Nigeria’s extractive sector stands at a decisive crossroads. Accelerated oil divestments, the global scramble for critical minerals, and mounting climate commitments are rapidly reshaping the country’s political economy of extraction. Yet, as the fourth National Extractives Dialogue (NED 2025) made unmistakably clear, Nigeria’s transition is unfolding faster than its governance systems can respond. The result is a widening gap between policy ambition and lived reality, which continues to expose host communities to environmental harm, displacement, and institutional neglect.
Convened in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, NED 2025 brought together more than 150 stakeholders from federal and state governments, regulatory agencies, host communities, civil society, the private sector, academia, and regional partners across West Africa. Organized by Spaces for Change (S4C) in partnership with the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), and the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, with support from the Ford Foundation, the dialogue examined the theme “Transitions, Divestments, and Critical Minerals: Charting a Just Future for Nigeria’s Extractive Sector.” Akwa Ibom, an oil-producing state with a deep extractive footprint, served as not merely a host location but a living archive of Nigeria’s extractive contradictions.
