By Obiabin Onukwugha
As stakeholders in the environment sector continue to question the divestment by Shell, AGIP, TotalEnergies and other multinationals in the Niger Delta region, an advocacy body, Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN), has taken a sensitisation campaign to communities in the region.
The campaign which culminated in a meeting with community representatives drawn from Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa and Abia, at the EDEN Resource Center in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, at the weekend, aimed at raising awareness for communities on their rights and how to hold Renaissance Africa Energy Holdings and other local oil companies accountable for the pollution of the Niger Delta Region, in the face of the divestment.
The meeting emphasised the need to hold the multinational companies accountable for the environmental disasters caused by oil exploration, and to demand for reparations and compensation from the divesting oil companies and their succeeding companies.
Reoccurring oil spills, polluted lands and waters, low crop yields, health related issues, communal crisis and deaths, and lack of infrastructural development were the testimonies of all the communities represented. They condemned the divestment of Shell and other multinational companies, pointing out that the divestment was just a name change, while the operators and their operations remain the same.
They lamented that the communities have become helpless in these dire situations, as intimidation and divide-and-rule tactics have been employed by these companies to keep the communities suppressed and silenced.
Deputy Executive Director of EDEN, Alagoa Morris who led the meeting, stated that the interactions and shared experiences of affected communities were necessary in order to strategize on how to collectively confront the polluters.
He described the divestment of Shell as a “ploy to escape the consequences of decades of environmental and human rights abuses, while operating under the guise of local oil companies.”
EEDEN’s Program Manager on Women and Gender, Keziah Okpojo, spoke on the importance of women inclusion in climate and environmental justice system. She emphasised that women who are at the forefront of the consequences of environmental pollution are vital in decision making and advocacy efforts towards seeking justice and accountability.
Comrades Akpotu Ziworitin and Comrade Sabastan Kpalaap, respectively, highlighted the human and environmental rights of the people and the need to continue to speak up so as to uphold the rights of communities and ensure accountability from oil companies.
Media and Communication Manager of EDEN, Elvira Jordan, spoke on the role of Social Media in environmental advocacy, and how communities can utilize the internet to expose the injustices of the oil and gas sector. She noted that social media provides opportunities for people to reach out to the oil companies, government regulatory agencies, civil society organizations, human rights advocates and other stakeholders.
Okala Precious, from Elebele Community in Bayelsa State, mentioned that the oil and gas experience of his community has been a story of bitterness. He said: “The company keeps tapping our resources without an equivalent dividend to show. Our environment is highly polluted. The only thing that gave us joy was our power supply but we are experiencing a decommissioning of which the generating set went bad a year ago. Even the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) which is supposed to protect the community, prohibits us from protesting against the injustice we are experiencing.”
Also speaking a representative from Abia State, Nelson Nwafor, decried the attitude of the companies to the people, saying they have closed every window of dialogue by intimidating the community with security agencies.
“Our stories of pollution and environmental degradation are the same with other oil producing communities. Accessing these companies for a dialogue have become very difficult. They use security men and armed forces to intimidate the people, especially the youths when they speak up. When there is a spill, they use the divide and rule system to make sure that we do not speak up on what is right. We should strategize on how to engage these companies together, to demand accountability,” Nwafor said.
Ngbar Lezin, who reprsented Korokoro Community in Tai LGA of Rivers State, spoke on how oil and gas exploration has affected the health and quality of live of the people in her community. She lamented that after decades of pollution by Shell, they have neglected the need to carry out a health audit of the people in the community, and a responsive medical care to cater for the multiple issues of stroke, miscarriages, early menopause and blindness that has swept acros the community.
“Shell has been operating in our land since 1958 till today with nothing to show for it.Women from the age of 20-30 are experiencing early menopause, amidst other health challenges. There is a widespread issue of blindness due to the continuous flaring of gas. Since the beginning of oil and gas exploration and the complaints of the community on the health hazards, no health audit has ever been done in the community.
“Peace is now a story of the past in our community due to the divide and rule system. We have 2 chiefs and 2 youth leaders in our community now. Due to the continuous crisis, all projects in the community have been put on hold. From 1958 till now, we cannot point to one Shell retiree from our community. They don’t even employ our people as casual staff. Now Shell wants to divest and leave us like that without repairing the damages they have caused,” she stated.
Jonah Gbemre from Iwherekan/Otu-jeremi community in Delta State, highlighted that the justice system has failed host communities, citing the landmark judgement that was given to his community in 2002 to end gas flaring. According to him, the judgement has not been acted upon 23 years later. He added that communities need to work together in the fight for justice and accountability.
“Since we have tried as an individual community to seek justice and it hasn’t worked, we need to come together as a force, just like the 3 farmers that won a case against Shell, and fight these oil multinationals together,” Gbemre said.
It would be recalled that EDEN had recently carried out a robust research on the impact of the operations of Shell Petroleum Development Company in Akwa Ibom, Abia, Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers State, under the Global Greengrants Funds (GGF), following the divestment by Shell.
A statement by EDEN Media and Communications Manager, Elvira Jordan at the weekend stated that the findings of the research was compiled into a document titled “Shell’s Awkward Divestment In Nigeria’s Niger Delta”. “This document serves as an advocacy material to guide the relevant bodies and agencies on how best to ensure that host communities are not shortchanged and plunged further into more environmental degradation through the divestment process.
“The Executive Director of EDEN, Barr. Chima Williams took the advocacy efforts to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), presenting the document to key stakeholders at NEITI including Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji (Executive Secretary), Mrs. Obiageli Onuora (Director of Communication), Comr. Kola Banwo (former CSOs Representative on the NEITI Board), and Dr. Mustapha Mohammed (National Coordinator, Publish What You Pay).
“Barr. Williams also presented the publications to key stakeholders at the Environmental Management Disaster Risk Reduction Institute (EMDRRI), connecting with the President and CEO of Stephen Ogboli, and also the Federal Ministry of Environment and the National Oil Spill Detection and Remediation Agency (NOSDRA).
”These engagements are geared towards advancing transparency, accountability, and stronger environmental governance for the common people of oil bearing communities, in the face of divestment plans,” the statement read.