Botswana’s government unveiled a comprehensive five-year anti-poaching strategy on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, aimed at protecting the country’s wildlife through enhanced law enforcement collaboration and community involvement.
Dignitaries at the launch of the 2025-2030 National Anti-Poaching Strategy
The 2025-2030 National Anti-Poaching Strategy, launched by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, establishes joint operational centres to coordinate intelligence and response to wildlife crime at national and district levels.
“This strategy is critically important for the conservation and sustainability of our biodiversity, our economy, and the interests of future generations,” said Environment and Tourism Minister, Wynter Mmolotsi, during the launch in Gaborone.
Botswana houses the world’s largest population of African elephants and has positioned itself as a conservation leader on the continent.
The initiative comes amid growing global concern over declining wildlife populations threatened by poaching, habitat destruction and human-wildlife conflict.
Balázs Horváth, UNDP Resident Representative in Botswana, pledged continued support through “resource mobilisation, policy dialogue, and institutional capacity building.”
Horváth highlighted the Kgalagadi-Ghanzi Drylands Ecosystem Project as an example of integrated conservation, describing its four strategic pillars, including “strengthening law enforcement coordination, increasing community participation, promoting sustainable land use, and embedding gender equality.”
The strategy emphasises multi-sectoral coordination between government agencies, law enforcement, civil society organisations and local communities.
A wildlife conservation organisation in Botswana has called for the permanent prohibition of elephant trophy hunting and stronger anti-poaching legislation throughout the country.
Elephants
The Elephant Protection Society argues that hunting undermines conservation efforts and damages Botswana’s standing as a conservation leader, according to statements made to Africa Brief News.
“Elephant hunting weakens public support for broader conservation efforts and sends the wrong message about the value of living wildlife,” said organisation representative Oaitse Nawa.
“Even the loss of a few key elephants can disrupt herd movements, breeding patterns, and increase human-wildlife conflict.”
Botswana reinstated trophy hunting in 2020 after a five-year ban.
The current system allows local hunting license holders to sell trophies, though ivory remains regulated under international agreements.
The society disputes claims that hunting effectively manages elephant populations or provides significant community benefits, calling elephant overpopulation “a myth propagated by hunting companies.”
The organisation advocates for eco-tourism alternatives, community-led conservation initiatives and non-lethal population management strategies.
Government officials from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism have expanded hunting quotas in several regions, including area NG35, citing large elephant populations.
The conservation group warned residents near Maun to remain vigilant in areas where hunting takes place, suggesting that recent elephant-related incidents may be connected to hunting activities.
The world generated an estimated 400 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2024. This torrent of water and shampoo bottles, dispensing containers, polyester shirts, PVC piping and other plastic products weighed as much as 40,000 Eiffel Towers.
Plastic waste pollution
It is part and parcel of a plastic pollution crisis that experts say is ravaging ecosystems, exposing people to potentially harmful pollutants and stoking climate change.
“Plastic pollution is one of the gravest environmental threats facing the Earth but it’s a problem we can solve,” said Elisa Tonda, Chief of the Resources and Markets Branch of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “Doing so could not only improve the well-being of people and planet but also unlock a host of economic opportunities.”
Countries worldwide are now negotiating an international legally binding agreement to end plastic pollution. Against that backdrop, this year’s World Environment Day will focus on ways to prevent plastic waste from escaping into the environment, such as curbing pollution from single-use plastic products and redesigning plastic products so they last longer.
Ahead of World Environment Day, here’s a closer look at what plastic pollution is, why it’s such a problem and what can be done about it.
1. How much plastics is out there?
A lot. Today, plastics are an important part of the modern world, used in everything from car parts to medical devices. Since the 1950s, researchers estimate humanity has produced 9.2 billion tonnes of material, some 7 billion tonnes of which have become waste.
2. What kinds of plastics are the most problematic?
A major source of plastic pollution are single-use plastic products, which are not circulated in the economy, overwhelming waste systems and entering the environment. Some of the most common single-use plastic products are water bottles, dispensing containers, takeaway bags, disposable cutlery, freezer bags and packaging foam.
