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Kano Climate Change Declaration: Seven-point action plan highlighted

Michael Simire
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Kano Climate Change Declaration: Seven-point action plan highlighted

In a significant move, leaders from Nigeria’s Northwest region issued a declaration at the Northwest Commissioners Summit on Climate Change (NCSCC) convened by Surge Africa Organisation in Kano. The declaration outlines a broad action plan to tackle climate change issues and foster a sustainable, resilient and low-carbon future for the region.

Kano Declaration
L- R: Kano State Commissioner of Environment, Nasiru Sule Garo; Founder, Surge Africa Organisation, Nasreen Al-Amin; and Sponsor, Climate Change Act, Rep. Samuel Ifeanyi Oniugbo

The Kano Declaration on Climate Change and Environment, adopted at the summit, which was held on February 29, 2024, acknowledges the devastating environmental and social impacts climate change is having on the region, including desertification, floods, unpredictable weather patterns, and declining food production.

The declaration signed by representatives of Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto states outlines a seven-point action plan to address these myriad challenges head-on:

  • Conservation of Biodiversity: Protecting natural resources through establishing protected areas, promoting sustainable land management practices, and combating illegal resource exploitation in the region.
  • Rural Integration: Closing the gap between urban and rural areas by improving infrastructure, education, healthcare, and economic opportunities in rural communities.
  • Collaboration and Partnerships: Building networks with neighbouring states, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), private sector, and local communities to leverage diverse expertise and resources in addressing climate change issues.
  • Adaptation Finance: Mobilising and allocating funds to support adaptation measures in the Northwest region through a dedicated state climate fund, grants, loans, and accessing international climate finance mechanisms.
  • Sustainable Development: Implementing policies that integrate economic growth, social equity, and environmental protection in the Northwest region. This includes promoting renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and green businesses.
  • Climate Security: Addressing climate-related security threats in the Northwest region such as resource scarcity, displacement, and critical infrastructure vulnerability to tackle changing climate change conditions.
  • Monitoring and Reporting: Establishing a robust system to track progress and inform decision-making through constant reporting and data collection for making data-driven adjustments to climate policies in the Northwest region.

The declaration further emphasises collaboration and shared responsibility for all seven states and relevant stakeholders. It calls for the Northwest Commissioners Summit to become a biannual event and encourages establishing a parallel Governors’ Summit on Climate Change. The document concludes with a resounding call to action for all stakeholders to translate the declaration’s principles into concrete actions.

The Northwest Commissioners Summit on Climate Change laid the groundwork for robust and meaningful dialogues, assessment of current climate approaches, formation of new climate solutions, public-private collaboration, and the development of inter-state strategies on climate change in the region.

The Kano Declaration paves the way for multi-dimensional climate resilient and adaptation solutions at community level in the Northwest region.

The Kano Declaration on Climate Change and Environment can be downloaded here.

Nigeria, Germany launch battery recycling collaboration

Michael Simire
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Nigeria, Germany launch battery recycling collaboration

Improving battery recycling in Nigeria, raising labour and environmental standards, and establishing sustainable trade flows for raw materials – these are the declared aims of the new project Partnership for Responsible Battery and Metal Recycling.

Lead acid battery recycling
Lead acid battery recycling

In this new project, partners from Nigerian civil society, the metal processing industry and the solar industry are working together with the Oeko-Institut to develop a cooperative approach to the responsible recycling of lead-acid batteries. To this end, the project is liaising closely with the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Environment and the environmental enforcement agency, Nigeria Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA).

“As the largest economy and most populous country in Africa, Nigeria is also central to battery recycling. Nowhere else on the African continent is the volume of used batteries as high,” emphasises Frederick Adjei, researcher on Circular Economy and Recycling at the Oeko-Institut. “At the same time, the expansion of decentralised solar power solutions is leading to an increase in demand for batteries, all of which will have to be recycled properly at some point.”

