EDITORIAL NOTE
A better world is a product of better people, and so is a broken world.
This reflects how real-time and sustainable impact begins with informed decisions and building the infrastructures that power action.
When people know the human cost of their actions and inactions, they care more and do better.
When they do better, the world is: better.
This Hello ICON Magazine Editorial Philosophy shapes our new evidence-based investigative mandate to uncover underreported human-marine exploitations, one coastal community at a time.
Field Investigation and Writing by Eden Benibo, 30, Editorial Director, Hello ICON Magazine.
Pioneer Location: Idama, Akuku-Toru LGA, Rivers State, South-South, Nigeria
Pioneer Series: A 30-month investigation, which began as an 18-month project in January 2025, examining the gap between Nigeria’s 30×30 Marine Conservation Target and the realities in Idama.
Part One: DANGLING FUTURES: 2030 Marine Targets vs. Idama Realities in Nigeria
Published: 7th July, 2026
Part Two: VANISHING BEDS: The Hidden Cost of Climate Stress and Human-Marine Exploitation in Idama, Rivers State, Nigeria
To be published: Late 2026
Part Three: INSIDE OUT: Intergenerational Ripple Impact of Systemic Failures on Human-Marine Life in Idama, Rivers State, Nigeria
To be published: 2027
Rooted in Solutions Journalism, this series backed by science, legal data, and lived experiences across generations — will build:
i. INSIDE OUT Resilience Hub
ii. INSIDE OUT 25-minute documentary
iii. INSIDE OUT XR Documentary: Where truth isn’t only told but also experienced for global empathy and informed decisions.[Climate] [Virtual Reality]
Field footage from Idama, Rivers State. July 2026. By Eden Benibo
DANGLING FUTURES
In Idama, a small Kalabari Island of Akuku-Toru LGA, South-South, Rivers State, Nigeria, tomorrow is being eaten today.
It is eaten in Idama’s only Community School, where acidic rain from gas flaring has corroded the roofs of the lab and library, where future leaders lack access to quality basic education.
It is eaten in the creeks, where overharvesting of periwinkle, irresponsible fishing, and human exploitation of other seafoods, compounded by past oil bunkering and current climate stress, have destroyed what remains of the marine ecosystem.
It is eaten in policy, where Nigeria’s 30×30 commitment to protect 30% of land and ocean by 2030 remains far from the realities in Idama.
It is eaten in the lives of young talents and their families, in dreams and futures. In forced migration that has left Idama predominantly occupied by elders and older indigenes. In bodies that cough through smoke, in children with skin rashes after the rain, and in minds carrying eco-anxiety and eco-grief for a sea that no longer gives and a land that no longer protects. Here, culture is breaking because the sea and the land can no longer sustain them.
“Life has changed a lot from the one we used to know during our days growing up,” Madam Oluba, 72, told Hello ICON Magazine. She is a periwinkle harvester and trader in Idama.
“I now sell from a small kiosk beside our family house to support my periwinkle trade. The sea is polluted. The air is too. As I speak, the acidic rain from gas flaring is destroying the roof of homes, including mine.”
Inside Madam Oluba’s house, basins and buckets catch rain dripping through holes in the roof. This is the reality for most homes in Idama, including the community’s only school and health centre.
“I wanted my son to grow up in Idama like I did,” Mr. Ipalibo Tom Princewill, 40, a former teacher and Idama indigene said. “I studied in the Idama Community School. I taught in that school. I sent my son to that school. Then I pulled him out and had to relocate my family. The rain from gas flaring is eating the roofs of the lab and library. There are no textbooks. No equipment. The smoke and health hazards from the flares are too much. What future am I giving my child here?”
The Community Angle: Pollution, Waste, and Oil Bunkering
Idama is a coastal settlement in Akuku Toru Local Government Area, Rivers State. The people are Ijaw. Their lives are tied to water. Fishing, crabbing, and periwinkle harvesting are the main livelihoods.
But the creeks are emptying. Overharvesting has reduced periwinkle, fish, and crab stocks. Oil bunkering adds another layer of pollution. Spills and waste enter the water daily. There is no waste management system. Plastics and refuse line the shorelines.
Fishers now travel farther and stay longer for smaller catches. Women who depend on periwinkle say the sizes are smaller and the beds are fewer. The link between people and the sea is weakening.
The Industrial Angle: Gas Flaring Destroying the Only Community School
The scale of the problem is national. According to data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission in its full-year 2025 Gas Production Status Report, Nigeria flared 203.97 billion standard cubic feet of gas in 2025. That was 7.54% of total gas produced and an increase from 192.9 billion scf in 2024, despite government pledges to end the practice.
