The call to preserve and revive indigenous languages as repositories of cultural wisdom and tools for addressing environmental challenges took centre stage at the 2026 Wisdom Gathering Session held in Kaani, Ogoni, Rivers State. The gathering, organised by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in collaboration with Miideekor Environmental Development Initiative (MEDI), brought together stakeholders to examine the role of language and indigenous philosophies in advancing socio-ecological justice. Speaking at the session, Executive Director of HOMEF, Nnimmo Bassey, linked the loss of indigenous knowledge and the persistence of environmental injustice in the Niger Delta to the manipulation and erosion of language. Bassey said, “All the environmental injustice meted out on the people of Niger Delta have been achieved through the manipulation of language to confuse the common people and sell false solutions to them.” He urged participants, particularly young people, to return to the...
The Bonny Lawyers’ Forum has demanded a transparent account of gas-flaring penalties applicable to petroleum operations affecting Bonny Kingdom, insisting that funds collected under the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, should translate into environmental remediation and meaningful relief for affected host communities. The Forum also called for the establishment of a Federal Medical Centre in Bonny Kingdom as a sustainable medical-relief intervention for communities living within the petroleum-producing and industrial environment. The position was contained in a statement by the Bonny Lawyers’ Forum signed by its Chairman, Pepple Victor Frederic , which commended the member of the House of Representatives representing Degema/Bonny Federal Constituency, Hon. Cyril Hart, for bringing the issue of the application of gas-flaring penalties for the benefit of affected host communities to public attention. The Forum said the matter should be examined from the perspective of environmental jus...