The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has commended the federal government for dragging Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, claiming N1.3 trillion against the oil firm for the December 20, 2011, Bonga oil spills.
The spill which caused massive pollution in coastal communities in Delta and Bayelsa states occurred in Shell’s Bonga Field located about 120 kilometres off the Nigerian coastline. The project itself was linked to a scam involving Vetco International Limited whose officials were discovered to have paid $2.1 million bribe to Nigerian officials to undercut customs regulations, following which a US court fined Vetco International $26 million fine for violating the U.S Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The bribes were paid between September 2002 and April 2005 when Vetco International was providing engineering and procurement services and subsea construction equipment for the Bonga project
The suit is protecting the interest of fishermen and persons, numbering about 285,000 from 350 communities and satellite villages, affected by the crude oil spillage. The government is demanding N884 billion as compensation for the impacted communities and another N495 billion as restitution and restoration of the devastation of the economic zone of the Nigeria’s territorial waters. It is also asking for N50 million as cost of the legal action.
Co-defendants in suit are Shell Petroleum N.V, B.V Netherlands International Indusrie-E Handel Maatschappij, Shell Transport and Trading Company Plc, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, who are all allied companies of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company. In an affidavit sworn to by a Deputy Director, Oil Field Assessment Department of National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Mr. Akindele Olubunmi in the suit, counsel to the plaintiffs, Awosika Adekunle, averred that he had the consent and the authority of President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. A. Mallam (SAN), Attorney General of the Federation and Director General of NOSDRA, to depose to this affidavit.
In a statement issued in Lagos, ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Godwin Ojo said: “This is cheery news no doubt. The days of impunity by Shell in Nigeria is nearing its end. The Nigerian government has by this decision taken a giant leap in siding with the people against a corporate bully. It is commendable”
Ojo explained that it was however sad that the road to justice for the impacted communities is only coming now, more than five years after their lives and livelihoods were rudely obfuscated even as he noted that justice cannot be denied ultimately.
“The Buhari administration has shown the way. If British Petroleum (BP) was made to pay for the Gulf of Mexico spill in …why Should Shell not pay double for its shameful impunity all these years? Nigeria’s sovereignty over oil companies cannot be compromised. Corporate capture of the state and resources has led to untold hardships for the local fishermen who were stopped from fishing while the spill wreaked havoc on marine life and fishing in the Nigeria’s coastal communities”.
“ERA/FoEN pledges to support the case and provide technical support that will ensure justice is done. We want to add that however that while environmental remediation is important, compensation for the impoverished fisher men and women was not mentioned in the suit and this should immediately be a part of the suit. The time of Shell’s impunity is over”, Ojo insisted.
The Executive Director, Environmental Right Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/foEN), Dr. Godwin Ojo, on Tuesday frowned at the new version of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), describing it as weak and wishy-washy.
Ojo said the new version of the PIB christened, Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) lacked the capacity to address corporate impunity in the oil industry.
Speaking in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, during an Environmental Parliament on PIB 2016, Ojo said the promoters of the bill failed to learn from past experiences.
He said ERA organised the one-day event to subject the PIB to expert-working-group review.
He said the parliament was one in a series of engagements in environmental policy initiatives to give technical support and suggestions to lawmakers for people-oriented laws to be enacted in Nigeria.
He said it was unfortunate that in the 7th session of the National Assembly, the bill was not passed because some lawmakers seemed to have been compromised and succumbed to cheap blackmail by the oil industry.
He said some federal lawmakers became the mouthpiece of the oil companies which threatened to pull out of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector following their argument that it would be unviable with the passage of the old PIB version.
He said the current failed to promote fundamental areas on environmental and livelihoods protection.
According to him since 2008 when it was first introduced, the bill was designed to serve as a conflict resolution law to ensure that the multifaceted problems of the industry – inefficiency, corruption and environmental degradation- were curtailed.
He said the bill was also to address the years of human rights violations and the clamour for environmental justice by the rural folks who were often the receivers of oil extraction impacts felt in their health, environment and livelihoods sources.
Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, described the death of Chief Mrs. Awolowo, as the end of an era.
In a statement by the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, the governor joined the progressive family in mourning the glorious exit of a matriarch.
He described Mama Awolowo as a solid pillar beside the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo when he was alive.
According to the Governor, Mama stood by her husband during his lifetime and even after his demise. “They set examples for politicians when they were here with us. The couple typified the best of what politicians should strive to be in their families in our society.”
Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Bayelsa State has gradually become synonymous with oil spills and related incidences. The council, which is a major host to oil installations operated by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), has large portion of its environment polluted by oil slicks.
•Fishing water course devastated due to the spill
The frequency of oil spills in the council has no doubt affected negatively the image of NAOC and raised questions on double standard modus operandi of oil companies operating in Nigeria. Recently, an oil spill site belonging to Agip in Azuzuama, Southern Ijaw, exploded into an inferno and consumed over 12 lives who were there for a Joint Investigation Visit (JIV).
Though Governor Seriake Dickson barked and ordered a forensic investigation to determine the cause of explosion, there are no signs that real probe in that spirit, which the governor initially reacted, is ongoing. The victims may have also died in vain.
