Roundtable CSO Forum World Bank-IMF Annual Conference, September 14-20-2006 Singapore

2. Roundtable • CSO Forum • World Bank-IMF Annual Conference, September 14-20-2006 • Singapore

3. CIVIL SOCIETY AND MULTILATERAL INSTITUTIONS:Lessons and Reflections on Infrastructure Development Towards Sustainable Actions in Addressing Displacement, Environment and other Social Safeguards IssuesThe Nigerian Experience

4. Presented by Ms Yemisi Ransome-Kuti Executive DirectorNigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO) Stakeholder/CSO Advisor World Bank 2nd National Urban Reform Project. Lagos State Water Corporation (LSWC)

5. Overview • Nigeria is playing catch up in its present democratic experiment! After years of neglect under military rule the government is expending substantial material and human resources to ensure even and accelerated development in all sectors of the economy. • The country does not have a social welfare scheme and the public sector is still weak and unable to provide social and other safeguards to mitigate the impact of various development projects aimed at providing long term benefits to communities throughout Nigeria.

6. Given the spate of rapid development, coupled with the present political climate in Nigeria exacerbated by corruption and scant regard for the rule of law, displacement of citizens both innocent or otherwise is a common occurrence. It is an all too familiar scenario that results in thousands of innocent, poor people being displaced without notice from their homes, suffering untold hardship, injury and sometimes death.

8. Since military rule ended in Nigeria in 1999, at least 14,000 people have been killed in sporadic outbursts of violence across the country and hundreds of thousands have been displaced. World's eighth-largest oil exporter High risk of unrest ahead of 2007 elections

9. Factors that often Lead to Displacement Elections/Census Exercise Communal/ Religious Conflict Land Disputes Environmental i.e., Erosion, Desertification etc. Operation of Oil Companies Lack of Good Governance in the public sector Infrastructural Development Projects

10. Elections/Census Exercises U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, in his 2006 Annual Threat Assessment, singled out Nigeria's spring 2007 election as "the most important election on the African horizon".

11. Nigeria's first census in 15 years, conducted in March 2006, also heightened tensions in some regions. Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, with population estimates varying between 120 million and 150 million. Previous censuses provoked unrest between Nigeria's main ethnic groups, which have tried to use numerical superiority to claim a larger share of oil revenues and political representation. The results of several counts were discredited or even annulled.

12. Communal/Religious Conflict & Land Disputes According to the Internal Displacement Management Centre (IDMC), one of the key causes of communal conflicts in Nigeria lies in divisions between those who consider themselves indigenous to an area and those regarded as settlers. Where resources are scarce, this can lead to a build-up of resentment between the groups, in some cases, spilling over into violence. One of the worst recent examples of this type of conflict occurred in 2004 in the buffer region between the predominantly Muslim north and Christian south, known as the Middle Belt.

13. As pressure on resources and poverty, and the influence of fundamentalist Islam and Christianity have grown, relations between the two groups have become increasingly polarized. Large-scale internecine killing began in Plateau state in 2001, and the conflict simmered for two years until an escalating series of tit-for-tat tribal militia attacks in 2003 and 2004.

14. In May 2004, Christian militia attacked Muslim Fulanis in the town of Yelwa, killing more than 600 according to the Nigerian Red Cross. The attack was followed several days later by deadly reprisals against minority Christians in the northern city of Kano. A state of emergency was declared in Plateau and the state governor was replaced by a former army general. Some observers believe the governor was made a scapegoat because of his allegiance to Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a powerful northerner set to be a key contender in the 2007 elections.

15. This may have helped fuel a series of clashes sparked by the introduction in 2000 of harsh sharia punishments handed down by Islamic courts in northern states. Disagreement over this issue was the pretext for unrest across the north in which thousands of people died. But commentators said economic hardship among young northern men was also likely to have fanned the flames.

