A new survey has uncovered a major gap in Nigeria’s voter education campaigns, revealing that while many people in the country’s oil-rich South-South region believe electoral violence causes significant environmental damage, existing civic education programmes have failed to address the issue.

The study found that nearly seven out of every 10 respondents want environmental protection incorporated into voter education, suggesting growing public demand for election campaigns that discourage environmentally destructive practices such as tyre burning, vandalism and pollution.
 
The findings are contained in a study published in the Asian Journal of Interdisciplinary Research by a team of researchers from Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
 
The survey, which sampled 5,000 respondents across Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers states, examined whether voter education could encourage not only peaceful elections but also environmentally responsible conduct.
 
The researchers noted that beyond the political and social consequences of electoral violence, elections also leave behind environmental damage, particularly in the Niger Delta, where decades of oil spills, gas flaring and deforestation have already weakened the ecosystem.
 
According to the study, election violence often results in the burning of tyres that pollute the air, destruction of property, contamination of soil through explosives and pollution of waterways, further worsening environmental degradation in the region.
 
While public opinion was divided over whether current voter education campaigns adequately address these environmental consequences, the survey showed overwhelming support for expanding their scope.
 
It found that only 52 per cent of respondents believed voter education currently raises awareness of the environmental impact of election-related violence, while nearly half disagreed.
 
Respondents were similarly split on whether civic education discourages destructive acts such as tyre burning and vandalism.
 
However, 68 per cent agreed that incorporating environmental messages into voter education would help reduce election-related pollution—the strongest consensus recorded among all the environmental questions examined in the survey.
 
The researchers said the findings point to a clear gap in Nigeria’s civic education framework rather than a lack of public interest in environmental protection.

“Environmental issues are not yet adequately featured in existing voter education programmes,” the authors stated, adding that respondents with greater exposure to voter education also demonstrated higher levels of environmental awareness.
 
Although the study measured public perceptions rather than actual environmental outcomes, the researchers said it highlights an emerging recognition that electoral conduct has direct implications for environmental sustainability and community livelihoods.
 
They called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), civil society organisations and other stakeholders to integrate environmental protection into voter education campaigns by highlighting the long-term consequences of election-related pollution and presenting environmental stewardship as a civic responsibility.
 
The research was led by Dr Itojong Ayamba of the University of Calabar, alongside Valentine Achum of Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands, Kevin Bankong Apie of the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, and other collaborators.