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Tag: UNEP

Ogoni clean-up: MOSOP warn politicians against sabotage

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has warned politicians against sabotaging the clean-up of Ogoniland, as recommended by a team of environmentalists from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

MOSOP, Friday in Port Harcourt, through its President, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, stated that it had uncovered an evil plot by internal and external politicians, as well as their cronies, to politicise the planned Ogoni environmental remediation and restoration process, to advance some parochial political and economic agenda, capable of thwarting the success of the exercise.

The umbrella organisation of Ogoni people asked the saboteurs to steer clear of the implementation arrangements, declaring that any further attempt at undermining the process would be viewed as an affront against the collective interest of the Ogoni people and would be decisively resisted.

MOSOP said: “We insist that the environmental degradation of Ogoniland, which has compromised our general well-being, is not a political issue. Dragging the fast-tracking actions into the murky waters of politics demonstrates inexcusable callousness that should be condemned by all, especially lovers of safe and clean environment.

“We are warning external collaborators who have, and are providing resources including their platforms for the secret, devious agenda to realise that they are known and sooner than later, they will be exposed.

“We have come a long way, and we urge all Ogoni to come together, irrespective of interest, as we cannot afford to falter at this time of seeming genuine interest of government to redress the environmental wrongs against the Ogoni people. We urge all Ogoni people to heed our advice, as we will resist all attempts to frustrate efforts at ensuring environmental justice for our people.”

The umbrella organisation of Ogoni people also stated that the condition in local Ogoni communities, where the people had been reaping deaths and facing crushing livelihoods should bother everybody.

MOSOP insisted that end must come to environmental injustice in Ogoniland, thereby ensuring environmental security.

UNEP’s environmental assessment of Ogoniland was initiated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006, in order to put an end to the many years of pollution, neglect, environmental degradation and marginalisation in Ogoni, especially since 1958, when crude oil was first discovered in commercial quantity in Ogoniland and to adequately empower the people.

The Ogoni environmental assessment was adequately supported by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, while UNEP report, containing far-reaching recommendations was released on August 4, 2011 and presented in Abuja to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on August 12, 2011.

Rather than implementing the UNEP report, the Jonathan’s administration, on the eve of the first anniversary of the release of the UNEP report, in July 2012, set up the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP), which MOSOP kicked against, in spite of making an Ogoni daughter, Mrs. Joy Nunieh-Okunnu, its National Coordinator.

During the presidential campaigns, the then General Muhammadu Buhari visited Ogoniland and he promised the stakeholders that upon his election as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he would ensure the full implementation of the recommendations contained in the UNEP report, thereby ending environmental terrorism in Ogoniland, with a stop to be put to pollution, marginalisation, environmental degradation and lack of empowerment in the four Ogoni LGAs of Khana, Gokana, Eleme and Tai.

President Buhari, on August 5 this year, exactly sixty eight days in office, approved the actions to fast-track the implementation of the UNEP report, with the decision described by the stakeholders across the globe, as a welcome development.

The UNEP report stated that the water in Nsisioken-Ogale-Eleme, Eleme (Ogoni) LGA of Rivers state, contained cancer-causing Benzene (carcinogen), which was 900 times the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) standards for water contamination, thereby requiring urgent attention.

The report also revealed that the sustainable environmental restoration of Ogoniland would take up to 20 years to achieve and would require coordinated efforts from government agencies at all levels, thereby recommending that the Federal Government should establish an Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority.

The UNEP report indicated that the full environmental restoration of Ogoniland would be a project, which would take 30 years to complete, after the pollution had been brought to an end, while recommending the establishment of an Environmental Restoration Fund for Ogoniland, with initial fund of $1 billion for capacity building, skill transfer and conflict resolution and that the management of the fund should be the responsibility of the Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority.

August 28, 2015
UNEP gets kudos

FORTY-THREE years after its first celebration, the United NationsEnvironmental Programme (UNEP) has received kudos for its achievements on its core mandate.

An environmentalist Opone Valentine said the introduction of June 5 yearly by UNEP as the World Environment Day, more attention have been drawn to the importance of the environment to man, adding that there had been calls and mobilisation for actions for humanity to sustain the environment.

Opone, who is an Eco Ambassador and chartered member of the National Registry of Environmental Professionals (NREP), United States, said: “ You will recall that man depends heavily on the environment for any of his actions either on survival race or developmental quest.The theme for this year’s environment day, therefore, dwelt more on responsible management of the planet’s natural resources. As it is becoming clear that people are consuming far more natural resources than what the planet can sustainably replenish or provide.

“Studies are showing that many of the eco system are nearing critical tipping points of depletion and or irreversible change.This phenomenon is occasioned by high population growth indices and massive economic development. In furtherance to this position there is also a projection that if consumption and production patterns remain the same, we will need three planets to sustain our way of life by 2050.”

