Program & Research: Climate Governance and Extractive Justice, West Africa
Building a world where everyone has a seat + a say.
I'm Oluwatosin Akinjiola. For three years I've worked with host communities, civil society and government across Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal, so that the people living with the costs of extraction and climate change help write the rules that govern them.
Open to remote Program Officer roles with international organizations
01 / The proof
What the work changed
- 26th → 16th
Imo State's rise in Nigeria's 36-state climate policy ranking, after I helped draft the state's first climate policy framework.Source: SPP Nigeria state ranking. Read the project
- 6 in 3
Partner organizations whose sub-grants, budgets and reporting I managed across Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal.Read the project
- 300+
Imo residents who reviewed and shaped the draft climate policy at a public town hall.Read the project
- 120+
Niger Delta community leaders trained to track inclusion and fair benefit-sharing in their communities.Read the project
02 / The focus
Where I focus
Climate policy and local government
Researching and drafting state-level climate policy, with the public involved from the start.
Extractive justice and community rights
Making sure communities affected by oil and mining have real standing with companies and regulators.
Gender, disability and social inclusion
Building inclusion into how organizations make decisions, not just who attends the meeting.
Regional programs and sub-grants
Managing multi-country partner grants from workplan to final report.
03 / The work
Selected works
All projects04 / The research
Research
All four publications05 / The story
The work became human in the Niger Delta
I came to this field through data and research. Sitting face to face with communities carrying the burdens of oil extraction without its benefits changed that, and gave me the question behind my career: how do we build a world where everyone has both a seat and a say?
About Oluwatosin
A program and research professional working where climate governance, the energy transition and extractive justice meet.
01 / The journey
My journey and why I do this
I entered this space through data and research, but the work became human for me in the Niger Delta. Sitting face to face with host communities who carry the heavy burdens of oil extraction without enjoying its benefits raised the question that now shapes my career: how do we build a world where everyone has both a seat and a say?
I watched communities we trained move from unaware to organized. I helped broker dialogues where international and indigenous oil companies and national regulators answered directly to frontline leaders.
That same belief shaped my policy work. I helped draft a Nigerian state's first climate policy framework through open radio programs, consultations and a public town hall of more than 300 community members. The policy moved Imo State from 26th to 16th in Nigeria's national climate policy ranking.
02 / The roles
Experience
- June 2025 to May 2026
Program Officer, Spaces for Change
Energy and Extractives Justice Desk. Managed regional sub-grants across Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal, and led the National Extractives Dialogue 2025.
- August 2023 to June 2025
Program Associate, Spaces for Change
Research, community engagement and policy drafting, including Imo State's climate policy framework.
- June 2022
Intern, Spaces for Change
Where the work began.
03 / The study
Education
B.Sc. International Relations, First Class Honours
Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. 2019 to 2023.
04 / The person
Beyond the work
Currently learning
American Sign Language
I'm learning ASL because I want to help make spaces more accessible to Deaf and hard-of-hearing people in Nigeria and beyond.
Can talk for hours about
Psychological thrillers
I'm a bit too obsessed with picking apart books and movies (animated and live-action), and talking to myself, or anyone willing to let me yap, about my theories.
Food philosophy
Fried rice + chicken = a lifestyle
Yogurt and carrot sticks, however, remain essential.
What makes me happy
Teaching
My favorite thing about teaching is watching someone suddenly understand something they hadn't before. There's something so satisfying about knowing you helped make that click happen.
Languages
- EnglishNative / fluent
- YorubaProficientẸ káàbọ̀, welcome
- FrenchBasic, A1 certificate in progress
- American Sign LanguageBasic
05 / The next step
What's next
My grassroots accountability and policy work has been rooted in Nigeria, and I've scaled it by managing regional sub-grants and partner portfolios across Ghana and Senegal.
Next, I want to bring that regional sub-grant experience, my policy background and my commitment to inclusive governance to an international development organization driving global climate and energy transition work.
Selected works
A closer look at the programs I helped lead, from state climate policy to a regional dialogue on Nigeria's extractive future.
Centering Gender in Extractives Justice
Who gets to shape the future of extractive communities?
Moving gender inclusion in extractive-sector organizations from headcount to real decision-making power.
The problem
In extractive-sector civil society, gender is often reduced to counting how many women attend, without giving them real influence or institutional backing. This project worked to close that gap across Spaces for Change and its partners in Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal, building inclusion into institutional systems, community engagement and knowledge tools.
