Olugbenga Adanikin, concludes his report on the damages foundries in Ogijo community and environs in Ogun State are wreaking on the environment.
AT AFL, this reporter was denied access beyond the security post. Effort to meet with the management was unsuccessful but a senior staff in the firm, Mr. Kunle Aregbesola, who spoke in confidence, claimed the properties being taken over and demolished, belongs to the foundry company.
On the pollution, he said “We are doing something great about it. Basically, this is an industrial estate. The people that bought land ought not to build by industrial estate.” He added that the firm has been expanding, so they decided to “pay some people off to move them away from the factory.”
Efforts to get official reaction from AFL failed. When a contact on AFL official website was reached, he promised to get in touch but never did. A week after, he claimed to be in Dubai and could not respond.
The Managing Director, Real Infrastructures Limited, Mr. Gupta Subash, reacting to the allegation in his office, agreed his firm was polluting the environment but claimed pollution in such area was inevitable. Subash, who spoke through his Head of Human Resources and Administrative Officer, Mr. Rahmon Olanrewaju, acknowledged that the communities had written to them several times and as a result decided to upgrade their equipment, though not up to satisfaction yet, but promised to keep working on it. He shared how free medical service was offered to the host communities as part of their corporate social responsibilities.
Regulatory agency blames inefficiency on weak regulations
At the National Environmental Safety and Regulatory Agency (NESREA) headquarter, it’s Director General, Dr. Lawrence Anukam clearly showed ignorance of the severe environmental situation in Ogijo.
He quickly put a call through to the South West office requesting status of the pollution in the area. He said the NESREA Act under review will checkmate consistent abuse of the environment, especially by erring industries. Based on provision of the new legislation, judges will be able to sanction defaulters using their discretion and magnitude of the offence committed.
“Where it is said for example on penalty, if there is a violation by a company, the company is allowed to compensate with certain amount, and this amount is a very paltry sum, so a big company will look at the amount he has to pay, since it is written in the law as maximum and to him it’s nothing, he will decide to pay the penalty than to avoid the pollution.
“There is an amendment now through the efforts of the national assembly, it has really passed on various readings and we hope in no distant future, the law will be amended. In the new amendment, it becomes stated clearly in the law that the violator be charged a certain minimum, so it becomes the discretion of the judge and the gravity of the offence and who is violating the law.
“If a very big company is violating the environmental laws thinking that the amount is small and they can always have their way, the judge will look at you, the size of your company, the magnitude of your offence and the violation you are causing and then put appropriate sanction. So it’s not as it was before,” Anukam said.
Reacting to the abandoned air monitoring equipment, he said “We used it for a while especially the one in Abuja but the issue we are having has to do with calibration.”He said the agency will ensure that subsequent equipment to be purchased have proper provision for calibration. He also said discussions are ongoing regarding fixing it.
When in order, he said the equipment “is very functional, it will help in our mobile air quality monitoring activities, especially where we recognized hotspots.”
State government and Environmental Protection Agency confused over pollution management
In Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency (OGEPA), it was very obvious that the agency seemed to have exhausted every viable option at tackling the menace. The best they could do is to temporarily seal the erring firms, only for them to commence operation after paying small compensation. When this correspondent visited the office, two top directors, who pleaded not to be mentioned, expressed shock over compensations awarded to landlords of the polluted Ogijo community.
They affirmed to be aware of the pollution in the community but argued that Real Infrastructures Limited, Monarch Iron Steel, High Tec Profile Ltd and few others were closed down at some point. Interestingly, no one claimed responsibility of re-issuing their operational license.
“Their file is there,” referring to the sanctioned foundries. “It is what we see that we will write. It’s not that we are patching these people. They wrote to get environmental approval but I didn’t give them because they didn’t merit it. The report is there.” He reaffirmed.
He even offered to show this reporter a file to that effect, but later declined, claiming they were official documents.
However, the other director argued the sealed industries paid some money as levies and were directed to adopt safer standards.
They however insist that the agency was doing its best. “It’s not that we closed our eyes and allowed them to do whatever they wanted. I can show you their file, payment and what we asked them to do. In fact, we just told them to do dispatch modeling,” which he described as a new approach to measuring the extent of pollution in the environment and what is expected of the industries.
