THE indigenes of Ibeno local government area of Akwa Ibom state, have demanded due consultation and comprehensive audit from ExxonMobil on the restoration of their land before any divestment would happen...
On the 15th of August 2022, We the People and partners continued their Divestment Dialogue at Ibeno community, this time focused on ExxonMobil’s plan to sell-off its oil assets and leave the community. The Ibeno people not only raised alarm that the company is about to leave behind several decades’ worth of environmental degradation and…
Joinkrama Community is a vivid example of the negative impacts of oil extraction on people. Joinkrama is a collection of 4 settlements located in Ahoada West local government area of Rivers state. It lies along the Orashi river which cuts through many parts of the community and provides support for fishing and farming which is…
On June 23, 2022, frontline civil society organizations, socio-cultural groups, academics, traditional rulers and individuals drawn from the Niger Delta states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers gathered at the city of Uyo in Akwa Ibom state to discuss the socio ecological issues that currently confront the region…
Concerned by growing environmental, livelihood and climate change threats facing the Niger Delta region, civil society organizations, oil producing community members, academics and leaders drawn from the Niger Delta gathered in the city of Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital on the 23rd of June 2022 to articulate the different issues and develop a strategy…
Press Statement The Community of Practice Against Mass Atrocities in Nigeria, under the auspices of Nigeria Mourns, unequivocally condemns the vile atrocities committed against worshippers at the St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State on the 5th of June 2022. We mourn these deaths as we extend our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the bereaved…
By Ken Henshaw First published on New Internationalist The two largest transnational oil companies operating in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, Shell and ExxonMobil, are packing up and leaving. Both companies have announced separate plans to sell off their assets as soon as they find buyers and to leave the Niger Delta, where they have extracted crude oil…
On the 23 rd of April 2022, another artisanal refining site in the Niger Delta exploded, killing over 100 persons and injuring dozens. The explosion which occurred near Ohaji-Egbema local government area of Imo state, on the border with Rivers State, also burnt off large sections of the adjoining forest, seriously impacting the environment and…
Press Statement Issued by Civil Society Organisations Across Nigeria We, as civil society organisations and citizen groups across Nigeria note with concern the worsening state of insecurity in Nigeria. We, therefore, call on the government to take urgent steps to fulfil its constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and property as enunciated in Section 14 (2) (b)…
In this interview, Ken Henshaw explains why Nigerians are demanding reparations for over 60 years of Shell oil extraction (First published on Open Democracy) Ken Henshaw is the executive director of We the People, a non-governmental organisation based in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Henshaw works closely with local communities to expand civic engagement and organise…
Society Organisations, Health Of Mother Earth Foundation, HOMEF, and ‘We The People’ have said that the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria is the most polluted region in the world. The groups called on stakeholders in the oil sector to take action on the ongoing divestments from onshore assets. Rising from their advocacy program on Saturday, March 19,…
On the 9th of March 2022, the Health of Mother Earth Foundation and We the People invited Niger Delta communities and civil society activists to a one-day conversation on the recently approved Nigerian Petroleum Industry Act. The event which held at the Ken Saro Wiwa Centre in Port Harcourt, also provided an open space to…
By Kehinde Ogunyale of We the People’s Communication Team The latest Corruption Perceptions Index ranking by global anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International has placed Nigeria as the second most corrupt country in West Africa. Nigeria tops the list of 15 most corrupt countries in the region. Transparency International revealed that Nigeria scored 24 out of 100 points…
By Kehinde Ogunyale of We the People’s Communication Team The latest Corruption Perceptions Index ranking by global anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International has placed Nigeria as the second most corrupt country in West Africa. Nigeria tops the list of 15 most corrupt countries in the region. Transparency International revealed that Nigeria scored 24 out of 100…
On the 13thof December 2021, We the People hosted a delegation of community activists and climate justice campaigners from Senegal in its Port Harcourt office. The exchange visit which is part of We the People’s plan to collaboratively establish a West Africa Climate Justice Movement, provided an opportunity for climate and environmental activists from both countries…
This is an investigative Report by We the People into the drivers and circumstances of over 500 children who live on the streets of Calabar. The females are called ‘Lacasera girls’, a reference to their availability for sexual activities at the cost of a Lacasera drink. The boys are called ‘Skolombo’ roughly translating crackhead or psychopath.…
At a Town Hall Meeting in Calabar held on the 22nd of November 2021, We the People publicly presented its latest research publication focused on the phenomenon of street children in Calabar, a phenomenon which has achieved atrocious notoriety. The report which is the product of painstaking research over a period of 1 year makes profonde…
On the 22 nd of October 2021, a select group of Ogoni leaders attended a parley at State House with President Muhammadu Buhari. Among other issues, the President stated that the ‘federal government will consider the request for the grant of pardon to finally close the Ogoni saga’. The President made this commitment to ‘consider’ a…
On the 20th of August 2021, following an Appeal Court ruling denying Shell ownership and access to OML 11 mostly located around the area of the Ogoni ethnic nationality, and handing same over to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, a statement from the NNPC has instructed the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC to immediately take…
Following extensive research conducted by We the People on the negative impacts of oil extraction on communities of the Niger Delta, a validation town hall meeting was held in Port Harcourt on the 23rd of August, 2021. The meeting which brought together stakeholders from various oil and gas producing communities across the region, featured narratives and…
Distinguished ladies and Gentlemen of the Media, The current version of the Petroleum Industry Bill failed to address community, economic and environmental concerns. We have convened this briefing and dialogue to review the state of our environment including the contentious PIB. Recall that only a few days ago, Nigeria’s Federal House of Representatives passed the…
Socially relevant and need-meeting organisations in partnership with civil society movements have called on Nigerians to massively reject the long-expected PIB as it has failed to address fundamental issues.