He continued: Humanity must therefore avoid this as living well has been ordained to man within these planetary boundaries as the most efficient strategy that ensures a more healthy future.

He recalled that the celebration of the World Environment Day took its root from Rachel Carson famous book titled: Silent Spring. Published 1962.’ ”The book essentially demonstrated how chemical pesticides were harming birds. It was the first-ever detailed account on how human actions were hurting the environment and, subsequently, more other publications and newspaper publications and crusades followed.

“Following the awareness created by Rachel Carson publication (Silent Spring) and subsequent crusades, world leaders converged on June 5, 1972 to chart a course and think seriously about our planet’s future. This was first of the kind. The conference met and agreed on plans to reverse some of the damages. And top on the agenda were the issues of global warming and green house gas emission (CFC,CO,NOX) after which United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was established. ‘’

He noted that UNEP has recorded some achievements among them is the Montreal Protocol, which banned chloroform-carbon and help stop ozone depletion. Other protocol and treaties are the Bamako (Africa) and Bassel (global) convention on control of trans-boundaries movement of hazardous substances; the Koyoto protocol (1997) deals with the global climatic changes and solution. Nigeria is also signatory to those protocols and treaties as United Nations member-country.

He added:”The convergence of world leaders of 1972 is, therefore, celebrated yearly as World Environment Day. The UNEP pilots this yearly ritual with each year having a different theme.

“This year’s World Environment Day built its maxim on the need to consume with care; in planning and consumption, the sustainability of the environment must first come to mind. At the moment, the planet hosts over seven billion people.

“Finally, the only way to keep a sustainable environment is to have a re-use attitude, recycle waste, planting of trees and, ultimately, to see wealth in every waste generated for further recovery.”

July 1, 2015
Justice, politics take front seat at Ogoni Day

This year’s Ogoni Day has come and gone. But, its memories will linger on for a long time in the minds of many. Environmental justice, politics and the need to actualise the Ogoni dream took the front seat at the event, which was attended by community leaders and politicians. Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi was represented by his preferred successor, Dr. Dakuku Peterside.

The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), which organised the event, called for the implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report on the oil pollution of Ogoniland.

The speech of Mr. Pius Barikpoa Nwinee on behalf of the National Union of Ogoni Students’ USA , undelined the people’s quest for justice.

Nwinee said: “On behalf of the National Union of Ogoni Students’ USA, I humbly present to you a message of goodwill, hope, and assurances this January 4, 2015 as we celebrate “Ogoni Day” the United Nations’ World Indigenous Day. The students’ organisation is honored to be a beckon of hope for our people and our assurances is that we will emerge from political, environmental, and economic enslavement “Together.”

“We are here today to rekindle the position of the Ogoni people highlighted in a letter to Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company, world leaders, and institutions all over the world on 10/25/2014 pertaining to divestment of Shell Oil Blocks in Ogoniland.

We wish to strengthen our position by asking Royal Shell Oil Company to bequeath its 45 per cent interest in NNPC as equitable relieve for its liquidated debt and unliquidated damages. As a common practice the world over, Ogoni is entitled to rent, royalties, and proceeds for landownership; this has been denied us for over fifty years and therefore bequeathing the said 45 per cent to Ogoni will serve as compensation for the Ogoni people.

“May we also reiterate on this occasion that, ‘Ogoni Oil mining license (OML 11) is not for sale.’ NUOS International USA recently discovered a sinister move by a pseudo Oil Company, (Belema Oil), an oil firm with link to Mr.Mutiu Sunmonu, the Chairman, Shell Companies in Nigeria and Managing Director of the Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited (SPDC), and Mr. Precious Okolobo, the Spokesman of Shell Oil Company Nigeria Plc., collating signatures in Ogoni areas to influence the sale of oil in Ogoni land. Some Ogoni community leaders were recently flown to Lagos where they held secret meetings on Ogoni Oil sale. They were bribed with N3 million and giving documents with which to collect signatures from the Ogoni people as consent to the sale of Ogoni Oil. We are restraining from naming names but we know all parties and agents involved from Tai, Ken-Khana, Nyo-Khana, Gokana and Eleme. We are humbly advising the leadership of MOSOP to distance itself from Belema/Shell Oil deal because we will fight it to the last man.”

He added: “On the political situation in Ogoniland, the Ogoni students in Diaspora advise Ogoni people to re-strategise and re-position themselves to access the dividends of democracy. Ogoni people should negotiate their future with our votes. As democratically oriented people, we should start to engage our political arrowheads what their candidature would mean to Ogoni. Ogoni politicians should be accountable and answerable to the massive developmental and infrastructural stagnation in Ogoni. Importantly, Ogonis should no longer be subservient to the political class and therefore should monitor and expose public corruption, unethical practices (including ghosts and duplication of names on payroll in Ogoni Local Government Councils), and sharing of public funds in Ogoni. Silence means complacency.

