Stakeholders Urge Remediation as Niger Delta Marks 70 Years of Oil Production

Prominent leaders from the Niger Delta, including former President Goodluck Jonathan and Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, have called for decisive action and environmental justice following seven decades of oil exploration in the region. Speaking at the opening of the 2026 Sweet Crude Dialogue in Yenagoa, key figures highlighted both the economic contributions and the severe ecological costs of Nigeria’s oil industry.

Representing Governor Diri, Deputy Governor Dr. Peter Akpe decried the extensive environmental damage suffered by host communities over the decades. Citing a landmark state commission report, he noted that approximately 13 million barrels of crude oil were spilled in the region between 1958 and 2010. Diri reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to land remediation, livelihood restoration, and an equitable energy transition, while appealing to environmental advocacy groups to support the full implementation of the commission’s findings.

In his remarks, former President Jonathan emphasized that exporting crude oil alone cannot drive sustainable economic growth or job creation. He stressed that Nigeria must focus on the industrial and local processing aspects of the petroleum sector to achieve genuine economic diversification. Jonathan advocated for strict adherence to existing frameworks, such as the 2010 Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act and the 2021 Petroleum Industry Act, to maximize national benefits.

Delivering the keynote address, legal scholar Prof. Ibibia Worika observed that while oil wealth has fueled the national economy, it has simultaneously weakened other vital sectors like agriculture and manufacturing. He described environmental justice for the Niger Delta as an urgent moral and developmental priority, asserting that national progress should be measured by ecological protection and community well-being rather than revenue generation alone.