Survey: Voters Say Civic Campaigns Overlook Green Messaging
A new survey in Nigeria’s oil-rich South-south region has revealed growing concern over the environmental and economic costs of electoral violence, with many respondents saying voter education campaigns pay little attention to the issue.
The study, published in the Asian Journal of Interdisciplinary Research by a research team based in Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, surveyed 5,000 respondents across Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers States.
It examined whether voter education could promote not only peaceful elections but also environmentally responsible conduct during electoral processes.
The findings suggest that residents increasingly associate election-related violence with environmental degradation in a region already grappling with the economic and ecological costs of decades of oil spills, gas flaring and deforestation.
According to the researchers, electoral unrest often leaves behind its own environmental footprint, including air pollution from burning tyres, soil contamination from explosives, and the destruction of vehicles and property.
Public opinion on the issue was divided, in contrast to the strong consensus the study found around democracy and peace more broadly.
Over half of the respondents, 52 per cent, agreed that voter education campaigns raise awareness of the environmental consequences of election-related violence, while nearly half disagreed.
Respondents were also split on whether such education discourages destructive practices like tyre burning and vandalism.
The survey found that 68 per cent of respondents agreed that incorporating environmental themes into voter education programmes could help reduce election-related pollution.
The researchers said the finding points to a demand for broader civic messaging that links electoral conduct with environmental sustainability and long-term economic well-being.
“Environmental issues are not yet adequately featured in existing voter education programmes. The mixed responses reflected a gap in current civic education efforts rather than outright rejection of environmental themes,” the authors stated.
The study also found a statistically significant relationship between exposure to voter education and environmental awareness, with respondents who had received more civic education reporting higher levels of awareness.
The researchers noted further that the study highlights an increasing public recognition of the relationship between election management and its impact on land, air and water resources in the Niger Delta.
The authors recommended that Nigeria’s electoral commission and civil society organisations incorporate environmental issues into voter education curricula, including the long-term consequences of practices such as burning tyres, vandalizing property and polluting waterways during elections.
The research team was led by Dr. Itojong Ayamba of the University of Calabar, alongside Valentine Achum of Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences and Kevin Bankong Apie of the University of Sheffield, among others.
