Our resources

Register to vote in the 2023 Election FAQ
This page will be updated if and when new information becomes available through INEC Nigeria What is Continuous Voter Registration?
To vote in the 2023 elections, you need to be registered. The only way to do this is to take part ...
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To vote in the 2023 elections, you need to be registered. The only way to do this is to take part ...
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Inside a Nigerian artisanal oil refinery (2021)
SDN has worked with SOAS University of London (UK) to help map links between artisanal oil refining and other livelihoods, and highlight the ‘benefits’ or incentive structures of those involved in this informal economy. In this video, an owner explains ...
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Report: Independent Monitoring of the Ogoniland Clean-up
Biannual progress report January–June 2021 In 2020, Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) and Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) commenced the Independent Civil Society Monitoring of the Ogoniland Cleanup project with support from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ...
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Ogoniland clean-up dashboard
Tracking progress
Welcome to our dashboard tracking key indications of progress with HYPREP's clean-up of historic oil spills in Ogoniland, Rivers State in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. This dashboard is updated every 3 months with the most up-to-date data ...
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Welcome to our dashboard tracking key indications of progress with HYPREP's clean-up of historic oil spills in Ogoniland, Rivers State in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. This dashboard is updated every 3 months with the most up-to-date data ...
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Nigeria’s Presidential Amnesty Programme
Untangling the dependencies that prevent it ending Initiated in June 2009, the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) has become an enduring institution. Initially it was conceived as a short-term mechanism for de-escalating and defusing the militant insurgency that destabilised the oil-rich ...
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Brief: Nigeria’s Presidential Amnesty Programme
In whose interests? The mismanagement of government resources allocated to the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) for ex-agitators has created complex and stubborn financial dependencies. This complicates efforts to transition the PAP to an end. These dependences stretch beyond legitimate participants, ...
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Report: The status of civic space in Rivers State
This report is based on research in Rivers State, Nigeria, on the status of civic space, and the implications for individuals and organisations seeking to defend and expand civil and political rights. This research was undertaken as part of a ...
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Brief: Freedom of the press in the Niger Delta
A free press is a critical part of democracy and a progressive state. Across Nigeria there is a wealth of talented journalists doing important work to produce high quality independent journalism, holding those in power to account. However, freedom of ...
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Artisanal oil refining in the Niger Delta – networked economies (2020)
SDN has worked with SOAS University of London (UK) to help map links between artisanal oil refining and other livelihoods, and highlight the ‘benefits’ or incentive structures of those involved in this informal economy. A wide informal economy has grown ...
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The draft Nigerian Petroleum Industry Bill 2020: an analysis of environmental and host community matters
The latest iteration of Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) was forwarded to the National Assembly in September 2020. It has gone through first reading at both the Senate and House of Representatives but full deliberation and public hearing is expected ...
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Community Monitoring and Advocacy Groups: handbook
Each CMAG documents and campaigns around the development priorities of its local community, in order to get them provided e.g. repairing a road, building a new school, or waste removal. It explains what CMAGs are, how they work, and how ...
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Report: Public perceptions of security dynamics in the Niger Delta
This report summarises key findings from a series of research surveys conducted by Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) between September 2017 and January 2020. These surveys were carried out in the Niger Delta states of Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers. The purpose ...
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Report: Oil money for development in Nigeria
Improvements to financial transparency in the oil and gas sector are particularly helpful in Nigeria, a country with a large oil industry based in the Niger Delta, but little transparency in how revenues are raised and spent. This report follows ...
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Panel discussion: How can communities use transparency initiatives to boost accountability?
In this panel discussion (held on 06.10.2020), panelists explained how they, and their organisations, help civil society and communities affected by the oil and gas industry make use of transparency initiatives to enact changes on the ground in the Niger ...
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Award: Niger Delta NGO of the year
The fifth GbaramatuVoice conference centered around Security, Peace and Development in the Niger Delta, and SDN was delighted to be named "Niger Delta NGO of the year"! SDN's Programme Manager, Florence Kayemba IbokAbas delivered a short lecture on the our ...
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How to use DevelopND.ng to report or check on projects near you
The DevelopND.org is a website to list the current status of development projects in the Niger Delta, with public participation and visibility. This helps to hold agencies, such as NDDC, to account for how they spend their budget. For example, ...
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Rice cultivation – alternative livelihoods in the Niger Delta
Between 2016 – 2017 SDN engaged with locals to design and implement long-lasting solutions to the artisanal oil industry. Alternative livelihoods were the number one priority – so SDN worked with former artisanal oil industry workers to identify and trial ...
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Welding – alternative livelihoods in the Niger Delta
SDN partnered with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to train 15 youth from the Ogoni area how to fabricate a range of different cassava processing machinery. Over the training period, they also learned the business management skills required ...
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Repentant cult gang members – alternative livelihoods in the Niger Delta
SDN partnered with Pax Viva to demobilise and reintegrate cult gang members back into society. This process has been ongoing in Ogoni land since 2016, and reached 4,700 repentant cultists, with an 80% success rate on reintegration. A small group ...
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Aquaculture – alternative livelihoods in the Niger Delta
Between 2016 – 2017 SDN engaged with locals to design and implement long-lasting solutions to the artisanal oil industry. Alternative livelihoods were the number one priority – so SDN worked with former artisanal oil industry workers to identify and trial ...
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Webinar: Environmental performance index
In 2018 alone, more than 25,000 barrels—4 million litres—of oil were spilled in the Niger Delta, and nearly half a billion cubic feet of gas was flared. But how do the oil companies involved compare?
On 01 July, we talked through ...
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On 01 July, we talked through ...
