By Victoria Aliyu

Across Nigeria’s cities and communities, environmental degradation is becoming increasingly visible. Overflowing drains, indiscriminate waste disposal, open burning of refuse, air pollution from vehicles, and poor sanitation have become common sights in places such as Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Kano. These everyday realities are not separate from climate change; they are part of the broader environmental challenges confronting the country.

For many Nigerians, climate change is often viewed as a distant global issue associated with melting ice caps and rising sea levels. However, its local manifestations are evident in rising temperatures, flooding, irregular rainfall patterns, declining agricultural productivity, and worsening environmental conditions.

A key challenge is that climate information rarely reaches the people most affected by these issues. While research institutions, government agencies, and civil society organisations continue to generate valuable data, much of the information remains confined to academic reports, policy documents, and conferences.

Cllimate advocacy must become more accessible and relatable. Messages should be communicated through local languages, community radio programmes, drama performances, music, murals, and grassroots campaigns that connect with everyday experiences. Environmental education is most effective when people understand how their daily actions affect their surroundings.

Small community-driven actions can make a significant difference. Proper waste disposal, recycling initiatives, reduced open burning, community clean-up campaigns, and environmental awareness programmes can help improve public health and environmental sustainability.

Civil society organisations, community leaders, religious institutions, market associations, and youth groups all have important roles to play in promoting behavioural change. Collaboration between these stakeholders can help transform environmental protection from a policy discussion into a community movement. Nigeria also requires stronger enforcement of environmental regulations alongside public education and incentives that encourage responsible environmental practices.

Climate change is not only a scientific issue; it is also a communication challenge. Lasting progress will depend on our ability to translate complex environmental concepts into messages that resonate with ordinary citizens. The question is no longer whether people are hearing about climate change, but whether the message is being delivered in a language they understand.

Victoria Aliyu is a researcher with the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution.

In August 2005, sweltering heat hung over a hilly village in east China. Inside a modest meeting room, an air conditioner hummed against the summer heat as Xi Jinping, then chief of the Zhejiang provincial committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), met local officials during an inspection tour.

Yucun Village in northern Zhejiang had made a painful yet pivotal choice: shutting down three quarries and a cement plant that had long been its economic lifeline.

In the 1990s, the village had prospered on limestone mining and cement production, but at a visible cost: hillsides were carved open, streams had turned murky and dust constantly hung in the air.

The economic impact of the closures was immediate. As incomes fell, growing discontent from the villagers placed mounting pressure on local officials.

When village Party chief Bao Xinmin reported the decision to Xi, the atmosphere in the room was tense. At a time when economic development, mostly measured by GDP growth, dominated official performance evaluation, abandoning lucrative industries was no easy choice.

Sensing the concern among the village officials, Xi asked why the quarries and the plant were shut down.

Pollution had become unbearable, Bao replied. “Years of mining and lime production left our village constantly covered in dust and thick smoke. It felt as if we were living in a toxic cage,” he said.

“Your decision is a wise choice!” Xi said, to everyone’s surprise.

“Every choice comes with gains and losses. When you can’t have it both ways, you need to know what to give up and what to choose. Development can take many forms, but it must be sustainable,” he said.

It was then that Xi put forward what would later become one of China’s best-known environmental concepts: “Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.”

Such thinking emerged from Zhejiang’s own realities. As one of China’s coastal provinces, Zhejiang was among the early movers in dealing with the tension between short-term economic gain and long-term ecological sustainability.

Xi’s tenure in Zhejiang from October 2002 to March 2007 was also a pivotal transformation period for the province’s development. While Zhejiang maintained steady economic progress, the problems stemming from its extensive growth model were looming large, in the form of tight land supply, worsening pollution and severe power shortages resulting from over-dependence on resource-driven investment.

At the height of the energy crunch, in some rural parts of Zhejiang, power was only available half the week. More than 50 percent of enterprises had experienced power outages. Many businesses, and even ordinary households, had to install their own generators.

After a series of field visits, Xi in 2003 unveiled a development blueprint in which ecological advancement was given a prominent place.

This overarching plan guided local cadres to recalibrate their views on governance achievement.

Sun Wenyou, then Party secretary of the city of Huzhou, recalled that Xi stressed on multiple occasions that short-term economic gains must never come at the expense of the environment, nor should officials seek vanity projects to polish their performance records.

Li Jinming, a former deputy Party chief of Zhejiang, recalled that Xi cautioned against overemphasis on GDP growth as the sole criterion for officials’ performance, stressing that what mattered most to ordinary people was tangible improvements in livelihoods.

Improving the ecological environment, Xi argued, is a form of developing productive forces.

This idea found its clear expression in Yucun. The former cement plant site was turned into green fields. As environmental conditions improved, villagers began opening guesthouses and farm stays.

