Justice In Nigeria Now

"A child is silhouetted against a gas flare Nigeria's southwest delta: 80% of the country's oil wealth goes to 1% of its population." Caption: Guardian UK; Photograph: Reuters/Corbis

Today, March 9, marked the deadline for Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Candidate countries to complete “validation” by reporting to the EITI secretariat in Oslo. Nigeria is one of 20 countries that failed to complete validation of its efforts to comply with the EITI. In 2008, a total of 22 EITI Candidate countries were given the March 9, 2010 deadline.

Nigeria was the first country to give domestic legal force to the EITI when it passed national legislation in May 2007. Nigeria became an EITI Candidate country in September 2007 and was given until today to complete validation, a necessary step for progressing from an EITI Candidate country to an EITI Compliant country. Validation provides an independent assessment of progress achieved and identifies measures needed to strengthen the EITI process.

Nigeria submitted a draft validation report but nonetheless failed to meet the deadline. If faced with “exceptional and unforeseeable circumstances,” EITI Candidate countries can request an extension from the EITI Board, which will meet in mid-April to consider these requests.

If a Candidate country does complete validation (or request an extension) by March 9, 2010, it will be delisted.

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In honor of International Women’s Day, Justice in Nigeria Now highlights the work of an inspiring, accomplished women’s leader in the Niger Delta: Emem Okon.

Ms. Okon, the Executive Director of Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre, uses her passion for mobilizing and empowering women to promote human rights, democratic principles, and social justice in the Niger Delta. Ms. Okon helps women to develop their leadership potentials and project their voices in Nigerian political, social, and cultural spheres.

Based in the Niger Delta, where women face particular adverse impacts of violence—both in terms of violence against women and in the effects of violent conflict on economic and social livelihoods—Ms. Okon advocates for peace and capacity-building, with and for the women of the Niger Delta.

Much of Ms. Okon’s work stems from the challenges that women in the Niger Delta face living in the shadow of oil companies’ operations, where resulting gas flaring and oil spills afflict harm on the people and the environment.

Read this profile on Emem Okon in the National Catholic Reporter as part of its series, Women: Birthing Justice, Birthing Hope:

http://ncronline.org/news/women/first-hand-account-organizing-women-nigeria.

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If you didn’t already know, Nigeria is renowned for its film scene. Every Thursday in February, the Smithsonian features Nigerian movies as part of the Nollywood Film Festival.

Chevron is a key sponsor of the event. Chevron’s track record in Nigeria of human rights and environmental abuse makes it a bad choice for a sponsor.

When JINN phoned the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art Corporate Membership office to express concern about Chevron’s sponsoring of the event and to ask about the criteria for evaluating prospective sponsors, the Smithsonian replied that it could not divulge its criteria; that they are aware of Chevron’s track record in Nigeria, but that they did not concern themselves with the political ramifications of what their funders do, since the Smithsonian’s objective is to fund art.

JINN, Rainforest Action Network (RAN), and Global Exhange created a postcard (see photos above and below). At each Thursday event, RAN will distribute, collect, and deliver postcards to the Smithsonian.

If you are in DC–or know people in DC–JINN encourages you to attend the festival to support Nigerian filmmakers, but be sure to let the Smithsonian know that you disapprove of Chevron as the sponsor for this event.

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Justice in Nigeria Now is excited to announce a new partnership with Sweet Crude, an acclaimed documentary that captures the realities of the Niger Delta. Directing attention to a region devastated by oil, Sweet Crude movingly portrays the strength, beauty, and resilience of communities in the Niger Delta while unpacking myths about the region, particularly by exposing actual distortions in reporting by international media. JINN joins Sweet Crude as the official activist partner of the film team, enabling engaged viewers to take action in theaters and beyond.

At the screenings, viewers will find JINN ready to provide them with ways to call for much-needed constructive action and attention to the Niger Delta. Examples include urging Secretary of State Clinton to support international mediation and peace talks in the Niger Delta, and asking  senators to support legislation requiring transparency in oil companies’ payments to foreign governments.

JINN and Sweet Crude’s common goals of respect for human rights and environmental justice, along with our common objectives of peace talks and corporate accountability in the Niger Delta, make us—alongside our friends on the ground in Nigeria—natural partners in working toward a peaceful resolution to decades of injustice in the Niger Delta.

Check back here to find out when and where you can Sweet Crude in the coming months.

[Photo Credit: Kendra E. Thornbury for Sweet Crude]

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"SHELL, COME TO TERMS WITH NIGERIA" Photo Credit: Radio Netherlands Worldwide

On December 30, 2009 a civil court judge in the Hague ruled that Royal Dutch Shell can be sued in the Netherlands—its corporate headquarters—for pollution it caused in Nigeria.

