At a consultative meeting on August 8, the people of Ogoni spoke with one voice, demanding nothing but the full implementation of the UNEP Report, writes Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt
Ogoni is one of the ethnic groups in the Niger Delta. Rich in crude oil and gas. But Ogoni is, ironically, poor. Besides, its environment is degraded.
Oil exploitation started in Ogoniland, which consists of four Rivers State’s Local Government Areas –Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme– in 1958. Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) is the major operator.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in October 2006, initiated the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP’s) environmental assessment of Ogoniland, as a result of many years of pollution, neglect, marginalisation and environmental degradation. The initiative was well supported by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, while the 262-page main report was issued on August 4, 2011 and received in Abuja by President Goodluck Jonathan on August 12, 2011.
MOSOP President Legborsi Saro Pyagbara said: “As a response to the continuing destruction of the Ogoni environment, unparalleled military repression and horrendous human rights abuses in Ogoniland, that attended the prosecution of the non-violent struggle of the Ogoni people, the United Nations responded by creating the position of the Special Rapporteur on Nigeria in 1997 and appointed Mr. Soli Sorabjee to the position. In his report to the 48th session of the then United Nations Commission on Human Rights in March 1998, the Special Rapporteur recommended that the Nigerian government should undertake an independent environmental study of Ogoniland.
This was the setting that led to the invitation extended to UNEP in October 2006, within the context of the Ogoni-Shell Reconciliation Process, to carry out the environmental assessment of Ogoniland. The UNEP released its report on 4th August, 2011. As a response, the government set up HYPREP, which has failed in all ramifications to address the issue of remediation and restoration of the Ogoni environment.”
On receiving the UNEP report, President Jonathan set up a Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC), headed by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.
In Ogale-Eleme, Eleme LGA of Ogoniland in Rivers state, the UNEP report reveals that the water contains cancer-causing Benzene, which is 900 times the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) standards for water contamination, thereby requiring urgent attention.
UNEP also states that the sustainable environmental restoration of Ogoniland will take up to 20 years to achieve and will need coordinated efforts on the part of government agencies at all levels, declaring that effective environmental restoration in Ogoniland cannot be achieved with the current institutional capacity and framework, while recommending that the Federal Government should establish an Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority.
The UNEP report notes that full environmental resporation of Ogoniland will be a project, which will take 30 years to complete, after the ongoing pollution has been brought to an end, while recommending the creation of an Environmental Restoration Fund for Ogoniland, with initial capital of $1 billion, which it says should be used only for activities dealing specifically with the environmental restoration of Ogoniland, including capacity building, skills’ transfer and conflicts’ resolution, while insisting that the management of the fund should be the responsibility of the Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority.
The Federal Government, rather than taking steps to implement the far-reaching recommendations contained in the UNEP report, decided on July 20, 2012 to establish HYPREP, which will cover all pollution sites in the Niger Delta and other parts of Nigeria, with an Ogoni, Mrs. Joy Nunieh-Okunnu, appointed as its National Coordinator, which Ogoni people immediately kicked against.
A former Chairman of the MOSOP Provisional Council, Prof. Ben Naanen, of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), during the 20th Ogoni Day on January 4, 2013 at Bori, declared that SPDC would not be allowed to return to Ogoni for crude oil exploitation.
According to Naanen, who is also the pioneer General Secretary of MOSOP, the Ogoni people would prefer another International Oil Company (IOC) with environment consciousness and good corporate social responsibility records to the SPDC and that the new oil company would be expected to be sensitive to the needs of the Ogoni people and would be able to honour agreements.
The SPDC, on July 1, 2014 in Abuja, at the meeting of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Environment, accused the Federal Government of Nigeria of stalling the implementation of the UNEP report.
Shell had earlier stated that the initial capital of $1 billion for Ogoniland’s environmental restoration was ready, but could not be released without legal framework and structures on the ground for judicious utilisation of the fund, which UNEP said should be used only for activities dealing specifically with the environmental restoration of Ogoniland.
On August 4, at a seminar in Bori, to mark the three years of the release of the UNEP report, MOSOP accused President Jonathan of aiding environmental terrorism in Ogoniland, in view of his administration’s refusal to implement the recommendations contained in the UNEP report on the environmental assessment of Ogoniland, three years after its release.
The umbrella organisation of Ogoni people noted that since August 4, 2011, when the UNEP report was released, nothing was done by the Federal Government to ensure the full implementation of the recommendations, while Ogoni people had been dying from pollution and environmental degradation, caused by the activities of Shell.
Ogoni people also urged President Jonathan, who hails from Otuoke in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta region, to as a matter of urgency, declare a state of emergency on Ogoni environment.
