..These observations suggest that while an initiative that speaks to the need for transparency in Nigeria's oil industry may speak the language of accounting, it has to accommodate the human and environmental accounting concerns of members of host communities in Nigeria's Niger Delta region. In effect, a credible transparency initiative in oil extractive activities must accommodate the concerns for justice in the social relations formed between the interests involved in oil extractive activities. These concerns are several and we have referred to some of them but three of such concerns stand out. The first is that a transparency initiative in oil must count and account for the human cost of oil extraction activities. Secondly, it must accommodate the concerns over environmental justice and environmental rights in oil extractive activities.

Thirdly, it must rethink the regime of laws and regulations that are applied in oil extraction. Let me briefly elaborate on each of these concerns.

Daily Independent