• Seeks total ban on gas flaring, environmental courts, resource governance reforms
Sunday Okobi
Former Minister of State, Petroleum Resources and Foreign Affairs, Henry Odein Ajumogobia, has declared that Niger Delta’s persistent environmental degradation, poverty, and underdevelopment are not the result of inadequate laws but a failure to enforce existing legal frameworks.
The declaration came as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Samuel Ogbuku, expressed the commission’s commitment to driving sustainable development through reforms aimed at improving efficiency and service delivery.
Ajumogobia made the assertion yesterday while delivering the keynote address at the 2026 Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Law and Development Summit in Port Harcourt.
He called for absolute legal ban on routine gas flaring, stricter environmental sanctions, and establishment of specialised environmental courts across the region.
Speaking on the theme, “The Role of Law in Driving Sustainable Development in the Niger Delta Region,” the Senior Advocate of Nigeria stated that decades of weak legal governance had prevented the oil-rich region from translating its vast natural resources into sustainable prosperity.
“The Niger Delta is not suffering from a lack of law. It is suffering from a failure of legal governance,” he stated.
According to him, meaningful development in the region can only be achieved when host communities are empowered through enforceable legal rights that guarantee participation in petroleum operations, equitable revenue sharing, and inclusion in decision-making processes.
He stressed that communities must no longer remain passive observers while activities affecting their environment and livelihoods were carried out around them.
Ajumogobia advocated stronger environmental protection laws, including strict liability provisions for pollution and legally enforceable timelines for environmental remediation and clean-up exercises.
“We need environmental courts with real authority because without consequences, there is no compliance,” he said.
The former minister took particular aim at the continued practice of gas flaring, describing it as one of the region’s most enduring environmental challenges.
He declared, “Gas flaring must end, not in rhetoric, but in law. It should be prohibited absolutely with stringent penalties that deter violation, not tolerated.”
Ajumogobia emphasised that routine gas flaring should attract severe sanctions capable of discouraging offenders.
He also renewed calls for the decentralisation of resource governance, arguing that excessive control of natural resources by the federal government has alienated oil-producing communities and fuelled distrust, conflict and underdevelopment.
According to him, over-centralisation has weakened local participation in resource management and deprived communities of a sense of ownership over resources extracted from their environment.
Ajumogobia called for greater transparency and accountability within the petroleum sector, insisting that revenues, contracts, and community development funds must be subjected to public scrutiny.
“Transparency must be non-negotiable. Petroleum revenues, contracts, and community funds must be open to scrutiny because secrecy is the breeding ground of corruption,” he said.
The guest speaker also urged governments and stakeholders to look beyond oil by creating legal and policy frameworks capable of supporting agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, and the emerging blue economy.
Describing the region’s situation as the “Niger Delta paradox,” Ajumogobia said resource abundance without effective governance had only deepened inequality and environmental destruction.
“The Niger Delta paradox is not inevitable. It is fundamentally a governance outcome, and governance is shaped by law,” he added.
On his part, Ogbuku said the commission remained committed to driving sustainable development through reforms aimed at improving efficiency and service delivery.
He stated that sustainable development extended beyond physical infrastructure to include economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection.
The NDDC managing director disclosed that the current management inherited administrative challenges that required significant restructuring and modernisation.
According to him, the commission has now achieved nearly 90 per cent digitalisation of its internal processes, enabling contractors and stakeholders to execute contractual agreements electronically with minimal physical interaction.
“We have put in place mechanisms for contractors and stakeholders to sign and execute their contract agreements electronically from the comfort of their homes and offices,” he said.
Chairman of the Seventh Governing Board of NDDC, Chiedu Ebie, said the summit was convened to explore how legal frameworks could be strengthened and reformed to accelerate sustainable development in the Niger Delta.
Ebie observed that despite the region’s enormous natural wealth, many communities continued to grapple with poverty and inadequate infrastructure, underscoring the urgent need for a responsive legal architecture.
He said, “The aspirations of our people demand nothing less than a legal architecture that is bold, responsive and fit for purpose.”
The NDDC chairman also lamented what he described as cumbersome appropriation structures and regulatory compliance requirements that had slowed project implementation across the region.
He stated that funding constraints, inflationary pressures and project abandonment had undermined development efforts, and called for innovative legal solutions to address the challenges.
Ebie added, “The law should not be seen as an obstacle but as a tool for development.”
He said the summit would provide stakeholders with an opportunity to examine existing legal frameworks, evaluate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles and chart a new course for sustainable development in the Niger Delta.
The summit brought together legal experts, policymakers, development practitioners, and stakeholders from across the region to deliberate on how legal reforms could be leveraged to address longstanding developmental and environmental challenges confronting the Niger Delta.
