Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Media Rights Agenda, MRA, has warned that Nigeria’s inadequate response to environmental and climate challenges is exacting a devastating toll on lives, livelihoods, infrastructure, and national stability, stressing that access to reliable environmental information is critical to reversing the crisis.
Launching its latest report in Lagos to mark the International Day for Universal Access to Information, MRA said that the cost of climate-related disasters already runs into billions of dollars annually, yet citizens are unable to meaningfully engage in environmental governance due to the opacity of public institutions.
MRA Programme Officer, Ms. Ayomide Eweje, said Nigeria’s frameworks, including constitutional guarantees, statutory laws, and international obligations, provide a foundation for transparency. However, weak enforcement and lack of proactive disclosure continue to undermine progress.
“Although Nigeria has a layered framework of constitutional guarantees, statutory provisions, regulatory instruments, and international obligations that can serve as a solid foundation for transparency and accountability in an effective national response, the country remains challenged by the lack of willingness on the part of public institutions and officials to disclose information as well as the poor capacity of citizens to demand such information and use it,” Eweje said.
She stressed that without access to real-time and reliable environmental information, citizens cannot protect their health, safeguard livelihoods, or hold decision-makers accountable.
“Ensuring access to environmental information is not just about compliance with the law alone; it is also about empowering people to protect their health, livelihoods, and environment; hold duty bearers accountable; and build a future where development does not come at the expense of sustainability,” she added.
The report, titled Access to Environmental Information and the Cost of Ignorance in Nigeria, highlights severe national challenges, including oil pollution in the Niger Delta, deforestation, flooding, desertification, plastic waste, and deteriorating air and water quality.
It identifies these as existential threats to ecosystems and economic stability, arguing that access to environmental information is a necessity, not a luxury.
MRA also underscored the potential of digital tools such as Artificial Intelligence and real-time monitoring systems to improve transparency and disaster response. However, it cautioned that marginalised communities, particularly women and rural dwellers, risk exclusion if structural inequalities and digital access gaps are not addressed.
“The cost of environmental devastation in Nigeria is already staggering, running into billions of dollars annually in destruction of public and private property, facilities and infrastructure; the displacement of millions of citizens; and the loss of thousands of lives,” Eweje said.
She called on federal and state governments to strengthen enforcement of laws such as the Freedom of Information Act, Climate Change Act, and Environmental Impact Assessment Act, and to establish open-access digital portals where citizens can track data on pollution, deforestation, water quality, and climate risks.
“Governments must invest in broadband expansion, solar-powered digital hubs, and community-based ICT centres to bridge the rural digital divide,” she added, urging civil society, the media, academia, and the private sector to collaborate in ensuring environmental information is accessible and actionable.
