Policy brief by Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria

This policy brief serves to aid policy for land management especially in Cross River State, Nigeria. Following incessant conflicts between communities and investors (individuals, companies, multinational etc.) within the rainforest communities in Nigeria, and Cross River state in particular, Environmental Right Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FOEN) conducted a study anchored on bottom-up accountability and governance: securing community tenure rights to land in impacted communities in Betem, Akpet, Idoma and Akamkpa in Cross River State Nigeria. Relevant government agencies need to act on recommendations which include respect for communal land rights, a halt to depreciation, eviction and destruction of rural livelihoods

Policy brief by Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria

This policy brief serves to aid policy for land management especially in Cross River State, Nigeria. Following incessant conflicts between communities and investors (individuals, companies, multinational etc.) within the rainforest communities in Nigeria, and Cross River state in particular, Environmental Right Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FOEN) conducted a study anchored on bottom-up accountability and governance: securing community tenure rights to land in impacted communities in Betem, Akpet, Idoma and Akamkpa in Cross River State Nigeria. Relevant government agencies need to act on recommendations which include respect for communal land rights, a halt to depreciation, eviction and destruction of rural livelihoods

Digging deep the oil world: corporate liability and environmental justice strategies

The impacts provoked by the expanding oil industry encompass environmental destruction, health impacts and violations of human rights. The increasing contamination jeopardizes safe conditions of life and destroys means of livelihood of vulnerable communities and of those relying on healthy ecosystems. Local communities, feeling that they are simply sacrificed to the oil industry, see themselves involved in social conflict. They are experiencing forms of environmental discrimination and might even face criminalisation of the protest when they stand up to defend their rights promoting the chilly effect on others who need and want to defend themselves and the environment. In fact, the number of lawsuits demanding justice for environmental, social, economical and cultural damages provoked by oil companies are increasing as well as their media visibility. Yet most outcomes are not satisfactory in tackling impacted communities claims for justice. This paper describes the most recent trends regarding oil corporations’ responsibilities and use of procedural justice by civil society through the review of emblematic legal cases

The legal implications of gas flaring on climate change in Nigeria

Global atmospheric concentration of substances that trap heat causing warming and change of climate is caused mostly by man’s activities- anthropogenic. Since efforts to curtail anthropogenic climate change commenced and countries came together to agree under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon emissions, incidentally a larger percentage of the world was left out, constituting the developing countries, some of which eventually turn out to become leading carbon emitters, like Nigeria and others. Nigeria is a large carbon emitter through its oil exploration activities involving gas flaring. The country’s mainstay is its oil which predominantly dominates its revenue profile. The consequences of its gas flaring are enormous, which constitutes a threat to its environment and to the entire region. Keywords: Gas flaring, oil exploration, legislation, pollution, environment

Model land use bill 2019 : proposed bill for the establishment of lands use and allocation commission

A new Model Land Use Bill is proposed to address the lapses identified in the Nigerian Land Use Act (LUA, 1978), such as poor administrative system for lands, ownership, and the absence of community participation. This policy brief promotes a new land management structure for ease of business, to improve social and environmental protection, and to reduce land-grabbing by dispossession. The impact of land grabbing is one of many problems of social and environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and livelihoods impacted by deforestation. Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria is a Nigerian advocacy group dedicated to the non-violent defense of the human ecosystem in terms of human rights

Compensation for expropriated community farmland in Nigeria: An in-depth analysis of the laws and practices related to land expropriation for the lekki free trade zone in lagos

In Nigeria, the recurring impoverishment and other negative socioeconomic impacts endured by landholders affected by expropriation are well-documented and call into question the Land Use Act’s (LUA) effectiveness in protecting local land rights. The World Bank’s Land Governance Assessment Framework found that, in Nigeria, “a large number of acquisitions occurs without prompt and adequate compensation, thus leaving those losing land worse off, with no mechanism for independent appeal even though the land is often not utilized for a public purpose”. Such negative outcomes may be due to a number of factors, including corruption, limited capacity, and insufficient financing as well as Nigeria’s weak legal framework. According to a recent study of compensation procedures established in national laws of 50 countries, Nigeria’s compensation procedure lags behind many of the countries assessed because the LUA mostly fails to adopt international standards on the valuation of compensation. This article examines Nigerian expropriation and compensation procedures in more detail by combining both an in-depth legal analysis of Nigeria’s expropriation laws as well as survey and qualitative research that indicates, to some extent, how expropriation laws function in practice in Nigeria. Based on our legal assessment, surveys, and interviews with both government and private sector officials involved in the LFTZ, we found that the Nigerian government failed to comply with international standards on expropriation and compensation, both in terms of its laws and its practices in the LFTZ case. This article expands our conference paper written for the UN Economic Commission of Africa Conference on Land Policy in Africa, which took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November of 2017. Under Nigeria’s LUA, affected landholders are not granted the right to participate in expropriation and compensation decision-making or otherwise be consulted on matters affecting their land and livelihoods. In 2004, the LUA enabled the Lagos State government to set aside 16,500 hectares of expropriated agricultural land from Lagos coastal communities to develop the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ). Following the expropriation, the Lagos State Government (LSG) and Lekki Worldwide Investment Limited signed a Memorandum of Understand (MOU) with nine affected communities in 2007. The MOU is a legally binding document that promises compensation, alternative land, jobs, healthcare, and educational opportunities to the communities affected by expropriation. However, our research suggests that the MOU has not been fully honored. According to a survey of 140 affected households conducted in August 2017, the government still had not paid sufficient compensation to all affected communities or had not yet provided them with suitable alternative land, jobs, equity shares and other entitlements promised by the MOU. While there are several reasons why the MOU has not been honored, this article mainly focuses on the failure of the LUA to establish binding obligations on government officials to compensation, resettle, and reconstruct the livelihoods of affected landholders. This article argues that the LUA must be reformed so that, whenever land is expropriated for development projects, the government and private sector entities (i.e., acquiring bodies) have a legal obligation to provide sufficient and prompt compensation, alternative land, jobs, equity shares, and other entitlements to affected landholders. Moreover, the LUA should obligate the government and acquiring bodies to follow a transparent and participatory process when expropriating land and compensating communities so that, if properly enforced, the reformed LUA can mitigate the risks commonly associated with expropriation, including landholder impoverishment, displacement, food insecurity, and conflict

