By Judd-Leonard Okafor
Fifteen years since the Voluntary Principles (VPs) on Security and Human Rights came into force, Nigeria is yet to adopt the framework to guide its extractive industry, says the thinktank Centre for Public Policy Alternatives (CPPA).
Josiah Aramide, a senior researcher and lead in energy at the thinktank, said the VPs, which came into effect globally since 2000, sets guidelines for companies to “secure their assets and promote safety in their operations environment while also considering the human rights impacts.”
“Until Nigeria signs up as a country, it is difficult to monitor progress on these issues,” he said at a meeting of stakeholders in Abuja.
“It is important to stabilise the extractive industry, because you are trying to secure investment,” Aramide said.
The thinktank has linked disrupted business and human rights abuses in conflict zones as the Niger Delta by multinationals to the absence of VPs.
It said companies are packing up and leaving because of unresolved disputes with host communities present Nigeria in bad view to the international community because of perceived inability to uphold human rights and good practice.
“Oil and gas is our highest earner. If you don’t have good practice, you will be losing a lot of revenue,” said Aramide.
Companies are at liberty to voluntarily sign up to VPs or subsidiaries can follow the lead of their mother companies that have signed up to VPs, explained Olufemi Olarewaju of the Resource Innovation and Solutions Network Nigeria (RISN).
“The things we do best are the things we voluntarily do,” Olarewaju said.
“To get to the point where they [companies] decide to sign up is the hard work. But when the government puts its force behind it, it shows leadership. We need leadership, commitment and collaborations.”
Countries that have already signed up to the VPs include Australia, the UK, Switzerland, Peru, Colombia, Norway and Ghana.
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