Nnimmo Bassey (born 11 June 1958) is a Nigerianarchitect,environmental activist,author and poet, who chairedFriends of the Earth International from 2008 through 2012^[1] and was executive director of Environmental Rights Action for two decades.^[2] He was one ofTime magazine'sHeroes of the Environment in 2009.^[3] In 2010, Nnimmo Bassey was named a Laureate of theRight Livelihood Award,^[4] and in 2012, he was awarded theRafto Prize.^[5] He also received anhonorary doctorate from theUniversity of York, England, in 2019. He serves on theadvisory board and is Director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation, an environmental think tank andadvocacyorganization.^[6][7]

Nnimmo Bassey
Born	(1958-06-11)11 June 1958 (age 66) Nigeria
Occupation(s)	Nigeria architect, environmental activist, author and poet

Nnimmo Bassey was born on 11 June 1958. He studiedarchitecture, practiced in the public sector for 10 years and thereafter continued in private practice. He was active onhuman rights issues in the 1980s when he served on theBoard of Directors of Nigeria's Civil Liberties Organization. In 1993, he co-founded a Nigerian (Non-governmental organization) NGO known as Environmental Rights Action (Friends of the Earth Nigeria) in order toadvocate, educate and organize around environmental human rights issues inNigeria.^[8] Since 1996, Bassey and Environmental Rights Action led Oil watchAfrica and, beginning in 2006, also led the Global South Network, Oil watch International, striving to mobilizecommunities against the expansion offossil fuels extraction.^[9][10] Bassey has served in the committees of both Oil watch International and the regional arm, Oil watch Africa since inception. Oil watchAfrica has membership inNigeria,Chad,Cameroon,Congo Democratic Republic,Ghana,Uganda,South Africa,Togo,Kenya,Swaziland,Mozambique,Mali,Sudan,South Sudan and others.^[11] Membership of Oil watch International spreads acrossSouth America,Southeast Asia,Africa,Europe andNorth America.^[12] The Network works to resist destructive oil, gas and coal extraction activities. It demands an urgent shift from the dominant petroleum-fueledcivilization. In 2011, Bassey founded theEcological think tank, the Health of Mother Earth Foundation promoting environmentalclimate justice andfood sovereignty inNigeria and Africa.^[13] At the2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference inCopenhagen, Bassey - despite being accredited - was "physically kept out" of a meeting.^{[14][citation needed]}

Bassey led Friends of the Earth International from 2008 to 2012 and for twodecades, was the executive director of Environmental Rights Action.^[15] He is the director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation^[6]and have served on the

• To Cook a Continent: Destructive Extraction and the Climate Crisis in Africa^[16]

Other books by Bassey include:

1. Patriots & Cockroaches (Poems) 1992
2. Beyond Simple Lines: the Architecture of Chief G.Y. Aduku and Archcon (with Okechukwu Nwaeze) 1993
3. The Management of Construction [1994]
4. Poems on The Run (Poems) 1994
5. Oil watching in South America (Environment) [1997]
6. Intercepted (Poems) 1998
7. We Thought It Was Oil But It Was Blood (Poems), 2002
8. Genetically Modified Organisms: the African Challenge (2004)
9. Living Houses (Architecture), 2005
10. Knee Deep in Crude, ERA Field Reports, ed (2009)
11. The Nigerian Environment and the Rule of Law, ed (2009)
12. I will Not Dance to Your Beat (poems), Kraft Books, Ibadan. 2011
13. We Thought It Was Oil But It Was Blood- Resistance to Military-Corporate Wedlock in Nigeria and Beyond. (TNI/Pluto Press, 2015)
14. Oil Politics – Echoes of Ecological Wars (Daraja Press, 2016).^[17][18]
15. I see the Invisible (Poems) (Daraja Press, 2023).
16. SHELL'S FPSO poses serious danger^[19]

• 2009 Times Magazine's Hero Of Environment^[20]
• 2010 Laureate Right Livelihood Award winner^[21]
• 2012 Rafto Prize winner^[22]
• 2019 Honorary Doctorate,University of York, England^[23][24]
• 2024Wallenberg Medal winner^[25]

• Environmental issues in the Niger Delta
• List of Nigerian architects

• Copenhagen: Where Africa Took On Obama By Naomi Klein - December 8th, 2009
• Article from Democracy Now
• Interview in Global Greegrants Fund
• Environment Rights Action, Friends of the earth in NigeriaArchived 2005-08-10 at theWayback Machine
• Video of Nnimmo Bassey during the COP15 by The UpTake (Naomi Klein)
• Video: Nigerian Environmentalist Nnimmo Bassey on Bolivia Climate Conference
• Nnimmo Bassey Wins Right Livelihood Award - video report byDemocracy Now!