As the state is mourning the tragedy, another leakage of crude oil has been reported in Agip’s Ossiama-Ogboinbiri and Ogboinbiri-Tebidaba pipelines. The pipeline traverses Keme-ebiama,Okpotuwari and Ondewari community environment in the council. The pipelines have recently become notorious for oil spills and most of the spills are said to be caused by equipment failure. It seems the company’s pipelines have collapsed and due for change.
•Booms found in the environment when ERA first visited
The Environmental Right Action (ERA) in its latest report signed by its State Officer, Mr. Alagoa Moris, commented on the pipelines. It said: “The crux of the matter here is the increasing number of oil spills along this pipeline; even though the pipeline Right Of Way contains three different oil bearing pipelines.
“And, while some of the spills were officially attributed to equipment failure incidents; others were reported as third party interference cases. The Environmental Rights Action have investigated and reported quite a good number of spills along this pipeline”.
Recently, a spot on the pipeline was reported to be bubbling seriously with a spill. Describing the seriousness of the spill, ERA’s report said: “It was surprising to see the spot the crude oil finally came out with fury; bubbling and with the characteristic rising and falling movement of a boiling pot, accompanied by a familiar sound”.
But the Project Officer, Ondewari Health, Education and Environment Projects, Mr. Tontiemote Yeiyei, confirmed that the seriousness of the spill forced Agip to return to site. He said the company’s representatives were accompanied to the site by delegates from Ondewari, Okpotuwari and Keme-Ebiama.
He said: “They excavated the spot where crude oil was still coming out from the ground. Incidentally; that spot was only the soft spot where the crude oil found its way to the surface; the main ruptured spot on the body of the oil bearing pipe was a little bit away from where the crude oil was gushing out on the ground.
“Everyone present saw that, even though the Aqua-rap was still on the body of the pipe, the crude oil was escaping from the pipe. The Agip technicians tore open the Aqua-rap before the main ruptured spot was properly identified”.
He said apart from an official whom Agip representatives claimed was from the National Oil Spill Detection Regulatory Agency (NOSDRA), no representatives of other regulatory agencies like the ministry of environment followed Agip to the spill site.
He added: “Even though it was obvious that the cause of spill was equipment failure; we demanded to hear from the Agip representatives. Unfortunately they failed to be categorical about that information; they only told us that they will go and examine the photos they took of the ruptured spot and it is the outcome laboratory analysis which would say whether the spill was as a result of equipment failure or third party interference.
“They then promised returning to site the next day, being Wednesday. And, although no documents were signed and we were not comfortable with their statement of going to do laboratory analysis before telling us cause of spill; because we were confident of what we saw; we took it as they said; with the hope of carrying out a proper JIV and repairs on Wednesday’’.
Another mysterious fire
Agip promised to return on Wednesday, July 22. But before they could make good their promise, a consuming fire descended on the spill site. Environmental experts are becoming curious over incessant fire outbreaks in spill sites belonging to Agip. On Wednesday morning, residents of the communities reported a thick smoke emanating from the impacted environment.
Youths of the three communities were said to have tried to put out the fire. It was gathered that two persons one each from Ondewari and Okpotuwari were arrested by the Oil and Gas Task Force operating in the local government area and were taken to Yenagoa, the state capital for further investigation and interrogation. Following the fire incident, Agip suspended the agreed visit.
Crude oil spreads
Despite the fire, communities linked to Ogboinbiri River woke up to see crude oil all over their environment. Gbarain community downstream the river was the first to raise the alarm. A resident, Boro Jonah said: “As I speak with you our river is covered with crude oil and we are really surprised; as we don’t know where this oil slick is coming from”.
Also, the Keme-Ebiama community along the same river confirmed that the spill has spread to its environment. The Chairman of the Community Development Committee (CDC) of Keme-Ebiama, Mr. Columbus John-Bull said: ‘’The River right in front of our community has been covered with crude oil. We have no doubt that it is spreading from the spill point in our community environment.
“Already, it has impacted our swamp, ponds and lake in the bush and now; it has spread to the river. As bad as the scenario is, we are trying to see how we can also capture the incident by taking photos and video shots’’.
On July 25th, representatives of NAOC returned to the spill point for repairs. They were reportedly escorted to the area by four armed security operatives. But there Walsh a problem. A serious disagreement ensued between the communities and the firm’s delegates.
The communities questioned the modalities adopted by the firm to chantry out the JIV and repairs of the ruptured spot. They complained that there was no sign of a JIV team and JIV forms. Besides, the three communities demanded N400,000 each from Agip for bush entry.
The CDC Chairman of Ondewari community, Mr. Charles Igoniwari, accused the company of not doing the right thing.
He said: “What we are demanding is that, before going ahead with the repairs we need to experience the normal JIV process. Incidentally Agip is not here with the JIV forms and, how do they expect us to conclude and leave this site without filling and signing the JIV report which we ought to sign here at the site?
“We want to ensure the essential details about the spill incident are documented before anything else. That is the demand and stance of the three communities. And, rather than complying with the just demand, Agip is now adopting the method of passing through the state government to intimidate us.
“They thought we are ignorant of what the procedures are that is why they want to intimidate us but we won’t succumb to the pressure; they should rather do the right thing’’.
On the demand for money before the JIV and repairs, he said: “Yes, we were demanding that money as part of the bush entry, site fee that even Agip cannot say our demand is out of place. Although the amounts may vary, Agip normally pay in other places too when community persons assist them during such visits to site when spills occur.