“The demand for the creation of state is still on the front burner in Nigeria. We hereby encourage you not to give up on the creation of Bori State as Bori State is the only remedy to the institutional enslavement of our people.

“The issue of politically master-minded cultism in Ogoni is limping into national and international arena. Ethnically, we are losing greater number of youths in Ogoni area to politically master-minded cultism than any other ethnic group in Rivers State. The Ogoni youths must ask themselves, whether it is worthy to carry AK-47 for the sake of politicians, Belema/SHELL oil that means no good to Ogoni. Ogoni youths should ask for books and employments rather than guns. We urge Ogoni people to give priority to tackling security menaces in 2015 to bring normalcy into Ogoni Kingdoms. Ogoni people must live in peace because it is a universal right as declared by the United Nations.”

The need to implement the UNEP Report did not escape Nwinee, who said: “On the issue of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), we hereby call on the Federal government and SHELL OIL to empower UNEP herself to come and handle the cleanup in Ogoniland as we shall not accept any Chinese firm that has no technical know-how and capability to clean up Ogoniland.”

He also had nice words about the man regarded as the fathers of modern Ogoni: “In conclusion, the generation of Paul Timothy Naaku Birabi left a legacy for Ogoni as pioneer nationalists and pathfinders, those of Ken Saro-Wiwa brought Ogoni out of the dirt and shadows enabling us to celebrate a day for the Indigenous peoples as it is today. The question that begs an answer is what will be our legacy? I leave this with us as a food for thought. NUOS INTL.USA call on Ogoni people to unite as we shall not fold our hands nor blind our eyes and watch SHELL OIL Company auction the remains of our heroes in the name of divestment of OML11. We also call on Belema oil to stay clear from OML 11 as it is not for sale.”

Another memory that will not be easily forgotten was the emotion displayed by Ogoni people when Dr Peterside, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, arrived in Bori for the celebration.

Peterside said watching the Ogoni fight for justice, equality and right while growing up as a lad on the streets of Bori, the Ogoni heartland and political headquarters, helped to mould his life. While addressing a mammoth crowd of Ogoni natives and guests during the 2015 Ogoni Day celebration organised last Sunday, January 4 at the Birabi Memorial Grammar School open field, Dr. Peterside described his visit as “homecoming”.

Peterside grew up in Bori where in the cause of time, built a bond with the famous Wiwa family of Bane.

Dr. Peterside, who was the representative of Rivers State Governor and Chairman, Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, at the event, praised the Ogoni for remaining resolute in the search for a better and cleaner environment. He recalled that when the debate on the UNEP Report for the clean-up of Ogoni land was on the floor of the House of Representatives, his voice stood in total support of the Ogoni.

“I will remind you that when the issue of the clean-up of Ogoni land came up on the floor of the House (of Representatives), I was among the few voices that spoke extensively on what the Nigerian State owes Ogoni people. And I said on that occasion that we would do everything humanly possible to ensure that Ogoni land is cleaned-up and that if Ogoni land was not cleaned-up, we would not rest.”

The APC flag-bearer, who received record-breaking reception from the crowd, told the people how, with the support of Governor Chibuike Amaechi, he, for the first time, constructed every road in Bori.

“The Ogoni Struggle became my life and my life became intertwined with the Ogoni Struggle. That was why when I had the opportunity to serve as Commissioner for Works of Rivers State, I, personally, with the support of the Governor, constructed for the first time all roads in Bori. Today, the roads I constructed in Bori are a living testimony of what I will do if given the opportunity (to serve as governor)”.

Recalling what it was growing up on the streets of Bori, fetching and drinking water from Ogoni rivers and streams; cultivating their farmlands made rich by natural manure.

Dr. Peterside said his heart is always broken much as any Ogoni to see such once fertile lands and rivers ruined and devastated.

“I have drunk from the waters of Kpor. I have participated in farming in the farmlands of Nyortem, of Zaakpon, of Kaani.

“And so, if they talk about social justice, I understand what it means.”

Dr. Peterside said peace, justice and progress of Ogoni land were uppermost in his heart and would work, if elected governor of Rivers State next month, to ensure Ogoni’s environment was cleaned-up.

“This place (Ogoniland) gave me the formative days of my life. As a young boy growing up on the streets of Bori, I admired the courage of the Ogoni people, their resilient spirit; their spirit of industry. And I can tell you those rare qualities in the Ogoni which I observed while growing up in Ogoniland inspired me to the point where I am today.

