The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has picked holes in Nigeria’s oil licensing process, emphasising regulatory lapses, financial mismanagement, and worsening environmental degradation in the Niger Delta.

Speaking at the public presentation of its latest report in Lagos, HEDA Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, decried the awarding of marginal oil field licences to companies that failed to meet the necessary legal and financial criteria.

The report, titled Marginal Fields’ Awards, Regulators’ Independence, and Environmental Injustice: Paradox of Beneficial Ownership and the Host Communities, sheds light on how regulatory weaknesses have contributed to financial losses and environmental harm.

Suraju also highlighted the dire environmental consequences of oil exploration in the Niger Delta, calling for urgent remedial action.

He expressed concern over oil companies attempting to exit the country without addressing their environmental liabilities.

“These companies have declared billions in profit, yet they leave behind devastated communities struggling with pollution, health crises, and loss of livelihoods. We must ensure they clean up the damage, compensate host communities, and fulfill their decommissioning obligations under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA),” he said.

NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Ogbonnaya Orji, who was represented at the event, commended HEDA’s efforts in advocating transparency and accountability in the oil and gas sector. He reiterated NEITI’s commitment to promoting beneficial ownership transparency, ensuring that Nigeria’s resources serve its citizens rather than being exploited by vested interests.

 

 

 

Book reviewer and University of Lagos lecturer, Prof. Dayo Ayoade, also critiqued the marginal field licensing process, pointing out how political influence and weak enforcement mechanisms allowed unqualified entities to secure oil assets.