3. Where do you find plastic pollution?
The short answer: nearly everywhere. It’s in lakes, rivers and the ocean. It dots city streets and farmers’ fields. It’s bursting from dumpsites. It’s piling up in deserts and worming its way into sea ice. Researchers have even found plastic debris on Mount Everest and in the Mariana Trench, the deepest point on Earth.
4. Why is plastic pollution such a problem?
There are three big reasons.
First, plastic pollution can wreak havoc on ecosystems. One study found that small plastic particles can slow the growth of a microscopic marine algae known as phytoplankton, which is the base of several aquatic food webs. As well, fish often mistakenly eat plastic products, filling their stomachs with indigestible shards that cause them to starve to death.
Second, plastic often breaks down into tiny fragments – known as microplastics and nanoplastics – which can build up in the human body. Microplastics have been found in livers, testicles – even breast milk. One study found that on average, a litre of bottled water contains in the range of 240,000 microplastics.
Third, plastic throughout its life cycle also contributes to climate change. Plastic production – an energy-hungry process – was responsible for more than 3 per cent of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions in 2020, researchers estimate.
5. What do microplastics do to humans?
We don’t know yet. But researchers are working feverishly to find out because of the alarming amount of microplastics we are ingesting.
6. Can recycling alone end the plastic pollution crisis?
No. Only about 9 per cent of plastics are actually recycled, according to a study from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. There are several reasons for that. Many plastic products are not designed to be reused and recycled. Some are too flimsy to be recycled, while others can only be recycled once or twice. Many countries lack the infrastructure to collect and recycle plastic waste. But perhaps the biggest problem: recycling systems cannot keep up with the explosion of plastic waste. Global plastic production doubled between 2000 and 2019.
7. So, how can the world tackle plastic pollution?
We need to think big. That means looking beyond recycling and finding ways to limit the environmental and health problems caused by plastic pollution. This means looking at every stage of products’ lives, from their production, design, and consumption to their disposal. This is known as the lifecycle approach. In practical terms, that means reducing our dependence on single-use plastic products.
It means redesigning plastic products so that they last longer, are less dangerous and can be reused and ultimately recycled. It means finding alternatives to plastics in a range of products. And it means preventing plastics from seeping into the environment.
8. This all sounds expensive and difficult. Is it?
Not necessarily. Governments, corporations, non-profit groups and people around the world are already rolling out innovative solutions to end plastic pollution. And research suggests the lifecycle approach could save the world US$4.5 trillion in social and environmental costs through 2040.
“We need to stop thinking about solutions to plastic pollution as an expense,” said Tonda. “They’re investments in healthy societies and a healthy planet—things that would pay dividends for generations to come.”
9. What is the world doing about plastic pollution?
Many countries are taking on pollution at the national level with laws designed to rein-in the use of single-use plastic products and compel plastic manufacturers to take long-term responsibility for their products. However, because plastic pollution is a cross-border problem, international cooperation is critical. That’s why nations are now negotiating a global treaty to end plastic pollution.
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee – tasked with developing the accord – will meet for the second part of its fifth session from August 5 to 14, 2025, in Geneva, Switzerland. The talks, say experts, are an acknowledgment by world leaders of the severity of the plastic pollution crisis and the need for a legally binding agreement to address it.
10. Why is there so much urgency to beat plastic pollution?
Without decisive action, the problem of plastic pollution will only get worse. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development forecasts that, by 2060, plastic waste will nearly triple to one billion tonnes a year. If current trends continue, this will lead to an increase in plastic pollution, with nearly half of the newly generated plastic waste landfilled, incinerated or lost into the environment.
Courtesy: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, says Nigeria must intensify its internal strategies to achieve sustainable development with shrinking global multilateral cooperation.
L-R: Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President, and Mr Yusuf Sununu, Minister of State, Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, at the official validation of 2025 Voluntary National Review (VNR) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), launch of the SDGs Progress Report 2024 and an Inclusive Data Charter (IDC) Action Plan, in Abuja
Gbajabiamila said this during the official validation of the 2025 Voluntary National Review (VNR), the inauguration of Nigeria SDGs Progress Report 2024 and unveiling of Inclusive Data Charter (IDC) Action Plan, on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Abuja.