“That demand has nothing to do with our main demand. Our main demand is that Agip should follow ‘due process’. We want the JIV carried out before going ahead with repairs.
“They are not here with the JIV forms for us to fill. The regulators are not even here. Ours shouldn’t be different, we want to see the JIV form filled and signed here at the spill site. That is our main demand”.
But on July 26, Agip was said to have returned to the site, a situation that triggered just another round of disagreements between the firm and the communities.
Yeiyei, who was among the representatives of Ondewari community at the site, confirmed the fresh dispute. He said: “There was disagreement between the communities and Agip on the volume of spilled crude oil. And, none of the Regulatory Agencies was represented at the site.
“We were made to understand that the State Ministry of Environment and NOSDRA were not with us at the site because of the recent explosion which led to the death of their staff at Azuzuama.
“Agip estimated the spilled crude oil to 80 barrels only and the communities rejected that estimate because how they came up with the estimate was unclear. Besides, we witnessed the volume of crude oil spewing from the spill site even before Agip came for confirmation and, even after confirmation; the spill continued.
“Based on our experience we thought the volume was far more than Agip’s estimated volume. The disagreement resulted into a heated argument and, Agip wanted to resort to the use of force because they came with armed military men. However, at the end of the day, we agreed for the volume spilled to be 100 barrels.
“And, while those who ought to sign from each of the communities and Agip signed their columns; the spaces meant for the regulators remained blank. For that reason, the signed JIV forms were not released to the communities; as Agip promised to take the forms to the regulators to sign before letting communities have their copies. That was how the matter ended’’.
ERA’s observations
ERA in its report insists that the volume of oil it observed spewing into the environment was very high. the volume of crude oil being spewed into the environment was very high. It said from when it got the information to when it visited the site, there was over 14 hours of continuous leakage.
Part of the report said: “The combined initial pressure, volume and time before the pressure was reduced was responsible for the heavy volume of crude oil spewed into the environment and, its eventual spread; aided by the terrain and already rising flood levels in the environment.
“The connecting swamps and rivulets facilitated the spread of the crude oil into the one-way flowing Ogboinbiri River from Keme-Ebiama axis and downstream it continued. This should explain the experience of the Gbarian people; about their river being flooded by crude oil from unknown source.
“When ERA visited first, the presence of booms in the environment confirmed Agip’s earlier visit; even though the actual spill point was yet to be discovered then.
“The burning of spill site is regrettable and, this has been part of the reason why community leaders have often urged their youths to mount security at spill impacted sites until JIVs are concluded.
“ERA was reliably informed too that, suggestion was made by community representatives that the spill site be guarded. This was made during Agip’s visit to the site on 21st July, 2015. But, the idea was discouraged by Agip representatives, may be due to financial implications such security services may attract”.
The report added: “The alleged attempt by the state government to encourage the distortion of the JIV process is unacceptable. Such efforts, if true; is against the government’s public pronouncements; of protecting the communities and our fragile environment to ensure sustainable development.
“Government cannot be absolved from the sailing mutual distrust between oil companies and communities; without taking sides government should apportion blame whether it is due communities or oil companies. The State Government should rather initiate positive steps to gain the confidence of our communities negatively impacted by the oil industry activities around them.
“While no spill is a good spill, it is more in the interest of government to support the communities where such equipment failure spills occur. The people of Keme-Ebiama, Okpotuwari and Ondewari in this instance deserves sympathy and encouragement; not intimidation through the paraphernalia of public office”.
ERA, therefore, demanded that Agip should respect the due process expected of a JIV process in the current incident. It asked the communities to sign the JIV report and demand their copies.
It asked community leaders and representatives to be properly informed about what is obtainable from any process or activities between their community and oil companies to avoid making unrealistic demands.
“ERA is aware of the fact that oil companies not specific to Agip alone do engage the services of community youths during repairs at spill sites. How much exchanges hands for such transactions is what ERA cannot say because the facts are not readily available.
“Agip should promptly follow-up repairs with clean-up, relief materials and compensation; with the same interest the company has shown in getting the spill point repaired with a view to put on the line for production purposes”, the report said.
It is most unfortunate that this special incident was fraught with several twists. The signing of JIV reports at the site leading to the conclusion of repairs poses questions.
ERA’s posers
ERA in the report raised some posers. The report said: “First of all, can the JIV forms signed at the site on Sunday [26th July, 2015] really represent a JIV report even when the regulators were not at the site to make independent observations?
“Secondly, has it been the practice for Regulators [NOSDRA, DPR, SMoE] to sign JIV reports in which they didn’t have firsthand experience of total impacted area, volume of spill and spread?
“What about other communities like Gbaruan and Lobia that have complained about the spread of Crude oil into their environment? Would it not require another JIV to get the proper thing done? This is because for ERA the spilled volume was more than 500 barrels based on what ERA captured on video clips during ERA’s visit on 16th July, 2015 and when Agip actually shut down the line.
“Even after shutting down, crude oil continued to spew into the environment; it didn’t stop automatically because the flow line was shut down, the residual pressure would continue to cause the spill for sometime.”
The impacted communities are waiting for Agip to respond to the posers.