A group of four not-for-profit organisations – Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), We the People, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (FoEN) – in Lagos on Wednesday, July 7, 2021 at a media session rejected the PIB because, according to them, it fails to address key issues.
Civil society groups have rejected “the current version” of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) for failure to address community, economic and environmental concerns.”
…Bill Negates Nigeria’s Commitment To Paris Agreement Fault PIB For Giving Oil Companies Overriding Power To Nominate All Members of BoT of Host Communities Call For Deletion Of Clause Seeking To Make Communities Forfeit Benefits Over Act Of Vandalism
Cross River state has the largest remaining forests in Nigeria. While the country has lost 0ver 90% of its original forest cover, an estimated 50% of what remains is in the forests of Cross River state. In 2008, a unilateral state government moratorium on use of forest products resulted in the adoption of the United…
Rivers state, among other states in the Niger Delta region has become notorious for the occurrence of atrocious killings. In the last 5 years at least, there has been a steady rise in the prominence of killings perpetrated by state and non state actors, once again highlighting Rivers state as a major flashpoint for these…
#NigeriaBleeds Following its sharp increase of 43% in mass atrocities 2020, Nigeria has continued to experience a decline in security across the nation. In the first quarter of 2021(January to March), we recorded an all-time quarterly high of almost 2000 fatalities from mass atrocities incidents across the country. This week, across the 6 geopolitical zones, there…
Since Nigeria’s Fourth Republic began in 1999, the eight oil and gas producing states have received over N9 trillion under the derivation principle sanctioned by the nation’s constitution.
A Conversation with Chairman of the Cross River State Forestry Commission …Responsible for the largest remaining forest in Nigeria, and destination of REDD+ We the People: Our researches indicate a high rate of logging in the reserved forests of Cross River state, which will in turn reinforce climate change impacts. What is the state government’s response…
The chances of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to address problems in the oil sector, especially those which have to do with host communities, have got slimmer as host communities and some Civil Societies (CSO) have rejected the Bill for not accommodating their interests.
Room 028, the venue of the public hearing on the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB was thrown into pandemonium on Thursday following a fight by some members of the host communities of crude oil reserves in the Niger Delta.
On the 26th of March 2021, We the People and partner, Policy Alert held a Niger Delta Regional Conference on the Petroleum Industry Bill 2020 to presents findings from its review of the Bill and engagements with communities in the Niger Delta. In his Keynote remarks, the Public Relations Officer of the Pan Niger Delta Forum…
*This chat with the Executive Director of We the People was conducted by Budgit on Twitter and first published on Medium in October 2020 The challenges of benefit transfer to host communities in oil producing states is certainly not a new conversation. In fact, the discourse has been a laser focus in recent years, with perceptive…
*This chat with the Executive Director of We the People was conducted by Budgit on Twitter and first published on Medium in October 2020 The challenges of benefit transfer to host communities in oil producing states is certainly not a new conversation. In fact, the discourse has been a laser focus in recent years, with…
Chapter 3 of the 2020 Petroleum Industry Bill makes provisions for the establishment and management of a petroleum host community development trust, as a framework for the transfer of development benefits to petroleum host communities. The objectives include to foster sustainable prosperity within host communities, provide direct social and economic benefits from petroleum operations to host…
In contribution to the ongoing national legislative conversation on the Petroleum Industry Bill 2020, We the People led a delegation of oil producing communities and CSO to the Public Hearing at the National Assembly. We presented a Memo containing concerns with the Bill and recommendations. Download Full Report
On the 9th and 10th of February 2021, We the People and Partners organized a 2- Workshop to examine the impacts of climate change on food security in Southern Nigeria. Since at least 2012, several communities in the Niger Delta especially those lying around or bordered by rivers, have experienced annual floods that overwhelm massive part…
At least 48 persons were murdered in extra judicial circumstances in Rivers state between July and December 2020. We the People’s human rights accountability team recorded 31 incidents of atrocity in the period. The spate of killings reflects a general climate of insecurity and lawlessness which continues to highlight Rivers state in atrocious murders. Unfortunately, these…