What began in Yucun has come to reflect a provincial and then national shift in development philosophy, embedding green principles into the pursuit and evaluation of development.

After assuming the top office as the general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in 2012, Xi made ecological civilization a national priority. China launched a series of far-reaching environmental initiatives, expanding both the scope of regulation and the capacity to enforce it.

Environmental performance has also become an important criterion in cadre evaluation. Central government environmental inspections have prodded local officials to place greater emphasis on ecological protection.

After years of smog and severe air pollution, blue skies are now the new normal in China. In 2025, 89.3 percent of the days in the year recorded good or excellent air quality, the highest level ever recorded.

By championing green development, China has also recorded the world’s fastest growth in forest resources, taken a global lead in renewable energy development, and achieved one of the fastest reductions in energy intensity worldwide.

To underpin such progress, China’s top legislature in March this year adopted a landmark Ecological and Environmental Code, laying a solid legal cornerstone for pursuing Chinese modernization with human-nature harmony as one of its distinctive features.

When Xi revisited Yucun in 2020, he found a village transformed, with verdant hills, crystal-clear streams, tidy roads and rows of modern homes. Ecotourism projects were flourishing, and villagers were earning decent incomes.

Xi looked back on the village’s green transformation and said its experience had proved that green development was the right path.

“Once the right direction has been chosen, it should be pursued with determination,” Xi said.

By Adefolarin A. Olamiekan

There is no gainsaying the current macroeconomic realities confronting Nigeria, which have tempered the high expectations for economic growth in 2026.Ordinarily, economic growth should translate into improved living standards, price stability, job creation, reduced import dependence, increased productivity, and broader developmental outcomes. However, the Nigerian experience remains markedly different, as many households continue to grapple with rising living costs and persistent economic hardship.

Despite these challenges, several projections indicate that Nigeria’s economy may maintain an upward growth trajectory in 2026, even as the country enters a period of intense political activity ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The economy recorded a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 3.89 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, driven largely by the resilience of the non-oil sector. The services sector remained the principal driver of growth, while agriculture recorded a recovery, growing by 3.15 per cent after previous setbacks that many analysts attributed to widespread insecurity.

Nevertheless, preparations for the 2027 elections could affect economic activity by dampening investor confidence and slowing trade, investment, and other productive ventures.

Global developments also remain a factor. Ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, particularly involving the United States and Iran, have contributed to volatility in crude oil prices, increased energy costs, and disruptions in fertilizer supply chains. While these developments pose challenges, they may also boost government revenues through higher oil earnings.

Recent economic reforms introduced by the Federal Government are expected to yield stronger results in the coming years. These efforts have been complemented by the banking sector recapitalisation programme, while reforms in the insurance and capital market sectors continue.

Several sectors possess significant growth potential, including banking, capital markets, oil and gas, telecommunications, real estate, construction, agriculture, manufacturing, mining, the creative industry, and international trade.

Diaspora remittances also continue to play an important role in strengthening Nigeria’s foreign exchange position. Additionally, the implementation of the 2026 national budget, particularly through capital expenditure and infrastructure investments, is expected to stimulate economic activity and support growth.

Political campaign spending ahead of the 2027 elections may also provide short-term economic stimulus in sectors such as printing, advertising, transportation, hospitality, event management, and the production of campaign materials.

Taken together, these factors will influence the direction of Nigeria’s economic growth and development in 2026 and beyond. A critical element in this equation is electricity. The relationship between economic growth and a reliable power supply cannot be overstated. Stable electricity is the foundation of industrialisation and has been a key driver of economic advancement in many developed countries.Unfortunately, Nigeria continues to face persistent power sector challenges.

These difficulties are not recent but reflect decades of inadequate investment, policy inconsistencies, and a failure to fully recognise the strategic importance of reliable electricity to economic development. Despite an installed generation capacity of approximately 16,000 megawatts and access to hydro, thermal, and renewable energy sources, electricity supply remains insufficient to meet national demand.

For Nigeria to achieve sustainable economic growth and industrial development, significant improvements are required across the entire electricity value chain, including generation, transmission, and distribution.The ongoing reforms in the power sector are therefore critical.

Greater liberalisation, increased private-sector participation, improved financing, and stronger technical and managerial capacity are essential to unlocking the sector’s potential.The reforms must also address long-standing issues such as cost-reflective tariffs, metering deficits, and operational inefficiencies that continue to affect consumers and businesses.

From a political economy perspective, the success of Nigeria’s growth ambitions will depend largely on the ability of policymakers to sustain reforms, strengthen institutions, improve infrastructure, and deliver a reliable electricity supply capable of supporting industrialisation, productivity, and long-term competitiveness.

Adefolarin A. Olamiekan

Political Economist

Host, The Market Report

ADBN Television, Abuja