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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This report explores the trends, drivers, and implications of international oil companies (IOCs) selling off assets to Nigerian domestic oil companies (DOCs). Our analysis of investment trends illustrates that divestments have been ongoing for decades, but the rate is rapidly ...
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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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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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This webinar introduces the launch of our dashboard tracking progress in the clean-up of over 50 years of oil pollution in Ogoniland. We were fortunate to hear from Harry van Dijk, the Dutch Ambassador to Nigeria, and Sharon Ikeazor, the ...
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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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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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With recent events such as the #EndSARS, COVID19 lockdown measures, and the Twitter ban rocking Nigeria, we must gauge the effects these events and others have had on civic space in the Niger Delta. Equally we must consider how well ...
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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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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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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 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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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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DevelopND is a community platform that aids the tracking of development projects in communities within the Niger Delta to improve transparency and accountability. "Ever since i started using DevelopND app to track project in my community, i feel confident that ...
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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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April 2019–September 2019 This report summarises the results of a public perception survey (PPS) carried out by Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) in three Niger Delta States – Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers. The purpose of the PPS is to understand local-level ...
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April 2019–September 2019 This report summarises the results of a public perception survey (PPS) carried out by Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) in three Niger Delta States—Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers. The purpose of the PPS is to understand local-level concerns about ...
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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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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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These educational resources are part of a project that aims to contribute to wider efforts to slow and minimise transmission of Coronavirus Covid-19, and also to mitigate the negative social, economic, and security impacts of both the virus and the response ...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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This report outlines key actions that would contribute to making the oil spill compensation system in Nigeria fairer and more transparent for all. It is based on analysis of the challenges with the compensation system identified in the SDN research ...
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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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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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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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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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This report compares differences in the standards of, and emissions from, official fuels in licensed filling stations, and unofficial fuels produced by artisanal oil refineries across Bayelsa and Rivers states.
The analysis aims to improve upon current levels of ...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 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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This graphic guide illustrates the stages of the value chain in the artisanal oil industry. The value chain Crude oil pipeline tapping – vulnerable infrastructure is easily accessed to fix a tap to a pipeline or well head to ...
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