Nigerian journalist, lawyer and author Richard Akinnola has called for stronger documentation of Nigeria’s environmental struggles, particularly the Ogoni movement.
Akinnola made the call on Friday at a Book Day organised by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in Benin. He warned that failure to preserve such records could leave younger generations vulnerable to distorted versions of the country’s history.
Environmental campaigns, including the struggle of the Ogoni people and the activities of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), form an important part of Nigeria’s history that should be preserved for future generations, he said.
“Everything depends on the environment. Everything,” Akinnola said.
He stressed that journalists, lawyers, activists and other public-interest actors have a responsibility to document major environmental struggles, injustices and campaigns so younger Nigerians can understand the circumstances that shaped them.
“We need more advocacy and public-interest litigation around environmental issues,” he said.
Akinnola also called for stronger collaboration between environmental groups and organisations involved in public-interest litigation to strengthen environmental law and address violations.
He noted that the need for documentation extends beyond environmental issues to Nigeria’s political, legal and human-rights history, as poor documentation creates room for distortion of significant events.
“Those who are holding the levers of power today will not be there forever. We are going to write their history,” he said.
His career in journalism, law and activism has strengthened his commitment to research and documentation. He often connects contemporary events with developments in Nigeria’s past.
“There is nothing that is happening that has not happened before,” he said.
He recalled his years at *The Guardian* newspaper, where journalists were encouraged to place news events within their historical context rather than report them in isolation.
“When we started *Guardian* in 1983, it wasn’t just to write news reports. You were tying it to background,” he said.
This approach influenced his documentation of major political, legal, environmental and human-rights events. He documented the trial and eventual execution of environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders under the military regime, covering the trial, the judiciary, allegations of torture of prosecution witnesses and the circumstances surrounding the execution.
He also recalled the efforts of human-rights lawyer Gani Fawehinmi and other members of the defence team to challenge aspects of the trial and seek legal intervention after the Ogoni activists received death sentences. The legal efforts continued until the activists were executed at Port Harcourt prison on 10 November 1995.
Akinnola documented Fawehinmi’s activism and encounters with successive military governments.
“Nothing is too small for Gani not to put in publication. No document is too small,” he said.
He recalled an incident in which Fawehinmi, while being taken into detention, reportedly left a message on a piece of tissue paper indicating that security officials were taking him to an unknown location. Such seemingly insignificant records could later provide valuable evidence when official accounts were unavailable or contested.
Akinnola also recounted his own abduction in 1996 after he wrote about the killing of businessman and pro-democracy figure Alfred Rewane. He later documented the experience in a book, including his detention and questioning by security officials. The episode reinforced his belief that journalists should preserve their experiences and records, particularly when working under oppressive political conditions.
He recalled the assassination of Dele Giwa, founding editor-in-chief of *Newswatch* magazine, saying important events and personalities must remain part of Nigeria’s documented history.
“People don’t understand where we are coming from,” he said.
Historical documentation provides the context needed to understand events unfolding in the present. His books have documented the struggles of lawyers, journalists and activists who challenged military rule, defended human rights and pursued public-interest litigation.
He noted that artificial intelligence has made accurate documentation increasingly important because future generations will rely more heavily on digital records. Akinnola said he is exploring platforms such as YouTube and TikTok to make some of his historical accounts accessible to younger audiences so important stories do not disappear simply because younger people are less inclined to read books.
For Dr Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of HOMEF, preserving knowledge also requires taking it beyond traditional books and classrooms. He described Akinnola as an activist, lawyer, journalist, editor, publisher and author whose work has documented important aspects of Nigeria’s political, legal, environmental and human-rights history.
He urged participants, particularly young people, to read and engage with Nigeria’s history.
“We need to get ourselves educated. Read and read,” Bassey said.
HOMEF’s Book Day and related cultural activities create spaces for people to encounter ideas, exchange perspectives and understand the connections between environmental protection, human rights and social justice. The initiative deliberately brings together students, lecturers, lawyers, journalists, activists and members of the wider public.
“When people have knowledge and information, they can make better decisions about how they relate to the environment,” he said.
Changing patterns of information consumption require new approaches to knowledge-sharing.
“Everybody’s attention span is getting shorter. We’re looking for reels, for short things on social media. And so we use all the tools,” Bassey said.
Beyond book-reading sessions, HOMEF’s culture series uses poetry, films and animation to engage audiences and create different entry points into conversations about environmental issues. The organisation cannot rely only on books when trying to reach audiences accustomed to consuming information through digital and visual platforms.
