Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), delivered the opening remarks at the 2024 NEITI Board Retreat/Meeting in Lagos. Dr. Orji highlighted the meeting’s structure as an induction program designed to familiarize attendees with NEITI’s mandates and operations, emphasizing its unique role among Federal Government agencies.
Dr. Orji stated, “The Retreat is expected to chart a course for this Board by aligning our mission of fostering transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s extractive industries with the yearnings of our citizens for impacts within our country’s contextual reality and our international obligations.”
Addressing the global shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, Dr. Orji noted the significant risks for countries like Nigeria that heavily rely on hydrocarbon revenues. He urged the Board to support timely policy decisions and strategies to navigate this transition, leveraging the provisions within the 2023 EITI Standards.
Dr. Orji underscored the retreat as a platform to reflect on NEITI’s role in shaping the extractive industry’s future. He called for robust discussions on pressing issues such as energy transition, oil dependence risks, opportunities within the EITI framework, oil theft, illegal mining, environmental damage, and governance challenges that hinder revenue and investment opportunities in the sector.