“We have come in solidarity with the Ogoni people; in solidarity with Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People. If we were here for politics, I will remind you that when the issue of the clean-up of Ogoni land came up on the floor of the House (of Representatives), I was among the few voices that spoke extensively on what the Nigerian State owe Ogoni people. And I said on that occasion that we would do everything humanly possible to ensure that Ogoni land is cleaned-up and that if Ogoni land was not cleaned-up we would not rest. You will recall that my relationship with the late Pa Chief Jim Wiwa of Bane and that I participated in most meetings that led to the birth of the Ogoni Bill of Right not as an outsider but as a son with rights. So my brothers and my sisters, I have not come for politics but I must say that this is like a home coming for me.

“To you our brothers and sisters, as we mark another Ogoni Day, please know that what is uppermost in our mind is peace, justice and progress of Ogoni land.”

Peterside and Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, ‘put politics aside’ and exchanged pleasantries.

Wike declared that he would work with Ogoni people to actualise their dream. He noted that as an administrator who believes in development, he would ensure that all the programmes meant for Ogoni development are brought to fruition.

He stated that as governor of Rivers State he would develop Ogoniland and all other ethnic nationalities across the state.

Wike said: “We are committed to the development of Ogoniland and the entire Rivers State. The emerging Rivers State Government under the platform of PDP will address the challenges being faced by Ogoniland. I will personally lead the struggle to develop Ogoniland.”

The Ogoni people will have to wait till after May 29 to see what their next governor will do for them. For now, they are preparing to go to the polling booths on February 28 to choose Amaechi’s successor.

January 9, 2015
‘No half measure for Ogoni, MOSOP’

President, Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, has said the Ogoni would not accept any part implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report.

He said the people are ready to collaborate to sustain any genuine effort towards the implementation of the report, noting that there is no alternative to consultation in charting a course for the protection of the Ogoni environment.

Pyagbara spoke during the stakeholders forum on environmental restoration of Ogoniland organised in Abuja by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Madueke.

At the event, the minister said the Federal Government is considering the upgrade of Bori Polytechnic.

The MOSOP President said: “We believe strongly that coming together we can chart a new course for the protection of Ogoni environment. Hon minister, that is why we are here, and I can assure you on behalf of MOSOP and the Ogoni people that we are ever ready to collaborate with any partner to sustain every genuine effort to drive the implementation of the UNEP report.

“For the Ogoni people, we are not prepared for any half measure. For the Ogoni people we feel that all that is needed should be put in place for the full implementation of that report. I think this is where the Ogoni people stand.

“As I emphasised at our last consultative meeting, we need to rise above politics, and put words to action, if we are ready to achieve a sustainable Ogoni environment that we need to achieve,” he said.

The chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council, Gbenemene Giniwa, advised the people to “behave” themselves since the Federal Government is consulting with them.

Mrs. Madueke said the Federal Government is working to set up a centre of excellence in environmental restoration in Ogoniland to train, and provide competencies and vocational and technical skills, capacity building, expert assistance required by stakeholders through government agencies .

According to her, this is for the stakeholders to carry out their mandate in protection, preservation and restoration of the environment.

She added that the “actual location of the vocational training entities is what is being discussed at this moment. Some suggest we should fully refurbish and upgrade Bori Polytechnic but again these are some of the issue I expect here today during this discuss.”

She expressed hope that the youths in Ogoniland will be able to take thw advantage to enhance their knowledge and strengthen their capacity to become involved in the process of restoration programme.

September 17, 2014
Ogoniland…All we are saying: give us new lease of life

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.

August 15, 2014
Fed Govt to tackle marine pollution

The Federal Government is determined to combat marine pollution caused by oil spillage across the country.

The Minister of Environment, Laurentia Mallam, has said while receiving a letter of approval for Nigeria to host the Regional Coordinating Centre to Combat Marine Pollution in West, Central and South Africa.

The letter, according to a statement from the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), was handed over to the minister by the United Nations Environment Programme Regional Coordinator on Abidjan Convention, Mr. Abou Bamba, in Abuja.

Mallam said the hosting of the centre was an advantage to Nigeria, adding that it would build more capacity and technical competence to tackle marine pollution in Nigeria and beyond.

“The regional headquarters is an advantage to us and this shows that if we did not have the technology and the capability to handle it, they wouldn’t have come to us.”

She assured UNEP coordinator that the government would provide an office for the centre to begin operation in six months.

Bamba, who is also the Executive Secretary of the Abidjan Convention, said the hosting of the headquarters was another step in tackling marine pollution.

According to him, this will also speed up the clean-up of Ogoniland.

He said the Abidjan Convention would provide adequate logistics to make the centre succeed.

Bamba said the UNEP and the Federal Government would meet to discuss the memorandum of understanding that would be signed by the government and the Abidjan Convention for the establishment of the centre.

Bamba said: “The Abidjan Convention will provide adequate office space, staff, materials and equipment, and the convention would cover the initial and recurring operational costs needed for the centre.

