making in oil spill and flood situations in communities
Elemchukwu-James pointed out that the event created a forum for stakeholders, civil society actors and others to dialogue on measures at advancing inclusive and sustainable livelihoods of community women.
She stressed the need for collaborative efforts towards achieving mitigation efforts, while underscoring EUFORDe’s commitment to “fostering partnerships as a critical driver for achieving a healthy community and sustainable development.”
Elemchukwu-James described participants’ design of ‘Community Resilience Plan,’ to manage and combat environmental degradation and crises, as part of achievements recorded at the event.
The forum also witnessed the launching of EUFORDs’ Center For Resilience and Rights.
“This center is established to build resilience as Trauma-Care for victims of environmental degradation, support for survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and a platform where victims of environmental injustice and other GBV cases can seek redress,” Elemchukwu-James said.
Participants celebrated the milestones achieved and charted a path toward greater impact in the coming years. They also described the event as “an inspiring and transformative experience.”
Elemchukwu-James said the awareness creation workshop “reaffirms EUFORDe’s mission to create an equitable society in which the rights and capacities of women, youth, children and underprivileged are integrated in the socio-economic planning and development of communities, for the attainment of equity and peace.