The President of MOSOP, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, expressed displeasure that the Federal Government recently raised billions of naira to fight terrorism and support the victims of terror, but unconcerned about the plight of the Ogoni people.
The seminar, which was attended by many eminent Ogoni people and their friends, had as theme: “Ogoni, UNEP Report and the Search for Environmental Justice,” with Prof. Lucky Akaruese as guest speaker, while the UNEP report on the state of Ogoni environment was described as a death sentence, passed on the Ogoni people.
MOSOP president hinted that the marginalised people had decided to be marking August 4 annually as Ogoni Environment Day, stressing that the peace-loving people would soon march on Abuja, to protest against the non-implementation of the recommendations contained in the UNEP report.
Pyagbara said: “We have always come together at the community level, at the national level and at the global level to promote awareness and positive action on this (UNEP) report, which had raised concerns about one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our day. The ongoing environmental terrorism being committed against the Ogoni people by a government with a slumbering conscience, a government which has demonstrated in all sense that it cares little about our survival as a people. A government that has vowed to promote a set of negative actions for the continued destruction of our environmental resources to deprive us of its environmental services and use.
“Today, Ogoni is facing multi-dimensional environmental issues that require integrated and collective action, yet the Federal Government has no plan to deal with the environmental crisis in Ogoniland. Today, while they gather in Abuja to raise funds in the name of national security, the environmental insecurity in Ogoniland and other parts of the Niger Delta, arising from ongoing environmental terrorism merits no intervention for the restoration of the degraded ecosystems and provision of support for the victims.
“Today, no single recommendation in the UNEP report has been implemented by the Federal Government of Nigeria, as required by the study. The attempts so far have been a diversion from the recommendations. Indeed, its signature HYPREP (Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project) has failed woefully, just as we predicted from the beginning.
“Today, Shell continues to deceive the world with its so-called clean up of Right of Way, yet the assessment of the so-called clean-up remains its trademark whitewash. In saner environments, the Ogoni environmental crisis would have forced the government to declare a state of emergency on the Ogoni environment, but here, our lives do not count. These double standard must stop. This discrimination must stop. We will wear them down by our capacity to suffer this injustice. Sooner than later, we are going to march down on Abuja to demonstrate our frustrations with the government of Nigeria. We will not give up.”
The MOSOP president also described August 4, 2011 as the culmination of the struggles of Ogoni forebears, which he said began in 1990 in the Ogoni villages to the hallowed halls of the United Nations in 1998, when the UN Special Rapporteur called for the environmental study of Ogoniland and continued to the 2000s, especially in 2006, when the administration of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo invited the UNEP team to carry out the study of the Ogoni environment, to August 4, 2011, when UNEP finally released its report.
Pyagbara said: “This day (August 4) therefore demonstrates the resilience, tenacity, strength and commitment of the Ogoni people to challenge the denigrators of their land and restore its pristine environment.
“On the negative side, this day clearly demonstrates the failure of the Nigerian government to protect its own citizens from the abuse of corporate power and corporate greed and Shell’s environmental racism in Ogoniland and the Niger Delta as a whole.
“We want to seize this opportunity to inform the Jonathan–led administration that it is not yet late to take action on the Ogoni matter. We wish to inform him that it is not too late to change his response to the Ogoni environmental crisis. We therefore call on his administration to declare a state of emergency on the Ogoni environment and design a multi-stakeholder plan of intervention for the clean-up and restoration of Ogoni environment.”
The MOSOP president also admonished everyone to always think about the Ogoni people and to take inspiration from efforts to claim back their environment and work for a sustainable future, thereby raising their voices for the marginalised people.
He invited people of goodwill all over the world to continue to contribute to the campaign for the restoration of the Ogoni environment, while urging them to join the movement wherever they may be in the world and raise their voices to encourage action, asking them to take action today to stop environmental terrorism in Ogoniland.
Pyagbara assured that Ogoni people would continue to demand their rights peacefully and non-violently, while expressing optimism that they would win.
On August 8, at a consultative meeting on the UNEP report implementation at the Ogoni Peace and Freedom Centre, Bori, Jonathan berated the Federal Government’s Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP), saying it is time for decisive action on the UNEP report.
Ogoni people, at the well-attended consultative meeting, requested the full implementation of the recommendations contained in the UNEP report and the establishment of the Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority, recommended by UNEP, to ensure the implementation of the report.
Jonathan, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Danladi Kifasi, lauded Ogoni people for embracing peace and remaining united.
MOSOP President, however, described the consultative meeting as belated and declared that if the initiative was political, the Federal Government had failed.
The consultative meeting was also attended by the representative of the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, Magnus Ngei Abe; a former Chairman of the MOSOP Provisional Council, Prof. Ben Naanen of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT); Rivers Commissioner for Works, Chief Victor Giadom; the Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited, Eleme, Fred Enjugu; the representative of Gokana constituency in the Rivers House of Assembly, Dr. Innocent Barikor; royal fathers and many eminent personalities.
