National Wire About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories
A non-governmental organization, Stakeholders alliance for corporate accountability (SACA) and a team of legal Practitioners have commenced the review of a draft human rights due diligence tools prepared by SACA.
The tool is required to carry out human rights impact assessment in the operational areas of companies in Nigeria.
To this end, the NGO in collaboration with the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) is holding a 2-day programme on human rights due diligence tools review in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital.
National Wire reports that the event had 21 lawyers drawn from four states in the Niger Delta region who are brainstorming on national and regional frameworks that will be used as the basis of assessment.
The lawyers according to SACA were to specifically review national and regional laws relating to environmental impact, land acquisition, land lease and land use.
Others are social impact, impact on indigenous people, community engagement and consultation as well as grievance mechanism.
In the keynote address of the event, the Executive Director of the Stakeholders alliance for corporate accountability (SACA), Mr Kingsley Ozegbe noted that the human rights due diligence tool review is required to guide the work of Human rights due diligence committee (HDDC) in communities inline with the United Nations Guilding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP).
Ozegbe stated that the programme is anchored on the premise of protection, respect and remedy of human rights breaches in communities hosting oil firms.
He said: “Currently, the risks associated with the oil and gas activities in the Niger Delta region are heightening and investment climate is dimming.The oil spillages into the environment are becoming very alarming and 76.24 percent of these spillages are caused by human interference with oil facilities.This prompted stronger teamwork to safeguard humanity and improve environment required to attract investors to create opportunities to absorb working population that is surging daily”.
“On 26th May, 2022, we constituted three strategic Committees to address these threats. Since then, the Environmental Management Committee has been creating awareness in Communities through physical meetings and media platforms to educate the public on the risks associated with high exposure to crude oil and other petroleum products.
“The Agricultural Management committee has been supporting Communities to engage in sustainable agricultural practices, while the Human Rights Due Diligence committee (HDDC) has been creating awareness on human rights and privileges to appropriately guide community actions in seeking the protection, preservation and remedy of their breached rights.”
“The Human rights component of the project had two major events that include the inauguration of the human rights due diligence committee on 26th May, 2022 and the triggers of Human rights that occurred on 30th June, 2022. The Human rights triggers afforded SACA opportunity to hear and integrate the views of 60 participants drawn from community leadership, NGOs and academia.
SACA added that: “Today, we’re gathered to review and reinforce a draft ‘Human Rights Due Diligence Tool with national and regional legal framework that will enable the HDDC to gather data on the project and appropriately advise NAOC’S management to minimize potentials for human rights breaches.”
Also speaking, the head, Legal services and enforcement of Bayelsa state office of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Barr. Goselle Vining commended SACA and NAOC for the partnership.
He pointed out that with the amount of seriousness and good intent with which the NGO and the oil firm were pursuing to ensure human rights due diligence in the oil and gas sector, the Niger Delta region in particular and the nation in general would be gearing up in getting things right and working.
Meanwhile, the Programme manager of SACA, Mr Augustine Anyio has again harped on the importance of Human rights due diligence tools in the operations of oil majors in the nation. He noted that the human rights due diligence tool review became paramount, knowing that the multinationals would leave the country some day, reiterating that if human rights due diligence tools were not adequately put in place, the indigenous oil companies which would soon be leading in the exploration and exploitation of mineral resources in the Niger Delta and other parts of the country would hinge on the absence of human rights due diligence tools to undo their host Communities.
