By Rhoda Godwin
The conversation around environmental justice in Nigeria is no longer confined to policy documents, conference halls, or technical debates among climate experts. Increasingly, it is becoming a lived reality for communities grappling with polluted rivers, disappearing forests, recurring floods, and shrinking livelihoods. Across the Niger Delta and beyond, environmental degradation continues to expose deep inequalities, affecting those with the least power and fewest resources the most.
It was this growing urgency that brought together environmental advocates, government officials, journalists, youth leaders, civil society organisations, and development practitioners to Calabar, Cross River State, for the Environmental Justice and Human Rights Bootcamp organised by the Women Environmental Programme (WEP) in partnership with Women Engage for a Common Future (WECF), with support from the European Union under the WomenPower2030 initiative.
Held at Tourist Castle Hotels and Suites, the two-day programme was more than a training exercise. It became a space for difficult conversations, shared experiences, and strategic thinking around the future of environmental advocacy and sustainable development in Nigeria.
READ ALSO:
- The Elephant Who Remembered
- WHO, PSHAN Strengthen Partnership to Boost Healthcare Investments in Nigeria
From the opening session, the message was unmistakable: sustainable development cannot thrive where environmental injustice persists.
Participants from across the South-South region gathered not merely to discuss climate change or environmental degradation in abstract terms, but to examine how pollution, poor governance, and exclusion continue to shape daily realities in communities.
Nigeria’s environmental challenges are extensive and familiar. Oil pollution in the Niger Delta, unsafe industrial practices, inadequate waste disposal systems, illegal mining, flooding, and deteriorating water infrastructure have remained recurring concerns for decades. Yet speakers at the bootcamp argued that beyond the statistics and policy language lies a deeper problem — the unequal distribution of environmental burdens.
Many communities continue to pay the price for development from which they derive little benefit.
Government representatives present at the opening ceremony described the programme as timely.
Representing the Cross River State Ministry of Environment, Moses Osogie commended WEP and its partners for creating a platform that links environmental sustainability with human rights and gender equality.
According to him, environmental issues can no longer be treated as isolated technical matters.
He stressed that climate change, pollution, and ecological degradation now shape public health, livelihoods, and social stability.
Environmental advocates say such recognition from government institutions is increasingly necessary, particularly in regions where environmental damage intersects with poverty and limited social protection.
Speaking on behalf of the Chairman of the Cross River State Green Economy Commission, Dr. Stephen Ekwor highlighted the disproportionate impact environmental crises have on women and vulnerable populations.
He noted that while environmental disasters affect everyone, they do not affect everyone equally.
According to him, climate change and environmental degradation continue to worsen living conditions for communities already struggling with economic hardship.
“Women and vulnerable communities often carry the heaviest burden,” he noted, stressing that environmental policies must place affected populations at the centre of planning and decision-making.
His remarks echoed a major theme that would define conversations throughout the bootcamp — that environmental justice is inseparable from social justice.
This concern was reinforced in a keynote address delivered by Dr. Edu Effiom on behalf of the Director-General of the Cross River State Council on Climate Change.
The keynote challenged participants to rethink common assumptions about climate vulnerability.
“Climate change is not an equal-opportunity crisis,” the address stressed.
For women and girls living in coastal and rural communities, climate-related disasters often mean more than damaged infrastructure.
Flooding, pollution, deforestation, and resource scarcity frequently translate into lost livelihoods, increased caregiving responsibilities, food insecurity, and heightened vulnerability.
The keynote called for stronger feminist leadership and more inclusive climate governance, insisting that environmental justice and human rights must remain central to development planning.
Yet while official speeches established the broader policy framework, much of the bootcamp’s energy came from facilitators and campaigners who encouraged participants to probe deeper questions.
Among them was ecofeminist and campaign strategist Perfect Johndick, whose sessions quickly became focal points for critical reflection.
Johndick facilitated three sessions covering environmental justice and human rights, advocacy structuring, and Behavioural Change Communication.
Rather than approaching environmental advocacy through technical jargon alone, she challenged participants to confront the uncomfortable realities hidden beneath modern lifestyles.
Speaking during her session on environmental justice and human rights, Johndick argued that many conveniences enjoyed by contemporary society are sustained by sacrifices made by vulnerable communities.
“Our gadgets, energy sources and soft life are funded on the altars of community sacrifices across Africa,” she said.
Her statement immediately resonated with participants and sparked discussions around mining, extraction, fossil fuel dependence, and the social cost of industrial development.