According to the World Bank’s 2026 Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report, Nigeria remained among the top nine gas-flaring countries in 2025, flaring approximately 9 billion cubic metres.
Despite decades of gas utilization projects and Nigeria’s participation in climate agreements, carbon emissions from flaring have not seen significant net reductions.
A 2013 analysis of NNPC data from 1965 to 2009 found that while investment in gas utilization, gas prices, and the Kyoto Protocol had negative effects on emissions, they were not strong enough to cause major decreases in CO2 from flaring.
Why does flaring persist?
A 2023 comparative analysis by Dennis Otiotio found that while Texas cut gas flaring to 0.4% through effective regulations and independent enforcement agencies, Nigeria’s framework lacks effectiveness due to governmental conflict of interest and inadequate penalties.
In Idama, that national failure is felt locally. Gas flaring continues around the community. The heat, smoke, and acidic rain damage roofs, crops, and health. A 2013 study by Ajugwo linked gas flaring directly to acid rain, noting that “corrugated roofs in the Delta region have been corroded by the composition of the rain that falls as a result of flaring.”
The impact is most visible in Idama’s only Community School. The roofs of the science laboratory and library are corroded by acidic rain. There are no textbooks. No laboratory equipment.
Mr. Ipalibo Tom Princewill taught there before leaving. “The smoke and health hazards from the flares are too much,” he said. Parents are pulling children out. Teachers are leaving. The school that should train future leaders cannot function.
The health risks are documented. Gas flaring emits hazardous pollutants.
The health risks are not theory in Idama. They are lived realities.
Gas flaring emits hazardous pollutants: oxides of nitrogen, carbon and sulphur, particulate matter, hydrocarbons, ash, photochemical oxidants, and hydrogen sulphide.
Health data from the Nigerian Gas Flare Tracker shows these pollutants are tied to cancer, neurological damage, and reproductive problems. In communities like Idama, they show up as deformities in children, lung damage, and skin rashes after the rain.
A 2017 study by Maduka and Tobin-West in the Niger Delta found that living in a gas-flaring host community made people 1.75 times more likely to be hypertensive compared to communities without oil and gas activities. The highest risk was among residents aged 20 to 40 and 60 to 80 years.
The Climate Angle: Stress on Mangroves, Sea Animals and Fisheries
Rising temperatures and erratic rainfall are adding pressure. Mangroves, which protect the coast and serve as breeding grounds for fish and crab, are under stress.
A 2017 review by Seiyaboh found that gas flaring alters water chemistry and heavy metal levels in rainwater in the Niger Delta, and reduces vegetation growth and productivity due to changes in soil quality.
Nigeria holds the largest mangrove forest in Africa. A 2023 study by A.O. Olaniyi found that the country’s mangroves cover 10,500 square kilometers. The research also reported that Rivers State alone lost 2,281 hectares of mangrove forest between 1996 and 2016, an average of 114 hectares per year, and recommended state-specific restoration and protection policies.
The World Bank estimated that gas flaring globally in 2025 resulted in approximately 429 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, including methane released through incomplete combustion and venting.
Beyond the emissions, the 2025 flaring figures represent a massive missed economic opportunity. According to the 2026 World Bank Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report, the 167 billion cubic meters of gas flared that year was worth an estimated US$54 billion and could have powered homes, industries, and clean cooking for millions. The report notes that capturing this gas could support energy access in places like Sub-Saharan Africa, where outages have already cut employment by 14 percent, while also reducing reliance on costly imports and creating jobs.
Sea animals including mollusks, periwinkles, and juvenile fish are declining. Fisheries are collapsing. When the mangroves go, the fish go. When the fish go, the people go.
The Policy Angle: 30×30 Target, MPAs, and Enforcement Failure
Nigeria has committed to protect 30% of its land and ocean by 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework, also known as 30×30. For marine areas, that means Marine Protected Areas, sustainable fisheries, and restored mangroves.
On paper, 30×30. In Idama, empty nets.
In Idama, that target is not visible. There are no marine protected areas. There is no community-led conservation plan. There is no enforcement against oil bunkering or overharvesting. Policy exists on paper. It has not reached the creeks.
The Human Cost We Don’t Talk About
The cost is not just environmental. It is human.
Young people are leaving. Idama is now more densely occupied by older indigenes. Skills, stories, and culture are leaving with the youth.
The economic loss is also staggering. Ajugwo estimates that about $2.5 billion is lost annually through gas flaring in government revenues. In Idama, that loss shows up in empty nets and smaller periwinkle. Women who once earned from 3 baskets a day now struggle to fill one. That is money not spent on school fees, medicine, or food. It is poverty engineered by waste.
