An Exxon Valdez sized oil spill has occurred on average every year for the past 50 years in the Niger Delta. Exxon is responsible for 6 spills in the same area of the Niger Delta since December 2009.
"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.
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]
Join Justice In Nigeria Now to send a strong message to Chevron about their human rights abuses in Nigeria.
165 people who have already signed a letter to Chevron’s CEO David O’Reilly calling on Chevron to stop paying transporting, and housing the Nigerian military and police forces who shoot, injure and kill innocent unarmed protesters in Nigeria. Sign Letter!
Join: Justice in Nigeria Now for a 20 minute screening of The Naked Option: A Last Resort 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 serious cultural taboo. The film will be followed by a panel discussion about the true cost of oil in Nigeria and what Chevron should do about it.
Panelists include: Filmmaker Candace Schermerhorn, Nigerian activist Ayo Ajisebutu and Cindy Cohn, attorney in the upcoming litigation happening this fall in San Francisco against Chevron – Bowoto v. Chevron
When: Thursday, August 7, 2008 7pm
Where: First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall
305 N California Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94301
