WILBERFORCE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES (WJSS)
ISSN: 2504 – 9232
Volume 3, No. 1, March 2018
Pages 1-13
DOI: 10.36108/wjss/8102.30.0110
IMPLEMENTATION OF NIGERIA NATURAL RESOURCE CHARTER: A FRAMEWORK FOR ADDRESSING OIL MINING COST IN THE NIGER DELTA
FIDELIS ALLEN
Abstract
Good governance of natural resources in resource-rich countries has always faced a huge challenge. Making natural resource governance more responsive to the needs of the people and their environment is a key concern among those who argue that sustainable extraction is crucial for development. In the case of oil and gas, regimes, — regulations, laws, policies and institutions– have continued to evolve, as part of efforts by governments to manage these resources in affected countries. Yet, regime performance has persistently fallen below expectations, especially in the developing world. Failure has been noticed in many areas, including flawed extractive activities, violation of human rights and insensitivity to community and environmental wellbeing. Academics and practitioners of repute prepared the Natural Resource Charter (NRC) to serve as a framework for influencing governance of natural resources in the direction of development. Does the charter have prospects of helping to build a language of policy advocacy with governments, companies, civil society and host communities for the purpose of improving resource governance? Relying on secondary data and those derived from a roundtable on delayed impact of clean up of Ogoniland, held in Port Harcourt on 24 November, 2017, (where questions of socio-economic and environmental costs of oil mining were addressed from the perspectives of the Charter), this paper answers slightly affirmatively. This might happen because the precepts themselves proceed on the premise that, making natural resources beneficial to countries depends mainly on governance. It depends on the character of decisions or choices made by citizens, governments and other actors.
Keywords: Nigeria, Resource Charter Framework, Oil Mining Cost, Niger Delta