All things being equal, as economists say, former Military Head of State Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (rtd) should succeed President GoodLuck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan on May 29. The choice of this date as a political succession day for Nigeria’s president, governors and parliaments may have petty origins on the surface, but, deep down, plugs into an important date in the universe. Traditionally since independent on October 1, 1960, this October day in which British colonialists transferred sovereignty to Nigerians has been Nigeria’s political transition day until the switch to May 1 now described as Democracy Day. In some spiritual circles world-wide, may 29 regarded as the peak of Pentecost, the outpouring of power from the Holy Spirit for the maintenance of creation.
Christians recognise Pentecost as a one-off event when disciples of the Lord Jesus received power from on High after his earthly departure. But, say the spiritual circle aforementioned, Pentecost happens every year.
From the highest planes of the spiritual realms, power surges downwards into creation like blood pumped out by the heart, for the maintenance and strengthening of everything which absorbs it. The regeneration observed in the spring season has been linked to the outpouring. So has the energising of human character and deeds, for good or ill. For this power, like electricity or atomic energy, is neutral, pliable into any form for which the “potter” bears personal responsibility.
Commenting on this subject a few years ago, this column suggested many riots which have occurred in Nigeria’s history in this season, including the onset of Nigeria’s Biafra civil war (1967-70) on May 27, may have been due to the forging of this power into negative ends.
For it merely helps to actualise inherent volition. Ideally, the inherent volition of man should be the transformation of earth-life into paradise-like beauty. But since his soul filled with poison, his use of this power can only be for ignoble ends.
As we stand in the era of change, which president-elect Buhari promised in his election campaigns, our prayer is that he be clarified about these matters, see himself as an upbuilding tool in the hands of his creator, connect and attach to Him, act only under His guidance, open himself to the helping rays of the power of Pentecost which transcend religious frontiers and, as Nigeria’s leader of the moment lead us to loftier heights.
If he does this, change would have meaning, significance and impact in our lives.
Road to change
The journey will be rough, we shouldn’t deceive ourselves. For the last thing many people desire and resist is change. And is because the spirit, tenant in the physical body we all legs about in, is in deep slumber.
When I was 40, in 1990, I took one day off work and traveled to Abeokuta, Ogun State to re-connect with the radiations of the town in which I grew up. I found, to my shock that if I was blindfolded, I would on my own find my way from the high on which I parked my car, to St. Andrews Primary School, Ileara, where, thanks to Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s free Primary School education project, I began school in January 1956, the year Chief Awolowo began free education in Western Region. My father was a colonial policeman and may have been unable to afford the bill. Nothing has changed in the environment between 1950 and 1990. The neighborhood was blighted.
Even the once lushful lawn of the parade ground of Ibarra police barracks where a reception was held for Queen Elizabeth II in 1956 had become patched and blighted.
Since the spirit forms the physical environment where it exists, it can be assumed that the state of the environment is the state of the spirit. Nigeria is replete with stories of successful people hesitant to build houses or make other investments in their villages out of fear that they may be killed.
Aging Buhari
There is no doubt that, at over 70, Gen. Buhari (rtd) is aging and would require bouncing health and energy to pull through his promises of four million jobs in one year, free education at all levels of schooling, steadying electricity all day long, curb of corruption, improvement of security and professionalism in the military, among many others. Add to these subtitle picture of voting patterns in the presidential election of March 28 which has led many people to conclude that wounds of the 1967 to 1970 Biafran war are far from healed. Thus manifested in grave ethnic divisions that need to be addressed.
Ethic division.
The voting pattern was the geography of the biafran war… the Eastern- Region (South- East and South- South) pitched against the North and the West. Some political observers blame it all on the South–West. Their thesis is that nowhere in history does the victor nation in a war relinquish power to the loser.
They site Germany and Japan as examples. Both nations lost the second world war to Britain. The United States, France and the Soviet Union (now Russian). Till this day both nations are forbidden to manufacture offensive military weapons. Besides, foreign troops from the victor nations except perhaps China are stationed in Germany and Japan to monitor them. By this logic, Dr Ebele Goodluck Jonathan should not have become Nigeria’s President after President YarA’dua’s death midterm in office.
The North opposed his ascension. But the South–West, backing constitutionalism, literally made him President. It is instructive that the bitter struggle between the North and the South–West, Dr Ebele Jonathan, as Vice-President, kept mute, like the South-East and the South-South regions. With victory achieved for Jonathan in both the left over two years of YarA’dua’s tenure and, later, a full four years term for himself, President Jonathan would display open pathological hatred for the South-West vengeance against the North. He was to describe South-Western as a pack of “rascals”, re-engage in puletic office known foes of former President Olusegun Obasanjo from the South-West, who set the stage for Dr Ebele Jonathan, as governor of Bayelsa State, to become Vice President of the YarA’dua Presidency.
The South-West was diminished in key appointments as well. As for the North, President Jonathan adopted a carrot and stick approach. The carrot was key appointments, especially in the security terrain. The “stick” came in the form of folding arms pretending to have no immediate solution for the Boko Haram insurgency, before which the well-respected Nigerian military would appear to flee. President Jonathan said he was not a “general”, in response to call that he engage the insurgents. Some critics of his Administration say the plot was to let a North –on-North war weaken the North for an easy political rout during the next Presidential election.
This would be facilitated by a sudden and victorious military assault as Boko Haram which would position President Jonathan as a tie-President who was latter left alone for another term. But it would seem the agenda, if there was one, miscalculated politically that the North and South-West, sworn political enemies since 1959, could offer a common political front in Nigerian history, and even fracture fortresses of the ruling People Democratic Party (PDP). That the North/South-West coalition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was able to defeat President Jonathan was not just a question of the game of numbers but more of intellectual sagacity.