“In a shrinking multilateral space, we must look inwards for sustainable solutions to our economic, social and environmental challenges,” he stated.
Gbajabiamila underscored the vital role of the SDGs as a strategic framework to guide these efforts.
He noted that Nigeria’s commitment – demonstrated by the successful conduct of VNRs in 2017, 2020, and now 2025 – reflected the government’s resolve to meet the 2030 target.
He commended Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, for her tireless leadership in coordinating the process.
He explained that the 2025 VNR followed six regional consultations held in March 2025 across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
He said exercise assessed progress, identified gaps, and gathered input for the upcoming High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) at the United Nations in July.
He explained that the consultations underscored the importance of inclusive, participatory, and evidence-based approaches to fast tracking the implementation of SDG.
Gbajabiamila also called on ministries, departments, agencies, development partners, the private sector, academia and civil society to deepen collaboration and mobilise resources to ensure no one was left behind in Nigeria’s sustainable development journey.
He reiterated the Tinubu administration’s unwavering commitment to the SDGs, describing sustainable development as a cardinal objective within the Renewed Hope Agenda.
He conveyed President Tinubu’s best wishes, noting his strong interest in achieving the SDGs.
“When world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, they envisioned a just and truly egalitarian society where no one is left behind.
“Achieving the SDGs will mean ending poverty and hunger, safeguarding our ecosystem and ensuring our people live in peace and prosperity by 2030 and beyond,” Gbajabiamila said.
In her welcome address, Orelope-Adefulire told stakeholders that the national validation workshop reinforced Nigeria’s deepening commitment to the 2030 Agenda.
She noted that nearly a decade after the adoption of the SDGs at the 70th UN General Assembly, Nigeria continued to demonstrate resolve in achieving them.
She referenced the 2024 United Nations SDGs Report, which showed that only 17 per cent of global targets were on track, with developing countries and the poorest populations bearing the greatest burdens.
“Lack of progress towards the SDGs is universal, but developing countries and the world’s poorest people are bearing the brunt,” she remarked.
Orelope-Adefulire described the VNR process as a critical component of the HLPF review mechanism, offering transparency and accountability at the national level.
She noted that Nigeria’s 2025 VNR was the product of extensive consultations across all six geopolitical zones.
She said the consultations included targeted engagements with persons with disabilities, youth and children.
“This national validation workshop not only reaffirms our commitment to the 2030 Agenda but also demonstrates our resolve to ground implementation in inclusive, evidence based, and participatory principles,” she said.
She urged participants to critically assess the VNR’s findings and recommendations to ensure a robust final report.
The Nigeria SDGs Progress Report 2024, unveiled at the workshop, provided a detailed goal-by-goal analysis of achievements and setbacks, while offering strategic recommendations for policymakers at all levels.
Orelope-Adefulire also announced the inauguration of Nigeria’s Inclusive Data Charter Action Plan 2024, developed in partnership with the National Bureau of Statistics and Sightsavers Nigeria.
“Our commitment to leaving no one behind must be data driven and evidence based,” she said.
She added that the IDC Plan reinforced Nigeria’s commitment to disaggregated and inclusive data systems as the foundation of accountable development.
She praised the Multi-Stakeholder Core Working Group for its coordination of the VNR process, acknowledging its diverse membership spanning government agencies, the UN system, civil society, academia, and the disability community.
She also thanked Sightsavers Nigeria for its support in ensuring the active participation of persons with disabilities.
Mr. Mohamed Fall, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, delivered a goodwill message in which he commended the Federal Government for its inclusive approach to the VNR and reiterated the UN’s ongoing technical and financial support.
“With less than five years remaining, the SDGs are globally off track. But Nigeria’s participatory approach gives us hope that the course can still be corrected,” he stated.
Fall highlighted Nigeria’s role among the 39 countries presenting VNRs at the 2025 HLPF, offering a platform to showcase transformative and science-based strategies.
He urged the workshop to produce actionable recommendations to address challenges such as poverty, inequality and climate change.
