The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said that some traditional rulers are conniving with illegal miners in parts of the country despite the negative impacts of mining on their communities and the country generally.

The EFCC Chairman, Mr Ola Olukoyede, said this on Tuesday in Abuja at the two-day first International Anti-Corruption and Climate Change Conference organised by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) in collaboration with Hawkmoth and supported by the MacArthur Foundation.

It was themed, “National Stakeholders’ Engagement for Accountability and Transparency in Addressing Climate Change, Energy Transition, and Oil Licensing for Sustainable Development”.

“When we are talking about environmental degradation, what is going on now with the illegal mining, in another five years it is going to be much, worse than the degradation that oil and gas exploration has caused.

“So let us begin to have that at the back of our mind. It (illegal mining) is a major problem that we are grappling with. You need to see the pictures of some of the environmental damage that illegal mining is causing; not even from foreigners alone, but particularly by our own indigenous people, in their environment. In some cases, supported by some traditional rulers,” Olukoyede said.

He also said that the severe environmental damage in the Niger Delta, including oil spills and pollution, was largely driven by corruption, not just natural causes.

He said, “The Niger Delta today is riddled with cases of oil spills, pollution and damage to the ecosystem. This cannot be blamed on natural occurrences alone. Corruption is at the root of climatic disruptions.”

Olukoyode said that transparency and accountability were essential in addressing these environmental and economic crises, and urged for the strict adherence to laws and regulations to combat corruption in the oil industry.

The Chairman of HEDA Resource Centre, Mr Olanrewaju Suraju, noted the importance of learning from past mistakes as Nigeria shifts from oil and gas to new energy resources like lithium and solar energy.

He warned against repeating the exploitation and mismanagement that plagued the oil sector, urging the government to focus on sustainable development that benefits all regions of the country.

Suraju also called for establishing accountability mechanisms to ensure a responsible transition to new energy sources.

“So we cannot afford to transfer our horrible experiences with oil and gas to the same thing as the new energy sources. Nigeria is one of the countries with a substantial deposit of some of the new resources and materials that are to be used for the new energy migration and transfer.

“We are saying that the government’s focus should not just be exploiting those natural resources for power generation or resource generation for the government and federation, but ultimately for the development of the people

“We have communities in many states in the country with high levels of illegal migrants and also with the collusion of state government and traditional rulers and the rest of that. So for us, accountability mechanisms must be laid as part of the foundation to our transition to the new sources of energy in the country,” he added.

Also, the Minister of State for Environment, Dr. Ishaq Salako, in his keynote noted the critical importance of transparency and accountability in tackling climate change.

Salako, represented by the Director, Department of Climate Change, Ministry of Environment, Mrs Iniobong Abiola-Awe said that the interconnected nature of climate challenges underscored the need for a comprehensive, all-sector approach to addressing them.

He said, “As challenging and acute as the climate change crisis is, it cannot enjoy exclusive access to funding and attention and has to compete with other critical sectors for financing.

“Sound transparency and accountability framework for climate change is critical for sustainable climate action through better coordination, improved decision-making processes and spending allocations, better monitoring and evaluation of mitigation and adaptation results against established climate goals, enhanced identification of responsible stakeholders, coherence and harmonisation of country assistance and finally, improved access to finance domestically and internationally.” (Daily Trust)

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