The civil society and the regulation of the extractive industry in Nigeria

This article focuses on the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in impacting on trends and developments in the extractive industry in Nigeria. For example, CSOs take on the government to promote accountability and probity in the management of the sector that is beset by ineffectual regulation; alleged collusion with multinational corporations having as consequences environmental degradation and human rights abuses; and, ineffective judicial processes, among other things. On the other hand, CSOs are increasingly beginning to play prominent roles in collaborations with extractive corporations in the initiation and management of development programmes. In a nutshell, this paper aims to engage with both theoretical (based on the Hood et al conceptualisation of a regulatory regime, which encompasses information gathering, standard setting and behaviour modification activities) and practical frameworks (such as litigation, collaboration and pressure by CSOs) that explain the evolution of CSOs and their “regulatory” roles in Nigeria’s extractive industry. Civil society and civil society organisation are used interchangeably.Keywords: Nigeria, CSOs, extractive industry, regulatory framewor

Methodology, theoretical framework and scholarly significance: An overview of International best practices in legal research

Communicating the results of painstaking legal research efforts is arguably as important as conducting the research itself. Established international publication outlets apply diverse submission guidelines for prospective authors. One common currency, however, is that getting a research paper from conception to publication, as a journal article, book chapter, or forum paper, requires an author to demonstrate a potential contribution to knowledge in the field. This requires a systematic research approach that unpacks contemporary issues in an analytical manner; a clear and concise presentation of ideas with focus on effectiveness; adoption of tested theoretical frameworks to underpin new ideas; and a careful proofreading of manuscript to ensure that a prospective publication meets the expected standards of good quality contribution to theory, practice or policy. This article discusses the indispensable standards and important guidelines that authors should weigh before writing papers for publication, most especially for internationally recognized journals. The authors draw on their experiences as Editorial Board members of national and international journals to unpack key theoretical, methodological and practical issues that legal researchers should consider when developing legal research papers.Keywords: Legal Research, Methodology, Theory, Pedagogy, Legal Training, Scholarshi

Amnesty in the Niger Delta: vertical movement towards self-determination or lateral policy shift?

The inhabitants of Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta region have engaged the State in long-drawn disputes over the ownership and control of oil resources and revenues. While the country’s Constitution vests the absolute ownership and control of oil resources as well as the distribution of oil revenues in the federal government, the Niger Delta communities claim that they are entitled to participate in the industry that exploits resources from their environment. Simply, they claim that the country’s extant laws and the actions of the federal government infringe on their rights to self-determination. The conflicting stance is one of the fundamental causes of violent conflicts that have besieged the region; particularly in the last decade. Coming off the backdrop of peaceful struggles of the Ogoni peoples, considered to be largely ineffectual in achieving the desired objectives, ethnic groups have embraced militancy as a means to force the government and oil multinationals to reckon with their demand for self-determination. The consequent breakdown of law and order in the region and the impacts of shortages in production prompted the federal government to initiate the amnesty initiative in June 2009. Under the amnesty programme, militants were offered a presidential pardon, training opportunities, promises of infrastructure development in the region and direct payments of oil revenues to host-communities. This paper seeks to examine the recent developments vis-à-vis the government’s amnesty initiative to determine if this policy has bridged the gap in the longstanding self-determination demands of the Niger Delta communities

Optimising the Development options in TWCs: Looking beyond Foreign Aid

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.Growth development theorists such as Rowstow have averred that third world countries (TWCs) need foreign Aid to stimulate development and move them into the 'take-off stage' which is characterised by growth and development. However, after decades of aid inflow into TWCs, the majority of TWCs are still struggling to achieve their development objectives. Therefore, it is doubtful if aids alone can jumpstart development in TWCs. This reality has given rise to a plethora of alternate propositions aimed at realising the development objectives of TWCs. The central argument of this paper is that Aid alone cannot improve the status of TWCs. It is further argued in the paper that Aid needs to be complemented by stimulants (initiated within TWCs) such as Remittance, Taxation, and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to solve their economic development problems. To this end, it is suggested that an approach which combines indigenous options with Aid will significantly advance the development objectives of TWCs