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) echoed similar sentiments. Represented by Mr. Eghosa Omoigui, Assistant Director, Mr. Abdulateef Shittu, NGF Director General, cited subnational progress from Kwara, Lagos, Gombe and Edo states as proof of local innovation driving change.
“Resource gaps, data limitations, and climate impacts test our resilience, but they sharpen our resolve to act smarter and leave no one behind,” he said.
He added that the NGF was committed to supporting states in localising the SDGs through innovation, partnerships and knowledge sharing.
He urged participants to transform the validation process into a renewed commitment to the 2030 Agenda, stressing, “Nigeria’s story is one of resilience, partnership, and the promise of delivering on sustainable development.”
The Director-General of Nigeria Conservative Foundation (NCF), Dr. Joseph Onoja, has called on Nigerians to organise tree planting events to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries rather than throw lavish parties.
Dr. Joseph Onoja
Onoja made the call on Friday, May 2, 2025, in Abuja at the maiden edition of the Abuja Garden Festival, against the backdrop of severe heatwave being experienced across the country.
He said that being intentional about tree planting by channelling resources to it would go a long way to reduce the effects of climate change in the country.
“Rather than throwing parties during your anniversaries and birthdays, organise trees planting events.
“This is so that we will have trees around us that will be able to play the role we are supposed to play to create more resilience, especially, in the face of climate change.
“In the coastal areas, we have erosions while in the North, we have desertification coming in. So, we need to have trees around us to be able to stop that from happening.”
Sen. Ede Dafinone, in a keynote address, said that the Federal Capital Territory had taken some steps to revamp green areas in the city.
“The existing trees should be protected, the initiative to plant trees in schools is a laudable initiative.
“The green areas must remain green areas. Resident associations, schools, faith based organisations should be encouraged regarding tree planting.
“Everyone deserves access to clean green space in the FCT. Planting a tree is a bold step to protect our future and Abuja should lead by example,” he said
Also speaking, the facilitators of the event, Mrs. Eyamba Nzekwu and Mrs. Nana Gbolahan, said the need to protect the environment motivated them to organise the event.
Nzekwu said that since Abuja was still being developed as a city with a lot of construction going on, trees were being cut down without replacement.
“The onus is on us as residents to improve our well-being by contributing to our environment to start planting trees.
“If you have a tree, the tree has a lot of benefits, it provides shade from the elements.
”If you have trees around your house and there is severe windstorm, the trees act as a wind breaker to break those winds from getting into your premises to destroy your roofs or your property.
“Some trees are even medicinal, a lot of trees are being exported from Africa for their medicinal benefits,” she said.
Gbolahan said that if people continue to cut down trees, the effect would be erosion, desertification, excessive heat and even some other plants would die.
“We need the trees to provide a protective shield for us, Abuja has been very hot and then, you also have an extreme heat that is affecting our plants in the environment.
“We decided to focus on the environment and get more people on board. You don’t just have to get gardeners; you need people that are affected by the climate which is everybody.
“This year, our focus is to plant more trees and we are starting this initiative from schools in the FCT,” she said.
Gbolahan added that the initiative was to complement the efforts of government as well as to get support from the government in their effort too.
The event was attended by garden owners, people who sell natural flowers and other natural foods.
Seedlings were given to those who attended the event to plant and report the progress at the next festival.
Today (May 2, 2025), in Arusha, Tanzania, just below the ridgeline of Mount Meru and not far from the Kenyan border, Africa will do something it has never done before.
Climate change justice campaign rally
Civil society leaders from across the continent will walk into the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and formally ask: What are African governments legally obligated to do when the climate crisis threatens food, water, health, and life itself?
This is not a lawsuit. It’s a petition for an advisory opinion, a legal interpretation of how long-standing human rights obligations should apply in the era of climate breakdown. It won’t assign guilt or impose penalties. But it could shape the future of how rights are understood, enforced, and defended across the continent.
And for the first time, this question won’t come from Geneva or The Hague. It will come from Africa itself.
Africa contributes less than 4% of global emissions. And yet, it is absorbing some of the heaviest impacts.