“In the meantime, I will be pleased to visit the installations, which will host the centre and report to the UNEP on the major findings and observations. We estimate that in six months, the centre should be operational and start its first assessment activities.

“Nigeria is not by its own, the Abidjan Convention and UNEP will support as much as they can to make this unique experience a success.”

He said with the new status, Nigeria would be in charge of the coordination of combating trans-boundary marine pollution from Mauritania to South Africa.

The Director-General, NOSDRA, Peter Idabor, said the hosting of the centre would enhance the country’s capability to tackle marine pollution.

August 12, 2014
Three years after UNEP Report, Ogoniland mourns inaction

Three years after the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released a scientific report detailing decades of devastating oil spill and its subsequent hardship on Ogoni land, environmental monitoring groups have released a report indicating that Shell and the Federal Government have done nothing to clean up Ogoni land, Seun Akioye reports

The 17-page report gave a damning verdict: No Progress. It was an evaluation of the implementation of a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on environmental assessment of Ogoniland.

Three years after the report was released and after the Federal Government and multinational oil company, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) promised to implement the recommendations, the environmental justice groups had just one conclusion for the stakeholders: Failed.

The groups: Environmental Rights Action (ERA), the Center for the Environment, Human Rights and Development, Friends of the Earth Europe, Platform and Amnesty International were unequivocal in their condemnation of government’s insensitivity to the plight of the Ogoni people.

Ogoni: The curse from oil

The Ogoni live on approximately 400 square miles or 1,000 square kilometers of land east and southeast of Port Harcourt in Rivers State. According to the 2006 census, the Ogoni population is approximately 832,000 people.

Oil was first discovered in Ogoni land at Bomu in 1958. According to Shell, 634 million barrels of oil valued at US$5.2 billion were taken from Ogoniland from 1958 – 1993 when production was halted following series of protests against the company.

Although oil has not been produced in Ogoniland since 1993, there are regular oil spills from aging and poorly maintained oil pipelines. Perhaps, nowhere is this more pronounced than Bodo community in Ogoni land.

In 2008, two massive oil spills from the Trans-Niger pipeline devastated the Bodo coastline destroying every living thing in the river. While the community was still dealing with the spill another from the Trans-Niger pipeline at Koloma-Zommadom road rocked the community, this time shaking the community to its very foundation.

Bodo is on its kneels. The mangrove, the river and life as it used to be have been turned upside down. A mainly fishing community, the fishing industry has completely collapsed. After the 2009 oil spill, the Bodo people began to cut whatever tree was left of their forest, park them in canoes and sail to other communities to sell. The once proud people were humbled.

Bodo’s devastation is only a part of the entire catastrophe that befell the Ogoni land, courtesy of decades of oil spill in the region. In a detailed scientific evaluation, the UNEP enumerated how the Ogoni landscaped has been raped by oil spill.

But the people of Bodo are not taking the rape lying low. After the 2009 oil spill the community instituted what has been termed the largest environmental trial in history in a United Kingdom court. The community asked for a payment of three hundred million Pounds Sterling as compensation for the twin oil spill, a claim Shell was quick to dismiss as “exaggerated.”

However, Shell accepted responsibility for the oil spill and offered to pay the sum of $51million as compensation to the community. The Managing Director of Shell, Mutiu Sunmonu said: We want to compensate fairly and quickly those who have been genuinely affected and to clean up all areas where oil has been spilled from our facilities, including the many parts of Bodo which have been severely impacted by oil theft, illegal refining and sabotage activities. We hope the community will now direct their UK legal representatives to stop wasting even more time pursuing enormously exaggerated claims and consider sensible and fair compensation offers.”

One report, global outrage

The final report from the field monitors who for 14 months laboured to evaluate the environmental devastation visited on Ogoniland was not sanguine about its findings. No part of Ogoni land was spared as the devastation took hold on air, land and the sea. The economic impact was devastating, according to reports, almost everyone in Ogoni live below $2 per day. Fishing activities which is the primary occupation in the region has been reduced to the barest and live in Ogoni is hard.

“It is clear from UNEP’s field observations and scientific investigations that oil contamination in Ogoniland is widespread and severely impacting many components of the environment. The Ogoni people live with this pollution every minute of every day, 365 days a year. Since average life expectancy in Nigeria is less than 50 years, it is a fair assumption that most members of the current Ogoniland community have lived with chronic oil pollution throughout their lives,” the report says.

The report had only knocks for Shell and the Federal Government for decades of pollution in Ogoniland. It said the cleanup would take 30 years and a bill of $1billion. UNEP Executive Director, said Nigerians had “paid a high price” for the economic growth brought by the oil industry.”

The report found heavy contamination of land and underground water courses, sometimes more than 40 years after oil was spilled; community drinking water with dangerous concentrations of benzene and other pollutants; soil contamination more than five metres deep in many areas studied.

