Supporting Social Media Debates About Nigeria's Oil Sector

Social media have become important channels for Nigerians to simply and quickly exchange information about the governance of the country’s critically important oil sector. NRGI has provided support to organizations that are pioneering ways to make resource governance content more easily digestible and actionable, including on social media. This support has taken the form of grants to BudgIT (with more than 165,000 Twitter followers) and capacity building for staff of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
 
The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) regularly publishes reports detailing its finances and operations. Using NRGI funding, BudgIT staff translate NNPC reports and other oil sector-related publications into simple infographics. With NEITI, NRGI’s media development team provided curriculum development support to help create a framework for a social media influencers’ capacity development strategy.
 
The #FixOurOil hashtag has become a digital forum for debates around the sector, with much of the discussion initiated and informed by BudgIT and NEITI content. Gabriel Okeowo, BudgIT’s principal lead, says that “with NRGI’s support, BudgIT has been able to reach over 5 million Nigerians via digital and physical channels.” And with BudgIT’s support, NEITI trainees acquired skills for developing tools such as short videos and infographics.