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Report: 2018 Nigerian oil industry environmental performance index
This report provides a comparative assessment of the environmental performance of 43 oil companies operating in Nigeria in 2018. This is the first environmental performance index (the Index) by SDN. It is based on the amount of oil spilled and ...
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Brief: 2018 Nigerian oil industry environmental performance index
This report provides a comparative assessment of the environmental performance of 43 oil companies operating in Nigeria in 2018. This is the first environmental performance index (the Index) by SDN. It is based on the amount of oil spilled and ...
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Report: The Nigerian oil spill compensation regime – obstacles and opportunities
The history of oil pollution in Nigeria is long and traumatic. The Nigerian oil industry, which has produced and exported high quality crude for over 50 years, drives the Nigerian economy. The inhabitants of the Niger Delta, the country’s principal ...
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Policy brief: A leaky system
This brief summarises research on the potential of commercial and independent data to strengthen monitoring of maritime oil-related imports and exports in Nigeria. It also provides an overview of how approaches, such as remote sensing, could be employed to track ...
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Ken Saro-Wiwa Innovation Hub video series
Since 2018, the Innovation Hub has delivered workshops to over 3,000 participants, become one of just seven digital innovation hubs to partner with Facebook for their Nigeria programmes, and developed four start-up businesses, which now employ 22 people, with a ...
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Webinar: Dirty fuels in Nigeria
This webinar provides an overview of recent research by SDN which indicates low quality, highly toxic fuels are being imported and widely used across the Niger Delta, if not the whole of Nigeria. This is likely to significantly contribute to ...
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WHO myth-busting Covid19 banners in Nigerian Pidgin
English: We realise most messages about Coronavirus are in English, and many centre around Western culture and appearance--so we're reaching out to our Pidgin-speaking Nigerians to bust some of the most common fake news. Fake news and myths around COVID-19 ...
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Policy brief: Dirty fuel
Official fuel quality regulation must be enforced to stem widespread toxic air quality in Nigeria.
Research in the Niger Delta suggests that low quality, highly toxic fuels are imported into the country by international commodity traders, who are exploiting weak ...
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Research in the Niger Delta suggests that low quality, highly toxic fuels are imported into the country by international commodity traders, who are exploiting weak ...
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Bayelsa State 2019 governorship election observation assessment
A combination of intimidation, inducement, and violence spanning the electoral period damaged the freedom, fairness, and credibility of the 2019 Governorship election in Bayelsa State. However, most voters, INEC officials, security services, and civil society organisations are to be commended ...
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Report series: Public perceptions of security dynamics & stabilisation interventions in the Niger Delta
For over 15 years, SDN has worked with communities and stakeholders in the Niger Delta, tackling issues related to the impact of the oil and gas sector on the region. During this time, we have investigated security issues in the ...
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Report 4: Public perceptions of security dynamics & stabilisation interventions in the Niger Delta
October 2018-March 2019 This report presents the findings of the latest public perceptions survey (PPS), carried out by SDN in three Niger Delta states—Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers. The purpose of the PPS is to understand local-level concerns about security in ...
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Report: Women’s political participation and representation in the Niger Delta
This report assesses the status and trend of women’s participation in politics as citizens and as holders of political positions in the Niger Delta. It is based on research undertaken in three states—Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers—as part of the ...
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Our work in the Niger Delta
Protecting the environment We aim to reduce the negative environmental impact of the oil and gas sector, and demonstrate clean energy alternatives. Our work includes documenting, and making public, the extent of pollution, working with the Nigerian environmental regulators to ...
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A voters’ guide to the Bayelsa governorship election on 16th November 2019
What is accreditation, and why do I need to be accredited on election day to vote? This is to ensure that only people who are registered to vote can do so, and that only one vote is cast per person ...
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Portal: Strategic Implementation Work Plan
Niger Delta New Vision is intended to harmonise projects across the Niger Delta, through participatory partnerships between the Federal & State Governments, Private Sector, and Local Communities. The Strategic Implementation Work Plan (SIWP) came out of this Vision, and provides ...
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Women’s priorities for increased political participation in Rivers State
Across Nigeria, women are severely underrepresented at all levels of governance and face substantial social and economic barriers that hinder their active participation in politics. The situation in the Niger Delta is particularly difficult, due to highly competitive and ...
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Overall report: Niger Delta Watch 2019
In early 2019, Nigeria held its sixth cycle of elections since its restoration of democracy in 1999. This included two main sets of elections: Presidential and National Assembly polls, in February (after a week-long postponement, announced during the middle ...
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Aquaculture: how to guide
This is a practical guide, aimed at existing and new aquaculture farmers, to scale up available opportunities in the fish farming market by providing step by step instructions from how to set up a commercial fish farm through to sale ...
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Piloting aquaculture livelihoods
Although male-dominated, women tend to be heavily involved in the marketing and sale of artisanally refined products. This project selected participants from surrounding communities, focusing on women at risk of participating in the artisanal oil industry, who had some experience ...
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Report 3: Public perceptions of security dynamics and stabilisation interventions in the Niger Delta
March 2018 - September 2018 This report presents the results of a public perceptions survey, carried out by Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) in Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers states. It focuses on citizens’ perceptions of the current security situation in the ...
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Artisanal Oil refining in the Niger Delta
Real stories from ex-participants in the informal oil industry permeating the Creeks in the Niger Delta. See our graphic guide to understanding the industry, or read our in-depth More Money, More Problems report on the growth of the industry between ...
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Pipeline surveillance contracts in the Niger Delta
Pipeline surveillance contracts are awarded to private firms by government agencies and oil companies. Surveillance contractors are ostensibly tasked with monitoring sections of oil pipeline, identifying any breaks and protecting them from vandalism. However, the concept of pipeline surveillance ...
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