Obiozo Ukpabi is a PhD candidate with the University of Humanistic Studies (UvH). She studied Economic and Social History (MA), including Oral History. Her research in completion of an additional master’s degree (MPhil, with distinction) explored theories of greed vs grievance for understanding the role of militant groups in petro-politics and –violence in the Niger Delta. Obiozo has also worked as dialogue facilitator with Building Conversation, platform for Dialogical Art, with which she remains affiliated.
DIALOGICS OF JUSTICE
In the Dialogics of Justice project, Obiozo studies claims for justice brought against transnational oil and gas company Shell by (former) residents of the Niger Delta whose lives and livelihoods have been affected by massive environmental degradation and human rights violations. Specifically, she examines how legal action, brought to a Dutch civil court in collaboration with transnational advocacy networks, opens up and may also narrow space for securing meaningful redress. She aims to shed light on the ways in which recognition and repair are experienced and given meaning by those involved in these claims, as part of and resulting from judicial and nonjudicial processes. Exploring critical questions of representation and voice across local-global intersections in a post-colonial context, Obiozo’s approach is informed by her experience facilitating policy dialogue on land rights and structural inequality in South Africa, and (with peace organisation Pax) supporting the work of democracy and peace activists in a range of countries including South Sudan and Syria.
Contact: obiozo.ukpabi@uvh.nl
PUBLICATIONS
De ontwrichtende logica van de olie- en gasindustrie. Inzichten uit Groningen en de Niger Delta
Nienke Busscher & Obiozo Ukpabi
Dec 14, 2023 | Inzicht in impact
Nienke Busscher and Obiozo Ukpabi discussed the impacts of extractivist logics of the fossil fuel industry on residents in Groningen and the Niger Delta. They explored similarities & differences in state-corporate responses to the consequences of extraction & described what is needed to…
Read moreMeerstemmigheid in erkenning van onrecht
Nicole Immler, Obiozo Ukpabi, Naomi Ormskerk & Niké Wentholt interviewed by Dagmar Punter
Oct 27, 2023 | Tijdschrift Conflicthantering
Dagmar Punter interviewed the DoJ team on the Dialogics of Justice project, and multivoicedness in the recognition of injustice.
Read moreMEDIA
NWO grant for research into compensation payments by Shell to affected communities in the Niger Delta
Niké Wentholt and Obiozo Ukpabi will conduct research into so-called “transformative” justice in the Niger Delta. They have been awarded an NWO XS grant for this purpose.
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Call on Dutch institutions for higher education to speak out on (de)humanization in the face of the violence in Palestine and Israël
27/10/2023 ‘Hamas-Israël conflict moet studenten leren niemand te ontmenselijken’ – Trouw
‘Wees niet bang om ‘partij te kiezen’ gericht op humanisering’ – Nieuw Wij
In this opinion piece Siri Driessen, Nicole Immler, Obiozo Ukpabi and Niké Wentholt called on Dutch institutions for higher education to take a stand against dehumanization in the face of terrorist…
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Opinion piece calling on Shell to reckon with its controversial legacies in the Netherlands and Nigeria
27/11/2022 ‘Mensen gaan boven economische belangen’ – NRC
Obiozo Ukpabi wrote an opinion piece where she calls on Shell to reckon with its controversial legacies in the Netherlands and Nigeria. Ukpabi writes in reaction to the decision of the four Nigerian widows who sued Shell for their alleged complicity in human rights violations in the…
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Livecast on society vs. fossil energy
25/03/2021 ‘Maatschappij vs. fossiel’ – Pakhuis de Zwijger
Obiozo Ukpabi participated in a panel discussion hosted by Pakhuis de Zwijger on the growing number of (legal) confrontations between citizens and NGOs on the one hand, and fossil fuel corporations on the other.