For Johndick, environmental justice cannot be reduced to slogans or policy buzzwords.
She urged participants to interrogate popular narratives surrounding sustainable development and energy transition.
According to her, societies must be careful not to replace one form of exploitation with another.
“We must dissect what sustainable development truly means,” she explained. “If we are not careful, we may end up fighting for transitions that destroy the very essence of our communities and social fabric.”
The intervention pushed participants to consider difficult questions.
Can development be described as sustainable if it destroys livelihoods?
Can climate solutions be considered just if communities remain excluded from decision-making?
And can environmental progress exist without human dignity?
These questions formed the moral core of the bootcamp.
Day one featured extensive discussions on environmental justice and human rights, advocacy for sustainable development, gender equality, climate change and its gendered impacts, pollution and public health, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), biodiversity, ecosystem services, and land rights.
Presenters highlighted the environmental pressures confronting Nigeria and their consequences for public health and economic survival.
Participants discussed polluted waterways in oil-producing communities, urban waste crises, recurring floods that displace households, and unsustainable resource extraction.
According to facilitators, these are not isolated environmental problems but interconnected development challenges.
Repeatedly, speakers returned to the definition of sustainable development — meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own.
However, they insisted that sustainability must go beyond environmental conservation alone.
It must also involve social equity and economic justice.
The discussions linked these concerns directly to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those related to health, clean water, climate action, reduced inequality, and peaceful societies.
Still, the bootcamp was not designed merely to identify problems.
Participants focused equally on solutions.
One of the strongest arguments emerging from the sessions was that advocacy itself must evolve.
Johndick challenged campaigners to move beyond awareness creation.
Too often, she argued, campaigns celebrate visibility without producing measurable change.
“We explored why advocacy must move beyond awareness and become intentional about influence, behaviour, and systems change,” she told participants.
According to her, effective campaigns require understanding power, audiences, narratives, demographics, and strategy before action begins.
Many advocacy initiatives fail not because their causes are unimportant but because they neglect strategic planning.
Participants examined how power structures shape environmental decision-making and how campaigns can engage institutions more effectively.
The conversation later evolved into Behavioural Change Communication, another theme Johndick described as essential.
Here, she challenged assumptions that information alone can transform behaviour.
“People rarely change because of information alone,” she said. “They change when communication connects with trust, identity, culture, and lived realities.”
The insight resonated with participants working within communities where environmental practices are shaped by poverty, tradition, and limited alternatives.
For many, environmental degradation is not always a matter of ignorance but survival.
As a campaign strategist rooted in the “leave it in the ground” narrative, Johndick maintained that environmental advocacy must address root causes.
According to her, convenience, greed, and corruption sustain many environmental and human rights violations.
“If we can conquer convenience, greed and corruption,” she said, “then we can attain justice.”
Participants also debated environmental governance in Nigeria.
Several contributors criticised top-down policymaking, arguing that environmental policies often fail because communities are excluded from planning and implementation.
They advocated a bottom-up model rooted in grassroots participation and indigenous knowledge.
A debate around Cross River State’s public water infrastructure reflected these concerns.
Participants questioned the state of water systems and whether urban development had undermined sustainability.
Officials acknowledged challenges including deteriorated pipelines and years of neglect.
However, they assured participants that rehabilitation efforts are underway and expressed optimism that ongoing investments and partnerships would restore the system.
For participants like Lady Eunice Nnachi, Executive Director of Women Organized for Mentorship and Advocacy Network (WOMAN), the conversations carried significance beyond the conference venue.
She described the bootcamp as a reminder that environmental advocacy must remain people-centred.
“Environmental justice is about people as much as it is about the environment,” she observed. “Communities must not be treated as spectators in decisions affecting their lives and futures.”
Her perspective reflected a wider consensus among participants.
As the bootcamp approached its conclusion, participants began developing advocacy strategies and action plans for their communities.
Yet beyond the technical sessions and policy discussions, something deeper had emerged.
Environmental justice advocates in Calabar were not merely debating pollution or climate change.
They were questioning power, confronting inequality, and redefining development itself.
The larger lesson from the bootcamp may be that sustainable development cannot be measured solely by infrastructure, economic growth, or technological advancement.
Its true test lies in whether development protects dignity, respects communities, and safeguards the environment upon which future generations depend.
For advocates leaving Calabar, the challenge ahead is formidable but clear — transforming conversation into action and ensuring that sustainability is not merely promised but practiced through justice, inclusion, and accountability.
By Rhoda Godwin
