Evaluation of the Use of Online Media for Green Reporting of the Environmental Clean-Up Project in Ogoni Land by Key Stakeholders (2019-2023)

Background: Amidst the on-going environmental clean-up in Ogoni-land, the media has been abuzz with discourses from stakeholders of the Ogoni clean-up project. These reports are necessary to keep the people informed and updated on the clean-up project. However, stakeholder communication is sometimes fraught with contention and disagreement among the different stakeholder groups which can distort audience perception of the activities of the Ogoni clean-up project. Objective: The study investigated green reporting of the environmental clean-up by stakeholders in the Ogoni clean-up project between 2019 and 2023. Method: Adopting a qualitative content analysis, 20 extensive reports on the Ogoni clean-up project were purposively selected, with ten each from YouTube and the website of organisations that report on the Ogoni clean-up project. Discourse analysis was used to analyse the data gathered. Results: The green reporting themes from stakeholder reports on the Ogoni clean-up project are pollution; environmental remediation and restoration; accountability and environmental sustainability; health and livelihood; environmental advocacy; and environmental awareness and risk communication. Conclusion: There is a lot of green reporting carried out by the primary, secondary and tertiary stakeholders of the Ogoni clean-up project. This communication is done in the interest of the locals to ensure a long-term sustainable Ogoni environment. Unique Contribution: This study offers insight into the intricacies of environmental communication, and can be relevant in policy making for environmental communication and environmental management with the aim of achieving long-term environmental sustainability. Key Recommendation: Stakeholders of the Ogoni clean-up project should incorporate other important areas of interest to the people and environmental sustainability in their public reports such as environmental risk communication, health communication/programmes, participatory engagement, environmental awareness creation, etc.