Jonathan said at the consultative meeting: “The Federal Government, concerned about the plight of the Ogoni people, commissioned the United Nations to carry out and environmental assessment of Ogoniland. The UN released its report on 4th August, 2011. The assignment was borne out of the Federal Government’s desire to mitigate the suffering of the Ogoni people, occasioned by hydrocarbon pollution.
“After a thorough consideration of the recommendations of the UNEP report, the Presidential Implementation Committee’s (PIC’s) report, the Petroleum Industry’s Action Plan, based on the provisions of the Petroleum Act CAP 350 LFN 2004, the HYPREP establishment was approved on July 20, 2012.
“While HYPREP has implemented some of the transitional phase objectives, as recommended in the report (UNEP), government recognises and it is very mindful that the programme (HYPREP) has not achieved its full objectives, as envisioned by this administration.
“Government is mindful that funds meant for remediation and restoration activities in Ogoniland are used for that purpose. However, HYPREP will consider other Niger Delta areas affected by hydrocarbon pollution, by causing the polluters to clean the areas with their own funds. The time for decisive action is now and we call on all relevant parties to join us to tackle and begin to address the challenges ahead.”
The Nigerian President also expressed optimism that very soon, the Federal Government would be working with the United Nations, the Ogoni communities and relevant Nigerian agencies to pool the collective knowledge and construct a road map to deliver a comprehensive remediation programme, with a focus on the immediate delivery and restitution, while assuring that his administration would not play politics with the lives of the Ogoni people, but deeply concerned about their plight, their environment and the UNEP report.
While also speaking at the consultative meeting, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), described the full implementation of the recommendations contained in the UNEP report as a matter of life and death, which could not be toyed with.
The senator, who is a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), maintained that the UNEP report must be implemented the way it is, as promised by the late ex-President Umaru Yar’Adua.
The UNIPORT Professor (Ben Naanen), said a steering committee on the full implementation of the UNEP report, comprising representatives of the Federal Government and Ogoni people, should immediately be put in place and the Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority established.
A renowned environmentalist, Celestine AkpoBari, accused President Jonathan and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources of playing politics with Ogoni matters and the peace-loving people, who he said had continued to die on a daily basis, in view of pollution of their environment.
The Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Rivers state chapter, Oji Ngofa, who is also the Chairman of Eleme LGA of the state, declared that HYPREP failed, because the Federal Government did not take Ogoni people seriously, stating that a time-line to implement the UNEP report must be given by the Federal Government.
Ex-Rivers Commissioner for Environment, Prof. Roseline Konya, of the UNIPORT, expressed shock that the UNEP team was kicked out of the implementation of the recommendations contained in the far-reaching report, while insisting that UNEP must be involved.
A former Vice-President of MOSOP, Rev. Abraham Olungwe, declared that if the Federal Government refused to fully implement the UNEP report and treat Ogoni people well, there would be no peace in the four LGAs of Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme, while expressing shock that the consultative meeting took place some months to the 2015 elections, with President Jonathan seeking re-election.
The President of KAGOTE, the elite Ogoni group, Dr. Peter Medee of UNIPORT, declared that Ogoni people would never embrace HYPREP, but would prefer the full implementation of the UNEP report.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the consultative meeting, which had in attendance, over five thousand Ogoni people, comprising all sectors of the Ogoni community, including the traditional rulers, farmers, the academia, politicians and the youths, it was resolved that a multi-stakeholder mechanism/steering committee, comprising representatives drawn from the Federal Government, UNEP, Shell and Ogoni people be established.
The committee, according to the communiqué, would look into the UNEP report and develop a focused engagement and implementation plan, with clearly defined steps.
The five-point communiqué reads: “That the Federal Government should set up the Ogoni Environmental Restoration Authority, in line with the recommendations of the UNEP Report. More so, with the glaring failure of the HYPREP.
“That the Ogoni people be included in all stakeholder processes relating to the implementation of the UNEP report, including the proposed multi-stakeholder workshop on the report, which is being planned by the Federal Government.
“That the Federal Government should commence series of confidence-building measures that will assure the Ogoni people that the Federal Government is sincere and committed to the implementation of the UNEP report and its recommendations.”
It was also stated in the communiqué that Ogoni people would want the commencement of the implementation of the resolutions of the consultative meeting, within one month.
Ogoni people are known for non-violent struggle, but they sent SPDC packing from their land since 1993 and they should not be pushed to the wall, especially on the issue of the full implementation of the recommendations contained in the UNEP report, over three years after its release. A stitch in time saves nine.
