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Our work in the Delta - the issues explained

Forced evictions and demolitions

Learn more about the current spate of Government-led evictions and demolitions in Port Harcourt that have allready displaced thousands of people and threaten to make tens of thousands more homeless in the coming months.

Oil spills

Nigeria has one of the most dysfunctional oil pipeline networks in the world. In the decade since 1999, official figures put the number of breaks and leaks in the lines at an average of 1,598 a year. Many of these spills are relatively small but still have a devastating impact on the mangrove forests and on the livelihoods of people who rely on them for agriculture and fishing.

Gas flares

Find out about the devastating and wasteful practice of flaring perfectly useful natural gas, burning millions of tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere each year in the Niger Delta.

Human rights

The Nigerian police and military are notoriously corrupt and often operate above the law. SDN works with a number of local organisations to improve the understanding and documentation of human rights in the Niger Delta.

Community development and empowerment

Communities know what they want. SDN's role is to support them to attain their needs. SDN empowers communities and helps build their capacity to identify, lobby for and implement projects that address their needs.

Strengthening transparency and accountability

As part of a wider drive to end mismanagement, corruption and fraud, SDN works with partners to strenthen transparency and accountability in the Niger delta. The STAND program beleives that the civilian government in Nigeria has resources at its disposal to make significant contributions to the reduction of poverty but that these resources are not being spent where they should be.