16. Operation of Oil Companies Nigeria's position as the world's eighth-largest crude-oil exporter has contributed little to alleviating poverty, even in the southern Niger Delta where the oil reserves are located. One-third of the population live below the national poverty line. Unemployment runs high, particularly among young men, whose frustrations and anger are easily manipulated by politicians and religious leaders aiming to boost their power bases.

17. In 1995, the Nigerian government executed the writer and human rights campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other members of the Ogoni ethnic community from the southern Niger Delta. They had campaigned against environmental damage by the oil industry and called for economic and social rights for the Ogoni people.

18. Their deaths caused international shockwaves and led the European Union to impose sanctions on Nigeria. Yet according to Amnesty International, a decade later, "exploitation of oil in the Niger Delta continues to result in deprivation, injustice and violence."

19. A local woman dries a basket of cassava beside the flames from an oil flow station near Otu-Jerenvwi in the volatile Niger-Delta region of Nigeria, Jan. 17, 2006.

20. Kidnappings Since the beginning of 2006, a group known as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, whose members belong to the region's dominant Ijaw tribe, has abducted a number of foreign oil workers and stepped up attacks on oil facilities. Western multinationals operating in the area, including Exxon/Mobil, Chevron, Total and Royal Dutch Shell, are on a heightened state of alert. The government has branded the militants "rascals" and oil thieves, but the Ijaw movement rejects this, arguing that it is fighting for justice. Its demands include the demilitarization of the delta, basic services for local communities, the release of jailed activists and compensation for oil pollution.

21. The crisis in the Niger Delta is rooted in corruption and neglect by federal, state, local governments and traditional/community leaders. They have collected billions of dollars of oil revenue but failed to provide basic services to the population. Illegal Bunkering Attempts by ordinary people to siphon oil illegally from pipelines have frequently ended in tragedy. In mid-May 2006, more than 150 people were killed when a high-pressure pipeline exploded in a Lagos suburb, allegedly during an attempt to tap into the pipeline. At least 2,000 people have died in similar incidents in recent years.

22. Western oil companies have been targeted by local militia because of their association with the government. Some human rights groups have called on the oil industry to help improve the situation by boosting transparency surrounding their payments to the government and providing direct benefits to local people. Nigeria has signed up to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)

23. Lack of Good Governance in the public sector Analysts say the key to solving the crisis will be improved governance, free and fair elections, and public provision of services such as water, electricity, roads, housing, public transport, schools and small business development.

24. Hidden Displacement in Nigeria In a March 2006 report, the National Commission for Refugees (NCR) put the total of internally displaced persons (IDPs) at more than three million over the past seven years. It said the problem was getting worse and now appeared to be a permanent feature of society. However, the true number of IDPs in Nigeria is disputed. The IDMC declines to give an estimate, describing the issue of numbers of IDPs as "very problematic". The main reason is the absence of a registration system, and thus a lack of data.

25. In April 2006, the special assistant to the Nigerian president on migration and humanitarian affairs, Moremi Soyinka-Onijala, put the number of IDPs in the country at about 500,000.

26. Nigerian militant youth walks past a dead body in Onitsha, south eastern Nigeria, Feb. 22, 2006.

27. Another feature of displacement in Nigeria is that it is often short term. In late February 2006, a wave of sectarian violence erupted in mainly Muslim towns in the north and in the southern city of Onitsha, fuelled by global controversy over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published in a Danish newspaper. This resulted in over 100 deaths and the displacement of as many as 50,000 people. But many of the displaced took refuge in police and army barracks on a temporary basis, and are now likely to have returned home.

28. One of the largest recent movements of people was seen after the violence in Plateau state in 2004, caused by conflict over land between Muslim nomads and settled farmers. Estimates put the number of IDPs stemming from this crisis at between 200,000 and 260,000. Although the majority were taken in by host communities, around 60,000 sought refuge in camps in neighbouring Bauchi and Nassarawa states.

29. Infrastructural Development Projects Water Power Communications Housing Roads and other infrastructural projects are presently being undertaken. The World Bank and other international Donor Agencies are involved.

