Well-deserved recognition for Nnimmo Bassey as he’s awarded the 2010 Right Livelihood Award.
Nnimmo Bassey has been exposing abuse and pollution by oil companies and defending the rights of communities in the Niger Delta for decades. He’s the founder and Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action, a Nigerian advocacy organization; he’s an advisor on Global Greengrants Fund’s West Africa Board; and, as of this morning, he is a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award. The Award, which is widely known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize,’ recognized Bassey “…for revealing the full ecological and human horrors of oil production and for his inspired work to strengthen the environmental movement in Nigeria and globally.”
Bassey has been a leading activist on human rights issues in Nigeria since the 1980s. In 2003 he was a founding member of Global Greengrants Fund’s West Africa Board, and he has guided our grantmaking in Nigeria and other oil-affected communities in the region ever since. Thanks to his expertise and community involvement, we have been able to support dozens of grassroots groups tackling environmental and human rights abuses against enormous odds—multinational oil companies that produce more than 300 oil spills in Nigeria every year, and leave local people to suffer the consequences without just compensation.
But grassroots groups are up to the challenge. And Bassey has been a passionate voice to ‘keep the oil in the soil’ and protect local communities from the devastation of oil and gas development. His leadership and commitment are inspiring, and so is his humble response to this great honor:
“This award shows that the struggles of communities against the impunity of the oil industry are just and must be pursued with more vigor. This is not a personal honor, but one for all campaigners for environmental justice and the movements we work in.”
We are privileged to have such an inspiring and committed activist in our network. We will continue to work with him to support the struggles of oil-affected communities in West Africa and around the world. Congratulations, Nnimmo!