While President Jonathan and the PDP were busy trying to destroy the person and image of Gen. Buhari (rtd) and image of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a master architect of the APC, the APC was busy abroad internationalising the coming election. They knew the APC would win the polls and the PDP would attempt to rig them and deploy soldiers to suppress protests. They were dead right in what happened in Port Harcourt and Abia State, among other discomfitures of the elections.
Many people have said President Jonathan played the Statesman by unconditionally accepting defeat, a feat, it is said, for an incumbent African President. Somehow I do not share this view. I believe the President merely succumbed to international pressure reigned against him and accepted a negotiated settlement for a soft landing in which he would not be probed personally.
There is a veiled reference to this in Gen. Buhari’s reply to President Jonathan’s congratulatory message in which the President–elect promised that the President would be treated with “respect” and “understanding”.
We must now proceed from the geography of the presidential election to the psychological war inflicted ethnic injuries which a Buhari administration should tackle, which may sap his energy and for which, in the coming series of this column, it would be shown how again people like him can make themselves biologically younger than their calendar or calendaric ages and fulfil all their tasks as if they are young people and without a scratch or dent in their health
Ethnic war injuries
The South–East has a grouse with the (1) North (2) South–West and (3) parts of the South–South.
The North
Hundreds of thousands of igbos were killed genocidically in the North in 1966 which security forces, either helplessly or in full support, looked the other way. Naturally Igbos fled eastwards, to their homeland. It was a clear lesson that the generosity or warmness of a host land, not withstanding, there is no place on this earth that is a NO MAN’S LAND. It is better to invest the fruits of adventure back home and not seek to make a home of a host land.
Even Igbo soldiers in the Nigeria army returned home after skirmishes in the barracks in which some of them were killed by Northern soldiers. The mood in the East was for a breakaway from Nigeria. Lt. Col Yakubu Gowon, Head of State of Nigeria at 32, found this a daunting challenge. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, leader of thought in the West, made the remarkable Statement: “If by commission or omission the East is allowed to go, the West will also follow.” The situation called for mediation and reconciliation. Ghana threw its doors open to Nigeria. All the regions met in Aburi, Ghana, Where Lt. Col Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, military governor of the Eastern regions, as opposed to federation, and Lt. Col. Gowon agreed. Lt. Col. Gowon rejected the agreement on his return to Nigeria, when the implications were explained to him. As was to be expected, Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu stuck to his guns, stating ON ABURI WE STAND. Chief Awolowo was to head for the East for a reconciliation meeting. It was at this meeting that the East said Chief Awolowo promised the East that, in the event of war between the East and the North, the West would fight in the side of the East.
The West
This thinking dominates the thinking of the average man and woman in the East today, and explains why the East persists in its traditional opposition to anything originating from the West, however good or beneficial to the East, and why the East would wish the West dismantled and its star city, Lagos, regarded as a no man’s land.
Yet Chief Awolowo, in post-war speeches and in the books, have denied making such a promise at the meeting with Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu. A tape of the meeting recovered by Federal troops in Enugu following the fall of the capital city, and reviewed by the Nigerian Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Gen. Gowon (as he later became) found no such promise. Even Odumegwu Ojukwu after his return from exile did not insist such a promise was made.
The gap in this Eastern thinking and reality has led scholars to conclude that a promise of support from the West for secession by the East must have been invented by pro-seccession and pro-war intelligentia in the East to galvanise the population for a war of seccession.
Incapacitation of the West
The bitterness in the East over the West fighting alongside the North during the Biafra War takes no account of how the co-alition Federal government of the East (NCNC) and the North (NPC) emasculated the West in the civil service and the Armed forces, excused the Mid-West region (later called Bendel State, now Edo and Delta State) from the West as a part of that emasculation, encourage break up of the Action Group (AG), government party in the West, and sent the leader of the region, Chief Awolowo, to 10 years imprisonment on charges that he plotted to overthrow the NPC/NCNC Federal government. Reasonable people should have asked: how would Chief Awolowo have done this when his Yoruba kinsmen were little present in the Army under the said emasculation? An evidence of the emasculation presents itself in the story of Brigadier Ogundipe. After the killing of Maj. Gen. J.T.U. Aguiyi Ironsi, an Igbo, who was the Head of State of Nigeria, in the counter coup of July 1966, Brig. Ogundipe was the most senior Nigerian Army officer around. But when he commanded a northern private, the latter declined to obey until the head received instruction from a northern officer. Brig. Ogundipe had no Yoruba soldiers to enforce his order. So, like Igbo officers, he took refuge… in a naval ship commanded by a fellow Yoruba, who took him to England. With this kind of scenario, how did the East expect the West to fight a war. In any case, northerners controlled all the army barracks which rank up the West.
In Lagos, there were Myong Barracks, Abalti Barracks, Bonny Camp, Doddan Barracks, Ojoo Cantonement and Ikeja Cantonement. There were army garrisons in Ibadan, Abeokuta, Ijebu-Ode and other towns. In any case, the Yoruba are guided by the wisdom of the proverb of the elders that “ti owo omode ko ba ba ida, kii bere iku to pa baba re”, that means until he has firmly gripped the handle of the sword, a child doesn’t seek vengeance against the killers of his father.
