Nigeria is a paradox: an impoverished country that is rich in natural resources. Decades of unsuccessful natural resource management strategies have caused policymakers and scholars to reconsider the role of community in resource use and conservation. The community's role is especially important since communities contain various resource users who rely on and relate to the land in multiple and conflicting ways. Relying entirely on qualitative methods and a storytelling activity that the author designed, she investigates her experience to place. The research illustrates how issues pertaining to land tenure, citizenship/ownership, economic and societal status, governance, gender, institutions, and residual post-colonial and international paradigms impede sustainable natural resource management. The research shows that sustainability is specific to individual communities and people as they draw upon different factors when considering sustainable development. The research concludes that untangling the web of complexities that inhibit sustainable management of natural resources requires a different, unconventional step. This integrated approach suggests that in addition to technical assistance, natural resource management should be approached through the heart rather than the head, by facilitating practices that encourage love, friendship, generosity and empathy. This is an essential step for creating an enabling environment that can instigate good governance, transformative policies, strong institutions and responsible followership amongst others. Linked to new material realities this has the potential to engage the community in managing the natural resources and promote the transition to sustainable development.
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