Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Nigeria’s announcement of joining the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, BOGA, has sparked sharp criticism from civil society, who accuse the government of speaking from both sides of the mouth on climate commitments while pushing fresh oil drilling in the Niger Delta.
At the Africa Climate Summit 2, ACS2, Mrs. Omotenioye Majekodunmi, Director-General of the National Council for Climate Change, NCCC, disclosed that Nigeria had been accepted into the BOGA Fund. The fund was set up to help countries accelerate the phase-out of oil and gas production.
But the announcement has left activists stunned. Earlier this year, Nigeria declared plans to restart oil exploration in Ogoniland, a region long scarred by environmental degradation and displacement from fossil fuel extraction.
“Formulations are key as they drive both mindset, policies, and investment,” said Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation,HOMEF.
“Gradualism is virtually the same as permitting convenience to be the rule, just as with voluntary NDCs. Justice isn’t a gradual thing. No gradualism when you are drowning or licked by roaring flames.”
HOMEF questioned whether Nigeria’s entry into BOGA represents a genuine policy shift or a strategic move to access funds while keeping oil central to its economy.
For Bassey, the message is clear: “Justice cannot be disguised as gradualism.”
Critics argue that Nigeria’s continued promotion of a “phase-down” of fossil fuels, rather than a clear phase-out as required by BOGA, shows that its membership may be more symbolic than structural.
At COP28, Nigerian government had stated plainly that a phase-out “is not in line with Nigeria’s position,” insisting instead on extending oil and gas exploitation under claims of cleaner emissions.
For civil society, the contradiction is glaring. “Orderly” and “just” transitions, terms featured prominently in the ACS2 sessions co-hosted by Nigeria, Kenya, the EU, and BOGA, are increasingly seen as coded language for delays.
Dr. Mfoniso Xael, Programmes Manager at HOMEF, who challenged panelists during the session, warned: “‘Orderly’ risks being code for delay. It could mean gradual, cautious, or slow change instead of the urgent phase-out needed. It risks locking in decades more extraction, preserving oil revenues at the expense of frontline communities, and placing control in the hands of fossil fuel producers rather than grassroots actors.”
The Nigerian government, however, maintained that the framing should not distract from progress. A COP30 presidency representative argued that “language shouldn’t distract us from taking the necessary steps towards the transition.”
Yet for Niger Delta communities on the frontline of pollution, activists say, words are not a distraction, they shape policies, timelines, and the flow of climate finance.
