The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has launched a new report exposing the risks Nigeria faces from inadequate national responses to environmental and climate challenges, warning that ecosystems, public health, livelihoods, and national stability are already under severe threat.
The report, titled “Access to Environmental Information and the Cost of Ignorance in Nigeria,” details the country’s worsening environmental challenges. It highlights issues such as deforestation, flooding, desertification, oil pollution in the Niger Delta, poor plastic waste management, and declining air and water quality.
MRA called for stronger implementation of frameworks that guarantee citizens access to environmental information.
The organization cautioned that the cost of environmental and climate challenges measured in lives lost, displaced communities, and billions of dollars in damages to infrastructure is already “too high” for the country. It argued that without timely and reliable access to environmental information, citizens cannot fully participate in environmental governance or propose realistic solutions to the crises.
Speaking during the launch of the report, which coincided with this year’s International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI), MRA’s Programme Officer, Ms. Ayomide Eweje, stressed that Nigeria already has a strong legal foundation to ensure environmental transparency.
“Although Nigeria has a layered framework of constitutional guarantees, statutory provisions, regulatory instruments, and international obligations that can serve as a solid foundation for transparency and accountability in an effective national response, the country remains challenged by the lack of willingness on the part of public institutions and officials to disclose information as well as the poor capacity of citizens to demand such information and use it,” she said.
She emphasized that access to information is not just a legal matter but also a means of empowering citizens. According to her, “Critical to a national response framework is the right of citizens to access timely and reliable environmental information, without which their effective participation in environmental governance and the protection of their rights will not be possible. However, ensuring access to environmental information is not just about compliance with the law alone;it is also about empowering people to protect their health, livelihoods, and environment; hold duty bearers accountable; and build a future where development does not come at the expense of sustainability.”
“The cost of environmental devastation in Nigeria is already staggering, running into billions of dollars annually in destruction of public and private property, facilities and infrastructure; the displacement of millions of citizens; and the loss of thousands of lives,” Ms. Eweje added. “Without meaningful and effective access to environmental information, citizens cannot protect their health and livelihoods, or hold decision-makers accountable. This report underscores the urgency of transparency and public participation in environmental governance.”
The report reviews Nigeria’s constitutional provisions, the Freedom of Information Act, Climate Change Act, Environmental Impact Assessment Act, and the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) guidelines. In addition, the report places Nigeria’s commitments within the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, the Maputo Convention, ECOWAS Environmental Policy, the Paris Agreement, and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
It also identifies the potential of digital technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), to transform environmental monitoring, early warning systems, and real-time access to data. However, it warns that weak enforcement of laws, failure to proactively disclose information, and the exclusion of rural women and marginalized communities from decision-making continue to undermine effective environmental management.
It concludes that access to environmental information is a necessity central to environmental democracy, public participation, and government accountability.
MRA urged the Federal and State Governments to enforce laws mandating proactive disclosure of environmental data in digital and user-friendly formats and to establish open-access portals with real-time information on pollution, deforestation, water quality, and climate risks.
The organization also called for investments in bridging the rural digital divide through broadband expansion, solar-powered hubs, and community ICT centres, while urging civil society, the media, academia, and the private sector to collaborate in ensuring that environmental information is available, accessible, and actionable.