30. Abuja The Minister for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Mallam Nasir el Rufai has incurred the wrath of sundry organizations in his pursuit of the implementation of the Abuja Master Plan to the letter. Thousands of people have been displaced. The government claims that buildings have been erected without approvals and that proper notices have been given to occupants before demolition exercises are carried out. The law courts have been impotent in determining the veracity or otherwise of these claims, in spite of petitions to the President and other Federal Govt. authorities.

31. Excerpt of Letter to President Olusegun Obasanjo from Human Rights Groups in Nigeria, “We the undersigned write to express our indignation over the ongoing forced eviction and demolitions in Chika village along the International Airport Road, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. The evictions which started on Monday, 28th November 2005, have rendered over a hundred thousand people homeless, particularly women and children many of whom have been on the land for several decades. Ostensibly, acting on the orders of the Minister in the Presidency and Chairman of FCDA, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, the officials of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) accompanied by heavily armed policemen and soldiers using bulldozers, caterpillars and other heavy equipment levelled homes, schools, hospitals, churches, mosques and businesses. Regrettably, residents were not given adequate notice(s) prior to the demolitions, neither were there any plans by the government to resettle, rehabilitate or compensate the evictees. The only whiff of indication of the government’s intentions came via radio and TV announcements five days prior to the demolitions.”

32. Observers have noted the difficulty maintaining strict adherence to such master plans when the government has not provided alternative schemes for the inhabitants, i.e. low cost housing schemes, mortgage schemes, etc. The authorities must be aware that It is difficult for Abuja residents to obtain accommodation from any landlord without having to pay 2 years rent in advance. They also remarked that whilst it was easier for development to occur when governments all over the world were less accountable to their subjects, the Nigerian Government must find a way to balance rapid development with people oriented safety nets. The situation could however be better managed if there was adequate consultation with the affected communities

33. Oyo State The impact of development without the participation of the beneficiary communities was illustrated during a programme implemented by the Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO) in its Ibadan North Community Partnership Project supported by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in March 2006. NNNGO was informed by community leaders that the water supply to the community was inadvertently disrupted over a decade ago during a road rehabilitation project purported to have been supported by the World Bank.

34. Since then the community, which is in the heart of the largest indigenous city in West Africa, has been facing untold hardship as the water table is extremely deep in that community, boreholes are expensive and scarce and there are no readily available sources of potable water. Please visit the website designed for the Local Government and the community during the project www.ibadannorthcommunitypartnership.org for the full report

35. Lagos Lagos probably has the greatest challenges in the area of infrastructural development. Due to its burgeoning population – Currently estimated to be about 15 million and growing by the day. Political wrangling between the State and the Federal Government on budget allocations to newly created Local Government Areas

36. Population growth is declining, but still very high for a megacity (about 5% over the next decade) 66-70% of the population in slums 86% slum dwellers are renters Flooding inside homes is a perennial problem About 6000 tons waste generated, 3000 disposed at landfills – rest is in drains and piles Investment needs in infrastructure estimated to be about $2.0 billion

39. Some Ongoing Projects Lagos Business District Obalende/Ikoyi Bar Beach Maroko Makoko Lekki Ajah (Tribunal set up)

40. Reports have indicated that the State and some Local Governments have consulted the stakeholders in the course of implementing these projects. However, residents of some of the areas have reported that there has been no planned relocation of occupants and demolition works are carried with scant regard for the life and limbs of hapless citizens. Slums and shanty towns have been razed by burning and sounds of gun shots and wailing are heard during the night

41. A Nigerian soldier keeps watch over displaced people in Lagos, Jan. 28, 2002

42. Water Sector In order to support the Nigerian Government to provide quantitative and qualitative potable water supply to urban residents in Nigeria, the World Bank is currently preparing the Second National Urban Water Sector Reform Project. The first project was recorded a dismal failure.