Optimising the Development options in TWCs: Looking beyond Foreign Aid

Growth development theorists such as Rowstow have averred that third world countries (TWCs) need foreign Aid to stimulate development and move them into the 'take-off stage' which is characterised by growth and development. However, after decades of aid inflow into TWCs, the majority of TWCs are still struggling to achieve their development objectives. Therefore, it is doubtful if aids alone can jumpstart development in TWCs. This reality has given rise to a plethora of alternate propositions aimed at realising the development objectives of TWCs. The central argument of this paper is that Aid alone cannot improve the status of TWCs. It is further argued in the paper that Aid needs to be complemented by stimulants (initiated within TWCs) such as Remittance, Taxation, and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to solve their economic development problems. To this end, it is suggested that an approach which combines indigenous options with Aid will significantly advance the development objectives of TWCs

Environmental Justice in Nigeria\u27s Oil Industry: Recognizing and Embracing Contemporary Legal Developments

The legal framework regulating Nigeria’s oil industry is one of the major drivers of disputes and the consequent violent conflicts in the oil-rich Niger Delta region. The region has gone through different phases of peaceful and violent struggles as the indigenes of the region aim to achieve environmental justice. The amnesty initiative; the latest attempt to curb the militancy in the region that escalated the violence to new heights, is showing signs of systemic failure after a brief period of relative peace. Militancy in the region has begun to increase as attacks on oil facilities and installations are once again becoming regular occurrences. The reasons for this state of affairs are not far-fetched. They include the government’s failure to address the amnesty initiative holistically especially the prompt review of the legal framework that regulates the oil industry. That notwithstanding, this paper argues that the recent laws and regulations - particularly Constitutional provision and the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, (FREP) 2009 - have made significant contributions to the oil industry’s regulatory framework. Together; precipitated by Nigeria’s maturing democracy, the Constitutional provisions and FREP rules have opened a new vista of opportunities to achieve environmental justice in the oil-rich but poverty stricken region. In a nutshell, these provisions have overcome some extant laws that limited the jurisdiction of the courts to determine oil-related land appropriation and compensation issues as well as simplified the hitherto confusing application of locus standi rules. Indeed, other issues germane to the ownership and management of oil and land remain outstanding. It is posited that recourse may be had to the newly created United Nations Indigenous Peoples Partnership (UNIPP) to promote dialogue between the State and Niger Delta region in accordance with its primary aim that is to enable indigenous peoples fully participate in governance and policy processes at the local and national levels, including conflict prevention in regard to ancestral land and use of natural resources (TOR UNIPP 2010). It is posited that these avenues if explored better serve the cause of justice while limiting recourse to militancy and its attendant negative impacts on the sustainable development of the region’s inhabitants and resources

Resolving the conflicts in Nigeria's oil industry - A critical analysis of the role of public participation

This study examines the role that law plays in producing and exacerbating instability in the Nigerian oil-industry, and how it might serve as a veritable tool in the quest for the restoration of order and legitimate authority, sustainable peace and development in the Niger Delta region that hosts it. The central thesis is that the regulatory framework which governs the oil industry overwhelmingly bestows ownership and control of that strategic sector on the federal government in ways that alienate host oil communities and frustrates these communities from any meaningful participation in the industry. At the same time, traditional subsistence opportunities are foreclosed by the environmental consequences of long years of oil production activities. These situations, in turn, are precipitating the worst kinds of community anomie and disorders as well as a regime of state repression in the Niger Delta. The study utilises the environmental justice theory to analyze Nigeria’s oil-industry’s regulatory framework; particularly those that implicate ownership and management of oil (including the distribution of oil revenues), landholding and environmental protection. A major finding of the study is that these legal provisions not only contribute to the erosion of public trust but also undermine host-communities’ rights to participate actively in the management of the oil-industry. It suggests that attempts to resolve the on-going conflicts have failed, for the most part, due to neglect of the rights-based context in which host- communities are now demanding greater participation and ownership. In essence, notions of ‘recognition’ and ‘distribution’ are central to the resolution of the crisis. It concludes by recommending that environmental human rights should be constitutionally recognized as the foundation for other requisite public participation initiatives

Resolving the conflicts in Nigeria's oil industry - A critical analysis of the role of public participation

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