In view of the serious health and environmental risks posed by unsound recycling practices, the project supports industrial companies and regulatory authorities in Nigeria in introducing environmental, health and safety standards. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

Modernising Nigeria’s recycling industry

Nigeria is home to one of the largest lead-acid battery recycling industries in Sub-Saharan Africa. At least ten facilities recycle batteries on an industrial scale, recovering raw materials such as lead, tin and antimony. These are mostly redeployed in battery production – either in Nigeria or abroad.

The aim of the joint project is to share experiences for the modernisation of the recycling sector in Nigeria. The partners are using a three-pronged approach: the Oeko-Institut and the industrial partners are providing knowledge on environmental protection and occupational safety for recycling plants and training plant managers to improve environmental performance and plant safety.

In addition, the partners are developing concepts for how Nigerian regulatory authorities might introduce and monitor binding standards for environmental protection and occupational health and safety and implement them together with local companies. Finally, cooperation with other sectors is to be initiated, for example with the Nigerian solar industry, which requires environmentally sound solutions for used batteries. The German and international metals industry is as well highly interested in responsible supply chains for secondary raw materials.

“We have been monitoring the recycling of used batteries with great concern for many years and have already worked with the Nigerian government on a battery policy. We see this project as an important continuation and practical implementation of that work,” says Dr Leslie Adogame of the Nigerian organisation Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev).

David Lecoque, CEO of the Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE), adds a practical perspective: “Our member companies are actively involved in the expansion of decentralised renewable energy in Africa. They are aware of the challenges associated with battery disposal and are keen to scale up high quality local recycling solutions,” he said.

Franziska Weber from Plattform Blei, an initiative of the WirtschaftsVereinigung Metalle, emphasises the benefits for the industry: “Our member companies and partners are dependent on the import of raw materials and recycling streams are playing an increasingly important role in this context. But of course, we have to pay particular attention to environmental and labour standards with all our suppliers. Without the implementation of appropriate standards, the German economy cannot enter into supply relationships with players in Nigeria.”

Lead-acid battery recycling – risks and opportunities for the circular economy

Lead-acid batteries are used in cars, off-grid solar applications and backup power systems. Environmentally sound and safe recycling is possible and can effectively recover up to 97 percent of all contained raw materials. However, in many regions of the world, recycling takes place in substandard, highly dangerous and unsafe conditions, exposing workers and neighbouring communities to toxic lead dust.

This lead exposure can have serious health effects, including irreversible nerve and brain damage particularly in children. According to UNICEF, up to 800 million children, especially in low- and middle-income countries, have elevated blood lead levels. In addition to the dramatic impact on the lives of those affected, there is also long-term economic damage, which is estimated at four percent of the gross domestic product in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Navy destroys three illegal refinery sites, wooden boat in Bayelsa

Michael Simire
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Navy destroys three illegal refinery sites, wooden boat in Bayelsa

The Nigerian Navy Forward Operating Base in Brass, Bayelsa State, has destroyed three illegal refinery sites, a wooden boat and a total of 160,000 litres of suspected stolen crude oil.

Illegal refinery
An illegal refinery site

The operation, a fallout of the recently launched Nigerian Navy “Operation Delta Sanity”, is aimed at combating illegal oil theft and bunkering in the Niger Delta region.

The Commanding Officer, Forward Operating Base (FORMOSO), Capt. Murtala Aminu Rogo, stated this in an interview with newsmen on Monday, March 4, 2024.

Rogo said that the interception of the boat and destruction of the sites followed patrols conducted by its personnel on Brass River and Akassa general area.

“During the patrol, two illegal refinery sites with about 85,000 litres of products suspected to be stolen crude oil and a pumping machine were located around Elepa and Abonuwa Brass LGA of Bayelsa respectively.

“While combing other adjoining creeks, the team located the third illegal refinery site and a large wooden boat laden with about 75,000 litres of product suspected to be stolen crude oil, around Tuluama, Brass LGA.

“Accordingly, the three illegal refinery sites and one large wooden boat were handled appropriately,” he said.

Rogo said that further investigations into the criminal networks connected with the illegal refining sites was ongoing.