Assessment of Physicochemical Characteristics of Produced Water from Terminals of Some Oil Industry Facilities in Nigeria

This study evaluated the physico-chemical characteristics, total hydrocarbon concentration (THC) and some heavy metal levels of produced water from terminals of two oil industry facilities in Nigeria, using standard methods. Appropriate sample bottles were used in the collection of samples for analyses of BOD, other  physico-chemical characteristics, total hydrocarbon and heavy metals. The samples were preserved accordingly and transported to the laboratory in ice - packed coolers. The levels of the physico-chemical properties of produced water in the two locations, showed that mean temperature, pH, TDS, TSS, salinity and turbidity levels were: 24.40± 0.35oC – 25.50 ± 0.35oC; 7.49 ± 0.28 – 7.89 ± 0.30; 8428 ±2332mg/l – 9205 ± 2100mg/l; 8.50 ± 3.40mg/l – 14.30 ± 5.10mg/l; 6108± 1250mg/l – 7422 ± 2280mg/l and 16.00 ± 5.00 NTU – 37.00 ± 9.60 NTU respectively. DO and BOD levels were respectively 3.07 ± 0.40mg/l – 3.29 ± 0.40mg/l and 1.46 ± 0.38mg/l – 1.72 ± 0.48mg/l. COD levels did not vary between the two locations. Mean TOC levels ranged between 0.05 ± 0.02mg/l and 0.06 ± 0.02mg/l while mean THC ranged between 4.72 ± 1.59mg/l and 36.90 ± 3.03mg/l. The levels of the nutrient characteristics of nitrate, phosphate and sulphate ranged as  follows: NO3 - (1.90 ± 1.16mg/l – 2.50 ± 0.26mg/l); PO4 3- (0.52 ± 0.12mg/l – 1.07 ± 0.12mg/l) and SO4 2- (14.40 ± 4.57mg/l – 21.70 ± 2.75mg/l). Levels of trace metals ( Pb, Ni, V, Cd, Hg and Cr) were below detection limits. However, the concentration of Fe ranged between 0.53 ± 0.11mg/l 1.06 ± 0.26mg/l. With the exception of salinity, TDS and TSS, the levels of other physico- chemical characteristics including the trace metals were within the permissible limits set out by Nigeria’s Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).KEY WORDS: Physico- chemical characteristics, Produced water, oil terminals, Heavy metals, oil industryfacility

Political economy of the petroleum sector in Nigeria

The relatively slow pace of Nigeria's development has often been attributed to the phenomenon of the resource curse whereby the nature of the state as a"rentier"dilutes accountability for development and political actors are able to manipulate institutions to sustain poor governance. The impact of the political elite's resource-control and allocation of revenues on core democratic mechanisms is central to understand the obstacles to development and governance failure. Given that problems of petroleum sector governance are extremely entrenched in Nigeria, the key question is whether and how it is possible to get out of a poor equilibrium after fifty years of oil production. This paper uses a political economy perspective to analyze the governance weaknesses along the petroleum sector value chain and attempts to establish the links between challenges in sector regulation and the following major political and economic attributes: (i) strong executive control on petroleum governance in a political environment of weak checks and balances; (ii) regulatory and operating roles bundled into one institution, thereby creating conflict of interest; and (iii) manipulation of elections and political appointments. The restoration of democratic government has helped improve transparency and management of oil revenue and reforms at the federal level and proposed reforms of the petroleum sector hold much promise. At the same time, the judiciary has started to restore confidence that it will serve as a check and balance on the executive and the electoral process. Yet, these reforms are fragile and need to be deepened and institutionalized. They must be addressed not as purely technocratic matters but as issues of political economy and vested interests that must, through regulation and reform, be aligned with the public interest and a vision of Nigerian development.National Governance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Oil Refining&Gas Industry,Energy Production and Transportation,Public Sector Corruption&Anticorruption Measures

Effect of Environmental Degradation on the Inhabitants of Obodo Community in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria

This study examines the effect of environmental degradation on the inhabitants of Obodo community in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State in the Niger Delta Region (NDR) of Nigeria. The study utilized structured questionnaires that were randomly administered to 105 recipients, of who 80 responded.  These respondents represent a cross-section of the stakeholders (oil industry/company workers, farmers, teachers, transporters as well as public servants). The questionnaire consisted of 20 structured questions grouped into two categories to cover various aspect of oil and gas related environmental pollutions.  Simple percentages and chi-squared test were employed in analyzing the collected data. The study showed that there were significant relationship between environmental degradation and economic hardship within Obodo community in the NDR of Nigeria.  The study recommends that Government and the various oil companies should always take steps to enhance, resuscitate and improve on the environmental related challenges of the communities within the Niger Delta