Sixty-five years after Nigeria’s independence, the country finds itself grappling not only with political and economic realities but also with a worsening environmental crisis. From desertification in the north to oil pollution in the Niger Delta and flooding in Lagos, MATTHEW BAWUL examines how climate change, poor governance and rapid development are reshaping the nation’s landscape and threatening its future
Desert advance, flooded cities
At independence, Nigeria’s economy was overwhelmingly agricultural. Smallholder farmers tilled rain-fed fields and pastoralists followed seasonal pastures. Over decades, population growth, urbanization and changing land use intensified pressure on soils, forests and water systems. Superimposed on these trends, global warming has altered rainfall patterns, raised temperatures and amplified extreme events.
The Sahel’s slow creep southward has brought desertification and land degradation into the northern states. Droughts have become more frequent and severe in some years, reducing grazing lands, lowering crop yields and forcing pastoralists and farmers into competition over dwindling resources. That competition has been a factor, though not the sole cause, in the rise of violent clashes and communal tensions that have scarred parts of the Middle Belt and the north.
Few symbols capture the climate-environment interaction in West Africa as starkly as Lake Chad. Once a vast inland sea feeding millions of people and animals, it has fluctuated dramatically since the 1960s. Over the decades, its surface area fell sharply at times, reducing fishing, irrigation and dry-season grazing opportunities and prompting migration and new livelihood strategies across borders. The lake’s decline reflects a mix of factors: reduced rainfall, increased water extraction and broader climatic shifts.
Coastal cities, meanwhile, face the opposite threat. Nigeria’s large and growing coastal population is vulnerable to sea-level rise, coastal erosion and the intensification of storms. Lagos, Africa’s largest city by some measures, experiences chronic flooding intensified by both higher rainfall and rapid, often poorly planned urban growth that blocks natural drainage. Shrinking shorelines and the loss of protective mangrove belts in parts of the Niger Delta amplify risks to homes, infrastructure and livelihoods.
If the environmental crisis in Nigeria has a human face, it is perhaps most visible in the Niger Delta. Since the oil boom of the late 1950s and 1960s, extraction has driven economic growth and conflict in equal measure. Illicit refineries, pipeline vandalism and operational spills have repeatedly fouled creeks and farmlands. Contamination of soil and groundwater has harmed fisheries, agriculture and health for generations of delta communities.
The 2011 United Nations Environment Programme assessment of Ogoniland was a watershed: it documented extensive pollution and recommended a 30-year cleanup. The report brought international attention to the scale of environmental damage from oil operations. Yet, implementation has been slow, leaving communities to live with ongoing harm and limited redress.
Urbanization has lifted millions into new economic opportunities, but it has also concentrated pollution and vulnerability. Air quality in major cities is compromised by vehicle emissions, industrial pollutants, dust and open burning. Waste management has lagged behind urban growth; overflowing dumps and plastic pollution clog drains and waterways, exacerbating flood risks and disease transmission. Heat islands in urban centres raise health risks in summers made hotter by climate change.
Weak governance, heavy toll
Nigeria’s environmental challenges are many and overlapping. Rapid population growth, expansion of agriculture, logging and charcoal production have driven widespread removal of forest cover. Forests and woodlands that once anchored biodiversity and regulated local climates are shrinking, contributing to loss of wildlife habitat and soil erosion.
In the north, the southern edge of the Sahara is advancing. Erratic rainfall, prolonged dry spells and higher temperatures are pushing farmers to clear more marginal land, intensifying land degradation. These changes are already feeding food insecurity and migration pressures.
Unplanned urbanization, deforestation of watersheds and poor drainage infrastructure have made floods more frequent and more destructive. In many southeastern and coastal communities, gully erosion creates dangerous ravines that swallow homes and farms.
Biodiversity loss: Nigeria’s forests, wetlands and savannahs are home to important species. But habitat loss and poaching have put many species at risk, while coastal ecosystems like mangroves — key buffers against storm surges — are fast disappearing.
What ties these problems together is a mix of development pressure, governance failures and climate change. Nigeria’s population — now over 200 million — puts intense pressure on land and resources. Economic dependence on fossil fuels has skewed investments and incentives, encouraging oil extraction while diverting attention from renewable energy and sustainable land use. Weak enforcement of environmental regulations, corruption and limited capacity at agencies charged with protecting the environment mean laws often exist on paper but not in practice.
Climate change is amplifying pre-existing vulnerabilities. Rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns and more intense storms do not create all these problems but they exacerbate their social and economic impacts — reducing agricultural yields, accelerating erosion and increasing the frequency of floods and droughts.
The most immediate consequences fall on the poor and those dependent on natural resources. The human costs are staggering in human terms. Contaminated water and poor sanitation contribute to recurring outbreaks of waterborne diseases.
Nigeria’s institutional response has evolved but remains uneven. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency (established in the late 1980s), the creation of the Federal Ministry of Environment, the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and NESREA (the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency) reflect growing legal and administrative attention. The 2011 UNEP report and subsequent settlements and remediation efforts in places like Bodo signaled progress on accountability, but enforcement is inconsistent, and regulatory capture persists.
On climate, Nigeria produced a National Climate Change Policy (2012) and later submitted Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement, while energy-transition planning and solar off-grid growth have begun to shift parts of the power mix. Yet, financing constraints, capacity shortages and competing governance priorities limit the scale of adaptation.
However, there are hopeful signs. Civil-society movements, community advocacy, legal action and international pressure have pushed companies and governments toward greater accountability. Local and international NGOs experiment with community-led restoration, mangrove rehabilitation, agroforestry and climate-smart agriculture. A booming off-grid solar market is expanding energy access while reducing reliance on diesel generators. Cities are increasingly forced to plan for flood risk and waste management. Youth-led climate activism and digital mapping of pollution hotspots are changing awareness and practice.
Finding a green path
To turn these sparks into systemic transformation requires four linked shifts:
Environmental governance must prioritize the rights and voices of affected communities. Transparent monitoring, independent enforcement and legal recourse against polluters are essential to restore trust and secure reparations.
Moving beyond an extractive model means diversifying the economy, investing in renewable energy at scale, promoting sustainable agriculture and supporting green jobs that reconcile livelihoods with conservation.
Integrated adaptation: Climate resilience must be mainstreamed across planning — from coastal defenses and flood management in cities to drought-tolerant crops and water-harvesting systems in the north. This requires financing, robust data and cross-sector coordination.
Top-down solutions alone won’t succeed. Empowering local institutions, reviving indigenous land-management practices and supporting community-driven restoration yield more durable outcomes.
Conclusion
The environmental trajectory since independence has been paradoxical: the same natural wealth that made Nigeria a powerhouse also became a source of vulnerability when governance, corporate practice and development choices failed to secure sustainability and equity. As pressures mount with climate change and population growth, environmental policy is no longer optional ballast — it is central to national security, health and prosperity.
If Nigeria is to fulfil the promise of its independence, it must reconcile short-term growth with long-term stewardship. That requires politics that reward prevention over cleanup, institutions that enforce the public interest, and an economy that values natural capital as much as extractive revenue. The choices made in the next decade — investments in resilient cities, restorative justice for polluted regions, disciplined forest and water management and a rapid clean-energy transition — will determine whether Nigeria’s environment becomes a renewed foundation for inclusive development or an escalating source of crisis.
The path forward is difficult but clear: sustainable management of the environment is not a niche policy area; it is the condition for a healthy, secure and prosperous Nigeria.