The Commanding Officer said that the success of the operation marks a significant step in actualizing the objectives of Operation Delta Sanity.

He appealed to the public to cooperate with the Nigerian Navy by providing relevant information that would aid in the ongoing efforts to dismantle these criminal networks.

Rogo said that Operation Delta Sanity, led by Rear Adm. S. J. Bura the Flag Officer Commanding, Central Naval Command, was resolutely committed to tackling crude oil theft, illegal oil bunkering, and other criminal activities within Nigerian waters.

“The Nigeran Navy, under the leadership of Vice Adm. Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), is committed to maintaining the security and safety of the Nigerian maritime domain,” he said.

Rogo said that the Navy would continue to facilitate a conducive environment for legitimate businesses to flourish and contribute to the nation’s economic progress.

By Frank Shedrack

EU ministers agree extra year for lower gas consumption measures

Michael Simire
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EU ministers agree extra year for lower gas consumption measures
EU energy ministers on Monday, March 4, 2024, agreed to prolong measures to voluntarily reduce gas consumption by a target of 15 per cent across the European Union by March 2025.

European Commission
European Commission. Photo credit: Mark Renders/Getty Images
Belgian Energy Minister, Tinne van der Straeten, said in a statement that the bloc has “come a long way since 2022” when the energy crisis was most dire after Russia attacked Ukraine.
EU countries originally pledged in 2022 to cut their consumption by at least 15 per cent compared to the average of the past five years.
This is to ensure energy supplies for winter after Russia drastically reduced exports to the bloc.
The savings target was exceeded, with demand reduced by over 19 per cent on average across the EU.
Another extension followed in March 2023 and was due to expire at the end of this month.
The original agreement also contained a provision, should a security of supply crisis occur, to make the voluntary consumption reduction target mandatory.
This is no longer in place.
Measures related to energy supply are to move voluntarily as the supply situation in the EU has significantly improved since 2022.
Natural gas prices rose dramatically in 2022 due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
At their peak, wholesale prices were more than 300 euros ($325).
Prices dropped noticeably after gas shortages could be avoided thanks to replacing Russian fuels with imports from elsewhere and cutting demand.

ACReSAL sensitises Kano communities to climate change adaptation

Michael Simire
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ACReSAL sensitises Kano communities to climate change adaptation

The Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) has trained communities in Falgore Game Reserve in Kano State to promote proper utilisation of livelihood packages to mitigate climate change.

ACReSAL
Participants at the ACReSAL training in Kano

The Falgore Game Reserve is located in Tudun-Wada Local Government Area of the state.

The Project Coordinator, Dr Dahir Hashim, said this at the inauguration of the six-day training exercise on Sunday, March 3, 2024, in Kano.

Hashim said the exercise was part of the initiative to reinvigorate the game reserve through the provision of alternative livelihood to the communities, to protect forest resources from extinctions.

“We organised the training for the local communities surrounding Falgore game reserve on best utilisation of livelihood packages provided by the project.

“The concept was conceived under component A3 of the ACReSAL project: Special Ecosystem Forest Management.

“It is an activity under the project that focused on ensuring the integrity of the ecosystem is maintained, to enable the environment to benefit from the critical functions it serves in the area of dryland management,” he said.

Hashim said the agency had trained Yantabarmi, Gada-Biy, and Falgore communities under the programme.

According to him, the benefitting communities will be exposed to Crop Production Management, Sustainable Practices, Climate Change Adaptation, Livestock Management, Data Management and Use, Farming Business and Marketing.

He urged the participants to avail themselves the opportunity towards improving their social and economic status.

Hashim enjoined the farming communities to protect the environment to mitigate the adverse impact of climate change on the ecosystems.

By Muhammad Nur Tijani

Global Week of Action: Uganda, Tanzania communities urge Chinese insurers to reject EACOP

Michael Simire
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Global Week of Action: Uganda, Tanzania communities urge Chinese insurers to reject EACOP

The #InsureOurFuture Global Week of Action concluded on Sunday, March 3, 2024, after rallying voices from around the world to send a clear message to the insurance industry: demanding that they reject coverage for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project and others like it.

