Civil society organisations and governance experts have renewed calls for stronger enforcement of methane emission regulations in Nigeria, using the premiere of a new documentary as a platform to demand greater accountability from oil and gas companies operating in the Niger Delta.
The call was made during a Webinar on Tuesday, with the theme, “Leveraging Media Storytelling to Strengthen Accountability and Enforcement on Methane Emissions,” organized as part of the Advocacy Campaign around the documentary titled “Flaring Lives,” co-produced by Policy Alert and We The People, with support from Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI).
The documentary, described by its producers as an evidence-based advocacy tool, chronicles the environmental, health, and socio-economic devastation wrought on Niger Delta communities by decades of unchecked gas flaring and methane emissions.
Behind every flare stack, the film reveals communities battling respiratory illnesses, contaminated farmlands, vanishing fish stocks, and an increasingly hostile climate, realities that organisers say have for too long been treated as an acceptable cost of doing business.
Speaking at the webinar, NRGI’s Country Manager, Tengi George-Ikoli, noted that Nigeria is simultaneously pursuing two conflicting ambitions: expanding gas production as a pillar of economic growth while meeting international commitments to reduce methane emissions and eliminate routine gas flaring.
She warned that the cost of failing to reconcile these ambitions would be borne heavily by communities living closest to oil and gas facilities.
George-Ikoli acknowledged that recent years had brought measurable progress, including the adoption of methane regulations, increased emissions disclosures by companies, and stronger public discourse around accountability.
However, she cautioned that progress on paper is not the same as progress in practice, stressing that the real test lies in whether regulations are being enforced, emissions accurately measured, and the experience of affected communities reflected in policy decisions.
The NRGI Country Manager outlined five key priorities she said must be addressed if Nigeria is to credibly pursue its gas and climate goals simultaneously.
These, according to her, include stronger and more consistent enforcement of existing regulations, the development of a unified and credible system for measuring methane emissions, mandatary disclosure and active reduction of emissions by companies, acceleration of the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme, and the establishment of independent monitoring, reporting and verification systems across the oil and gas value chain.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of Policy Alert, Tijah Bolton-Apkan, declared that for over six decades, the flames of gas flaring have lit up the night skies of Niger Delta, a daily reminder of the burden borne by oil producing communities.
She argued that flaring, venting, and fugitive emissions had long been treated as a routine cost of extraction, while affected communities were regarded as collateral damage, a perspective she said must change.
Bolton-Apkan appealed to journalists and media editors attending the webinar to move beyond passive observation and biome active amplifiers of the truth.
She also called on the press to investigate emission figures, interrogate regulatory failures, and give sustained voice to the communities whose health and livelihoods represent the true cost of every cubic metre of gas burned into the atmosphere.
She pledged that Policy Alert, alongside NRGI, Extractive360 and other partners, would continue to push for transparency, enforcement and justice.
