By Agbonkhese Oboh
A delegation of rights groups, led by the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, is in Norway to raise awareness among citizens’ groups, community leaders and decision-makers about oil companies’ roles in human rights violations in Nigeria.
Among the key stakeholders the activists will be engaging is the Norwegian Oil Fund (Norges Bank Investment Management – NBIM).
According to ANEEJ Executive Director, Rev. David Ugolor, other members of the delegation are Celestine Nkabari, leader of Ogoni Solidarity Forum and the Peoples Advancement Centre; Affiah Bridget, Executive Director, Ideal Women Advancement Initiative, and Goodluck Odua Macaulay, Campaign Officer for the Niger Delta Youth Alliance, NIDYA.
Ugolor said: ”The visit to Norway will provide an opportunity to get a clear response from NBIM about their investment in Nigeria.
“Also, about our earlier invitation to investors to visit the Niger Delta to assess the environmental impact of oil and gas exploration in the region.”
For AkpoBare, “We are confident that we will be able to bring together civil society organisations in Norway and make way for further work on NBIM around climate change and fossil fuels.”
“We hope that our visit to Norway’s capital will be an opportunity for the Oil Fund to provide answers to the current injustices and live up to its ambitions of becoming the ‘world-leading responsible investor’,” Affiah Bridget added.
Earlier, in May, ANEEJ led over 30 Nigerian NGOs to write a letter to NBIM’s CEO, Nicolai Tangen.
In the letter, they stated that Norway’s Oil Fund has provided powerful financial and moral support for oil exploration in Nigeria.
“Not much has been achieved with the Ogoni clean-up and it seems that you and your staff are at risk of being misled (by an oil firm) and its representatives.
“The Nigerian groups invited NBIM staff to go to the Niger Delta to undertake a fact-finding mission to see the true state of affairs,” the letter read in part.