Two years have passed since a United Nations Report calling for the clean-up of Ogoniland in Rivers State was presented. The Federal Government, which commissioned the study, promised action, but nothing has happened so far. The people have protested. Rights activists have complained about the matter. Their calls were handled with levity.
The House of Representatives waded in on Wednesday. It expressed disappointment with the handling of the clean up of impacted areas of Ogoni land.
As a result, the lawmakers summoned the Hydro-Carbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) to explain why action should not taken against it for failing to carry out its responsibility in Ogoni land as directed by the Federal government.
The decision followed the adoption of the resolution of a motion by Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) who noted with dismay the despoliation of the Ogoni environment and other Niger Delta communities due to decades of oil exploration activities in the region.
According to him, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) conducted an independent assessment on the environment and public health impacts of oil oil contamination in Ogoni land and proffered options for remediation on the request of the Federal government.
“The UNEP field observant and scientific investigation found out that oil contamination in Ogoni land is widespread and severely impacting many components of the environment and that even though the oil industry is no longer active in Ogoni land, oil spills continue to occur with alarming regularity and the Ogoni people live with pollution daily.
“That there is contaminated soil and ground water, destroyed vegetation and mangrove, in addition to the destruction of aquatic life due to hydro-carbon which affected local fishermen, loss of income and source of livelihood.
“Also that there are public health concerns and people are exposed to petroleum hydro-carbon in outside air and drinking water; and also exposed through dermal contacts from contaminated soil, sediments and surface water,” he said.
Chinda went on to state that UNEP, having concluded its study made numerous recommendations, which once implemented, would have an immediate and positive impact on Ogoni land, including the restoration of Ogoni land, remediation by enhanced natural attenuation (RENA), land based contamination and a clean up of the creeks.
He said: “On 4th August. 2011, UNEP presented its report to Presodent Goodluck Jonathan which confirmed the claims of the Ogoni people “that neglectful environmental pollution law and sub-standard inspection techniques of the federal authorities have led to the complete degradation of the Ogoni environment, turning the environment into an ecological disaster.
“Two years after, the Federal Government is yet to act on it rather hurriedly set up the Hydro-Carbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) just to dismiss the UNEP report as mere window dressing, largely ineffective, ineffectual and short of Ogoni people’s expectations.
“More worrisome is the fact that HYPREP is supervised by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, a major polluter in Ogoni land. The only sign of HYPREP’s intervention is the placing of signposts at strategic places in Port Harcourt and Ogoni land informing people that their environment has indeed been contaminated and that people should keep off the affected areas.
“On the other hand and as a consequence, the Ogoni people continue to drink contaminated water and seafood is being scrounged from the polluted water and the community people still process their food in crude coated creeks.
“It is also disturbing that the situation is already generating ill feelings and despondency amongst the Ogoni people and unless the UNEP report is fully implemented, they would continue to suffer pain and feel alienated in their land, a situation which could further lead to tension in the area”.
Abubakar Momoh (APC, Edo) reminded his colleagues that the same motion was presented in the 6th Assembly with the same resolution adopted but that nothing came out of it as the Federal government refused to act on the resolution .
He said: “I will rather suggest that we invite HYPREP to come and explain why action should not be taken against for failing to a cry out the responsibilities assigned to it by the federal government”.
His amendment was adopted and the presiding officer, Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha referred the motion to House Committees on Environment and Emergency and Disaster Preparedness.
An environmentalist, Nnimmo Bassey, in an article, said: “Two whole years after the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) issued a damning assessment of the Ogoni environment, the Ogoni people are forced to continue wallowing in the toxic broth that their lands and waters have been made to become. Ogoniland was once a land that supported productive farming, fishing and related activities. That was so up till the moment the oilrigs began to puncture holes in the land and crude oil began to be spilled on lands, forests and rivers. The air was clean but that changed when gas flares belched like dragons out for the kill. Today, twenty years after Shell got excommunicated from Ogoni, thick hydrocarbon fumes from sundry pollutions hang in the air.
“From the late 1980s, the Ogoni people raised alarm over the wholesale destruction of their environment. They followed this by careful and robustly peaceful organising. With the Ogoni Bill of Rights of 1990 they catalogued their demands for environmental, socio-economic and political justice. Although the Bill of Rights was presented to the Nigerian government till date there has not been a whisper by way of response to, or engagement with, the document.
“The Bill of Rights became an organising document for the Ogoni people and also eventually inspired other ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta to produce similar charters as a peaceful way of prodding the government into dialogue and action. The Bill noted that although crude oil had been extracted from Ogoniland from 1958 they had received nothing in return.
“A total clean up of Ogoni land will take a life time or about thirty years at the least. That is the length of time UNEP estimates it would require to clean up the water bodies in the territory. And it would require an additional five (5) years to clean up the land. How is that a lifetime? Well, life expectancy in the Niger Delta stands at approximately forty-one years.
“At the eve of the first anniversary of the presentation of the UNEP report, the Federal Government hurriedly cobbled up an outfit incongruously named Hydrocarbons Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP). The project was set up basically to hoodwink the Ogoni people into thinking that action was being taken to implement the UNEP report. A year after the setting up of HYPREP under the Ministry of Petroleum Resources – a major polluter of Ogoni land – the only visible acts of implementation of the UNEP report has been the planting of sign posts at some places informing the people that their environment is contaminated and that they should keep off. You could almost laugh, but this is sad and serious. Keep off your environment! No options given. The people still drink the polluted waters and farm the polluted lands. Seafood is still being scrounged from the polluted waters and community people still process their foods in the crude-coated creeks.”
On October 4, the people vowed to compel the Federal Government to implement the report . At a sensitisation rally in Baen, Khana Local Government Area of the State, the President of KAGOTE, made up of Khana, Gokana Tai and Eleme Local Government Areas, Dr. Peter Medee, said: “Whether the Federal Government likes it or not, we will force them through legal means to implement the recommendations of UNEP on Ogoni environment, ” adding “What is the Federal Government doing, two years after the report was submitted? Federal Government ignored the report so that Ogoni people will all die.
“We will not support any government that is wishing the people of Ogoni death. The minister of Petroleum, Deizani Alison-Madueke, has decided to torment the people of Ogoni. Tell her that if UNEP report is not implemented, she will fail.”
He said the Ogoni people would continue to support the administration of Governor Rotimi Amaechi and everything that will lift Ogoniland higher. “We are ready to fight for Amaechi because he is fighting the cause of the Ogoni 2015 project and bringing development to us,” he said. . The Public Relations Officer, Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Legborsi Esaen, declared that no amount of threat would stop the people of Ogoni ethnic nationality from producing the next governor of the state.
“We have spoken; it is project 2015 and no going back on that. We are used to security intimidation but we are not going back on 2015,” he said.
The Deputy National President, Nigeria Civil Service Union (NCSU), Menele Nzidee, said those opposed to the administration of Governor Rotimi Amaechi were doing so because of the governor’s resolve to have an Ogoni as a successor come 2015.
Rivers State Commissioner for Works, Chief Victor Giadom, said construction work would soon commence on the Saakpenwa-Bori-Kono road project, which was recently awarded by the Amaechi-led administration. He added that the present administration in the state was committed to ensuring that development gets to the nooks and crannies of Ogoni land.
Chairman of Khana Local Government Area, Gregory Nwidam, in an earlier remarks, said the rally was to sensitise the people of Khana on government programmes, insisting that elected officers from Ogoniland have not failed the people as he assured that they will continue to stand by the administration of Amaechi in the state.
Source: The Nation