Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
Renowned environmental activist and Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Dr Nnimmo Bassey, has declared that Nigeria was economically and socially better off before crude oil became the country’s dominant source of revenue.
This was as host communities of the Niger Delta region called for a review of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), saying it is putting the responsibility of oil theft and pipeline vandalism on the communities.
Bassey spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in his keynote speech at the 2026 Correspondents’ Week of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, with the theme: ‘The Imperatives of Comprehensive Cleanup of the Niger Delta Environment: Role of the Media’.
The programme was organised by the Correspondents Chapel with support from Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, operator of NNPC/ Renaissance/TotalEnergies/AENR joint venture, and the Nigeria LNG Limited, Kebetkeche Women De-velopment Centre, and HOMEF.
