The appointment of Akwa Ibom civil society leader Tijah Bolton-Akpan to the global board of the Resource Justice Network places a Nigerian advocate at the centre of international efforts to advance transparency, accountability, and equitable management of Africa’s natural resources.
Tijah Bolton-Akpan, a civil society figure and executive director of Policy Alert, has become the Anglophone West Africa representative on the global board of the Resource Justice Network (RJN), formerly known as Publish What You Pay.
He will work alongside other African representatives—Aïcha Barry of Guinea, Bekos Askhadra Djimadoum of Chad, and Joyce Nyamukunda of Zimbabwe—to help shape global policies that promote transparency, accountability, and equitable governance of Africa’s natural and energy resources.
According to Mr Bolton-Akpan, the board will focus on ensuring that communities where natural resources are extracted benefit directly from those resources.
“I look forward to interesting times working to help shape global policies and processes that advance fair, accountable, and people-centred governance of Africa’s natural and energy resources, ensuring that the communities from which these resources are extracted are the primary beneficiaries,” he wrote.
Mr Bolton-Akpan expressed appreciation to the outgoing African representatives on the board for steering the network through what he described as a critical period of transition. He singled out the immediate past head of Africa, Vincent Egoro, for his support and encouragement.
The Policy Alert executive director also thanked members of the Resource Justice Network across Anglophone West Africa for electing him and acknowledged the support of colleagues in the Nigerian chapter.
“I am deeply grateful to members of RJN across Anglophone West Africa for the confidence they reposed in me. I also owe special thanks to colleagues in the Nigeria chapter, whose steadfast support and belief in a resurgent RJN Nigeria made this possible,” he said.
Mr Bolton-Akpan is the interim chairperson of the Guild of Community Development Advocates in Akwa Ibom State, also known as the Akwa Ibom Civil Society Organisations Forum.
Over the years, Policy Alert, the organisation he leads, has been at the forefront of campaigns for fiscal transparency, environmental accountability, and ecological justice in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, advocating for reforms in the management of natural resource revenues and stronger protections for oil-producing communities.
PREMIUM TIMES recently reported Mr Bolton-Akpan’s call for stronger enforcement of methane rules in the Niger Delta.
The Resource Justice Network is a global coalition of civil society organisations working to promote transparency, accountability, and equitable management of oil, gas, mining, and other natural resources. The network recently rebranded from Publish What You Pay as part of an effort to strengthen its global advocacy on resource justice.