The report also indicated that most of the spill sites oil firms claimed to have cleaned still highly contaminated and found evidence of oil firms dumping contaminated soil in unlined pits. In many places water coated with hydrocarbons more than 1,000 times the level allowed by Nigerian drinking water standards and indicted Shell for failing to meet minimum Nigerian or own standards.

Environmental activists in Nigeria are gearing up for another round of battle after the government and oil company failed to implement any aspect of the report. Recently, during an activity marking the third year of the release of the report, Ogoni indigenes demanded a $100billion restoration and compensation fund for Niger Delta.

Understandably, there was frustration written all over the people of Ogoni and other environmental activists who had gathered in solidarity with the people. Prominent among this group is the Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN),Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo.

Ojo has been a lifelong environmental activist and for many years a fierce opponent to the activities of the oil companies. Uyi berated the Federal government and the oil company for this failure and lack of transparency in dealing with the Ogoni devastation.

“Shell would not obey the laws of Nigeria and would not accede to the implementation of the report recommendations. We reiterate our demands, among others, that the Ogonis in collaboration with other Niger Delta communities and civil society approach the United Nations to appoint a Niger Delta Reconciliation and Restoration Commission with autonomy and authority to do so.”

Ojo then demanded a $100billion cleanup fund for the region:”We are not only demanding $1bn for the Ogoni environment restoration but the sum of $100bn restoration fund for the Niger Delta to address clean-up, restoration and compensation.”

How the government failed

The Federal Government was the first to respond to the findings of the United Nations investigative team after a detailed report was forwarded to the presidency. While the government did not respond directly to any of the recommendations, it set up processes designed to take the report forward.

Following the presentation of the report, the government set up a committee chaired by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Allison Madueke. The primary objective of the committee was to review the UNEP report and make recommendations on the remedial and long-term solution.

However, the content of the report of the committee which was submitted to the President in May 2012 has never been published and its result unknown.

One year after UNEP report and following prompting from civil society organisation, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, established the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) with a

pledge to fully implement the UNEP report. The mandate of the body include: To investigate and evaluate all hydrocarbon polluted communities and sites in Nigeria and make recommendations

to the Federal Government; to restore all communities and sites established as impacted by hydrocarbon pollution in Nigeria, and any/all matters that the Federal Government may assign to it, finally to implement the actionable recommendations in the UNEP Assessment Report on Ogoniland.

While HYPREP has been involved in the implementation of some emergency measures, it has been largely criticized for not doing anything meaningful to address the major issues raised in the UNEP report. By the end of July 2014, according to Amnesty Internation, no local organisation working in Ogoni is aware of any meaningful work done by HYPREP.

Since its publication, Shell has taken the report and the recommendations with a pinch of salt. Over the three year period, it had disputed many of the claims and has done its best to distance itself from the report. The company’s overall response is to note that “the UNEP report was commissioned by and delivered to the Federal Government of Nigeria. Many of the most important UNEP recommendations – such as the creation of an Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority and an Environmental Restoration Fund for Ogoniland – are directed at the government and require the government to take the

lead to co-ordinate the activities of the many stakeholders involved. Other recommendations concern the Ogoniland community, the oil industry operators and SDPC.”

In 2011, Shell announced that it has hired a company called the Bureau Veritas to verify the oil spill investigation system. The report of Veritas despite repeated request from Amnesty International has not been made public.

Shell has also debunked the claim that its operations resulted in oil spill instead blaming oil theft and the issues of sabotage as the main cause of oil pollution in Ogoni. But the report from Amnesty International and its partners debunked the claims.

“While Shell is quick to point to sabotage as a problem, the company has failed to take appropriate action to prevent it. For example, as noted above, when Shell left Ogoniland it did not properly decommission its facilities, leaving them vulnerable to illegal tapping and sabotage – and leaving communities exposed to the associated risks. This is completely contrary to internationaloil industry standards as well as international standards on business and human rights, both of which require that Shell exercise adequate due diligence in relation to prevention of sabotage and the associated human rights and environmental risks.”

The report also faulted Shell’s position on UNEP finding saying Shell has the responsibility to clean up the spill even if it is from a third party. “One of the most serious findings of the UNEP repor t is in relation to Shell’s failure to clean up properly. Under Nigerian law the operating company is responsible for cleaning up oil spills from its facilities, even if the spill is the result of third-party action. Therefore, the human and environmental impacts of Shell’s failure to properly clean up pollution cannot be defended by reference to illegal activity that, allegedly, caused the oil spills,” it says.

But defending the oil company’s position, the Corporate Media Relations Manager of Shell, Mr. Precious Okolobo, in a statement said that neither SPDC nor any other stakeholder is in a position to implement the entirety of UNEP’s recommendations unilaterally.

