By Abbas Nazil
The Ford Foundation and the International Working Group (IWG) on petroleum pollution and just transition in the Niger Delta have drawn global attention to the worsening oil pollution in Bayelsa State, demanding accountability from polluters and urgent action to restore affected communities.
The coalition, known as the Just Clean-Up IWG, includes ODI Global, Polluter Pays Project, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), and Social Action International.
It raised its concerns at a summit themed “Make the Polluter Pay: Environmental Genocide and Just Energy Transition,” held at the Ford Foundation’s headquarters in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
The event focused on the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission (BSOEC) report, which documented the severe human and ecological damage caused by decades of oil exploration in the region.
The report described Bayelsa as even more polluted than Ogoniland, which is undergoing a United Nations-led cleanup.
Speakers at the event stressed that oil companies must take responsibility for decades of environmental destruction rather than leaving under the guise of divestment.
Professor Anthony Bebbington of the Ford Foundation argued that energy transition must not come at the expense of vulnerable communities already devastated by oil extraction.
Other contributors, including Dr. Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou of ODI Global and Dr. Nnimmo Bassey of HOMEF, highlighted that oil wells abandoned since the 1970s are still leaking, contaminating soil, water, and even human bloodstreams.
Community representatives like Emem Okon detailed the devastating impacts on women’s health and local food systems.
Bayelsa Governor Douye Diri assured the coalition that his administration is implementing parts of the report.
He said the state has presented the report to President Bola Tinubu, who directed federal ministries to act.
Diri announced that Bayelsa is working with the legislature to establish a Recovery Agency and create a dedicated Recovery Fund to address environmental destruction.
He expressed gratitude to international partners for amplifying the plight of Bayelsa, stressing that the state cannot bear the burden alone.
He called for global collaboration to ensure justice, restoration, and sustainable development for communities that have suffered decades of neglect.