In the East at the time, Lt. Col. Banjo, a Yoruba, was in the custody of Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu. Lt. Col. Banjo was one of the four officers who staged the first coup in January 1966. They handed over to Gen. Ironsi when the coup failed. Banjo and Ifeajuna were released by Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu to work with him. When it would appear the West was not forth coming in striking a military blow, Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu decided on an invasion of Lagos from across the Niger through Benin. Banjo and Ifeajuna objected. He had them executed. Biafran troops from Onitsha crossed to Asaba and seized Bendel State which they renamed Republic of Benin.
From Benin, they moved towards Lagos but were stopped at Ore by troops commanded by Maj. Gen. Muritala Muhammed. Had Biafran troops succeeded, it was possible a Republic of Oduduwa would have been declared. But many people in the West doubt this intention.
Why, they wonder, did Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu not make the East the theatre of war by invading the North through the East-North border. Why force a war on the defenceless West? In any case, what were the justifications for the air bombings of a supposedly friendly or neutral Lagos?
The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) and several civil society groups have turned down an offer of financial compensation from the Bodo community after defeating Shell in a landmark suit that has been in court since 2008 for which the company settled out of court for the sum of $84 million.
The offer of compensation was turned down when ERA/FoEN, Oilwatch and Host Communities Network (HoCoN) visited the community to celebrate with them in Bodo, Rivers State, last week.
ERA/FoEN has been the arrowhead of campaigns to get Shell to compensate the locals for two massive spills that occurred in 2008, depriving about 13,000 fish farmers their trade for five years. The community maintained that Shell failed to carry out a proper cleaning of the environment after the incident, until the Dutch government intervened, which culminated in the initiation of talks between Shell and Bodo community on the cleanup process.
Under the out of court settlement agreement, 11,500 persons will share the $84 million which Shell agreed to pay as compensation.
ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Godwin Uyi Ojo said: “Today we are in celebratory mode. We wish to commend the Bodo people for their victory over Shell after six torturous years of twists and turns aimed at evading justice”.
Ojo explained that while the sum remains paltry in the face of Shell’s assault on the environment and their livelihoods, the victory of the people would serve to galvanise other impacted people to also seek justice.
Speaking with the community leaders, Ojo said that: “We applaud your courage. Shell would have preferred that the case remains in perpetuity until the community tires out, but your resilience in the face of such intimidating might forced the company’s hands”
Further, he pointed out that the victory of the Bodo community over Shell is the victory for civil society and people in Nigeria and everywhere suffering from the activities of multinationals.
Receiving the delegates, the Chairman of the Bodo Council of Chiefs, Chief Sylvester Kogbara explained that the struggle and victory against Shell could not have been possible if not for ERA/FoEN and other national and international organisations that were involved in fighting the company.
“When we cried, you cried with us, and when we were weeping, you wept with us. You made our pains your pain. Whatever we have achieved today, ERA/FoEN was part of it. You are always here with us. A day of thanksgiving is coming and we will remember all you have put in and also compensate you.”
Deputy paramount Ruler of Bodo City said: “We are very pleased with ERA/FoEN for coming to pay us an official visit today. The situation is not over, we need you to continue to fight for environmental justice with us because Shell is yet to begin clean up and restoration of the destroyed environment in Bodo.”
Godwin Ojo thanked the council of chiefs and the Bodo people for their kind gesture to compensate ERA/FoEN but however said that ERA/FoEN will not take a penny and no civil society will no matter how much time and energy has been expended on pursuing the case.
The highpoint of the celebration was the opening up of a register of victims of Shell’s abuse at individual and community levels by ERA/FoEN after which victims were urged to come up for documentation and possible legal action against the company.
In the words of Ojo: “Shell must not be allowed to escape from its human rights violations and environmental degradation of the Niger Delta.”
The truth of the matter according to a very good senior friend of mine in person of Mr.TadeAzeez is that no one can give what he does not have we have come to the conclusion of an Era in the administration of the Senior National Team of Nigeria and I must say that there is lot to talk about during the just concluded era. Let me quickly remind my readers that the era of Coach Stephen OkechukwuKeshi was full of lots of memories.
It was this coach that returned the lost glory of the Super Eagles after 19 years as African champions and he also qualified the team to the World Cup without much trouble. He also made sure that the Nigeria League players are introduced to the National Team and thus boosting the morale of our league players and creating competition among the teams.
The journey of the Senior National team was further called to question when we began the AFCON qualification campaign in a very scary way as we struggled to defeat teams that ordinarily we are supposed to overrun if we are to go by the available paper analysis.
I must not fail to also point out some fundamental issues that from the point of an observer may seem to be unethical and this is basically the relationship between Coach Stephen Keshi and his employers. It was not healthy to find an employee and his employers exchanging words on the pages of newspapers there cumulating into national discuss. A more civil approach would have addressed such miss-representation in the nearest future.
We hope that things will be done differently with the Amaju led team made up of men with great ideas on how to transform the football sector into a very viable and workable sector. Let me also remind all concern that we need to protect the brand of football if we are to project the brand to attract sponsorship.
CHANGING THE PERCEPTION OF CORPERATE NIGERIA
In Nigeria we have a lot of blue chip companies and oil companies but very few out of these companies are interested in supporting sport. I believe that the reason why we have seen this type of reaction is simply because the managers of our sport have not been fair to sport management. It is only in sport that you find people of all works of life coming in to grab a stake in the administration of its affairs.
