Jethro Christopher
Protecting communities from oil pollution
About
Jethro is an environmental justice advocate from Nigeria’s Niger Delta, where oil spills regularly pollute water sources and damage farmland, affecting the daily lives of many communities. Seeing his family’s farmland destroyed and people lose their livelihoods drove him to take action. He founded Tech4Rural to equip affected communities with the tools and skills to monitor environmental harm and advocate for accountability.
Work
Through Tech4Rural, Jethro and his team have trained more than 100 environmental monitors across 10 communities. Their mobile app allows residents to document and report oil spills in real time, recording photographs, GPS coordinates and timestamps to preserve evidence for clean-up, compensation and remediation. Beyond technology, Jethro raises awareness and mobilises collective action, most recently bringing together environmental advocates and local residents to call for the clean-up of Ogoniland and consultation before oil extraction resumes.