The civil society and the regulation of the extractive industry in Nigeria (original) (raw)
Related papers
Governance in the Nigerian Extractive Industries: From a Human Development Perspective
“3.5 billion people live in resource-rich countries. Still many are not seeing results from the extraction of their natural resources. And too often poor governance leaves citizens suffering from conflict and corruption.” The “extractive industries” have remained a major source of revenue for many countries of the world blessed with natural resources. Africa is a resource-rich continent and the only continent in the world with regular and constant discovery of new oil fields in the past decade. Africa is endowed with enormous quantities of natural resources which include both renewable and non-renewable resources. However, despite these resources Africa has continued to remain poor, and more underdeveloped than other continents in the world, a problem that has been tagged the “resource curse.” Most African countries depend largely on foreign aid and loans to survive. Some of the factors responsible for this phenomenon include weak democratic governance, lack of transparency and accountability in the management of natural resources, corruption, political instability and incessant conflict. This study evaluates governance in the extractive industries vis-à-vis the governance principles that are essential in the proper management of the extractive industries and its implications for national development using Nigeria as a case study. It equally investigates why the enormous resources in most developing countries are yet to translate into meaningful social and human development outcomes despite efforts made to improve governance within the EI. The paper argues that it is the responsibility of the government to use the oil revenue to provide for the total well-being of her citizens and to deliver public goods to them. The government is meant to create employment, build infrastructure, and provide health care, education, electricity, security and an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. And therefore this paper considers how the extractive industry can be used or maximized to achieve not only economic growth but more importantly human development. Nigeria has been selected as a case study taking into consideration her significant position in Africa. Nigeria is a country situated within the sub-Saharan region of the African continent and often referred to as the ‘Giant of Africa’. Also, Nigeria is a country richly blessed with enormous natural resources especially oil and gas. However the country is faced with several challenges which include governance, poverty and low level of human development among others. The level of poverty in the country contradicts the enormous wealth of resources. The paper is divided into four sections. The first section gives the general introduction including the background, statement of problem, aim of the study, research methodology and a brief literature review. The second section examines specifically the issue of governance in the extractive industry and governance principles such as transparency, accountability, control of corruption and rule of law that are essential in the management of a nation’s resources and the relationship between governance and development. The third section focuses on the way revenues from natural resources can be maximized specifically for the development of citizens as beneficiary of their resources. The fourth section is the summary and conclusion."
African Human Rights Law Journal, 2018
The discovery of oil and gas in Uganda has been identified as having the potential to transform Uganda’s economy, moving Uganda away from a predominantly low-income to a competitive upper-middle-income country by 2040. However, this discovery has precipitated human rights violations and abuses, especially in the Albertine Graben, where the oil exploration activities are concentrated. For example, the acquisition of land for oil related infrastructure has changed the patterns of use of land and water, and people are already experiencing negative effects, such as a loss of livelihood and resources. Civil society organisations aimed at addressing these human rights issues in the sector face a number of hurdles despite constitutional protection and ratification of international instruments that guarantee fundamental rights for CSO operations in the country. Currently, CSOs are governed by the recently-enacted Non-Governmental Organisations Act of 2016. This Act is accompanied by other laws, such as the Public Order Management Act. These laws have created several stumbling blocks that have frustrated CSO efforts in the fulfilment of their mandate. The weight of these laws is especially felt by NGOs working on sensitive issues such as natural resource governance. The article analyses the impact of the legislative framework governing CSOs, specifically the NGO Act, on organisations addressing or working on oil and gas issues in Uganda. In addition to the NGO Act, other pieces of legislation that have a direct bearing on the activities of these organisations are also analysed.
Preventing the Oil Curse Situation in Ghana: The Role of Civil Society Organisations
Since Ghana started commercial production of oil in 2011, the overarching concern has been how to avoid a resource curse. This article examines the role civil society organisations (CSOs) have played in preventing Ghana from falling into the oil curse situation. It notes specific civil society initiatives that aim to promote transparency and accountability in oil governance. The Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas has facilitated the creation of legislative frameworks, checks and monitoring systems to keep government and oil companies on their toes even though weak capacity, politicisation and lack of access to infor- mation remain a challenge to CSOs’ effective mobilisation. They need to pursue collaborative rather than adversarial relationships with the government, pro- mote participatory learning in their internal management and instigate the government to promote macroeconomic stability, wealth creation, infrastructure development and employment for the youth with oil revenues.
Civil society’s role in petroleum sector governance: The case of Tanzania
2019
Kendra Dupuy CMI Lise Rakner CMI/UiB Lucas Katera Repoa Good governance in the management of natural resources is now recognized by scholars and policy makers as key to ensuring that countries can prevent and escape the resource curse and translate resource wealth into inclusive economic development. Civil society is considered a key actor in ensuring good natural resource governance. Civil society organizations (CSOs) provide information, have moral legitimacy to set the resource governance agenda, can help to democratize power in resource management, and can work to keep other resource governance actors like government and companies accountable. Donors can support these critical functions of CSOs in the Tanzanian context by continuing to provide financial and political support to CSOs, and by involving them in debate and policy making. In the current political environment, it is vital that donors continue to communicate to the Government of Tanzania the importance of CSO involveme...