Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
Renowned environmental activist and Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Dr Nnimmo Bassey, has declared that Nigeria was economically and socially better off before crude oil became the country’s dominant source of revenue.
This was as host communities of the Niger Delta region called for a review of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), saying it is putting the responsibility of oil theft and pipeline vandalism on the communities.
Bassey spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in his keynote speech at the 2026 Correspondents’ Week of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, with the theme: ‘The Imperatives of Comprehensive Cleanup of the Niger Delta Environment: Role of the Media’.
The programme was organised by the Correspondents Chapel with support from Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, operator of NNPC/ Renaissance/TotalEnergies/AENR joint venture, and the Nigeria LNG Limited, Kebetkeche Women De-velopment Centre, and HOMEF.
In his address, the environmentalist said Nigeria’s dependence on oil has destroyed agriculture, weakened infrastructure development, and entrenched economic dependency, despite decades of petroleum wealth.
He said, “Nigeria was better off without oil. Before oil was discovered, we had vibrant education and good infrastructure. In fact, we had the best roads built in the 50s and 60s in some places. We had agriculture. Nigeria was the main exporter of food before oil became a major revenue earner.”
He recalled that Nigeria once had a thriving, productive economy driven by agriculture before the country became heavily reliant on crude oil earnings.
“And our Head of State then said: ‘The problem is not money but how to spend it.’ Then we started spending and borrowing. But the first borrowing was built on the fact that Nigeria was very wealthy because we had so much money in foreign banks,” he said.
Bassey argued that oil extraction merely deepened colonial economic structures in Africa, where raw materials are exported while local populations remain impoverished.
“Extractive idea is colonial, just like the idea of cash cropping. Instead of cultivating okra, yams, and so on, you are planting cotton, cocoa, and you don’t make chocolate. You export and make money with no food to feed yourself,” he said.
The activist further called on Nigeria to embrace alternative global economic alliances such as BRICS to counter what he described as the dominance of Western powers over the world economy.
He said, “That’s why when you have a group like the BRICS, we should be supporting it, and breaking the monopoly of control of the global economy by certain governments or countries in the world.”
Bassey also warned that Nigeria risks abandoning the Niger Delta to permanent ecological devastation if urgent environmental cleanup is not carried out before the world eventually phases out fossil fuels.
“Clean up the mess. Nobody has the right to poison my water, poison my soil, poison my air, and then run away to the bank with profits. That is totally immoral and unacceptable,” he said.
Bassey also rejected the routine attribution of oil spills to vandalism, insisting that ageing pipelines and operational failures account for many incidents in the Niger Delta.
According to him, “Many oil pipelines in the region have exceeded their operational lifespan and should have been replaced decades ago. Your pipelines laid over 50 years ago are obsolete, expired, and ought to be replaced.”
Bassey further criticised continued gas flaring in oil-producing communities, despite several court rulings declaring the practice illegal.
He said communities are increasingly forced to seek justice in foreign courts because environmental rulings delivered by Nigerian courts are often ignored.
Bassey charged the media to continue drawing attention to the environmental crisis in the Niger Delta, saying the government could no longer pretend that conditions in the region were normal.
“The fact that we are holding this conference today is a message to the government at all levels. They cannot keep on pretending that all is well because all is not well,” he said.
In his remarks, His Majesty, King Felix Otuwarikpo, Paramount Ruler of Upata Kingdom in Ahoada-East Local Government Area of Rivers State, stated that while Section 437 of the PIA provides for a percentage of host communities’ fund to be used for the repair of oil assets in the event of sabotage, oil companies have continued to use security agencies to secure pipelines, leaving out the communities.
He accused insiders in the oil industry of sponsoring pipeline vandalism and oil theft in the region, stating that: “Most of the pipeline leakages are deliberate.”
King Otuwarikpo also accused the federal government of turning a blind eye to the plights of the Niger Delta communities. “The environment is very key, and attention is usually not given to the environment because most of the consequences we suffer at the community level do not happen at the GRA,” he said.
In his welcome address, the Chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel, Mr. Amaechi Okonkwo, stated that the event is not just another ceremonial gathering, but a solemn call to conscience. “It is a call to action on one of the most critical issues confronting the region,ionn and indeed our nation-the continued degradation of the Niger Delta environment and the urgent need for a holistic and comprehensive clean-up,” he said.
Okonkwo observed that the Niger Delta remains one of the most environmentally devastated regions in the world despite being the economic backbone of Nigeria for decades.
He observed that, although the federal government commenced the clean-up of the Ogoni area years after the recommendation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), recent reports for other areas on the effects of the pollution on the people are frightening.
Okonkwo tasked the media to sustain the call for the cleanup of the entire region so as to safeguard future generations.
“As journalists and media practitioners, we understand that the media occupies a strategic position in shaping public discourse and influencing policy direction. Beyond reporting events, the media must continue to serve as the voice of vulnerable communities, the watchdog of society, and the platform for accountability,” Okonkwo added.
In his goodwill message, the National Vice President, Zone F of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Mr. Opaka Dokubo, decried that mangrove that provided livelihoods for local communities has been converted to tank farms in the bid to extract oil from the region.
“Our mangroves have now been converted to tank farms. The mangroves that put food on the tables of the Niger Delta and trained most of their children through schools have now been converted to tank farms,” he stated.
