Jean Lambert, London’s Green Party MEP, received a warm welcome last week [Friday 29 May] when she joined eminent campaigners including the Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, [1] for the State of the Nigerian Nation, a major symposium on democracy and corruption in Nigeria. [2]
Jean delivered the opening speech at the afternoon session, organised by the Nigeria Liberty Forum, at the Holloway Road campus of London Metropolitan University. She spoke on ‘Poverty and corruption in Nigeria: what can the European Union do?’
Jean, who has supported Nigerian pro-democracy campaigns in London, recently submitted a written question to the European Commission asking what progress it had made in fighting corruption in Nigeria.
She also raised the case of Nuhu Ribadu, the former Executive Chairman of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria, who was dismissed from his post last year by the Nigerian Police Service Commission. [3] Many believe his dismissal was politically motivated.
Nuhu Ribadu was present on Friday and addressed the symposium after Jean.
Jean shared the Commission’s answer to her question with the audience. The Commission pledged that it would “continue to insist that anti-corruption issues be included in the agenda of all EU-Nigeria political dialogue meetings to which the Commission is fully associated.” Anti-corruption issues are likely to be discussed at a high-level EU-Nigeria meeting on the 8/9 June in Prague. [4]
Jean said it was crucial to examine the role of western companies in Nigeria. Last week a landmark case began in New York, to look at the involvement of Shell, the oil company, in the state execution of nine environmental campaigners, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, in 1995.
She also highlighted the environmental and human costs of the activities of the oil industry in Nigeria, and stressed the need for stable, democratic government – and Europe’s obligation to support this – if these challenges are to be overcome.
Jean said:
“We know of the horrendous environmental effects of the flaring of gas and the toll it takes on human health: of the oil leaks and spills and the devastating effect on water, soil and biodiversity. We can see this colossal waste of energy, pollution, lost resources. Knowing what we do of climate change, it is essential that we use our current resources to develop the technology and opportunity for the future.”
“This cannot be done without resources, a functioning state and active civil society. The EU has made a commitment to Nigeria: it is up to us as Members of the European Parliament to work with the people of Nigeria to see that that commitment is upheld.”
The attached photograph shows Jean Lambert MEP addressing the symposium. On the panel, from left to right, are Kayode Ogundamisi, convenor of the Nigeria Liberty Forum, Prof Sola Adeyeye, former member of the Nigerian House of Representatives, Nuhu Ribadu and Prof Wole Soyinka.
Notes
[1] Professor Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian writer, poet and playwright won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986. He was the first African to be awarded the prize.
[2] The symposium was called to coincide with ‘Democracy Day’, organised by the Nigerian government to mark 10 years since the return of democracy, but controversial among anti-corruption campaigners who are deeply concerned about the political situation in Nigeria.
[3] Under Nuhu Ribadu’s leadership, the EFCC was seen as taking effective measures to tackle corruption, and his work was recognised with World Bank’s Jit Gill Memorial Award for Outstanding Public Service in 2008.
[4] For the full text of Jean Lambert MEP’s question to the European Commission visit
http://www.europarl.europa.eu
The Commission’s answer in full is online at:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu