In the megacity of Lagos, Nigeria, scores of women recently took to the streets. Through chants and songs, speeches and signs, they made their demands clear: The largest city on the African continent needs a strong, public water system — not water for profit, sold to the highest bidder.
Water is one of our most essential resources. But across the globe, corporations are vying to gain control of and commodify our water. And Lagos, Nigeria, a city of more than 20 million people, is the epicenter of the movement challenging water profiteers and demanding public water.
That movement didn’t grow by accident: For more than three years, our close partners at Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA) have led a bold campaign to stop local officials from turning over the water system to private hands.
Your support has always been critical to our partnership with ERA. And we know the victory we win together in Lagos will have ripple effects for the human right to water around the globe. That’s why we’ve launched a drive to raise $10,000 for ERA. Your gift to Corporate Accountability today will immediately be given to ERA to power their campaign for safe public water.
Akinbode (Bode) Oluwafemi, the deputy executive director of ERA, and his colleagues like Veronica Nwanya, organizer of the women’s march, are mobilizing massive numbers of people behind the movement for water justice. Every day, they’re standing up to big corporations to advance the fundamental human right to water, building an ever-stronger coalition of labor and civil organizations in Nigeria, and shining a spotlight on this issue in the media.
You’ve heard of the powerful organizing for water justice happening in U.S. cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Flint. Lagos is connected to them in the struggle for water justice, linked by the common threads of water commodification, weakened public services, and a racist system that exploits communities of color for profit.
Private water corporations all over the world have played a pivotal role in this. They have interfered in local policymaking and undermined confidence in public water. Then, they’ve marketed themselves as the “solution” for clean drinking water — targeting cities with struggling water systems to make a profit.
From the U.S. to Nigeria, we are all connected in the global movement for water justice.
What happens next will set the precedent not only for Nigeria, but Africa as a whole. This summer, there will be a major national summit where organizers from across the country and the world will gather to discuss solutions to expand public access to water for all Nigerians. As a Corporate Accountability supporter, you can back these visionary organizers as they lead the movement for clean, safe public water at rates everyone can afford.
I hope you’ll stand in solidarity with Bode, Veronica, and ERA and give as generously as you can today to help us reach the $10,000 goal.Together, we can advance the human right to water around the globe.
Thank you for all you do to challenge corporate power.
