- Poroye unveils solar mini-grid, safe water transport plan at COP31 session in Türkiye
The Executive Chairman of the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC), Prince Olabiyi Olaleye Poroye, has called for urgent international intervention to protect Ondo State’s vulnerable coastline from environmental destruction.
Poroye made the call on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, while delivering the opening address at the Nigeria Pavilion during a COP31 session titled, “Saving the Vanishing Coast: The Just Transition for an Oil-Producing Shore,” held in Antalya, Türkiye.
Using Ayetoro in Ilaje Local Government Area as a case study, the OSOPADEC chairman highlighted the hardship faced by a community surrounded by offshore oil production but struggling with unreliable electricity, disappearing land and unsafe waterways.
He recalled Ayetoro’s remarkable history, noting that the community generated its own electricity and built boats as far back as 1953, at a time when many towns in Nigeria had no access to power.
“In 1953, long before many towns in our country had electricity, the people of Ayetoro generated their own power. They built their own boats. They organised their own community and were proud of what their own hands could do,” he said.
Poroye, however, lamented that decades later, the same community was facing an existential threat as the Atlantic Ocean continues to consume its land, homes and streets.
Describing the humanitarian consequences, he said a child now does homework by lantern light, fishermen lack cold storage for their catches, and residents are forced to transport sick relatives across open waters in unsafe conditions.
He unveiled OSOPADEC’s proposed pilot initiative for solar-powered mini-grids and safe coastal mobility across the Ilaje coastline.
According to him, the energy transition would have little meaning for oil-producing communities unless it delivered practical benefits to residents.
“A just transition will mean nothing to our people unless it reaches the shoreline. It must give them light, clean energy for their work and their fish, and safe passage on the water,” he declared
Speaking on behalf of Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, the OSOPADEC Board, management and staff, Poroye reaffirmed the commitment of the Ondo State Government and the Commission to mobilising resources and institutional support for coastal protection.
He also acknowledged legislative support from the National Assembly and the Ondo State House of Assembly, stressing that host communities were prepared to own, operate and maintain the proposed interventions.
Also speaking, the Senator representing Ondo South Senatorial District, Professor Dayo Francis Faduyile, called for urgent international intervention to save Ayetoro and other coastal communities from the devastating effects of sea incursion.
Faduyile said more than 80 per cent of historic Ayetoro had been lost to the sea, including homes, schools, health facilities, places of worship and traditional institutions.
“We need to take action. This is the time for us to act. As we can see, Ayetoro is bleeding,” he declared.
The senator disclosed that he moved a motion at the Senate on 22 October seeking urgent intervention to rescue Ayetoro and other threatened coastal communities.
He said the motion received unanimous support. We have resolved to pursue a comprehensive shoreline protection programme involving the Federal Ministry of Environment, NDDC, the Ondo State Government and OSOPADEC,” he said.
He added that the Senate had urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide humanitarian assistance to displaced residents and called on the Federal Government to explore international climate adaptation financing for Nigeria’s vulnerable coastline.
Faduyile commended Poroye for presenting the plight of Ondo’s coastal communities at COP31, noting that OSOPADEC had taken both the problem and proposed solutions to the international platform in Antalya, Türkiye.
Speaking on behalf of Ayetoro, Prophet Oluwambe Ojagbohunmi described the community as a once-thriving model of communal living, industrialisation and shared prosperity before its gradual destruction by climate change and sea incursion.
He said Ayetoro once had textile factories, a central cafeteria and housing for residents, adding that fishermen built an electricity-generating station in 1953, while the community constructed a 200-room palace and a technical college in 1964.
Ojagbohunmi lamented that many of the community’s historic structures had been swallowed by the Atlantic Ocean, describing their loss as a major blow to African heritage.
He presented historical photographs and documents and expressed the community’s readiness to share them with relevant stakeholders to preserve Ayetoro’s history and draw attention to the devastating impact of climate change.
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