Okolobo said three years on from the UNEP report’s publication, the SPDC, operator of a joint venture between the NNPC, SPDC, Total and Nigerian Agip Oil Company, had made progress in addressing all the recommendations directed, to it in that publication.

Okolobo: “The majority of UNEP’s recommendations require multi-stakeholder efforts coordinated by the federal government. However, it is important to emphasise that neither SPDC nor any other stakeholder is in a position to implement the entirety of UNEP’s recommendations unilaterally.”

He further stated that SPDC had an activity programme in place, focused on delivering improvements in the environmental and community health situation on the ground.

“We continue to work with the government, communities and a number of constructive Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and civil society groups in the Niger Delta to accelerate progress,” he added.

But, as legal battle continues in Nigerian and foreign courts over fight for justice in the Niger Delta, the over 800,000 inhabitants of Ogoni land would wake up every day to an environment, polluted by oil giants.

August 8, 2014
Shell states actions on UNEP report

Three years on from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report’s publication, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), operator of a joint venture (SPDC JV) between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporatio (NNPC), SPDC, Total E&P Nigeria Limited and Nigerian Agip Oil Company, has made progress in addressing all the recommendations directed to it in that publication.

SPDC’s Corporate Media Relations Manager, Precious Okolobo, in a statement noted that majority of UNEP’s recommendations require multi-stakeholder efforts coordinated by the Federal Government.

He however said it is important to emphasise that neither SPDC nor any other stakeholder is in a position to implement the entirety of UNEP’s recommendations unilaterally. The UNEP report stated: “Treating the problem of environmental contamination within Ogoniland merely as a technical clean-up exercise would ultimately lead to failure. Ensuring long-term sustainability is a much bigger challenge – one that will require coordinated and collaborative action from all stakeholders.”

SPDC has an activity programme in place, focused on delivering improvements in the environmental and community health situation on the ground. “We continue to work with the government, communities and a number of constructive NGOs and civil society groups in the Niger Delta to accelerate progress,” Okolobo added.

August 5, 2014
Why I dumped PDP, by Abe

The Senator representing Rivers South East Senatorial District, Magnus Abe, has said President Goodluck Jonathan’s refusal to implement the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoni land made him drop the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He said his decision to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) was based on the belief that unlike the PDP, the APC, when elected in 2015, will implement the recommendations of the UNEP report.

Senator Abe, who spoke in Port Harcourt, during a dinner in honour of Ogoni Young Professionals, said the delay in the implementation of the report was not the fault of oil giant, Shell, but that of the Federal Government.

“About two years ago, Shell told us during its Annual General Meeting in London, that the $1 billion for the clean-up of Ogoni environment was ready and now left for the government to move into action.

“I have met with the minister several times over the issue and Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who carried same to President Jonathan, but nothing happened.

“Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who initiated the remediation move is not from the Niger Delta; the late President Musa Yar’Adua, who signed Federal Government’s resolve to implement whatever the outcome of the investigation is not from the Niger Delta, but someone, who is from the region has refused to implement the UNEP report.

“I cannot continue to belong to the PDP when those who are in charge of the party have refused to attend to the needs of my people. I decided to leave because of their refusal to implement the UNEP report on Ogoni.”

July 2, 2014
Nigeria’s quest for more foreign exchange

Annually, agriculture is said to contribute N348.7 billion to the economy. It can be more if over 50 per cent of agricultural produce, especially perishables are not wasted and unfit for the market. Air freight has the potential to reduce this wastage and boost foreign exchange earnings, writes OLUKOREDE YISHAU

Agriculture Minister Akinwunmi Adesina is never out of the news. If the minister is not talking about rice farming, he is talking about cocoa farming. He is upbeat about the agriculture sector, which he sees as the next oil sector. The sector absorbed $5 billion last year. But in all these, the minister has also been concerned about food wastage, which the United Nations Environmental Project (UNEP)says has both financial and environmental implications.

Environmentally, food waste leads to wasteful use of chemicals such as fertilisers and pesticides; more fuel used for transportation; and more rotting food, creating more methane – one of the most harmful greenhouse gases that fuels to climate change.

A report said: “Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted. Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes).The amount of food lost or wasted every year is equivalent to more than half of the world’s annual cereals crop (2.3 billion tonnes in 2009/2010).

Nigeria contributes a great deal to this situation. Food waste and losses occur at early stages of the food value chain. Farmers daily lose so much during planting and harvest seasons due to the problem of storage and freight challenges. They have grappled with their losses over the years. The poor transport system means their produce cannot get to the market before the perishable ones become spoilt.

Adesina, at the World Economic Forum (WEF), said: “The issue of global food security is very important. Nine billion people need to be fed by 2050 and there is no doubt in my mind that that requires that we significantly increase agricultural productivity. But if you look at where the land really is, most of the land is not in the United States, it is not in South Asia or anywhere in the world. It is in Africa and a bulk of it is in Nigeria. We have 84 million hectares of land.”

