By Obiabin Onukwugha
A coalition pushing for the cleaning up of the entire Niger Delta region and resolving of prevailing environmental injustice on the people, are calling for a presidential visit to communities so as to ascertain the true living conditions of the people.
The body, under the aegis of Coalition for a Cleaner Niger Delta (CCND), particularly called for a federal government delegation on-the-spot visit to some communities including, Polobubo and Ogulagha in Delta State; Ibeno, Mbo and Ikot Ada Udo in Akwa Ibom State; Awoye in Ondo State; Bille, Obagi and Rumuekpe in Rivers State; and Gbarain/Ekpetiama, Nembe, Aghoro and Otuabagi (where Nigeria’s pioneer oil wells are located) in Bayelsa State.
It said, the delegation to be led by President Bola Tinubu, should be made up of relevant Ministers and Regulators, and possibly the National Security Adviser.
CCND, in a statement jointly signed by Dr, Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and Otive Igbuzor, Founding Executive Director, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD) at the weekend, said the call became imperative as previous administrations have failed to take concrete actions in resolving the protracted environmental issues in the region.
The coalition stated that the protracted social injustice of funding national development at such extreme ecocidal expense of communities in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, or communities wherever else in Nigeria, needs to be urgently redressed, without any pretences as witnessed under previous Administrations.
The body called on the president to uphold his sworn commitment to national renewal by taking swift action to resolve the Ecocide (Environmental Genocide) in the Niger Delta, which they say increasingly threatens the continued existence of the entire region and undercuts the full economic potentials of Nigeria and constantly hangs national security on high risk levels.
The body noted Nigeria’s numerous
commitments to international treaties and conventions, including those on universal rights, environmental and indigenous people’s rights, and climate change. It also reminded Tinubu of the commitments he made at the UN Climate Conference (COP 28) in Dubai, UAE, last November, especially as the world gathers again at the next Climate Conference, COP 29, in about six months from now.
it said with the ongoing divestment of their remaining onshore holdings in Nigeria by the major international oil companies (IOCs), and their huge outstanding environmental liabilities thrown into legal uncertainty, thereby portending further risks, time has come for the President to act as the Protector-in-Chief of Nigerian communities.
The body said: “Considering the apparent failure of a long line of Presidents, Petroleum and Environment Ministers, and Chief Regulators, to recognize the indescribable gravity of this ravage, its severe socioeconomic and security repercussions for Nigeria, and to comprehensively resolve it, we invite Mr President to pay an on-the-spot visit, along with the relevant Ministers and Regulators, and possibly the National Security Adviser, to some of the following locations, which are too few as examples of devastation, to see for yourself: Polobubo and Ogulagha in Delta State; Ibeno, Mbo and Ikot Ada Udo in Akwa Ibom State; Awoye in Ondo State; Bille, Obagi and Rumuekpe in Rivers State; and Gbarain/Ekpetiama, Nembe, Aghoro and Otuabagi (where Nigeria’s pioneer oil wells are located) in Bayelsa State.
“Amidst the global dynamics of the 21st Century, and particularly in the context of climate change/action, Nigeria cannot continue to act as if ignorant of the importance of its biodiversity endowments and ecological imperatives. There are many countries we can benchmark, which produce more oil, gain far higher revenues from it, but still jealously and profitably protect their environment and ecosystems.
Norway which has a trillion dollar Sovereign Wealth Fund from petrodollars (and population of 5.5 million, against Nigeria’s 228 million) is a prime example, but ensures its waters stay pristine, enabling its robust fishing and marine industries. Scotland and the UAE are others.”
The coalition noted that the catastrophic condition of the region’s environment is globally documented in one of the latest expert reports on it (titled AN
ENVIRONMENTAL GENOCIDE: The human and environmental cost of Big Oil in Bayelsa, Nigeria), released two weeks to the inauguration of the President last May, by the high-level international panel constituted by the Bayelsa State Government, whose steering body includes former President John Kufour of Ghana, Baroness Valerie Amos (former UN Under Secretary-General and UK Secretary of State), and the former Archbishop of York, Baron John Sentamu.
It continued: “The stack of shocking reports on the ecological destruction of the region from petroleum extraction also includes the 2011 United Nations (UNEP) Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Report on Biodiversity in the Niger Delta, reports by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (commissioned by the oil giant, Shell, itself), the 1997 Niger Delta Environmental Survey (also commissioned by Shell), series of reports by Amnesty International and Friends of the Earth, and studies conducted by the BRACED Commission (constituted by the Governments of Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta States).”
“By the very limited official records of Nigeria’s spill detection body (National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency – NOSDRA), there were 16,263 (sixteen thousand, two hundred and sixty-three) oil spills within the 17-year period of 2006 to 2023.
“This accounted for about 823,483 (eight hundred and twenty-three thousand, four hundred and eighty-three) barrels of oil spilt, equivalent to 4,103 (four thousand, one hundred and three) tanker trucks or 130,933,797 (one hundred and thirty million, nine hundred and thirtythree thousand, seven hundred and ninety-seven) litres of crude oil, from NOSDRA data.
“These figures are a fractional slice of the reality, as they exclude 5,456 (five thousand, four hundred and fifty-six) spills for which the spiller companies did not provide NOSDRA with estimates of spilled quantities. Besides, estimates are usually and “understandably” grossly suppressed by operators. Data for some mega spills, like the Aiteo blowout at OML 29 that lasted for 38 (thirty eight) days in November-December 2021, are also omitted.
“Furthermore, it would be noticed that NOSDRA’s conservative spill statistics cited above do not include data for all of 50 (fifty) years from 1956 when Oloibiri Well 1 was spudded, till 2006 when NOSDRA was created. We also omitted gas volumes flared continually for 68 (sixty-eight) years, and the equally deleterious millions of barrels of toxic effluents/“produce water” discharged untreated into the rivers, swamps and mangroves as waste in the course of production. If allowance is made for these omissions and non-disclosures, easily one billion litres of crude oil equivalent have been released into the Niger Delta ecosystem as the price paid by communities there for Nigeria’s oil production,” the body stated
CCND recommended, amongst others, the “Adoption of the National Principles on Divestment and Decommissioning in the Nigerian Oil Industry in line with the one recently compiled by a wide coalition of community, civil society and international organizations, following extensive field missions and engagements in the Niger Delta.”
On curbing oil theft in the region, CCND said: “To avoid or minimize re-pollution, optimize production and abate associated insecurity, enact a carefully articulated approach to this economic crime (based on broad and indepth stakeholder consultations, which we are prepared to be part of if required).
The new strategy should be preventive,
proactive, inclusive, accountable, and look beyond current official reliance on state and non-state military methods that can often be tragically counterproductive, as results have shown intermittently.”