By Obiabin Onukwugha
Stakeholders in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria have called for the adoption of a regional divestment protocol to end environmental dumping and harmonize corporate exit accountability across West Africa.
The stakeholders called on West African countries in the subregion to collaborate with the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, to develop a binding regional framework on divestment.
The call is contained in a communique issued on Tuesday after the recently National Extractive Dialogue, which had its theme as “Transitions, Divestments, and Critical Minerals: Charting a Just Future for Nigeria’s Extractive Sector.”
The communique stated that such protocol will establish clear and enforceable standards for corporate exits, including mandatory remediation obligations and mechanisms to prevent companies from abandoning environmental and social liabilities in one jurisdiction and moving on to other countries with weaker regulatory oversight.
“A unified regional approach will promote transparency, strengthen environmental governance, and ensure that extractive companies uphold consistent ethical and operational standards across borders,” the communique read in part.
It emphasised that by institutionalizing shared divestment practices, West African nations can collectively protect host communities and ecosystems from the long-term consequences of hurried divestment.
The communique recommended the adoption of best practices for the region such as the Ghana Royalty Sharing and Remediation Models, the Senegal Protocols, and Continental Frameworks such as the Africa Mining Vision and ECOWAS Mining Code.
It also recommended that indigenous legal frameworks such as the Imo State’s Climate Governance Model should be replicated, scaled, and adapted nationwide, with tailored adaptations to reflect the unique ecological and socio-economic realities of each state in Nigeria.
The communique pointed out that legal reforms are necessary to recognize environmental justice as a constitutional and enforceable right to accelerate positive social and ecological outcomes.
“This should be backed by transparency reporting frameworks mandating extractive companies to submit periodic reports detailing their community engagement, environmental compliance, social impacts and economic contributions to community development to the appropriate regulatory agencies.
Petitions from host communities regarding environmental violations must also be promptly investigated, with sanctions imposed on defaulters. These complaints can be routed through various channels such as NOSDRA and other designated regulatory agencies,” the communique read in part.
It further emphasised that all new extractive projects in communities must undergo rigorous climate risk assessments to ensure long-term sustainability and accountability.
“It is imperative for subnational climate governance to be aligned with Nigeria’s energy transition goals, ensuring that resource management policies actively support the shift toward cleaner, renewable energy sources and a low-carbon economy,” the communique further read.
The communique called on the Nigerian government to move beyond tokenism and ensure meaningful inclusion in extractive governance.
The Board of Trustees, Management and Advisory Committees of the various Host Community Development Trusts (HCDTs), already provided for under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, should be strengthened to ensure the election of credible representatives, with the mandatory inclusion of women, youth, and other marginalized groups.
“This approach marks a decisive shift toward people-centered governance where host communities are no longer passive observers but active stakeholders in shaping the future of natural resource management,” the communique stated.
