By Edu Abade
The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has led a delegation to Norway to engage with the Norwegian Oil Fund (Norges Bank Investment Management–NBIM) and other key stakeholders to raise awareness about the destructive activities of the fossil fuel extractive industry.
This followed after a successful campaign to get the Church of England to divest from Shell and other oil and gas companies who jettisoned climate commitments for their short term profits.
Part of the mission of the Nigerian Speakers Tour to Norway is to raise awareness among citizens groups, community leaders and decision-makers about Shell’s destruction in Nigeria, as well as oil companies’ role in human rights violation, infractions and climate change.
Executive Director of ANEEJ, who is leader of the delegation, Rev. David Ugolor, disclosed this shortly before their departure at the weekend.
Other members of the team include Celestine Akpobari Nkabari, leader of Ogoni Solidarity Forum and the Peoples Advancement Centre, Affiah Foh Bridget, Executive Director, Ideal Women Advancement Initiative and Goodluck Odua Macaulay, Campaign Officer for the Niger Delta Youth Alliance (NIDYA).
“The visit to Norway will provide opportunity to get a clear response from NBIM about their investment in Shell and our earlier invitation to investors to visit Niger Delta to assess the environmental impact of oil and gas exploration in the region,” Ugolor said.
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“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,” Akpobare added.
Also speaking, Affiah Foh Bridget said: “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.”
It would be recalled that ANEEJ led no fewer than 30 Nigerian Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) representing women, youth, indigenous people and others to write a letter to NBIM’s CEO, Nicolai Tangen in May 2023.
“While claiming to engage to change Shell, Norway’s Oil Fund has in fact long provided powerful financial and moral support for the company. Not much has been achieved with the Ogoni cleanup and it seems that you and your staff are at risk of being misled by Shell and its representatives. The Nigerian groups invited NBIM staff to the Niger Delta on a fact-finding mission to see the true state of affairs,” the letter read.
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