International Union Rights

FOCUS □ BUSINESSAND HUMANRIGHTS CSR and Ruggie: a view from Nigeria I good framework inpractice on The respect obstacles paper are 'protect, remedy' many there looks and but respect and remedy' framework looks good on paper but inpracticethere are many obstacles YEMISI ILESANMI isAssistant Secretary National Youth Officer with the NLC in Nigeria and iscurrently based in London with the NUT John and Secretary-General transnational Ruggie, Special corporations on Representative theissueof and human other ofthe rights busiUN John Secretary-General ontheissueofhuman rights andtransnational corporations andother business enterprises said in a press interview that "there isn't an internationally recognised right that somecompany somewhere hasn'tviolated". This statementaptly exemplifiesthe situationin Nigeria. Nigerialacksthestructural mechanisms fortransparency and accountability, bigbusinesses haveidentified this loopholeandhaveoverthe yearsused thisto theiradvantageto maximise profits attheexpenseoftheir hostcommunities. The Ruggieprocessrestson threepillars: first, the statedutyto protectagainsthumanrights abuses by thirdparties,includingbusinesses, through appropriate policies, regulation, andadjudication ;second,the corporate responsibility to respecthumanrights, whichmeansto act with due diligence to avoidinfringing on therights of others;and third, greater access forvictims to effective remedy, bothjudicialand non-judicial. Thisprocessexpectsthat a State's duty toprotect meantthatitmusttakestepsto prevent, investigate ,redress and punishabuse by third parties, including businesses. Howeverhow does thisprocessbenefit countriesthatdo nothave thestructures in place to implement theselaudable recommendations. In theory, the'protect, respectand remedy' frameworklooksgood on paperbutin practice there aremany obstacles that couldobstruct itseffective implementation, especiallyin developingcountries . Nigeria is a country withmorethan140million people; it is an oil producing nationwith enormousnaturalresourcesand development potentials. Itis however a richcountry withpoor people. Due to mismanagement ofitsresources, corruption ofitsleadersand an exploitative business environment, themajority ofitspeople still livebelowpoverty line. Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) is hardly consideredan important issue in the Nigeria Businessclimate. A country riddled withcorruption ,Nigeriahas attracted businesscorporations benton exploiting thecorrupt nature ofthesocietyto maximisetheirbusinessprofits. Corrupt politicians and civilservants arereadyto remove theredtapeandboycott bureaucratic processes in exchangeforgratification. Companiesespecially multinationals have learntto speak thiscorrupt languageanduse ittotheir optimal advantage. Unfortunately, tradeunionsinNigeria havenot incorporated CSRintheir programmes; unionsso far haveunderestimated their rolesinencouraging CSR.Although CSRis notlegally binding, unions can influence itspractice, monitor businesses and rateCSRperformance. Theycanendorseandcelebrate businesses that areabletomeeta high level ofCSR. Sincetradeunionsadvocatefortheimplementation ofcorelabourstandards, itisvery important that thosestandards arenotonlyimplemented in developedcountries butalso in developing and least developed countries. All workersof the worldshouldbe protected by thesestandards. Tradeunions through organising canhelpmonitor implementation ofthesestandards. Tradeunions can organiseto promote ethicalwaysof doing business. Tradeunions inNigeria needtomainstream CSR intocollective bargaining andallnegotiations. The unionsneed to buildcapacity through solidarity work, collaboration andpartnerships. Alsothere is a need to organisecampaigns, sensitisation and solidarity rallies etctopromote MDGs,corelabour standards, andtobuildnetworks with civilsociety organisations topromote CSR. The oil industry Bytheearly 1970s, oilemerged as theleading variable in thenational economicscene.Sincethen, itsdominance and overwhelming importance has leftNigeriaoperatingan almostmono-culture economywithoil accounting formorethan85 percent ofitsnational incomewhileother natural resources havebeenignored. Untold devastations havebeenunleashed on thelocaleswheretheoil resources areextracted especially theNiger-Delta region ofthecountry. Their mainsources oflivelihood (i.e. rivers and farmlands) arepolluted and destroyed. Thesedamagesoften lead to conflicts betweentheoil firms and thehostcommunities. Nigeriaas an oil producing country has experienceditsshareofoil disasters, theenvironmental degradation of theNigerDelta Rivers and farmlandsisa living testimony tothenegative effect of environmental pillage.Oil companieslikeShell, Chevron,and ExxonMobil thatoperatein the Niger Deltado nottakeenoughresponsibility for the environmental protection of the area. The ongoingoil spillagebyBP in thegulfofMexico hasearnedinternational attention andcondemnation , however, worsedisasters havehappened and still happening on a dailybasisintheNiger Delta but the world and especiallythe companies involve chosetoignore theenormity ofthis. TheBP oilspillage hasgainedattention because a big superpowerliketheUSAis involved, but whathappensin smalldeveloping countries that do nothavethebigmight ofsuperwordpowers liketheUSAtofight their battles? Many indigenous communities areexploited dailyand deniedtheir livelihoods. In November1995,Ken Saro-Wiwa, a wellknownNigerian author andspokesperson forthe Movement fortheSurvival of theOgoniPeople (MOSOP), was hangedin PortHarcourt, in the INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 4Volume 17Issue 2201 0 FOCUS □ BUSINESSAND HUMANRIGHTS heartof the oil-producing regionof southeast Nigeria, together witheightotherOgoniactivists allinvolved inprotests against theoilindustry. The Saro-Wiwa case broughtinto the international headlines a debateovertheroleplayedbytheoil multinationals in Nigeriathathad alreadybeen raging forseveralyears.Shellin particular was blamed bothlocally andinternationally as thegovernment firstbrutally suppressedprotestsby MOSOP, andfinally tried andexecuted thecoreof theorganisation's leadership. Thecase oftheNiger Deltais pathetic inthat it laysthegoldeneggfor thecountry attheexpense of itswatersand farmlands, itspeoples are still poorand itslanddegraded. The NigerDeltais a volatile zoneinNigeria, pronetoviolence that has in recentpast s includedabductionsof foreign expatriates. The government of Nigeriarecently granted amnesty to thefighters in NigerDeltain exchange for thesubmission oftheir weaponsand a negotiated welfare package.However, there has beenuproar againintheregionthatthegovernment is notkeeping itssideofthebargain. There arefears thatthepeace intheNigerDeltamight be temporary. How...