From Seyi Tayese, Yenagoa
Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and associates in the environmental movement have congratulated its Executive Director, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, on his Lifetime Achievement Award for Environmental and Climate Justice in Vienna, Austria.
They spoke on Wednesday following Baddey’s receipt of the laurels.
Bassey received the honour at the 2026 Courageous Scientists Awards, instituted by the Forum for Eco-Social Transformations (FEST), a Vienna-based non-profit organisation.
The award recognises his decades of advocacy for environmental protection, climate justice and communities affected by extractive activities.
He was honoured alongside the late Berta Cáceres of Honduras, whose activism for environmental protection and Indigenous rights remains an inspiration.
In his acceptance remarks, Bassey described the award as both an honour and a reminder of the collective responsibility to advance environmental justice.
He said courageous, ethical and community-centred science was essential to protecting people, ecosystems and the planet.
“Those who cause the crisis must be held to account, and the rights of people in impacted communities must be respected through remediation and restoration of the environment,” he said.
Bassey also called for accountability for environmental damage caused by extractive activities, which he described as colonial extraction and ecocide.
Akinbode Oluwafemi, Executive Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), described the recognition as a victory for grassroots advocacy across Africa and the Global South.
Oluwafemi said Bassey had demonstrated consistent commitment to environmental and climate justice over several decades.
Similarly, Mariann Bassey-Olsson, Deputy Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), described the award as a testament to his commitment to environmental protection.
She said the recognition amplified the voices of communities and activists working on the frontlines of environmental and climate justice.
Joyce Brown, HOMEF’s Director of Programmes, said the award reflected Bassey’s sustained commitment to environmental justice locally and globally.
Brown said the recognition reinforced the importance of confronting practices that threatened ecosystems, livelihoods and the wellbeing of present and future generations.
HOMEF said Bassey’s work consistently advocated environmental responsibility, climate action and a just transition that placed people and the planet above corporate interests.
Beyond activism, Bassey has authored books on environmental issues, including To Cook a Continent: Destructive Extraction and the Climate Crisis in Africa (2012) and Oil Politics: Echoes of Ecological War.
His poetry collections include We Thought It Was Oil But It Was Blood (1998), I Will Not Dance to Your Beat (2010) and I See the Invisible (2024).
Bassey is a renowned Nigerian environmental activist who has spent decades campaigning against ecological destruction and advocating justice for communities affected by oil extraction.
He is also a recipient of the Nigerian national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR), conferred by the Federal Government.
