Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has
congratulated Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of the Health of
Mother Earth Foundation, on his well-deserved recognition as recipient
of the prestigious 2024 Wallenberg Medal.
The transparency watchdog noted that the University of Michigan in a
post on its website on February 12, announced Bassey as the 30th
recipient of the global award.
Dr. Bassey – an environmental leader, architect, and poet – will thus
become the first Nigerian, and 5th African to be so honoured after South
Africans Helen Suzman and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Rwandan Paul
Rusesabagina, and Congolese Denis Mukwege.
The Wallenberg Medal is awarded to outstanding humanitarians whose
actions on behalf of the defenceless and oppressed reflect the heroic
commitment and sacrifice of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who
rescued tens of thousands of Jews in Budapest during the closing months
of World War II.’
Akinbode Oluwafemi, Executive Director of CAPPA, said: “This award is
yet another proof of Dr. Nnimmo Bassey’s phenomenal impact and global
excellence. CAPPA, together with a long list of environmental advocates
in Nigeria, Africa, and around the world, is excited to celebrate this
recognition. We doubly testify of Dr. Bassey’s pristine work and
relentless pursuit of environmental justice and accountability, even in
the face of formidable challenges.
Previous recipients of the award include the 14th Dalai Lama, Romanian
American Nobel Laurette and holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, American
politician and civil rights activist John Robert Lewis and Burmese Nobel
Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, among others.
In its statement regarding the Wallenberg Legacy, the university
announced that Bassey would receive the Wallenberg Medal and deliver the
Wallenberg Lecture on September 10 in Ann Arbor City, Michigan.
“As an architect, poet, writer, and human rights advocate, Nnimmo Bassey
works to address root cause issues driving climate migration,
environmental and social impacts of extractive production, and hunger in
the Niger Delta. His commitment to socio-ecological justice connects
large-scale issues of climate change, exploitation of natural resources,
and political/corporate intransigence to the lives of individuals in the
Niger Delta and beyond,” Sioban Harlow, Professor Emerita of
Epidemiology and Global Public Health and chair of the Wallenberg Medal
Executive Committee further noted in the statement.
Apart from being the director of an ecological think-tank and a multiple
award winner, Dr. Bassey is also a member of the steering committee of
Oilwatch International, a network resisting the expansion of fossil fuel
extraction in the Global South.
He chaired Friends of the Earth International (2008-2012), was a
co-recipient of the 2010 Right Livelihood Award, also known as the
“Alternative Nobel Prize,” and received the Rafto Human Rights Prize in
2012.
Dr. Bassey received honorary doctorate degrees from the University of
York (UK) in 2019 and from York University (Canada) in 2023. His books
include To Cook a Continent: Destructive Extraction and The Climate
Crisis in Africa and Oil Politics: Echoes of Ecological War. His poetry
collections include We Thought It Was Oil But It Was Blood (1998), I
Will Not Dance to Your Beat (2010), and I See the Invisible (2024).
According to the organizers of the Wallenberg Medal and Lecture
ceremony, participation is free and open to the public. Tickets are not
required and inquiries about the event and requests for event
accessibility accommodations can be directed to
wallenberglecture@umich.edu or 734-936- 3973.
Signed
Robert Egbe
Media & Communications Officer, CAPPA
