ERA/FoEN takes
anti-water privatization campaign to US Congress
the united states congress at Capitol Hill,Washington D.C. 
The
Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria has taken its
campaign against water privatization to the United States Congress as part of
efforts to build international support.
ERA/FoEN
Director of Corporate Accountability, Akinbode Oluwafemi in a weeklong visit
met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and several congressional
staff, explaining why members of the US congress should add their voices to the
local campaign against water privatization in Lagos.
Besides,
Oluwafemi along with activists from Corporate Accountability International
(CAI) also met with Senior officials of the World Bank including its Nigeria
Country Director, Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly.
ERA/FoEN
launched a massive campaign in October 2014 tagged This Is Lagos: Our Water ,
Our Right aimed at stopping the Lagos
State government from the planned privatization of water infrastructure in the
state.
The
group has worked with labour unions and professional bodies to escalate the
campaign locally. Oluwafemi’s trip to the Washington D.C. is expected to raise
the international profile of the issue and further mount pressure on the Lagos
state government.
Oluwafemi
said that, “We believe the support from members of the US Congress in halting
the privatization of water in Lagos will checkmate the enslavement of 21
million people in Africa’s most populous city. If the privatization of water is
not halted, it will be replicated across Africa, thereby denying its people the
right to water.”
He
noted that the visit to the Congress was part of a host of activities aimed at
garnering international support for the campaign to get the Lagos government to
back down on the plans.
ERA/FoEN
is also engaging allies across the African continent and across the globe to
halt the planned privatization being vigorously pursued by the Lagos State
Water Corporation (LSWC).
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