Someone once said to me that it is only in sport that you see a situation whereby people without pre-requisite administration of sport qualification tend to claim to know better than those who actually studied sport management. It is a shame that professionals are been pushed to the background at the expense of opportunist who claim to be stakeholders in sports.
I have said it severally before now that the problem we have in our sport is created by those people that have nothing doing but who over the years have constituted themselves into a group of stakeholders in sport without having any viabe stake in sport. They crate the problem in sport because of their pecuniary gains and interest and after destroying the property of sport they are also invited to come and solve the problem they created which they never succeed in doing.
We need to run sport like a professional business concern that it is and as such we don’t need to have mediocre that claim to be well experienced in handling port matters without any form of training. Let me also say that the fact that one is not a professional sport manager does not mean that the person cannot do something in sport. There are severally short term courses on sports that will assist such persons into appreciating the language of sport.
Talking about language every profession has got its own language and if you engage a person that does not understand the language of sport to come and manage sport you are only preparing the recipe for mass destruction.
To change the perception of Corporate Nigeria means that certain things must be done differently but change in itself has various stages and in administering the process of change we should consider the following zones:
The diagram above illustrates three zones that are represented in the Change theory succinctly put; people are always in their comfort zone but when the process of change is activated people can tolerate moving from the comfort zone to the stretch zone. But any drastic change that will take people from their comfort zone to the panic zone will meet a corresponding resistance by the very people the change is meant for.
We must therefore approach changing the perception of Corporate Nigeria gradually. Let our structures and systems speak the change as well as the processes that we put in place to showcase transparency and build integrity to our various sport brands.
An enlightenment programme for the people of Badagry federal constituency organized by a National Assembly aspirant took place recently. OZIEGBE OKOEKI was there.
In Badagry a new air is blowing. A new era that would bring about a turnaround in the affairs of the community. This is the assurance of one of the leaders of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) in the area, Pastor Isreal Olufunsho Alagbe when he gathered his people together last week at a programme to enlighten, educate and sensitize them on some major issues and challenges currently confronting every community in the country.
The event under the auspices of Badagry Federal Constituency Consultative Forum had as its theme: ‘Turn around era 2015 for Badagry Federal Constituency’.
Alagbe who was the organiser of the event is currently a Commissioner in the Lagos State Civil Service Commission and Publicity Secretary of Badagry Divisional Leaders Forum of APC comprising all the local councils in Badagry division; he was the former Executive Secretary, Oshodi-Isolo Local Government from 2002 to 2003. He also wants to contest for the House of Representatives seat for Badagry Federal Constituency in 2015.
At the event which held at Aradagun Town Hall, Badagry in Olorunda Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Alagbe spoke to the people on: the Ebola disease and preventive measures, Boko Haram and security issues, distribution of Permanent Voters Cards (PVC), child abuse, Lagos state government and other issues.
In attendance were leaders in Badagry, grassroots politicians, CDA and CDC members, market women and men, youth forum and other stakeholders in the division.
Speaking on why he organised the event, Alagbe said he wants to use the occasion to prepare the minds of his people to confront so many challenges facing the community by educating them on how to relate to the issues appropriately and protect themselves and their communities. “I want to bring about a turnaround era in Badagry; by this I want to prepare the minds of the people and effect perfect change which we need and which is the slogan of APC in Badagry Federal Constituency.
According to him, turn around era is about changing the old habit “which has not given us the dividends of democracy that the people of Badagry require and which has made them not to be progressive enough. This omission is planned to be corrected by me; therefore the support of everyone in Badagry is important as I plan to lay a legacy of posterity for our youths and adults living in Badagry”, Alagbe said.
Commending the state government on the steps it took in containing the spread of the Ebola disease, Alagbe advised the people to look out for any patient with high temperature and headache and take them to the hospital immediately, “don’t treat them at home because you can contract the disease through physical contact. The state government has set aside hospitals to isolate and treat suspected cases”. He also advised them to wash their hands regularly with soap in running water not in a bowl and also adhere to simple hygiene rules.
On Boko Haram, the commissioner said the state government has aborted moves by the terrorist group to spread its tentacles to the state. “Lagos state government is watchful, Boko Haram has made several efforts to penetrate the state but has failed because of efforts of the state government”. He advised the people to avoid strange persons and alert police immediately of any strange movement or when vehicles are abandoned for more than 24hours in the community, “avoid strange people coming to do havoc in the community”, he said.
Alagbe enjoined the people especially party members to come out en-mass to collect their permanent voter cards (PVCs) whenever the exercise commences in the state. “Go out with the temporary voter card which you used in the last general election and obtain the permanent card because without it you cannot vote and you must vote to elect leaders of your choice,” Alagbe said.
He admonished them to be wary of some organisations that are going about giving forms to individuals in various communities “pretending to give them loans for their businesses, the forms are meant to be completed by intending recipients. There are various sections in the form to be filled, like information on voter’s card and other vital voters information. It is a ploy to deceive the community; the promise will continue but will never be fulfilled. There is the possibility of such victims not to have opportunity to vote in 2015 and the loan will not come out, so you lose in two ways, no voting and no loan. Be careful of looking for money by all means”, he admonished the people.
