By Alice Onukwugha
An international organisation working on the implementation of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission (BSOEC) Report, has called on the federal government of Nigeria to prevail on the international oil companies that operated in the region to cleanup the Niger Delta, despite their divestments.
The organisation known as the International Working Group on Petroleum Pollution and Just Transition in the Niger Delta, made the call during a visit to Ogoni to understudy the ongoing remediation carried out by the Hydrocarbon Pollution and Remediation Project, HYPREP, on Tuesday.
The International Working Group on Petroleum Pollution and Just Transition in the Niger Delta, is a group of researchers, academics and advocates from around the world, including Nigeria, that are interested in environmental remediation in the entire Niger Delta region.
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Speaking with journalists after the visit, a member of the group and leader of the delegation, Isaac Osuoka, said the aim of the visit is to study the situation in Ogoni land and the ongoing cleanup.
“This group has been established particularly following the work of the Bayelsa State’s Oil and Environmental Commission, which made findings that are very similar to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoni land,” he said.
He stated that the pollution in Ogoni is just a bit of the entire crisis of the Niger Delta. “The entire Niger Delta is badly, massively polluted. It’s an outrage. There is no part of the world that is as polluted as the Niger Delta. And we want to see this kind of response, this kind of intervention everywhere, not just in Bayelsa, but all parts of the Niger Delta,” he said.
Osuoka, who is an environmental activist, and coordinator of Social Action, highlighted the initial challenges in implementing the UNEP report. He also commented the efforts of HYPREP in carrying out the remediation.
He said: “The remediation, even the emergency measures that were recommended by UNEP were not implemented fully, providing access to safe water and things like that.
“What we are seeing is that clearly there is some work being done and as a group it’s an interesting learning opportunity. We’ve seen mangrove restoration sites, we’ve seen here that we are, that there is pollution, polluted lands that have been restored.
“This is going to take a lot of work, much more work than what has been done already. We recognise that this is not
yet finished business. But we see that clearly that there is effort and there is some change and we will take that lesson even as we continue to advocate for cleanup of the entire Niger Delta,” he said.
Osuoka noted that while the few hours spent in the visit is not sufficient to give a conclusive assessment on the successes of HYPREP, there is progress at different levels. “We have seen attempts to address livelihood issues because when there is pollution, members of communities lose their livelihoods.
“We understand that when there is pollution, that it impacts on the health of people. And we see that there is an attempt to address all of those. “We have visited sites where hospitals have been built. And we hope that those projects will be sustainable.”
Osuoka accused the federal government of allowing the IOCs to exit the region without first cleaning up the environment. “The United Nations Environment Programme recommended that one billion should be expended during an initial five-year period. And Shell is supposed to be responsible for all of those expenses.
“Now Shell has sold its interest in Niger Delta to some company called Renaissance. We are not sure who will be responsible for footing the bill for all of these efforts going forward.
“And this is also relevant for the entire Niger Delta, in places like Bayelsa, in Delta, Rivers State and other communities where the international oil companies, unfortunately because of the irresponsibility of the Nigerian government
to allow the international company to basically just walk away without addressing all of these issues.”
He called on the federal government to hold the IOCs accountable “It is our view, the international oil companies that have operated during the past decades should be responsible for the damage that they did in all of these areas whether or not the federal government have allowed them to sell their assets.
“And that is why we continue to work, using research, using advocacy, and other means to call attention of the international community to the outrage in the Niger Delta and the need to make the polluter pay,” the activist stated.
Prof Anna Zalik, a professor in Environmental and Urban Change at York University in Toronto, Canada, and a member of the group, stated that their focus is to push for the implementation of the report on the Bayelsa State environment and Niger Delta at large.
“We aree here to look and promote the implementation of the recommendations of the report of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission, which seeks to implement proper remediation of polluted land throughout Bayelsa State and elsewhere in the Niger Delta.
“And thus, we are visiting HYPREP sites to learn about all of the work that has been done here in Ogoni to begin the process of cleaning up the pollution caused by decades of the international oil companies’ activities in the Niger Delta.
“We’ve learned a lot from the work that HYPREP has done, and it’s really
inspiring to see the commitment to the remediation in the area.
“Of course, we know that this is a very extensive work that will require commitment by government, by the international community, and particularly by the international oil companies to financing this over various decades to ensure that polluted areas in Ogoni, elsewhere in Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Ondo, various parts of the delta are properly cleaned up after the devastation that we have seen caused by firms like Shell, Agip, Total, Exxon,” she stated.
Another member of the group, Kathlyn Nwajiaku-Dahou, who is also the Director of the ODI Global Politics and Governance Program, a think tank based in the UK, acknowledged the successes recorded by HYPREP, especially the mangrove restoration.
She said: “We came here to learn, to listen and I think I’ve learned quite a lot. I was very impressed by the attempts to begin the process of replanting of mangroves,
that’s restoration of the mangroves, after having carried out cleanup and some remediation. So it’s good to see that this is happening.
“At the same time, we also had the opportunity to have a look at some of the remediation efforts, which are quite impressive and we were quite encouraged by the attempt to use EGASIM higher standards.”
She however, described the ongoing clean up as “a drop in the ocean”, stating that the problems of the Niger Delta are enormous.
“Ogoni is not only a very important part of the Delta, but it’s a very important part of the struggle for environmental justice. So it’s very good to see that HYPREP have made some important strides.
“At the same time, I also acknowledge that this is a drop in the ocean. Problems in the Niger Delta are extensive, of which Ogoni is part is just one,” she stated.
Sites visited by the delegation included; the Bomu mangrove restoration site, the Kpoghor/Gio Water project, the Ogoni Independent Power Plant, the Ogoni Centre of Excellence, the Ogoni Specialist Hospital and an ongoing remediation site.
Members of the group also planted mangroves, in dedication to late Ken Saro Wiwa, Oronto Douglas, Moris Alagoa, and other environmentalists who have been in the frontline of the struggle for environmental justice of the Niger Delta.