StopEACOP
Protestors in in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

As numerous banks and insurers across the globe have withdrawn support for EACOP on environmental and human rights grounds, the project developers are turning to Chinese state-backed entities to raise the required financing and insurance coverage. China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (commonly referred to as “Sinosure”) and China Reinsurance Corporation (commonly referred to as “China Re”) are considered vital to the advancement of this controversial $5 billion pipeline.

Ugandan and Tanzanian human rights, environmental groups and local communities affected by the EACOP have attempted to engage the Chinese insurers over their potential involvement in EACOP for several years. As recently as November 2023, #StopEACOP activists held peaceful protests outside Sinosure offices and Chinese embassies across Africa, North America and Europe, delivering petitions signed by thousands of directly affected citizens opposed to the pipeline’s development. The activists requested meetings with Sinosure and the Chinese embassies, but their requests and other attempts at dialogue have not been answered.

As part of the escalation of activity to ensure that the voices of the people are sufficiently heard, the #InsureOurFuture Global Week of Action (from February 26 to 3rd of March 3, 2024) saw a groundswell of actions across the globe, culminating in a clear message to China Re and Sinosure – urging the insurers not to become complicit in the EACOP project’s destruction of livelihoods and ecosystems.

Demonstrations, community discussions, mural painting activities, workshops and protests, including at the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania, were held across EACOP-affected areas in the project’s host countries. These activities were bolstered by solidarity actions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and across the globe.

From London, New York, Birmingham, and Manchester to Japan, activists targeted major insurance companies like Tokio Marine, AIG, and Probitas to publicly declare non-involvement in EACOP, further amplifying the call for responsible investment decisions – emphasising the need for insurance to provide security to communities who exist on the frontlines of the climate crisis, and not as surety for profits.

Notably, over 120 youth in Uganda, including those from the EACOP and Tilenga oil project host communities, wrote to the Insurance Consortium for Oil and Gas Uganda, a coalition of 19 Ugandan insurance corporations that are charged with providing 40% of the insurance cover needed for the EACOP, and demanded that the insurance companies prioritise sustainability and social responsibility by not funding the EACOP.

Further protest actions calling on the insurance industry to realign its underwriting practices with the well-being of ordinary people and aimed at ensuring the non-proliferation of fossil fuel mayhem were also held in Nigeria, South Africa, India, France, Germany, Switzerland and elsewhere across the length and breadth of the planet.

Observers believe that the global convergence on fossil fuel impact should signal the need for the insurance industry to adopt fossil fuel exclusion policies, with companies like Sinosure and China Re leading the charge in making a public commitment not to underwrite EACOP.

Zaki Mamdoo, StopEACOP Campaign Coordinator, said: “Developmental partnerships between peoples of the so-called Global South should always present a challenge to Western domination. These partnerships should pursue the realisation of substantive freedoms for all our people- working to dismantle all forms of oppression and exploitation and not perpetuating injustice in pursuit of profits. On this basis, we expect SINOSURE and China RE to withdraw any involvement in EACOP. They should not take part in the neo-colonial pillaging of Africa.”

Edna of Tanzania’s Organisation for Community Engagement (OCE) said: “The destruction of livelihoods and natural resources for profits is indefensible. We ask Chinese insurers to stand on the right side of history with vulnerable communities and our environment.”

Diana Nabiruma from AFIEGO Uganda said: “From the forests of Uganda to indigenous lands in Latin America, we must protect what is most sacred – earth’s vital ecosystems that ensure our, including youth’s, wellbeing. We urge the Insurance Consortium for Oil and Gas Uganda members to listen to the voices of Ugandan youth who will inherit the consequences of short-sighted fossil fuel projects like the EACOP.”

