Renowned environmental activist and Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), 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 has called for a review of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), saying it is putting responsibility of oil theft and pipeline vandalism on the communities.
Bassey spoke on Monday in Port Harcourt, in his keynote speech at the 2026 Correspondents’ Week of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, themed: “The Imperatives of Comprehensive Cleanup of the Niger Delta Environment: Role of the Media.”
The programme was organised 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 Development Centre, HOMEF.
In his address, the environmentalist said Nigeria’s dependence on oil destroyed agriculture, weakened infrastructure development and entrenched economic dependency, despite decades of petroleum wealth.
He recalled that Nigeria once had a thriving productive economy driven by agriculture before the country became heavily reliant on crude oil earnings.
Bassey argued that oil extraction merely deepened colonial economic structures in Africa, where raw materials are exported while local populations remain impoverished.
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.
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.
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 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 government could no longer pretend that conditions in the region were normal.
In his welcome Address, Chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel, Amaechi Okonkwo, stated that the event is not just another ceremonial gathering, but a solemn call to conscience.
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.
In his goodwill message, the National Vice President, Zone F, of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Opaka Dokubo decried that mangroves that provided livelihoods for local communities have been converted to tank farms in the bid to extract oil from the region.
Blessing Ibunge
