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  The fall in oil price could be a turning point for Nigeria's economy

  Thursday, 12th March 2015

  The drumbeat of war is sounding on the streets as Nigeria prepares for the 2015 elections. The election, due in February, has been postponed by six weeks to 28 March, ostensibly to allow the electoral commission more time to prepare and to beef up security in the north-eastern part of the country where Boko Haram is strong.
  

  But a far more insidious deciding factor in the polls could be Nigeria’s unhealthy dependence on oil, which represents over 80% of its national income. Plummeting oil prices since December have presented new challenges for Nigeria’s economy.

  The much needed oil allocations from central government to the federal states have been delayed, making it difficult for some to meet recurrent and capital projects expenditure. The free-falling oil price is forcing the government to draw down its foreign reserves to augment the budget.
  If oil prices continue to fall, tumbling morale and expectations could pose major obstacles to a free and fair elections. Already, opposition parties are crying foul over the draw-down of more than 80% of the national foreign reserves that were set up in 2012. And a sovereign wealth fund for Nigeria, based on the Norwegian fund (currently worth nearly $900bn), looks likely to remain a pipedream. Pressure on the economy has forced the government to abandon the idea, which aimed to provide for the rainy day that has already caught up with the country. Now, with oil prices hovering around $50 per barrel, many have declared the 2015 budget unrealistic.

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  Farmers in Nigeria's Taraba State refuse to give up lands for massive rice plantation project backed by the G8

  Wednesday, 28th January 2015

  Farmers in Nigeria's north eastern state of Taraba are being forced off lands they have farmed for generations to make way for US company Dominion Farms to establish a 30,000 ha rice plantation.
  
  The Dominion Farms project forms part of the G8's New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Africa and the Nigerian government's Agricultural Transformation Agenda, which are both intended to enhance food security and livelihoods for small farmers in Nigeria. A new report, however, finds that the Dominion Farms project is having the opposite effect. The report was produced by two Nigerian NGOs, Environmental Rights Action (ERA)/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (FoEN) and Center for Environmental Education and Development (CEED), with the support of Global Justice Now and GRAIN. It is based on field investigations and interviews conducted with local farmers, community leaders and government officials.
  
  The report shows how the lands provided to Dominion Farms are part of a public irrigation scheme that thousands of families depend on for their food needs and livelihoods. The local people were not consulted about the Dominion Farms project and, although the company has already started to occupy the lands, they are still completely in the dark about any plans for compensation or resettlement. Dominion Farms is involved in a similar land grab for a rice farm in Kenya that has generated conflicts with local communities.

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  Court documents expose Shell’s false claims on Nigeria oil spills: Shell Responds

  Thursday, 13th November 2014

  Court documents revealed by Amnesty International today expose the fact that Shell has repeatedly made false claims about the size and impact of two major oil spills at Bodo in Nigeria in an attempt to minimize its compensation payments. The documents also show that Shell has known for years that its pipelines in the Niger Delta were old and faulty.
  The potential repercussions are that hundreds of thousands of people may have been denied or underpaid compensation based on similar underestimates of other spills.
  The irrefutable evidence that Shell underestimated the Bodo spills emerged in a UK legal action brought by 15,000 people whose livelihoods were devastated by oil pollution in 2008. The court action has forced Shell to finally admit the company has underplayed the true magnitude of at least two spills and the extent of damage caused.

  We have been vindicated that Shell hugely manipulates the Joint Investigation reports to suit their purpose, escape from responsibility and to manage liabilities says Godwin Uyi Ojo, Executive Director ERA
  
  “Amnesty International firmly believes Shell knew the Bodo data were wrong. If it did not it was scandalously negligent – we repeatedly gave them evidence showing they had dramatically underestimated the spills,” said Audrey Gaughran, Director for Global Issues at Amnesty International.

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  Take Action Vote the Nominee of the Sustainable Development Pinocchio Awards

  Thursday, 6th November 2014

  This year  Environmental Rights Action is collaborating with Friends of the Earth France who  is working together with Peuples Solidaires - Action Aid France and CRID for the 7th year organizing the “Sustainable Development Pinocchio Awards”. The awards highlight the social and environmental impacts of the activities of multinational companies, activities that are in clear contradiction with the sustainable development goals that they claim to respect, commitments that additionally are legally non-binding and have thereby proven to be ineffective.
  
  There are three categories of nominees; the category “Greener than green” is awarded to “the company which has led the most abusive and misleading communication campaign in regard to its actual activities”. The second category “Dirty hands, full wallet” is awarded to the company “which has the most opaque policy at the financial level, in terms of lobbying or in its supply chain”. The third category “One for all, all for me!” is awarded to the company “which has the most aggressive policy in terms of appropriation, exploitation or destruction of natural resources.”The multinational gas and oil company Total is one of the nominees in the third category for the impacts of their exploitation activities in Nigeria.

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  A Joint Statement issued to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, UNHRC

  Wednesday, 25th June 2014

  This document was submitted to UNHRC in an attempt to seek a redress to the environmental Challenges befalling the people of the Niger Delta and to seek the help of the commission to help bring to book the main culprit transnational company, Shell since international and local advocacy as well as national regulatory agencies have not been able to compel Shell to change and respect human rights in the Niger delta, the regulatory agencies, national governments and the laws of the land.

  This level of impunity demonstrates the dire need for an international mechanism to hold companies to account uniformly rather than allowing for voluntary company mechanisms that are not legally binding.

  Read the Full Statement here
  

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What is on that Plate?

The theme of the World Environment Day 2013 is “Think. Eat. Save”. Each word is loaded and stands alone, separated by unambiguous periods. That should get us thinking indeed. Many people in the world do not really think before eating. They are more preoccupied by the nagging question of where the next meal would come from. There are also a number of persons whose questions pertain to what to eat out of the myriad of choices on their sumptuous dining tables. And, of course, there are people to whom saving food is not a problem while to yet others there is simply no choice in doing that. There are others who wish to save but cannot do so either due to a lack of means to do so, or for the reason of current insufficiencies.

There is a lot of food for thought in just considering the theme.

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