Spaces for Change (S4C), in partnership with the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Ministry of Solid Minerals Development (MSMD) is convening the fourth edition of the National Extractives Dialogue (NED 2025), on July 30 to 31, 2025, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state.
Executive Director, S4C, Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri, NED 2025 with the theme, ‘Transitions, Divestments, and Critical Minerals: Charting a Just Future for Nigeria’s Extractive Sector’, with supported from the Ford Foundation, will gather over 150 stakeholders from across West Africa, including government officials, regulators, civil society actors, host community representatives, academia and the private sector for a high-level, solutions-driven conversation on the future of extractive governance in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s extractives sector, she told The Guardian at the weekend, is undergoing a seismic shift.
She explained: “On one front, international oil companies are accelerating their exit from onshore oil assets, raising urgent questions around decommissioning, legacy pollution and community safeguards.
On another front, global demand for critical minerals like lithium and cobalt is drawing renewed attention to Nigeria’s untapped reserves and the regulatory and environmental frameworks that will govern their development.”
Against this backdrop, NED2025 comes at a defining moment to pause, reflect and reframe Nigeria’s extractive future. This dialogue will interrogate pressing questions, especially on how divestment processes are being managed, the safeguards in place for host communities and ecosystems, how Nigeria can avoid a repeat of the extractive injustices of the past, as well as the robust and accountable frameworks needed to manage extractive transitions responsibly.
Since its inception, NED has served as a constructive platform for spotlighting the complex realities in extractive governance in Nigeria and the broader West African region. Past editions inspired community-led action, catalysed regulatory reforms, amplified marginalised voices, and deepened public discourse on accountability in the extractive sector.
Ibezim-Ohaeri noted that “NED2025 builds on this legacy”, not only raising urgent questions, but also offering concrete strategies for reform.