Group describes Shell reigniting flares in Bayelsa community as ‘eco-terrorism’

Michael Simire
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Group describes Shell reigniting flares in Bayelsa community as ‘eco-terrorism’

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has called on the Federal Government to compel Shell to stop the flares in Gbarantoru community in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Gas flaring
Drying food items beside a gas flaring site

ERA/FoEN call comes in the wake of a visit to the community by a team from the Yenagoa office led by Programme Manager and Head of the Niger Delta Resource Centre in Bayelsa, Comrade Alagoa Morris, on Friday, March 1, 2024.

The visit came after a distress call by members of the community who feared for their lives and their environment, due to the flares.

Gbarantoru in Ekpetiama kingdom of Yenagoa LGA is a relatively large community and densely populated. During the visit, ERA/FoEN monitors observed the gas flare from Shell facility furiously blasting away. Not only was the horizontally flared gas so huge and menacingly noisy, the threat to buildings in the community was obvious as they continue to vibrate rhythmically. A school within the vicinity was forced to shut as a direct result of the impact of the flares.

ERA/FoEN also observed that very high-pressure liquid suspected to be water was being sprayed into the air in the direction of the huge flare. The sprayed water might be technically viewed as reducing heat produced by the flame or have some chemical reaction with the noxious gases so released. This is left for experts to properly explain.

In an interview with some of the community members, an Indigene of Gbarantoru and former Councillor in Yenagoa LGA, Seiyefa Saiyou Jones, expressed his regret at the attitude of disdain and lack of concern for the people displayed by Shell. He stated that the community has become unbearable to live as the peace, health and safety of the people are under threat due to the gas flaring by Shell.

‘’In the night there is no way to sleep. Due to the noise from the raging gas flare the children cannot sleep in the room anymore. The entire building is vibrating. I am directly affected. Besides the light (from the flare), the vibration of the house is so alarming. This is about the fourth day since they put on the gas flare. It is so alarming in the night, I can’t sleep; my children can’t sleep. We all remain vigilant, awake all through the night.

“This is happening in the heart of the community. They are supposed to relocate those to be affected and compensate them. You can hear the noise. This is even more than the sound of aero plane landing at the airport. Due to this gas flare, the primary school was forced to go on vacation. How can they learn under this atmosphere?” he demanded.

The Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama kingdom, HRM King Bubaraye Dakolo, Agada 1V likened the ongoing gas flaring in the community to pumping in toxic and harmful gas into the body system of the people. According to him, the people of the community may die from the harmful substances that have been released into the air.

Executive Director of ERA/FoEN, Chima Williams, said that Shell’s action prompting victims to cry out is nothing but eco-terrorism as, according to him, the vegetation, lives and property of victims are under attack by the horizontal emission of noxious gases.

Williams added that the flares negate the principle behind Article 24 of African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right.

He frowned at the Nigerian government for turning a blind eye to the abuse of the rights of the locals to a safe environment to thrive at a time when countries and leaders are initiating better policies to safeguard the health and safety of the environment.

Williams called on the Federal Ministries of Petroleum and Environment to prevail on Shell to stop the ongoing flare in Gbarantoru. He also urged the Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment to bridge the gap with formal complaints to the federal authorities concerning the unacceptable.

International Waste Pickers Day: Waste pickers’ role in circular economy outlined

Michael Simire
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International Waste Pickers Day: Waste pickers’ role in circular economy outlined

Having recognised the roles played by waste pickers in the society and in its drive towards proper plastic waste management, the Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev) Nigeria has concluded plans to embark on a national programme aimed at promoting the informal sectors whose daily activities is to collect plastic wastes on the streets to ensure cleaner and safer environment.

International Waste Pickers Day
Participants at the event to commemorate the International Waste Pickers Day in Lagos

Dr. Lesley Adogame, Executive Director, SRADev Nigeria, who stated this in his chat with journalists on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Lagos while marking the 2024 International Waste Pickers Day organised by the Association of Scraps and Waste Pickers of Lagos (ASWOL), said: “We are launching a national programme where government would need to begin to recognise the waste pickers, all policy processes in the value-chain of waste management will make sure that waste pickers are a critical stakeholder in the entire process and their voice must be heard.”