Four Nigerian villagers and Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie) brought the claim, forcing Shell to face up to charges of environmental and social damage it has caused in the oil-rich Niger Delta. Estimated damage from pipeline spills and gas flaring caused by the oil industry as a whole amounts to up to $20 billion, according to a variety of independent organizations. Royal Dutch Shell is the largest oil company operating in Nigeria.

The case charges Shell with environmental degradation arising from its oil operations in the village of Oruma, where a high-pressure wellhead spewing oil and gas ran uncontained for 12 days, polluting land and drinking water in nearby communities, with “clean-up”—comprised of dumping toxic waste into pits and burning them—beginning four months later. Shell also faces claims for damage in Goi, where in 2005, Shell’s Trans-Niger pipeline caught fire and destroyed farmland and homes and polluted fisheries, with the mess remaining for 33 months, as well as for an enforcement action of a court order against Shell to stop the illegal practice of gas flaring, which the federal high court of Nigeria declared a violation of human rights in 2005.

The first substantive hearing, which pertains to the Oruma oil spill, is slated to begin in the Hague Civil Court tentatively in spring 2010.

Royal Dutch Shell continues to deny responsibility for, and contest jurisdiction abroad over, its actions in Nigeria.

Read more here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/dec/30/shell-oruma-alleged-pollution-claim

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8434736.stm

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Council Urges U.S. to Pass Transparency Law To Force Chevron and Other Oil Companies to Report Payments to Nigeria and Other Foreign Governments

Mayor Gayle McLaughlin

Richmond, CA – On Tuesday December 15, 2009, the Richmond City Council voted unanimously in favor of a resolution urging the U.S. Senate to pass a bill that would require oil companies to disclose payments to foreign governments as part of a larger movement to increase corporate accountability across borders. Councilmember Nathaniel Bates was absent.  A similar resolution was unanimously approved by the Oakland City Council and with one abstention in the Berkeley City Council in October.

The Energy Security Through Transparency Act (ESTT) Act was introduced by Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) in September and if passed would effect oil companies in Nigeria as well as the rest of the world.

“Here in Richmond, we see the links between human rights and corporate accountability issues in our city as the same struggle as those that are demanding a right to their livelihood in Nigeria.  Oil companies need to take responsibility where ever oil in produced and refined,” stated Richmond resident Jovanka Beckles who spoke at the meeting.

The Richmond resolution also calls on the State Department to support diplomatic peace talks in the Delta to negotiate a way forward to address the root causes of the current crisis—environmental destruction – particularly gas flaring - and lack of investment in the oil producing region. The city’s call contrasts with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s pledge in August to explore further U.S. military assistance to the government of Nigeria. The resolution along with the passage of the resolution in Oakland and Berkeley marks a new level of support to pressure the United States to adopt a foreign policy that promotes constructive change through dialog in alignment with the American values of democratic civic engagement, and freedom of speech and the press.

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Berkeley, Oakland urge oil money transparency

By Josh Richman
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 12:39 pm

Reprinted from The Contra Costa Times Political Blogger

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“The True Cost of Oil”

Film Shorts and Panel Discussion

credit: Candace Schermerhorn

Join: Justice in Nigeria Now, Amazon Watch and the CounterCorp Film Festival for a night of film shorts related to the true cost of oil in Nigeria and the Amazon.

When: Thursday, October 16 7:15pm-9:15pm

Where: Brava Theater 2781 24th Street(@ York Street) San Francisco

Cost: $10 ($5 with student id)

Films clips include:

The Naked Option: A Last Resort A work in progress by Candace Schermerhorn – A film about 600 Nigerian women who peacefully protested Chevron’s human rights and environmental abuses with only the threat of publicly stripping naked – a culturally unacceptable taboo.

Sweet Crude: A documentary now in post-production, tells the story of Nigeria’s oil rich Niger Delta. The region is seething and the global stakes are high. But in this moment, there’s an opportunity to find solutions. What if the world paid attention before it was too late?

Justicia Now! A documentary about Chevron’s toxic legacy in the Ecuadorian Amazon and a courageous group of people called Los Afectados (The Affected Ones) who are seeking justice for the ensuing cancer, sickness and death in the largest environmental class action lawsuit in history.

The films will be followed by a panel discussion.

Panelists include: Cindy Cohn, attorney in the upcoming litigation happening this fall in San Francisco against Chevron in Nigeria – Bowoto v. Chevron, Mitch Anderson, Corporate Accountability Campaigner at Amazon Watch, Nigerian activist Ayo Ajisebutu and others.

Contact: 415-575-5521or info@justiceinnigerianow.org

Photo Credit: Kendra E. Thornbury for Sweet Crude

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