The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), through its Natural Resource Extractive Programme (NAREP), is set to convene a two-day capacity-building workshop on “Constraining Opportunities for Corruption in the African Mining Sector” under the Powering Just Energy Transition (JET) Minerals Challenge project.
With funding from USAID, the workshop will host 25 journalists from 10 media organisations and one representative each from five civil society organisations in Nigeria.
According to the CJID, the workshop aims to strengthen the media and CSOs’ roles in tackling corruption in the green minerals value chain and address the challenges of access to information in the green mineral sector.
They noted that as the global transition towards cleaner and more sustainable energy sources accelerates, the mining industry has become critical in achieving the global energy transition agenda. However, despite its abundant mineral resources, the Nigerian solid minerals sector is plagued by secrecy, corruption, and numerous environmental and human rights issues.
The organisation decried that the operations of Nigerian extractive players, particularly mining operators, are largely shrouded in opacity, with minimal institutional transparency, noting that this lack of openness fosters zero accountability, mismanagement of funds, revenue leakages, and, above all, hinders the government’s ability to meet its financial obligations and deliver development to its citizens.
Felicia Dairo, the project manager of NAREP at CJID, stated that “in response to these enormous challenges plaguing the sector, CJID is organising the workshop to equip media and civil society organisations working in the accountability sector in select countries to foster the implementation of significant transparency and accountability interventions required to reform the green mineral sector.”
Mrs Dairo added, “We recognise that the media and CSOs play a huge role in upholding democratic accountability. However, they are limited by the lack of data and evidential information required to carry out their assignments effectively. Therefore, this workshop hopes to fill the knowledge gap and enhance participants’ capacity to expose the corrupt practices around the critical minerals value chain central to the energy transition.”
About the Workshop
This workshop is the first of four capacity-building training sessions for critical stakeholders across Nigeria, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Mozambique under the Powering Just Energy Transition (JET) Minerals Challenge project.
The Nigerian leg of the training is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, May 22 and Thursday, May 23, 2024, at the nation’s capital. The workshop is an in-person event that will be led by identified experienced trainers and experts with diverse backgrounds.
Following the workshop, CJID will support media organisations with investigative grants to pursue investigative storytelling to uncover corrupt actors and issues across the green mineral value chain in Nigeria. Participating CSOs will be supported to embark on advocacy campaigns to hold corrupt state and non-state actors accountable.