“As far as I’m concerned, every day is waste pickers day because waster pickers are an essential group in the society, they are working on a daily basis, March 1 is just a day the global community earmarked for waste pickers’ role in the society to be recognised.

Waste pickers are very important in the entire value chain of plastic waste management because for you to aggregate any waste, the waste must come from source to get to any point of aggregation or any collection point and these men and women are the grassroots collectors that helps aggregate those wastes.

“As we are moving into circular economy where you want to keep turning around from waste to wealth and all that concept, so you need people at the grassroots who can help manage those waste.

“SRADev Nigeria has a programme called Zero Waste Initiatives which is the reduction of waste at source before the waste becomes voluminous and the waste pickers are playing a big role in waste reduction at source, we see that their work is very valuable to what we do and that is why we are always partnering with them,” he stated.

On the recent ban on Styrofoam, Dr. Adogame whose organisation has always been the main campaigner for zero waste and proper plastic waste management in Nigeria, said: “I want to use this opportunity to thank the Lagos State Government who is now working the talk on the ban of single use plastic because we cannot continue to live with it in the society considering the amount of single use plastics being churned out on daily so the government has thought about Styrofoam being banned instantly. We have also talked to the government that other single use plastics have to go but it has to be given time, there has to be an action plan on how it would be phased out because single use plastic does not have economic value.

“So, awareness will start, investment in those areas will begin to reduce because producers and manufacturers of these items now know that, in two to three years’ time, the use of single use plastics will be banned so they are not going to over invest in this sector. The regulation is going to be gazetted soon and there are one to three years phase-out period within which single use plastic will be banned but it has to be given a human face, but I can assure you that, in time to come, single use plastics will be a thing of the past in Nigeria.”

In his remarks, Comrade Friday Oku, President of ASWOL, noted that waste pickers play an essential role in the waste management system because they are individuals who collect and segregate recyclable materials from wastes to earn a livelihood. He added that their work is crucial for recycling and environmental sustainability.

Comrade Oku listed some of the issues faced by waster pickers to include health hazards, lack of education and skill development, limited access to loans as well as grants and healthcare, lack of social protection and security, and environmental dangers, among others.

He said: “The problems faced by waste pickers are multifaceted and require urgent attention. It is essential to recognise their contribution to society and environment and improve their working conditions through ‘Just Transitions’ by integrating them into the waste management value chain, providing education and skills development training programmes, access to loans, grants and healthcare facilities.

“This can uplift their lives and break the cycle of poverty by creating awareness about waste management and recycling in circular economy among the public which can lead to a more inclusive sustainable and supportive environment for waste pickers stigmatisation.”

Deji Akinpelu, Co-founder, while corroborating ASWOL President’s position, posited that “the challenges has been the fact that by our own ways we decided to demonise the informal waster pickers and see them as people who don’t fit into our system which is totally wrong because informal waste picking has been in existence for a very long time. Even if you want to bring in other formal players into the system, it is disservice to us when you want to remove the informal waster pickers just like that.

“There is a process you can set in place to begin to semi-formalise them, such a way that their work become operational because this group of people are very large, and they fill the gap that your formal waste picking structure cannot fulfil.

“The PSP in a city like Lagos cannot go everywhere, so we should stop demonising the informal waster pickers whose source of income and livelihood needs to be protected same way you are saying you want to protect the environment by the Sustainable Development Goals, the same way the SDG speaks about ending poverty. So, if you take these people out of where they work, you are creating poverty in the society.”

The 2024 International Waster Pickers Day with the theme: “Zero Waste Sensitisation Campaign and Awareness on How to Separate Wastes from Source”, was organised by Association of Scraps and Waste Pickers of Lagos (ASWOL) in conjunction with organisations such as Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), SRADev Nigeria, International Alliance of Waste Pickers, and The Food and Beverages Recycling Alliance (FBRA), among others.

By Ajibola Adedoye

Nigeria’s non-compliance with disclosure a challenge to extractive transparency

Michael Simire
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Nigeria’s non-compliance with disclosure a challenge to extractive transparency

The Nigerian state’s non-compliance with disclosure continues to be a challenge confronting its extractive industry transparency. Nowhere does non-compliance happen like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), saddled with the responsibility of managing and harnessing Nigeria’s oil and gas.

Mele Kyari
NNPC Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari

The non-disclosure by the NPPC in the way it carries out activities in the extractive sector makes it difficult for citizens to have a better knowledge of how the country’s oil and gas is managed and to hold the NNPC and the Nigerian State accountable.

Non-compliance with disclosure is a common practice in NNPC. A pointer case is, recently, NNPC refused to provide the information requested by Divine Era Development and Social Rights Initiative (DEDASRI) and her partner Media Advocacy West Africa (MAWA Foundation) asking it to disclose information about the contract it awarded to Macready Oil & Gas Service Company Limited for the maintenance of Kaduna-Suleja Oil Pipeline and construction of Oil Depot in Kano.

NNPC refused to provide the information requested by claiming that, under the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, it is no longer a public institution, but a private company, and has since ceased to be an agency of government. Hence not under any obligation to respond to FOI requests and be accountable to the public. The corporation further pointed out that it cannot answer questions about its financial transaction dealings regarding contract awards because it is not a financial institution.

Worse still, a visit to the project site NNPC awarded Macready Oil & Gas Service Company Limited shows the oil pipeline has since been left uncompleted at the Una Maraban Rido Area of Chikun Local Government in Kaduna state. Our officials who visited the project site and interacted with community residents found that work has since stopped on site. This is even as efforts to speak to Macready Oil and Gas Service Company Limited were unsuccessful. The company’s telephone contact numbers aren’t going through, and an email sent got no response.

NNPC non-compliance with disclosure in the extractive operations is not new. For instance, in 2018, NNPC refused to comply with an FOI request by Femi Falana to disclose how much it earned and how much was remitted into the federation account under the administration of Mr. Muhammadu Buhari, former Nigerian president. A practice that has made it difficult for Nigerians to know the way NNPC carries out activities in the management of the country’s oil and gas.

Experts who spoke to our officials shared their perspectives on the challenges confronting disclosure and transparency in Nigeria’s extractive industry. For instance, Mr. Michael Uzoigwe, former EITI Country Manager for Anglophone Africa, and an expert in the extractive industry, pointed out that despite the availability of laws ensuring disclosure and transparency, the extractive industry has continued to resist disclosure and transparency. He, however, affirmed that attaining disclosure and transparency in the extractive industry is an enormous work that needs collaboration with all strategic stakeholders, judiciary, media, NGOs, and anti-graft agencies.

Our experience in the field, engaging with NNPC regarding disclosure and transparency in the extractive sector, shows a lot of work has to be done by all stakeholders if Nigeria will succeed in this regard. There is an urgent need for investments that will allow for strategic partnerships among the judiciary, journalists, NGOs, development communicators, anti-graft agencies, and funding agencies to achieve a transparent extractive sector in Nigeria. This is urgent because our findings revealed that NNPC resists changes that will bring transparency to the extractive sector.

No doubt Nigeria’s extractive industry can be made to embrace contract disclosure and be transparent. But, to achieve this, we need the participation of strategic stakeholders to design and implement coordinated interventions that will encourage the Nigerian state to promote transparency in the extractive sector.

By Audu Liberty Oseni, MAWA Foundation

This report was supported by a grant from Publish What You Pay

Shareholder activism and consumer preference in achieving Paris Agreement goals

Michael Simire
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Shareholder activism and consumer preference in achieving Paris Agreement goals

I was part of an SDG café in my school (University of Benin) where we raised awareness about the Sustainable Development Goals. As a climate journalist particularly interested in climate action and energy transition, I decided to take it upon myself to let the students at the University of Benin and some of its staffs at the Faculty of Life Sciences about the nature of oil production in Nigeria, its impact and energy alternatives.

