Stakeholders have urged the Federal GovernmentFederal Government to initiate immediate remediation of communities in the Niger Delta affected by oil spills to enable residents to return to agriculture.
The call was made during a high-level policy dialogue in Abuja, organised by BudgIT and the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), aimed at aligning subnational economic strategies with national energy transition objectives.
Alice Adebayo, Research and Policy Analyst at BudgIT, emphasised the urgency of addressing environmental degradation in oil-producing communities.
She stressed that oil spills have disrupted agriculture in states such as Deltaoil spills have disrupted agriculture in states such as Delta, with farmers struggling to transport their produce due to poor road networks.
She said, “The Netherlands, for example, they are moving towards net zero.
What do you mean by net zero? Meaning they are moving the way that they want to focus on renewable energy and trying to achieve the 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“So with that, there might no country for us to supply because of declining price of oil and gas globally, and some of these communities where oil and gas activities have been carried out have been affected by oil spillage.
“So what can be done? It is very important, because we have been speaking with the Federal Minister of Environment.
It is very important for remediation efforts to be carried out in this state, so that these states will be able to go back into agriculture fully.
“So it is not enough to just say we need to go back to agriculture. Remediation effort needs to be done and also, there is need for improved fiscal governance through transparency and accountability measure, which will build public trust and encourage compliance with state regulations thereby increasing their revenue.”
Adebayo also called for investment in agricultural technology and training programmes.
“There is a need to invest critically in agriculture and in infrastructure that will promote market access for farmers.
When we were in Delta State, some community members told us that while they are actively engaged in agriculture, inadequate road infrastructure limits access to markets,” she noted.
In addition to environmental remediation, Adebayo noted the importance of fiscal governance measures to build public trust and ensure compliance with state regulations.
She said that improving transparency and accountability in revenue management would support both local development and the broader goal of sustainable economic diversification.
The stakeholders stressed that such interventions are essential not only to restore livelihoods but also to position affected communities for participation in global energy transition efforts, as demand for oil and gas faces long-term shifts.
