The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations operating in Nigeria called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday to immediately halt the planned divestment of Shell from the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) in the Niger Delta region.
The Coalition, led by the Executive Director of the Civil Society Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Comrade Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, spoke during a World press conference in Abuja.
They also urged the President and the National Assembly to put necessary regulatory and legislative mechanisms in place to ensure that Multinational Companies/IOCs operating in the country give an account of their stewardship before existing or divesting their investments.
Comrade Rafsanjani confirmed that copies of the petition have been sent to President Tinubu, Senate President Senator Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon. Tajudeen Abbas for necessary regulatory and legislative measures.
He stated, “We are here as Civil Society to ensure that this country is not used and dumped by the multinational corporations who have continued to destroy not only the environment but also human beings and the livelihood of the people, especially in the Niger Delta.
“Today, I have the privilege of speaking on behalf of a coalition of civil society leaders, brought together by the concerted efforts of Social Action Nigeria, CISLAC, the Africa Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Stakeholder Democracy Network, Civil Rights Council (CRC), Praxis Academy, Transparency International Nigeria, Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Policy Alert, and several other Nigerian and international organizations.
“We are here to address a matter of profound urgency and significance – the proposed divestment of Shell from the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) in the Niger Delta. This divestment, which involves the transfer of Shell’s stakes to the Renaissance Consortium, presents us with a critical moment that could shape the future of the Niger Delta and its people for generations to come.
“The Niger Delta, as many of you are aware, has borne the brunt of environmental degradation and social injustices for decades, a direct consequence of the oil exploration and production activities in the region.
“The planned divestment by Shell, without a comprehensive resolution of these long-standing issues, poses an unacceptable risk to the region’s ecological integrity and the well-being of the consortium itself.
“So, what we are saying is that there’s no way Shell, which has destroyed the environment and the livelihood of the people in the Niger Delta, will simply want to leave the country without being held accountable for its activities and transfer all these wrongdoings to another Consortium to continue doing that.
That is why we are worried and concerned that the Federal Government needs to understand that there’s no way multinational organisations will be coming to Nigeria to dump and destroy the environment and get away just like that, leaving the communities in poverty, in completely devastated conditions without holding that company to account for its activities against the people and communities in the Niger Delta.
“In response to this critical situation, our coalition, representing a broad spectrum of civil society organizations and community leaders, has submitted a joint petition to President Bola Tinubu. This petition, endorsed by over a thousand signatories, calls for an immediate halt to Shell’s divestment plans until a transparent, inclusive, and just review process is undertaken.”
While calling on the Federal Government to ensure stringent compliance with environmental and social standards, as outlined in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry Act 2021, the Coalition also tasked Nigerian regulatory authorities to conduct a thorough assessment of the Renaissance consortium’s technical and financial capabilities to manage the environmental challenges in the Niger Delta responsibly. The assessment must include detailed plans for spill prevention, emergency response, and environmental restoration.
To this end, the Coalition advocated for the creation of an Environmental Restoration Fund, with contributions from Shell. This fund should focus on environmental restoration and community development projects in the Niger Delta, with transparent management and active community participation.
On his part, the Executive Director of Praxis Academy, Comrade Jaye Gaskia, stressed that “this is about the country and all of us; environmental issues do not have boundaries. Environmental devastation may directly impact a particular community, but the boundaries are far and wide.
The destruction that is happening to groundwater tomorrow is across Nigeria and even across the borders of Nigeria.
“And we should also understand something, which is why we are here. It looks like the more the campaign to hold the fossil fuels companies responsible for the damage to the environment and particularly for global warming, the more they are trying to also make the transition to divest or transition from fossil fuel energy companies into renewables; they are actually investing in renewables.
“What they are simply doing is, they are running away from their responsibilities; they’re leaving their responsibilities for others to bear.
So, the important point that we are making today is very simple, we are not against business; people can transact businesses that they want to transact, it’s good for them.
“But we are saying no business should be transacted in a manner that the historical legacies of the damage that Shell and Shell’s activities in the Niger Delta had done to the Niger Delta environment and done to the global environment in terms of its contribution to global warming that Shell cannot divest its responsibilities and historical responsibilities and so Shell may sell their shares, but they cannot divest those responsibilities that they owe to the people of the Niger Delta, they owe to the people of Nigeria and the world.
“Any responsible government should approach such divestment not only from the revenue aspect but also from the perspective of the interest of the people, in the interest of our collective environment. So we are saying every transition creates an opportunity to hold Shell accountable.”
In his remarks, the Programmes Coordinator of Social Action Nigeria, Isaac Botti, who noted that the ongoing campaign is centered on Shell’s planned divestment, stressed that the campaign is for the Nigerian Government to develop a very robust divestment process for all multinational corporations that are based in Nigeria.
Comrade Isaac said: “It is important for us to note that it is not only Shell that will be leaving Nigeria or divesting investments in Nigeria. As the world looks at energy transition or transiting from fossil fuels to clean energy, a lot of divestment will take place, and if that happens, what we are saying is there is a need to have an institutionalized process that helps to manage divestment whenever they come up with their plans, firstly, such that it is responsible and accountable.
“So, oil companies or oil multinationals in Nigeria should not just feel that after years or decades of environmental pollution, the destruction of livelihood and the ecosystem in the Niger Delta in Nigeria will be pardoned just all in the name of divestment. Something needs to be done.
“That is why we are calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure that he puts in place mechanisms to ensure a fair and just divestment process that allows the citizens to benefit from the restoration that will come as a result of this divestment.
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And that the mechanism is supported by a strong regulatory framework that will ensure that the future of Nigeria and the Niger Delta are secured and free from the calamity that the oil companies have brought upon them.”
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