MRA Urges Stronger Access to Information Framework to Tackle Nigeria’s Environmental Crises

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The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has called for a more robust implementation of access to information frameworks to address Nigeria’s growing environmental and climate challenges, warning that weak transparency undermines public participation and national stability.


In a report launched on Monday in Lagos to mark the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI), MRA highlighted the human and economic costs of environmental crises, including flooding, deforestation, desertification, oil pollution, plastic waste, and worsening air and water quality, which it said already run into billions of dollars annually in destroyed property, displaced communities, and lost lives.


Programme Officer, Ms. Ayomide Eweje, noted that while Nigeria has constitutional guarantees, statutory provisions, and international obligations that could support environmental transparency, public institutions often fail to disclose critical information, while citizens lack the capacity to demand and use it effectively.


“Access to environmental information is not a luxury but a necessity,” she said. “It empowers people to protect their health, livelihoods, and environment, hold duty bearers accountable, and ensure that development does not come at the expense of sustainability.”


The report, titled Access to Environmental Information and the Cost of Ignorance in Nigeria, calls on federal and state governments to strengthen enforcement of laws such as the Freedom of Information Act, Climate Change Act, and Environmental Impact Assessment Act. 


It also urged the creation of open-access digital portals to share real-time data on pollution, deforestation, water quality, and climate risks.


MRA further stressed the need to bridge structural inequalities by expanding broadband, providing solar-powered digital hubs, and ensuring rural communities and women are not excluded from environmental decision-making.


Civil society, the media, and private sector actors were also urged to play a stronger role in monitoring and reporting environmental hazards to enhance accountability and resilience.


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