Following the flood occurrences in 2022 and the adverse effects that came with it, women in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria have lamented their horrible experiences of the flood.
The women shared their experiences at the Niger Delta Women’s Day of Action for Environmental held on 19th December and organised by Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre.
One of the women who participated at the event, said that the flooding experience in Akwa Ibom was terrible in such a way that many valuable properties were destroyed.
She said, “the effects of the flood cannot be quantified. Our farmlands especially cassava stems and seedlings were destroyed. We don’t know what to go back to again. The 2022 flooding is the worst of its kind. It affected our present and past lives.”
Other women also shared how the flood affected their source of income. For women who engaged in fishing activities, they lamented that activities were halted as they couldn’t cope with the unbearable losses they sustained.
The Executive Director, Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, Obonganwan Emem Okon, in her address, said that the campaigns so far has contributed to strengthening solidarity building among groups across the communities, amplifying women’s voices on the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), oil revenue benefits of the 13 percent derivation fund among other laudable impacts made by the women of the region.
Okon noted that despite the disproportionate impacts of pollution and environmental degradation, women are not included in the processes of benefit sharing in the oil and gas sector, but yet women were impacted more from the effects of climate change and called on relevant government agencies to right the wrongs.
In his paper presentation at the event on climate reality: impact of the 2022 flood on women and sustainable solutions, Bayelsa based environmentalist, Mr Godson Dorgu, said that majority of the people have come to the realization that climate change is real.
He said after the 2012 flood, most persons postulated it would take a very long time for such flood to reoccur, adding that women were the most vulnerable in any disastrous situation.
The event which was celebrated on the theme, Flooding in the Niger Delta: Causes, Effects and Solutions also featured songs by Akwa Ibom and Ogoni women, solidarity messages from Professor Robito Ekanem of the University of Calabar, the representative of Oxfam, Mr Henry Usher and the state coordinator of WANEP, Mr Peace Edem.
Highlights of the event included, demonstrations by some women groups in the Niger Delta, a panel discussion on women’s livelihood in the Niger Delta, women organizing stories, drama by the Theater Arts Department at the University of Port Harcourt, among others.
The Niger Delta Women’s Day of Action for Environmental aims at intensifying its campaigns on Climate Change and the harmful effects that the damaging oil and gas extraction development model has on women in the area.
This year the forum created a platform for grassroots women, who are directly affected by flood to share experiences, present their case studies, build solidarity with frontline communities around the call and call for action.
