WoMin African Alliance seeks technology transfer in extractive communities

WoMin African Alliance, a non-governmental organisation, has called on African countries with mineral resources such as gold, oil, gas, copper to immediately seek for transfer technology in order to benefit from the many years of neglect.

The group made the call at the end of the exchange visits and knowledge sharing in three states of the Niger Delta. The states visited are Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers. WoMin works with women activists, communities, and organisations where mining activities have impacted the people negatively with a view of assisting them on campaign against environmental degradation and poverty. Over eleven countries are members of the network.

Speaking with journalists shortly after the event, the Executive Director Kebetchache Women Development and Resource Centre, Emem Okon explained that the exchange visit of women from Botswana and SierraLeone was to share first-hand knowledge and information on how oil exploration has negatively affected the lives of the local community people where development has eluded them for ages, especially water, electricity, good road, health services, and even education as their livelihood has been totally destroyed.

Okon, whose organisation hosted the delegates, maintained that the lesson learned from the exchange visit is huge, noting that the experience from the Niger Delta is to make the other African countries avoid the pitfall by the people of the Niger Delta.

She stated that the Niger Delta communities that produce oil and gas have lost out due to bad representatives, greedy leaders, and oil companies who were hostile to host communities.

The human rights activist expressed shock over the many years of neglect and called for a clinical approach and negotiation with a human face between oil companies and host communities before any new oil business should be entered into while urging community people to use the freedom of Information Acts to seek for information concerning contracts on how the community should benefit.

In her remark, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Women Affairs, Uche Uriri enumerated the role of the Ministry in assisting women.

Earlier, a member of the Governing Council of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), Comrade Celestine Akpoobari told participants how the Oginis raised alarm on the rate of the environmental degradation that brought the attention of the United Nation Environmental Program (UNEP) by the federal government to study the environment which later turned to Ogoni clean up. He stressed that HYPREP will do everything possible to do the needful and fulfill its mandate.

Also speaking, some of the delegates from Botswana and Sierra leone, Chief Nxuka Xishee, Sharon Gumbo, Tony Sisolai, among others said they benefited from the exchange visit but they shared the same sad experience from their country where mining activities have impacted the people negatively.

They blamed African leaders for their corrupt tendencies and the zeal to work with the capitalist to impoverish the local community people.

Some of the key points raised in the communiqué are that mineral resources have been a curse rather than a blessing in most African countries. Participants call on leaders in the oil and gas community to be transparent in dealing with the local people. They also tasked the network to empower women in Africa so that they can participate in the natural resources found in their communities.