My role
I managed sub-grants, budgets and reporting across six partner organizations in three countries, from workplan to delivery. I helped turn inclusion goals into practice through cross-country convenings and capacity-building, and led community engagement with host communities in the Niger Delta.
The tools we introduced
The 3-Voices Rule
A woman, a young person and a person with a disability at every decision-making table.
Community Scorecards
A simple way for communities to track inclusion and fair benefit-sharing.
The RE-PAR-B Model
Representation, Participation and Benefit-sharing.
What came out of it
- Trained 120+ Niger Delta leaders to use these tools to track inclusion and equitable benefit-sharing.
- Supported a gender assessment and inclusion training at Spaces for Change, which led to gender-sensitive facilities, improved staff security and sign-language interpretation for Deaf and hard-of-hearing participants. Inclusion is now part of the 2025–2030 Strategic Plan and monitoring systems.
- Tracked measurable change across all six partner organizations before the final learning session in Senegal: new or revised gender policies, formal parental leave, anti-harassment protections and first-time safeguarding systems.
- Supported the Women in Host Communities Forum in Bayelsa State, where 40 women, girls and community leaders committed to strategies for more women in governance and stronger legal protections.
- Supported the revision of Spaces for Change's Community-Investor Guidelines, the toolkit for free, prior and informed consent between investors and host communities, to give it a stronger inclusion lens.
Imo State's first climate change policy
How does a state with no climate policy get one its people recognize as theirs?
Imo got its first climate policy, shaped on the radio, in consultations and at a 300-person town hall.
The problem
Very few Nigerian states have their own climate policy, despite severe climate impacts. Imo State had none. Spaces for Change combined research, technical drafting and public engagement to produce one grounded in evidence.
My role
I contributed to research and drafting alongside the state's 16-member Technical Committee, coordinating consultations with government institutions. I organized a peer-learning exchange with Enugu State's Climate Change Committee, and led the writing of the 22-page knowledge paper that became the policy's evidence base.
What came out of it
- Reached hundreds of Imo residents through Climate Justice Hour, a weekly radio series on Toast 90.3FM Owerri, where callers' concerns and ideas shaped the policy.
- 300+ people reviewed the draft at a public town hall, and their feedback went into the final version.
- The framework was formally handed over to the Ministry of Environment on June 27, 2025, and moved on to legal review.
- Imo State rose from 26th to 16th of Nigeria's 36 states in the national climate policy assessment.
- A Steering Committee was set up to develop the next step: the Imo State Climate Action Plan.
Conference paper
I wrote and presented "Governing the Shift: Lessons from Subnational Climate Policy for a Just Transition" at ISODEC's Equity in Extraction Conference in Accra, Ghana, in October 2025. More than 70 regional delegates called the approach a model worth replicating across the continent.
Related publication
Advancing Inclusive Governance in Imo State (2025), the knowledge paper behind the policy.
National Extractives Dialogue 2025
Who is at the table when Nigeria decides where its extractive sector goes next?
Two days, 150+ people, and agreement on where Nigeria's extractive future should go next.
The problem
Oil divestment, critical minerals, environmental accountability and data transparency are reshaping Nigeria's extractive sector, and host communities are usually left out of those conversations. The Dialogue brought everyone to the same table.
My role
I led planning and delivery of the two-day regional convening: program design, speaker preparation, logistics and conference operations. I then helped turn the sessions and stakeholder views into the Dialogue's published report.
What came out of it
- Brought together 150+ people from government, regulators, host communities, civil society, the private sector, academia and regional organizations across West Africa.
- Delivered six panel sessions, a fireside chat and a technical presentation on the major governance issues in Nigeria's extractive sector.
- Helped participants agree on priorities: stronger rules on divestment and environmental liabilities, host-community rights, transparency and enforcement, consistent policy and regional cooperation.
- Documented the discussions and priority actions in the National Extractives Dialogue 2025 Report.
Related publication
Publications
Where the research ends and the conversation begins. Four pieces, each grounded in fieldwork and community testimony.
Let's talk
I'm open to remote Program Officer roles, collaborations, or just a conversation about this work. Email is the quickest way to reach me.
- Emailakinjiolaoluwatosin@gmail.com
- LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/oluwatosin-akinjiola
- Phone+234 706 645 2679
Merci de votre visite!
If you've made it this far, we should probably talk.
Go on. You know you want to.
Email Tosin →