books

By Tanko Mohammed

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has reported that it would launch two publications that would have direct impact on revenue management and governance of the extractive sector in Nigeria.

Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, NEITI’s director of communications, said in a statement that the books, ‘Impact of Mining on Women, Youth and Others in Selected Communities in Nigeria’ and ‘Perception of the Impact of 13% Oil Derivation Allocation’’, would be launched virtually  on the October 6, 2020.

“‘Impact of Mining on Women, Youth and Others in Selected Communities in Nigeria’ examines the socio-economic and environmental impact of mining on vulnerable groups in Nigeria,” he said, indicating that six communities across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria were selected.

The communities, he said include Enyigba/Ameka in Ebonyi State (South East), Okpella in Edo State (South South), Ilesa in Osun State (South West), Maiganga in Gombe State (North East), Mai-Adudu in Nasarawa State (North Central) and Bagega in Zamfara State (North Central).

He noted that the negative media reports of mining development and the diversity of the minerals mined in these areas informed the proposition for the project.

“The choice of the selected minerals – coal, limestone, gold, lead and zinc – in the producing communities is to establish the correlation between the type of minerals exploited in an area, and to highlight the socio-economic and environmental impacts of the mining activity on women, children and other vulnerable members in the affected communities” he added.

Orji noted that the second publication, “Perception of the Impact of 13% Oil Derivation Allocation” looks at the management of the 13 per cent derivation accruing to oil-bearing communities in Nigeria.

He said the spread, balance and cognisance of states already chosen for the mining research guided the choice of selected states in this project.

“Three oil-bearing states within the 3 regions that produce Nigeria’s crude (South-South, South East & South West) were therefore selected. They are Delta, Imo and Ondo.

“The inauguration of the publications will provide the platform for robust conversations with stakeholders on practical solutions to the issues of management of revenues derived from the extractive sector as well as how to mitigate the negative impacts of mining on vulnerable groups in the mining communities,” he said.

“The publications were made possible through support from Ford Foundation, and they align with NEITI’s Strategic Plan which seeks to scale up the policy impact and relevance of NEITI’s work around extractive sector governance and accountability.