He subsequently affirmed there were lots of complaint letters written by various communities but insisted that the reporter and his fixer should write another.
Responding in a rather lukewarm manner, the second director, who appeared to be very knowledgeable about the incidents told this reporter to work with other members of the community who are yet to be settled before significant action could be taken. He asked the reporter to file a new petition.
“There is nothing we can do. Let them go and write a letter and complain formally,” he said.
He went on to say it will be difficult to shut the firms, adding that it is “not possible to revoke their license. In a place where there is proper planning, people must not build near such plants. We as government, we accept our blame, that came from the town planners who gave them the land.”
According to him, he wrote a submission on behalf of the state government against African foundry in the case filed by the community at Shagamu High Court. But he was quick to note that if the community had maintained their ground, they would have won the case.
“If they should pursue it, the community will win African foundry. That is why they asked for out-of-court settlement. That is an alternative to crisis resolution and if the people are not satisfied, they can revert to court and say this is what we want.”
The director, who claimed to have responded on behalf of the management when the petition came, said the submission was made available to the State Ministry of Justice. He noted that the ministry represented OGEPA in court, adding that he refused to write in favour of AFL because it was obvious there were pollutions, vibrations among others. He further emphasised it may be difficult to achieve 100 per cent waste reduction but they should have worked within acceptable standard such as 65 per cent, such could still be considered.
Tyre recycling firm – the fastest killing machine
Speaking on Tech High Profile Limited, the source described the firm as a “killing machine”, alleging that employees in Tech High are not “normal people.” He accused the employees of being under drug influence to have worked in the firm. “They are not paid wages but paid on daily basis. They lack stable means of livelihood, so the employers are taking advantage of them.”
Efforts to speak with the Environment Commissioner, Mr. Bolaji Oyeleye were futile. He was said to be out of the ministry, but its media officer, Mr. Goke Gbadamosi, promised to reach-out to the commissioner but didn’t.
Subsequent text messages and emails to Oyeleye, never yielded any response until this report was filed for publication.
Oyeleye, who visited industries in Igbesa and Ota, August last year, had vowed that government will no longer permit industrial wastes from industries, as they pose health hazards to residents. He was represented at the two locations by the Head of Special Task Force on Environment, Mr. Oyesiku Amosun.
But beyond rhetoric, the state government is presumed by residents to have performed below expectations.
The Permanent Secretary, Ogun State Ministry of Environment, who is the administrative head of the ministry, Mr. Kunle Osota refused to grant this reporter audience during a visit to his office at Oke Mosan, Governor’s Office, Abeokuta.
State Government Reacts
Incidentally, when this correspondent contacted the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Dayo Adeneye, he said he was not aware of the incident but referred the reporter to the same commissioner for environment. “The commissioner for environment will be in the best position to react to that,” Adeneye said.
Senator Buruji Kashamu, representing Ogun East Senatorial District did not respond to sms sent to his phone in a bid to get his effort over the hazards, so also member from the House of Representative, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu.
Findings from Test Tube Analysis
Both soil and water samples taken from the affected community were subjected to scientific study at the NIPRD, an agency under the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), to ascertain the true state of their water and soil. The result analysis with reference no: NIPRD/01/03/CCPF/327 and Certificate no: NIPRD/MCQC/Consult/2018/02 after five weeks revealed the soil is poisoned with lead but the underground water is still of acceptable standard. “The soil is polluted with Lead. The lead ought not to be more than 10, so it’s much in the soil. The soil too is rich in iron and calcium. If they plant anything, it will grow well,” said NIRPD Head of Department, Medicinal Chemistry and Quality Control, Dr. Mrs. Kudirat Mustapha.
Already, rural communities in Ogijo, close to the riverside, including white garment churches in the nearby stream had to forgo the water. Bagged ‘blackish’ wastes were dumped indiscriminately across the communities including the river path, thereby polluting the water. Pastoralists who are ignorant of the danger of soot-covered leaves parade their cattle to feast on the artificial blackish plants. Farmers have abandoned their farmlands and hopes of residents have turned slim only if the appropriate authorities could do the needful and protect the ecosystem through strong environmental regulations.
- This project was supported by NED Foundation.
