Environmental experts, traditional rulers and academics have warned that Nigeria risks replacing its oil dependency with a new resource curse unless it urgently reforms governance of the rapidly expanding solid minerals sector.
The warning was issued on Tuesday at the Third Nigeria Socio-Ecological Alternatives Convergence (NSAC) in Abuja, where participants cautioned that the global race for critical minerals could trigger environmental destruction, insecurity and social inequality similar to the decades-long crisis in the Niger Delta.
The conference, themed “Deforestation, Mining and the Crisis of Human Security in Nigeria,” brought together traditional rulers, environmental activists, academics, civil society organisations and community leaders to assess the implications of Nigeria’s growing role in the global energy transition.
The discussions followed the Federal Government’s recent announcement of a world-class polymetallic mineral province in Kaduna State containing lithium, rare earth elements, gold, copper, nickel and platinum group metals—resources considered critical for electric vehicle batteries, renewable energy technologies and advanced manufacturing.
Despite the economic opportunities, participants warned that the country’s enthusiasm for critical minerals must be matched with stronger environmental safeguards, transparent governance and legally protected community rights.
Professor of Anthropology and African Studies at the University of Michigan, Prof. Omolade Adunbi, described critical minerals as “the new oil,” warning that they could reproduce the same cycle of environmental degradation, conflict and elite capture that has characterised Nigeria’s oil industry.
“The world must decarbonise, but the deeper question is what kind of decarbonisation, governed by whom, for whose benefit, and at whose cost?” he said.
Adunbi noted that while renewable energy technologies are promoted as environmentally friendly, they depend heavily on minerals extracted from communities whose forests, rivers and farmlands risk becoming the next “sacrifice zones.”
Drawing parallels with the Niger Delta, he urged the Federal Government to adopt a comprehensive Just Minerals Strategy that would make community consent legally binding, prohibit mining in ecologically sensitive areas, guarantee environmental restoration and ensure host communities receive a fair share of mining benefits.
Renowned environmentalist and Director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Nnimmo Bassey, questioned Nigeria’s celebration of new mineral discoveries without addressing the governance failures that left the Niger Delta environmentally degraded despite decades of oil production.
“Have we learned the lessons of almost seven decades of oil extraction in the Niger Delta?” he asked, adding that the country was yet to define the type of development it truly seeks.
Bassey warned that Nigeria loses between 250,000 and 300,000 hectares of forest annually, leaving primary forests to cover only about 1.3 per cent of the country’s landmass. At the current rate, he cautioned, Nigeria could lose virtually all its forests by 2052.
He also criticised emerging carbon credit projects, describing them as a form of “carbon colonialism” that could dispossess indigenous communities of lands they have managed for generations.
Linking environmental degradation to insecurity, Bassey said degraded forests are increasingly serving as operational bases for criminal gangs.
“Some forests have become habitats not for wildlife but for wild humans—bandits and terrorists—who disconnect communities from their forests and turn the territories into criminal fiefdoms,” he said.
Chairman of the occasion and Emir of Nasarawa, Alhaji Ibrahim Usman Jibril, echoed the concerns, describing illegal mining and deforestation as major drivers of banditry, insurgency and organised crime across the country.
According to the monarch, criminal groups have increasingly taken control of mineral-rich areas, financing their activities through illegal mining and timber trafficking while displacing local communities.
“The nexus between mining, forest extraction, insecurity and Nigeria’s socio-ecological crisis forms a vicious cycle of resource plunder, environmental degradation and violent conflict,” he said.
While acknowledging the enormous economic potential of minerals such as lithium, tantalite and rare earth elements, the Emir stressed that development must be anchored on justice, accountability and environmental sustainability.
“Our natural resources are a blessing, but only if they are governed with justice, accountability and sustainability,” he said.
He blamed weak environmental governance, corruption and political patronage for enabling illegal exploitation while host communities bear the consequences through pollution, displacement and loss of livelihoods.
Throughout the convergence, participants repeatedly highlighted the growing relationship between environmental degradation and national security, arguing that forests degraded by illegal logging and unregulated mining have become safe havens for bandits and kidnappers, while competition over natural resources continues to fuel communal conflicts.
The conference warned that declining global demand for fossil fuels should not push Nigeria into replacing dependence on crude oil with an equally unsustainable dependence on solid minerals.
Instead, participants advocated comprehensive reforms, including stronger environmental regulation, mandatory community consultation, domestic processing of minerals, transparency in mining licences and contracts, restoration of degraded ecosystems and legally enforceable Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) before mining licences are granted.
The convergence concluded that Nigeria faces a defining moment: either repeat the extractive model that left the Niger Delta burdened by pollution, poverty and conflict, or establish a governance framework that balances economic growth with environmental sustainability, community rights and long-term national security.
Participants maintained that the transition to a green economy would only be meaningful if it delivered justice not only for the climate, but also for the communities where the nation’s critical minerals are found.