43. The current development of a Private Sector Participation (PSP) scheme for the delivery of safe water and sanitation in Lagos is both innovative and challenging. If it is to succeed, the process must be fully engaged, supported and participated by Civil Society. The World Bank has taken a bold step in formalizing this dynamic mechanism. CSOs involved in the water sector are for the first time invited as Partners to ensure the actualization of the project’s objectives. It remains to be seen if the World Bank civil society engagement with the Lagos Water Corporation (LSWC) will ensure an effective Citizen Participation System that averts such misadventures and delivers in the long term the long awaited service to the focal urban communities of Metropolitan Lagos.

44. On the other hand, the Lagos Metropolitan Development and Governance Project (LMDGP) supported by the World Bank consists of the following areas: Drainage Solid Waste Urban Upgrading Governance

45. Without the active participation of Civil Society, the above objectives of the LMDGP are already facing communal suspicion, costly delays and possible areas of conflict in the focal communities

46. Challenges Inadequate data and reliable statistics Lack of knowledge of local conditions Failures of previous World Bank projects particularly in the water sector Corruption, bad governance and weaknesses in the legal system Lack of effective Coordination amongst Donors and between Donors and the Government, particularly at the State and Local Government levels. Northern NGOs often sponsoring CSOs to pursue agendas inimical to the development of sector programmes. Thus creating distrust and disharmony within the CSO community and Government initiatives aimed at improving the lives of the common man.

47. Negative perception of Private Sector Participation (PSP) in the Water Sector by CSOs in Nigeria – regarded as a privatization exercise which would disenfranchise the poor Lack of institutionalization of consultation and participatory process between Government, Donors and host communities Absence of a Regulatory/Institutional framework for the operations of CSOs in Nigeria which promotes chaos and provides another avenue for diversion of funds from the poor masses who are most in need. Complacency of the Nigerian people in some parts of the country. Though the danger signs are there and potentials for another Niger Delta scenario cannot be ruled out.

48. Recommendations World Bank should be conversant with local conditions particularly in relation to communal/religious strife and other socio/political considerations Design projects that are people centred ensuring that compensations for displacement and environmental rehabilitation are built in ab initio. World Bank to strengthen its capabilities in the coordination and harmonization of projects within its own ambit i.e., the Local Empowerment and Environmental Management Project LEEMP, LMDGP, 2nd National Urban Reform project etc. Strengthen linkages with other donors for more effective coordination, harmonization, alignment and effective delivery Create better understanding of PSP initiatives to eradicate the negative perceptions presently held by some Nigerian CSOs Explore a mix of PPP and Aid, in partnership with other Donors to balance long term effect of borrowings by government.

49. Institutionalize participatory processes, particularly at State and Local Government levels, in World Bank policies and procedures Furthermore, utilize its vantage position to pressurize the Federal Government of Nigeria to do the same Conduct Economic, environmental and social impact assessment studies (EIA) prior to any agreements on loans and grants involving infrastructural developments Ensure that effective regulatory systems are in place to maintain a regime of transparency, qualitative and cost effectiveness of service delivery. Continue to pressurize and strengthen reforms in anti-corruption, good governance in the public, private and civil society sectors, rule of law and corporate social responsibility frameworks. Concentrate on the merit of the project, sound economic indices and its sustainability and determine involvement in a case by case basis Encourage northern NGOs to work with southern NGOs rather than pursue their own agendas which is currently creating a crisis of legitimacy and conflict within the CSO community

50. Finally It cannot be overemphasized that initiatives similar to those adopted by the World Bank in its 2nd Urban Reform project (Lagos State Water Corporation) with the appointment of (1) A Stakeholder/CSO Advisor and (2) A CSO Consultant to carry out activities relating to consultation, coordination, consumer feedback mechanisms, surveys, opinion polls, monitoring/evaluation and capacity building, is critical to the development of a holistic approach to development which has the capacity to avert or at least mitigate the impact of displacement in the process of Nigeria’s rapid infrastructural development programmes. Particularly where the World Bank and other development partners have the resources both material and technical to take such pre-emptive measures. The collective gain is poverty reduction and significant improvement in the lives of millions of Nigerians and hey presto we might even meet the MDGs in 2015 before we know it!