UNIPORT summit: NDDC Director advocates environmental education as fourth pillar of ecological governance

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Government authorities, policymakers, educators and environmental stakeholders have been urged to recognise Environmental Education (EE) as a critical fourth pillar of ecological governance needed to address Nigeria’s growing environmental challenges.

The call was made by Dr. Patterson Ogon, Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), while presenting a lead paper at the Environmental Education Summit by the Department of Adult and Non-Formal Education, Faculty of Education, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Tuesday, August 4, 2026.

Speaking on the theme, “Environmental Education as a Strategic Response to Nigeria’s Environmental Polycrisis: Stakeholder Responsibilities, Delivery Approaches and a Roadmap for Ecological Governance,” Dr. Ogon argued that laws, regulations and enforcement mechanisms alone are insufficient to reverse the country’s worsening ecological challenges.

He stressed that environmental sustainability requires a fundamental shift in knowledge, values and leadership orientation:

“At the centre of this rather complex and disturbing environmental crisis we face today is leadership. Sophistry is not scholarship. An environmentally uninformed leadership is a disaster waiting to happen,” Dr. Ogon stated.

Addressing academics, policymakers and civic leaders, the NDDC Director identified environmental illiteracy as one of the major obstacles confronting Nigeria’s natural resource management efforts.

He questioned the extent to which citizens and decision-makers understand the changes taking place within their immediate environments and emphasized the need for stronger environmental consciousness across all levels of society.

Highlighting the severity of Nigeria’s ecological challenges, Dr. Ogon cited official NOSDRA statistics showing that between 2006 and 2022, the country recorded more than 754,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into the environment – equivalent to approximately 3,769 tanker trucks – Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta states bearing some of the heaviest impacts.

The NDDC top brass cited comparative studies from the 2023 Bayelsa Oil and Environmental Commission report indicating that Nigerian oil pipelines are approximately 565 times more likely to experience leaks per 1,000 kilometres than pipelines in the European Union, while an independent analysis of official data from 2010-2015, covering over 6,300 spills, revealed that remediation occurred in only 4% of cases, while 90% lacked post-clean-up assessments.underscoring the urgent need for stronger preventive systems, environmental monitoring and institutional accountability.

He also drew attention to wider environmental threats confronting different parts of the country, including desertification in northern Nigeria, gully erosion in the South-East, coastal flooding in Lagos and other maritime corridors, as well as the environmental consequences of illegal mining activities in parts of Northern Nigeria.

Dr. Ogon recalled major environmental incidents in the Niger Delta, including the 2021 Santa Barbara oil well blowout in Nembe, Bayelsa State, which released hydrocarbons continuously for 38 days amidst renewed concerns about the long-term environmental consequences of oil pollution in host communities.

He similarly referenced concerns raised by environmentalists over recent gas-related incidents in Bille Kingdom, Rivers State, where sustained advocacy preceded official inspections and interventions, sharply contrasting it with the April 2010 Deep Water Horizon massive spill in the US where then President Obama immediately swung to action and visited the site a record four times, ordering the spilles to set aside $20b for prompt clean up and remediation.

The NDDC Director warned that Nigeria’s projected population growth – estimated to reach between 400 million and 440 million people by 2050 – makes sustainable environmental management a national security and development priority.

According to him, unchecked resource exploitation, environmental degradation and weak ecological awareness pose serious risks to public health, livelihoods and economic stability.

The centrepiece of Dr. Ogon’s presentation was the proposed Port Harcourt Framework for Environmental Education and Ecological Governance, a roadmap designed to reposition environmental literacy as a core component of national development planning. The framework proposes: Policy Integration, a National Environmental Education Policy and Strategic Plan (2026–2035), Institutional Coordination between NOSDRA, NESREA, HYPREP and the National Orientation Agency, Community-Based Learning and Academic Innovation:  which positions universities to carry out interdisciplinary research and solutions on issues such as mangrove restoration, flood management and sustainable development of the Niger Delta’s blue economy

Dr. Ogon concluded by calling on federal, state and local governments to integrate environmental literacy into formal education, adult learning programmes and leadership development initiatives.

“Investing in environmental education is not an academic exercise; it is an investment in healthier environments, stronger institutions, resilient communities and a sustainable national future,” he said.

The summit brought together academics, government representatives, environmental experts and other stakeholders to examine strategies for strengthening environmental awareness and building a more sustainable Nigeria.