Joel is a peace activist and Founder/Regional Director of the Niger Delta Professionals for Development (NIDPRODEV), a non-profit organization/NGO focused on communal and inter-tribal conflicts in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Joel was the Host Country Director for the November 2005 Global Citizen Journey delegation. He is providing advisory and logistical support for the Sweet Crude project.

A background in finance and accounting led Joel to a successful corporate banking career. However, he saw the economic and environmental devastation caused by the production of oil in the Delta, and felt called to help. In 1997 Joel decided to devote his life to mediating conflicts in the area and raising awareness of the situation throughout Nigeria and the world.

Joel has successfully negotiated conflicts between many of the region’s warring tribes, and functioned as a liaison between the government, foreign embassies, local/international NGOs, and the local populace. He has become a leading authority on the complex situation in the Niger Delta and is frequently interviewed by the BBC, Reuters, AP and other international news services.