Yet despite the scale of the crisis, few climate-related cases have reached the courts across all 54 African nations. According to the Sabin Center’s Global Climate Change Litigation Database, only 19 cases have been filed across five jurisdictions. Together, these cases make up just 9% of climate litigation from the Global South and less than 1% of the global total. The problem isn’t a lack of harm, it’s a lack of legal clarity, institutional support, and investment in the systems that would allow climate justice to be pursued through the courts.
The law, for too long, has remained quiet. This petition seeks to change that.
An advisory opinion won’t create new law. But it will clarify what existing laws mean in a climate-compromised world. It would give judges, lawmakers, and advocates across Africa a shared framework for holding states accountable, not just politically, but legally.
This petition didn’t come from a single institution. It was built over four years of regional organising by the African Climate Platform (ACP), a coalition of over 50 organisations, including public interest lawyers, grassroots leaders, Indigenous communities, youth, and climate defenders.
Together, they developed case studies from across all five African regions, documenting how climate change is already infringing on human rights, from food insecurity in Southern Africa to water shortages in North Africa to displacement in Central Africa. They drew on regional legal instruments like the African Charter, the Maputo Protocol, and the Kampala Convention. And they drafted a legal question with far-reaching consequences: what do states owe their people when climate threats are no longer hypothetical?
That question will be submitted to the African Court in Arusha on May 2.
If the Court agrees to take up the petition and delivers a strong, rights-affirming opinion, it would be a historic turning point. Judges across Africa could cite it. Legislatures could draft from it. Civil society could use it to build strategic litigation that pushes beyond slogans into enforceable rights.
Even if the ruling is narrow, the act of filing the petition is precedent-setting. It’s about whether African citizens, already living through the worst of climate collapse, can rely on their legal systems to respond.
Africa has often been described as the canary in the coal mine. But that metaphor is no longer useful.
Africa is not the warning. Africa is the frontline. And with this petition, it is becoming the legal voice.
On May 2, a continent will ask its own court to define what justice looks like, not just in the language of climate targets and finance pledges, but in the real, everyday rights of people trying to live with heat, hunger, and uncertainty.
This question has waited too long to be asked. Now it’s heading to court.
By Konah Brownell, Research & Policy Fellow at the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership
The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has reaffirmed its commitment to partner with civil society organisations (CSOs) to improve environmental response efforts in the Niger Delta.
Director-General of NOSDRA, Mr Idris Musa
Mr Bello Austine, Zonal Head, NOSDRA, Zonal Office, Port Harcourt, made the remark during an advocacy visit by the CSOs to his office on Wednesday, April 30, 2025.
Austine emphasised the importance of effective communication and information sharing with stakeholders, saying that it would enhance response to environmental incidents.
He said that the agency would continue to explore ways to inform and engaged relevant stakeholders to sustain the country’s environment.
According to him, the agency had put a lot in place to sustain the country’s environment, as it has to do with the monitoring and protection of the environment and livelihoods.
He said that the agency would study the accuracy and effectiveness of a new environmental monitoring device, donated to it by the Media Awareness and Justice Initiative (MAJI), to enhance oil spill management and response efforts.
Austine assured that the agency would partner with CSOs for a better understanding of the monitoring device to ascertain its functions.
“We will invite your organisations to explain more about this device and see if it can be incorporated as one of the effective environmental monitoring tools,’’ he said.
He said that the finding would be communicated to NOSDRA head office for approval if needful.
Austine, however, hoped that partnership with CSOs would consolidate the gains in sustainable environmental management in Nigeria’s petroleum industry, as it was in the agency’s collaboration with Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN).
Earlier, Mr Kentebe Ebiaridor, the Programme Manager, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA), said that the visit to NOSDRA was to reaffirm their commitment to working together and addressing environmental challenges.
Ebiaridor also the Coordinator, Oil Watch International, highlighted the importance of quick response to environmental issues and in strengthening NOSDRA’s capacity to deal with oil spills.
He advocated for a review of the NOSDRA Act to address grey areas that could grant the agency more independence.
He suggested that NOSDRA should have logistical equipment, including speedboats and helicopters, to respond to oil spills in the Niger Delta region without relying on oil companies.