He also alerted the people on taking proper care of their children and wards to avoid them being abused sexually by young people like themselves or adults. Making reference to a reported incident where some young ones lured others to have canal knowledge with them, Alagbe said it is immoral and must be avoided.
“Parents who use one room should avoid sexual acts with their spouse in the presence of their children as they would want to practice what they see. Sending children to hawk should also be avoided as they could be tricked into sexual acts with other children or adults through inducements with gifts. Parents of young ones should please guide their children and watch them within the community”, he advised.
Alagbe who has been a member of the Lagos State Civil Service Commission since 2011 took time out to give kudos to the state government saying since the progressives have been in the helms of affairs in the state there have been peace, harmony, security and progress. “It has been a government of the people mindful of dishing out the dividends of democracy to the people. Government has been trying to make Lagos state conducive for every inhabitant, don’t listen to rumours that can destabilise activities of innocent people and the government,” he said.
The people expressed appreciation and gratitude for the very important tips given to them by Alagbe promising to put them to proper use for their benefit and that of Badagry as a whole, while they promised to embrace the turnaround era with open hands as it promises better deals and more dividends of democracy to the people and Badagry.
Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi is the winner of this year’s Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) Premiere Award for Social Security, Livelihood and Environmental Protection.
Presenting the award to Fayemi in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, at the sixth Annual National Environment Consultation (NEC), tagged: “Our Forest, Our Life”, ERA/FoEN Executive Director Dr. Godwin Ojo said it was in recognition of the governor’s support to vulnerable people in the society, especially his Social Security Scheme for the Elderly.
Ojo said the scheme aligns with ERA/FoEN’s plan to establish a national social security scheme to be called the National Basic Income Scheme (NaBIS).
The Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi is the winner of this year’s Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) Premiere Award for Social Security, Livelihoods and Environmental Protection award.
Presenting the award to governor Fayemi in Ado- Ekiti during the 6th Annual National Consultation on the Environment (NEC) conference titled: Our Forest, Our Life, ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo, said in considering the governor for the award, the organization noted and considered D governor Fayemi’s sustained efforts to provide support for vulnerable groups in a nation without security and insurance for the poor.
He said Fayemi has blazed the trail in social security delievery through his innovative scheme whereby elderly citizens of the state receives a monthly stipend. According to Ojo, this social security safety net aligns with ERA/FoEN’s commitment towards the establishment of a nationwide social security scheme called the National Basic Income Scheme (NaBIS).
The NaBIS according to him is a social security scheme whereby about N10, 000 is to be paid monthly to all Nigerians who are unemployed. The scheme is designed to uphold human dignity, reduce poverty, unlock creative potentials for the generation of employment opportunities and reduce prevalence of crime in the society.
“We found in the comrade governor, some level of fulfillment of these aspirations in his empowerment of Community Development Associations (CDA’s) and his innovative monthly social security stipends to the elderly senior citizens. This premiere award of recognition goes to the governor for his sustained effort to provide social security for vulnerable groups in the state,” Ojo said.
In his response, Fayemi dedicated the award to the elderly in the state while expressing his willingness to work with civil society organizations in launching NaBIS on a national scale.
“I dedicate this award to the elderly people in Ekiti. I give them just N5, 000 a month and whenever I engage with the elderly they tell me that many of them still have at least N1, 000 remaining at the end of the month. The elderly also have a contributory scheme within themselves from the little they receive from the government,” Fayemi said.
Earlier in his keynote address, governor Fayemi called on civil society organizations to collaborate with the government in ensuring the sustainability of Nigerian forests. The governor lamented that civil societies often neglect the aspect of governance in their campaigns saying the two have to go together.
“I believe government should be involved in the campaign for the protection of the environment. As civil society groups, we should not isolate the government. When we pursue our environmental activities as activists, we should remember the government angle, we cannot push it over,” he said.
In his opening speech, ERA director Ojo said the topic of this year’s conference is apt because of the great impact that unchecked industrialization processes have led to forest degradation and negatively impacted the communities.
Ojo said deforestation is nearing crisis level in Nigeria. He estimated that Nigeria has an annual deforestation rate of 3.5 percent and is ranked among countries with the highest level of deforestation of pristine forests in the world.
According to statistics, between 2000n and 2005, Nigeria lost 409,700 hectares of forests annually and between 1990 and 2000 another 55.7 percent of primary forests were lost to deforestation. Nigeria currently has below 9.6 million hectares of forest reserves as against 60 million hectares of forests and woodlands credited to the country in 1887.
Ojo cautioned against false solution to deforestation like the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) which he said is to rob communities of their lands and exacerbate climate change. He said the impact of the loss of forests and biodiversity is replete across Nigeria especially in the 11 frontline states in northern Nigeria.
He also lamented the indiscriminate logging which is profound in many communities in Ekiti state. “In Irele-Ekiti, which hitherto boasted of huge tress and forest cover, the reverse in now the case as indiscriminate logging and other unsustainable forest practices caused by unregulated charcoal production has severely degraded the forests and forced some plant species and animals into extinction.”
Ojo called on Nigerians to collectively salvage the forest in order to preserve life forms, biodiversity and food sources for the present and future generations. “ERA/FoEN’s advocacy strategy is to reject and resist all forms of false solutions that will open up the forests to marketization, speculation, hedge funds and carbon stocks.”
