The Executive Director of civil society group We The People, Ken Henshaw, says young people from the Niger Delta have been trained in visual storytelling and documentary photography to correct what he described as long-standing distorted narratives about the oil-rich region.
Henshaw spoke in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at the close of a five-day storytelling boot camp organised by the National Geographic Society in collaboration with We The People and supported by the Ford Foundation.
He said the initiative was designed to help communities reclaim their narratives and document their lived experiences directly.
According to him, the Niger Delta has often been misrepresented in public discourse, with emphasis placed on militancy and illegal oil activities while ignoring the environmental degradation and socio-economic hardship caused by decades of oil exploration.
He explained that the training equipped participants with cameras and practical skills to document environmental and community challenges themselves, describing the effort as a “narrative revolution” aimed at reshaping global perceptions of the region.
The Senior Director of Storytelling Programmes at the National Geographic Society, Paul Nwulu, said the organisation believes communities should be empowered to tell their own stories rather than relying on external interpretations.
Speaking on the training, Nwulu said the Port Harcourt boot camp is part of a global initiative to build storytelling capacity among young people, combining intensive classroom learning with field-based photography and documentary practice.
He noted that participants underwent daily sessions running from morning to evening, designed to strengthen their ability to capture and communicate the realities of oil exploration and its impact on local communities.
One of the participants, Sarafina Lesi-Ngbara, said the training helped shift perceptions about the region by highlighting how environmental neglect and lack of development have shaped community responses often labelled as militancy or illegal activity.
She called for deeper engagement between the government and Niger Delta communities, urging authorities to treat residents as equal stakeholders in addressing environmental degradation and livelihood challenges.
Lesi-Ngbara also acknowledged the need for communities to discourage destructive practices but stressed that lasting solutions would require dialogue, accountability and improved living conditions across the region.