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Opinion piece on the legal judgement against Shell
11/02/2021 ‘Shell komt te makkelijk weg’ – NRC
Obiozo Ukpabi wrote an opinion piece on the meaning and limitations of the ruling of the Dutch court in the civil court case against the multinational Royal Dutch Shell. She argued the legal framework provides limited possibility to address the actual problem those affected by environmental harm…
Read moreBLOG
Truth be told. Listening for stories in the courtroom
Obiozo Ukpabi
In October 2020, a remarkable case was heard in a civil court of Higher Appeal in The Hague. Four Nigerian farmers and fishers[1], who together with Dutch NGO Milieudefensie filed a lawsuit to hold Royal Dutch Shell accountable for massive environmental pollution caused by oil spills in their…
Read moreEVENTS
15-17/4/2026 – Dialogics of Justice Final Conference
April 15th-17th 2026 Dialogics of Justice (NWO-VICI) – Final Conference About the conference The last decade has witnessed an increase in civil proceedings brought before Dutch district courts by people adversely affected by colonial violence, military missions, sexual abuse, and environmental harm. Does legal action against institutions such as the Dutch state, the military, the church, and…
Read more23/11/2023 – Conference Groningen in Beeld. The societal consequences of gasexploitation and future directions
During the conference, Obiozo Ukpabi and Nienke Busscher of the Kennisplatform Leefbaar en Kansrijk Groningen presented a session about the impacts of oil and gas exploitation in the Niger Delta and Groningen.
Read more30/06/2023 – The Ethos of Global Law: The Multitudinous Communities of Global Lawyering.
In this two-day international workshop organised at Tilburg University, participants were brought together from practice, academia and the student bodies in a transnational conversation about ethos of transnational lawyering. Obiozo Ukpabi presented an intervention to the meeting about the power of writing legal and political narratives, which align at times but not always. Obiozo shared…
Read more14/04/2023 – Litigating Just Climate Futures – TEGL Workshop, Amsterdam
The workshop, which was held at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) was organized by members of the TEGL research project, a collaboration between the law faculties of Maastricht University, Open Universiteit NL, Tilburg University and the UvA. Participants from academia and practice examined how the positions and arguments of judges and the litigating parties in climate cases…
Read more19/01/2023 – Launch of the Legal Mobilization Platform in The Hague
At the launch event of the Legal Mobilization Platform which took place at the Concordia CC in The Hague, Obiozo Ukpabi spoke about her research in a panel with Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh (UvA) and Misha Plagis (LeidenU). The panel, which was organised as a town-hall discussion, focused on conceptualising climate justice. It was moderated by Ambreena…
Read more20-23/09/2022 – ‘Parliament of Things’ in Sustainability Summerschools ’22: Climate and Degrowth at Ghent University
In collaboration with Peter Aers (Building Conversation), Thomas Block (Centre for Sustainable Development, UGhent) and Ellen vandenplas (UGhent) Obiozo Ukpabi facilitated a Parliament of Things with students from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds to reflect on and discuss urgent ecological, social and political questions and their implications for human/non-human and ‘nature’ relationships. Inspired by the…
Read more30/09/2022 – Expert meeting: celebrating the mid-point of our project
The Dialogics of Justice-team marked the mid-point in their project with an expert meeting. For this closed event, we invited partners from academia and practice, who we see as close collaborators in our research. We invited their feedback and discussion on our research design and first findings. This resulted in insightful reflections on what we…
Read more24&25/09/2021 – Summer School On Climate at the University of Gent (Belgium)
On 24 and 25 September Obiozo contributed in the second edition of the Summer School on Climate organised for students at University of Gent. How do we discuss the complex matters of climate change and environmental pollution? Which perspectives and voices can and must be part of this conversation? Together with Peter Aers (Building Conversation)…
Read more6&7/07/2021 – Conference ‘Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Transitional Justice’ hosted by Loughborough University (UK)
All team members of the Dialogics of Justice project have participated in the two-day virtual conference on Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Transitional Justice, hosted by the Loughborough University Centre for Research in Communication and Culture. The versatile program included panels on Transitional Justice and Politics of Recognition, Transitional Justice and Memory, and Transitional Justice, Human Rights,…
Read more30/04/2021 – Workshop with prof. Paul Gready on Transformative Justice
Internal workshop with human rights scholar Paul Gready on Transformative Justice.
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