Ebiaridor noted that the NOSDRA’s reliance on oil companies for logistics undermined community trust in the agency’s ability to respond to oil spills impartially.
He commended NOSDRA for its past collaboration with the Environmental Rights Action on joint investigative visits and community sensitisation of oil spills that yielded positive results.
Similarly, Mr Onyekachi Okoro, Executive Director, Media Awareness and Justice Initiative, also called for a collaborative effort with the NOSDRA to enhance environmental monitoring and data collection.
Okoro said that the organisation had developed a device that monitors air quality, temperature, and pressure levels, which could be deployed in various locations to collect data.
Speaking also, Dr Emem Okon, the Executive Director, Kebetkache, emphasised the need for environmental action to protect women in the Niger Delta region.
Okon, represented by Idongesit Umoh-Smart, Programme Officer, Kebetkache, noted that the impact of environmental pollution research carried out on women in the region revealed alarming statistics of the oil activities’ impact on their health.
She said that over 80 per cent of women medically tested in a part of the region had Benzene in their blood system.
She said that some other women were experiencing infertility, early menopause, and other health problems due to environmental pollution.
Okon called for collaborative efforts to address environmental pollution and protection of women health in the Niger Delta region.
She also called for government support in providing medical attention and compensation for women affected by environmental pollution.
The CSOs in attendance include a United States-based NGO, Culturally Rooted Reformations; Lekeh Development Foundation; Rights Advocacy and Development Centre; and Kallop Humanitarian and Environmental Centre, among others
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in collaboration with Ecobank Nigeria and the World Bank, have trained no fewer than 100 entrepreneurs in Nigeria on off-grid solar energy system.
This is through a specialised programme focused on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the off-grid photovoltaic solar energy sector.
This initiative forms part of the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP), which seeks to promote the development of a regional market for standalone solar energy systems.
ROGEAP is funded by the World Bank, with additional support from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and the Directorate General of International Cooperation (DGIS) of the Government of the Netherlands.
El Hadji Sylla, Senior Adviser at the ECOWAS Commission’s ROGEAP, disclosed this during a three-day Entrepreneurship Business Training held in Lagos, organised in collaboration with Ecobank.
Sylla, in a statement on Thursday, May 1 2025, noted that the Nigerian SMEs had already benefited from grants totaling $800,000 under the project, aimed at increasing participation in the off-grid solar energy value chain.
He explained that the capacity-building workshops, conducted in both Abuja and Lagos, were designed to enhance the technical and financial capabilities of SMEs focused on solar energy.
He noted that the objective was to better position these businesses for growth and long-term sustainability in the renewable energy sector.
He said that ECOWAS was in discussions with Ecobank Group to establish mechanisms that would allow the bank to offer both technical and financial support to SMEs in the solar energy ecosystem.
He explained that this include extending direct credit lines to eligible businesses.
According to Sylla, the first component of ROGEAP led by the ECOWAS Commission, centred on the creation of a strong regional market for off-grid solar solutions.
He said key strategy involved equipping SMEs with the skills to develop technically sound and financially viable projects that meet commercial lending standards.
“This year, we have worked closely with Ecobank Nigeria to align solar-focused SME portfolios with the bank’s financing requirements.
“Our goal is to ensure that the submitted projects are not only technically feasible but also bankable,” he said.
Also speaking at the event, Salamatu Baba Tunwzang, Team Lead at ROGEAP’s Entrepreneurship Support Facilities, emphasised that the programme goes beyond technical training.
She said that participating SMEs were also being prepared to access ROGEAP grants and other funding opportunities.
“When businesses join our network, they gain access to both technical assistance and financial resources.
“We also build the capacity of technical installers, who can equally benefit from these opportunities.
“It is a comprehensive support system they receive funding, technical training, market intelligence, and valuable networking opportunities for collaboration,” she said.
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has expressed its willingness to partner with the United Nations (UN) to accelerate the development of the Niger Delta region.
Dr Samual Ogbuku, Managing Director of the NDDC, made the appeal in a statement issued by the commission’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Mrs Seledi Thompson-Wakama, in Port Harcourt on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
According to the statement, Ogbuku sought the UN’s support during his visit to the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator (UNRHC), Mr Mohammed Fall, at the UN regional office in Abuja.