Collective action
It is said that collective action is the foundational strategy to bringing about the needed change

One thing I realised in my conversation was that we are so powerless in solving these issues, especially the transition to clean energy in Nigeria, the government largely determines what type of energy source is available to her citizens and also by its ineffectiveness in regulating business operations that are environmentally consequential, allows for increased GHG emissions and environmental degradation.

“Just like inequality, unemployment and inflation, climate change/environmental issues are a social problem with institutional contexts that are often time beyond the power of individuals to solve.”

One of the goals of climate action is to strengthen public knowledge and awareness to drive collective action. Collective action is the foundational strategy to bringing about the change we need in Nigeria.

The major sustaining element under capitalism is consumption, without the consumers, there is no profit. When Nigerians begin to patronise products made from low carbon emission businesses or more generally, green businesses, it’d reflect on market data. Since businesses tend towards profit maximisation, they’ll adjust to accommodate the growing trend.

It’s however not as simple as it appears because you require a certain level of awareness, eco -consciousness and, in fact, green businesses (environmentally conscious companies) in Nigeria to achieve this and this is where it gets complicated.

Consumers must be able to access the environmental reports of companies whom they are patronizing which assume that consumers are capable of doing this, information like this is often embedded in other complex data which might make the whole process difficult.

How can a customer tell if Pepsi is more eco-friendly than Coca-Cola? And why should they care? This is where climate journalism comes in, our goal is to make hidden information that are environmentally consequential known and widely accessible to the public in comprehensible form. Coca-Cola has won numerous ESG performance awards, whether they have been committing diligently to their clean production pledge is not something we’re going to consider here. The more the ESG performance information are available and accessible, and the better the quality of Nigeria consumer’s eco-consciousness, the easier it gets for consumers to make “green” choices.

There are various limitations to consumers power in influencing companies’ behaviour, and one of them is that consumer choice cannot influence the extent to which companies strive to reduce their GHG emissions, invest in renewables, incorporate energy efficient equipment and strategies, and manage water, etc. Consumers can only base their choice on already-available environmental performance.

In Nigeria, just like anywhere else, companies rely on equity financing, which offers shareholders a measurable quality of power in influencing companies’ behaviour. In the case of oil and gas production in Nigeria, consumers have limited power due to a lack of adequate and affordable energy source alternatives. Where consumer power is lacking, shareholders can fill the gap.

For shareholder activism to be possible in Nigeria there has to be a dignifying number of environmentally conscious shareholders, investors who incorporate climate change and environmental concerns in their investment strategies.

According to a 2019 study, many Nigerian companies are silent on environmental information disclosure, green investors should be willing to take at least two steps; the first is to hold company executives accountable for their environmentally consequential actions, the second being decarbonisation of their portfolio. There is evidence suggesting that in relation to decarbonisation, investors behave in a herd-like manner: green investors initiate the process while other investors imitate. Whether this behavior pattern exists in Nigeria is inconclusive and open to research, however it’s a general trend.

Green accounting in Nigeria has been shown to increase shareholders value, when companies have high ESG performance, they appear to be ethical in their profit-making activities, which increase their public attractiveness. This attractiveness influences the price of their stocks and thus market capitalization, increasing shareholders’ value.

Shareholders’ value should be understood as the value a shareholder receives from a company as dividend and share price appreciation due to exceptional decision-making process by the management that leads to the growth of sales and profit for the company.

It has also been shown that green accounting improves the financial performance of companies in Nigeria.

So, through the disclosure of environmental report so that investors can make reasonable investment decision, the disclosure of sustainable report for the sake of transparency to both consumers and shareholders, and the willingness of consumers to drive climate action through their consumption preference which is dependent on shareholders and consumer action, Nigeria as a developing country can actively participate in achieving the Paris agreement goals.

“In a country like Nigeria where the quality of environmental literacy is poor, strengthening the awareness level will further buttress the demand for green accountability and transparency in companies which would help combat climate change.”

By Greatson Odion

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