Community Development
CEHRD believes that the rural people have an investment in
their future. For community development to be meaningful, it
should respond to the initiatives and aspiration of the local
community; such effort must improve basic economic and social
condition in the community, and should visibly benefit a large
number of the community through high-impact and quickly
implemented activities. We promote sustainable development
of the community, but we oppose “Development Projects” that
destroy the basis of rural livelihood and economies.

Given Nigeria's corruption and other economic problems, many
villages in the Niger Delta are left to fend for themselves
concerning the development of their communities.  CEHRD
advises local communities on the proper course of development
in a manner befitting the community, and assists them in
attempting to secure funding.  CEHRD also acts as an
advocate for these communities regarding the environmental,
economic, and political abuse and neglect many face.
A common sight in the Niger Delta: a horizontal gas flare.
Vertical gas flares light up the night sky in much of the Niger Delta
Unfortunately, many oil companies continue the archaic and detrimental
process of "gas flaring," an illegal and unnecessary process of wastefully
burning off natural gas recovered during the extraction of crude oil.  As
many of the oil companies have been operating in the Niger Delta for
more than 40 years, they are unwilling to rebuild these old and
often-leaking pipelines and cease the flaring of gas, which causes acid
rain, asthma, and other problems. No crops will grow near flares, and the
flare in this picture is less than 1/4 mile from a small village.  It is cheaper
for the oil companies, and more profitable for the Nigerian government,
to pay fines for flaring than it is to rebuild.  The average rate of gas
flaring in developed countries is less than 10%, but is over 75% in Nigeria.
A science building in Rumuekpe that is unsuitable for use
A marker indicating Shell's initial involvement in the Rumuekpe school
The years of neglect can be seen on the sign of Rumuekpe Secondary School, despite its motto
These images are of Rumuekpe school after years of neglect by the
state and federal government, as well as Shell Oil company, which
originally helped to build the school  in 1992 as reparation for its
oil-related activities in the area but has not continued with any assistance
since then.  The irony of this neglect and the school's motto on the sign
stained by acid rain is a fitting example of how many villages in the
oil-rich Niger Delta receive relatively little in the way of equitable
restitution for the problems created in their areas.
To find out more about our Community Development
Programme, please
Contact Us, or select one of our reports
from below (we are constantly adding our reports):

Scooping Exercise Conducted in the Villages of Tai
Local Government Area of Ogoni, Rivers State
Lessons Not Learned: The Other Shell Report 2004
(CEHRD contributed to this Friends of the Earth Report)
More reports to follow...