He called on the global body to provide the NDDC with technical assistance and expert services to support the region’s development.
“We are eager to collaborate with the UN, recognising that the state governments in the region and the NDDC alone cannot achieve the level of regional development required,” he said.
Ogbuku identified key areas where support would be needed, including the provision of potable and affordable drinking water powered by high-tech solar energy sources.
He also highlighted the importance of reforesting the mangrove swamps, which have been severely damaged by decades of environmental degradation caused by oil exploration in the Niger Delta.
“Although the NDDC has made progress in providing solar-powered streetlights across the region, we still require UN support in delivering solar energy solutions for residential buildings.
“We also wish to explore the possibility of installing solar mini-grids in homes across communities, which would boost local commerce and trade,” he added.
The NDDC managing director further appealed for increased UN involvement in areas such as healthcare, education, youth training, gender development, and food security.
Ogunku stated that such interventions would significantly enhance the standard of living in the region.
In response, Fall affirmed the UN’s readiness to collaborate with the NDDC to fast track development in the Niger Delta.
He assured that the UN would support initiatives in food security, job creation, education, and renewable energy, among other areas.
“We aim to approach development in the Niger Delta holistically, rather than focusing solely on environmental pollution.
“This is merely an entry point; however, the UN’s development vision aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are designed to positively impact various aspects of people’s lives,” Fall stated.
He assured the NDDC of continued and fruitful engagements to drive the region’s development.
WaterAid, says it is collaborating with other stakeholders to strengthen climate resilience in Nigeria.
Evelyn Mere, WaterAid Nigeria Country Director
Evelyn Mere, WaterAid Country Director, made this known at the Second Annual Climate Change Conference held in Abuja.
Mere, who was who was represented by Kolawole Banwo, Head of Advocacy, Policy, and Communications, WaterAid, said that the impacts of flooding, drought, and saline intrusion on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services have affected public health and economic growth.
The conference, themed “Strengthening Policies and Investments for Climate-Resilient Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Services,” aimed to highlight the urgent need for resilient infrastructure and collaborative action.
“WASH is not just about building stronger infrastructure but ensuring that services anticipate, respond to, cope with, recover from, and adapt to climate-related events.
“One of the objectives of this conference is to bring all stakeholders together to discuss, facilitate, and unlock the required funding needed to build the resilience of WASH facilities to climate change,” Mere said.
She emphasised that communities, especially vulnerable ones, must continue to enjoy sustainable access to water, sanitation, and hygiene services despite the changing climate.
“All stakeholders need to build a common front, share information, jointly conduct research, identify needs and gaps, and collectively work out solutions that everyone can support,” she added.
Mere further noted that collaboration among stakeholders would ensure cohesive and coherent planning, programming, and interventions to make WASH infrastructure resilient to climate change and its impacts.
Mr. Richard Pheelangwah, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, highlighted the intersection of climate change and WASH as a major concern, noting that climate change poses significant threats to these essential services.
He said Nigeria is among the ten most vulnerable countries globally, experiencing severe impacts from climate change and natural hazards.
“Nigeria is highly exposed to climate and environmental hazards such as air pollution, coastal flooding, and desertification, all of which affect water quantity and quality,” he said.
Pheelangwah noted that many communities are still at risk of waterborne diseases, inadequate sanitation, and compromised hygiene practices.
He stressed that the low level of water availability and access to safe water has serious implications for health, education, nutrition, safety, and the overall well-being of the population.
He also announced that the Ministry, in collaboration with UNICEF, would produce a climate rationale for WASH services in Nigeria, aimed at identifying various categories of climate risks.
Mrs. Ngozi Abohwo, Director of Hydrology at the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, also emphasised the impact of climate change on WASH infrastructure and service delivery.
“There is a need to strengthen our policies and investments to make WASH infrastructure more resilient to the impacts of climate change,” she stated.
She appreciated the support from WaterAid and other stakeholders and called for continued collaboration towards achieving climate change resilience.