[Author Observation]
The burden falls unevenly. Women who harvest periwinkle and process fish spend the most time in the polluted creeks and smoke. When catches collapse, it is women who first switch to petty trading, as Madam Oluba did. When children fall sick from flares, it is mothers who nurse them. Yet women are rarely in the rooms where 30×30 or gas policy is decided.
Women like Madam Oluba are shifting from the creeks to roadside kiosks. Men are abandoning fishing. Families are splitting across cities. Sustainable livelihoods are disappearing.
“What future am I giving my child here?” That question is being asked in many homes.
Solutions: What Accountability Looks Like
The crisis in Idama will not be solved by one actor. It will not be solved by policies written in Abuja and forgotten in the creeks.
Real accountability starts with law and enforcement. Gas flaring needs to end. The companies operating here need to clean up decades of spills and fund restoration of the land and water. As experts and scientific researchers have argued for years, penalties need to be substantial enough to deter violations, not just costs that are cheaper than compliance.
But law alone is not enough. Protection also has to include people.
Nigeria has committed to protect 30% of its land and ocean by 2030. That is 4 years from now. In Idama, that commitment will require localizing the process. That means including fishers, women who process and trade, teachers, and youth in decisions about the sea and land. As experts and scientific researchers have found, when communities participate in management, compliance and outcomes improve.
Protection also requires alternatives. Restrictions without support risk deepening hardship in communities that depend on the sea. Investment is needed in aquaculture, fish processing, boat services, eco-tourism, and small businesses to reduce pressure on fisheries while creating income. Temporary support and skills training can help families through transition periods and give young people options to stay.
Protection also means repair. Idama’s only Community School needs urgent rehabilitation. Roofs damaged by acidic rain need to be fixed. Laboratories need equipment. Children cannot learn effectively in environments affected by smoke and pollution.
Protection means addressing who bears the burden. Women spend the most time in polluted creeks and are often first to lose income when catches decline. They are also underrepresented in decision-making. As experts and scientific researchers have noted, any approach to 2030 targets will require their inclusion.
Civil society and media have a role in documentation. Government has a role in enforcement. Companies have a role in remediation.
All hands are needed.
Because with 2030 just 4 years away, delay means there may be little left to protect.
The mangroves will be gone. The periwinkle will be gone. The school will be gone. The young people will be gone.
Government needs to enforce the law. Companies need to clean up. Communities need to lead.
Otherwise, the next generation will inherit no sea to fish, no school to learn in, and no home to return to. Culture will break, ancestral roots will be lost to forced migration, and Idama’s tomorrow will be remembered only in stories.
Idama’s tomorrow is being eaten today.
With 2030 four years away, Idama asks whether Nigeria’s marine targets will be met on paper, or in the lives of people.
REFERENCES
1. Mojeed, A. “Nigeria among top nine countries for gas flaring in 2025 – World Bank Report”. Premium Times, June 25, 2026.
2. World Bank. “Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report 2026”. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026.
3. Adigun, O. “Gas flaring hits 203.9 billion scf in 2025 despite high utilisation – NUPRC”. Nairametrics, January 30, 2026. Data sourced from NUPRC Full-Year 2025 Gas Production Status Report.
4. Ajugwo, G. C. “Negative effects of gas flaring: The Nigerian experience”. Journal of Environment Pollution and Human Health, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2013, pp. 6-8.
5. Maduka, O. and Tobin-West, C. “Is living in a gas-flaring host community associated with being hypertensive? Evidence from the Niger Delta region of Nigeria”. BMJ Global Health, Vol. 2, No. 4, 2017, p. e000413.
6. Otiotio, D. I. “Oil and Gas Flaring in Nigeria: Implications for Environmental Law and Policy”. 2018.
7. Nigerian Gas Flare Tracker. “Health Impacts of Gas Flaring in the Niger Delta”. Accessed: July 2026.
8. Hassan, A. and Kouhy, R. “Gas flaring in Nigeria: Analysis of changes in its consequent carbon emission and reporting”. Accounting Forum, Vol. 37, No. 2, 2013, pp. 124-134.
9. Otiotio, D. “GAS FLARING REGULATION IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY: A Comparative Analysis of Nigeria and Texas Regulations”. 2023.
10. Seiyaboh, E.I. “A Review of Impacts of Gas Flaring on Vegetation and Water Resources in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria”. International Journal of Economy Energy and Environment, Vol. 2, No. 4, 2017, p. 48.
11. Olaniyi, A.O. (2023). Analysis of Mangrove Forest Resources in Nigeria for State Specific Restoration Policy. Science World Journal, 18(1), 106.