He said he would continue to push for the optimisation of the level of land in Nigeria to enable the country raise productivity with modern technology, saying Africa is where the compass is for food production that will save the world.

“Africa and in particular, Nigeria, is going to be part of the major solution to global food problem and that requires that we change our approach to Agriculture not just as a development activity, but agriculture as a business,” he said.

A solution is being found to food wastage. Adesina and Aviation Minister Stella Oduah are working to protect perishable cargoes through designated cargo airports. Countries, such as Kenya, South Africa, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Egypt long adopted this strategy. Through their perishable cargo airports, they are reaping internally and externally. Perishable air freight export out of Africa in 2010 was approximately $1.6 billion.

Nigeria is nowhere to be found despite being the largest sub-Saharan African country producing perishables.

This has dawned on government and on Monday, the Federal Government designated the Akure Airport as a perishable cargo terminal. 13 of the 22 remodelled airports have been designated as cargo airports. Additional facilities are being provided at these airports to make them function effectively as cargo airports.

“We understand how farmers feel when their products can’t get to the market. We know how it hurts when you invest and there is no return on investment; we know that colleagues in the Agriculture sector are striving to return the country to the path of sustainable agriculture and we on this part are working to ensure those mangoes, oranges and even fish do not rotten somewhere inside the farm. We are creating cargo airports and encouraging farm to market idea, where farmers can freight their produce without trouble and get reward for their efforts,” said Oduah.

The aviation minister said it is the priority of her ministry to help farmers out of poverty through the new cargo airports.

“By making distribution easier for farmers who usually have to compete with the challenge of moving their perishable goods, we are also pumping money back into the local economy. And beyond the direct economic benefits, connecting eaters with local growers helps cultivate a sense of national pride and solidarity. We have a real attachment to making sure our country continues to have its rural, agricultural heritage by supporting and creating this channel called perishable cargo airports,” says Yakubu Dati, the spokesman for aviation parastatals.

The Director of Air Cargo, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Uchenna Ofulue, is expected to spearhead the drive for the development of the air cargo sector.

The Chairman, Domestic Airport Cargo Agent Association (DACAA), Emmanuel Odia, said the creation of cargo department by the FAAN will enhance cargo business in the airports.

The determination of FAAN to construct cargo terminal would boost the activities of the cargo agents, and ensure sanity in the cargo business at the airports, he said.

“I think it is one of the best things that could happen to the aviation industry. It means that there is no cargo terminal in Nigeria that will not have a cargo department and this will enhance our business as cargo agents.

“The moment the directorate picks up, and there is a section for cargo spinning, it will boost our business, “Odia said.

The DACAA boss explained that this would also help to curb disorder and touting.

Odia appealed to the management of the FAAN to create a cargo section under the directorate where all cargo activities would be carried out.

He, however, expressed displeasure over the decline of domestic airlines which, he said, had negatively affected DACCA business and had forced most cargo owners to transport their goods by road.

The Chinese government is building five new airport terminals which have been designed with facilities for air cargo as well. The deal includes five international terminals for commercial flights and six for perishable cargo. The airports being undertaken with concessionary loan from China Exim Bank will be situated in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu.

Speaking at the inauguration of the international terminal of the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Lamido Sanusi Lamido, said the cargo airports would end the era of farmers losing their yields and can even earn foreign exchange by exporting their perishables.

Interestingly, the global perishables market is worth over $5billion or about N1trillion annually. With the cargo airports, farmers will be able to participate in this market. They can now earn money from their fresh tropical fruits, such as oranges, pineapples, mangoes, tangerine, paw paw, grapes, cashew, bananas and vegetables.

An Agricultural economist, Sule Dantiye, said: “If government follows this through, the farmers and the country will gain a lot. For me, it is a poverty alleviation strategy, which makes more sense than distributing motorcycle and stuffs like that to people. I understand that they will also provide cold storage containers, specialised transportation for these perishables and so on. This will really change a lot of things.”

The ministries are urging Nigerians to believe them on the workability of this initiative, saying it is no empty promise. That was the gospel Adesina preached at Davos last week.

Oduah said: “It means that our aunties, our cousins, our relations living in rural communities will have access to international market. We would have developed some rural economies that would be independent of allocations from the Federal Government and independent from oil resources. It would be one of the greatest platforms for government to stop rural, urban migration. It will grow employment opportunity; it will have all the value chain properly ad completely developed. It will encourage the growth of new middle class.”

Dati said the new Port Harcourt Airport terminal was different from the old one because it has room for cargo.

He said the economic importance of Port Harcourt in efforts to develop agriculture in the country motivated the Federal Government to build an international cargo terminal in the area.

“We are starting a new terminal, which will be built from scratch, in addition to what we have. This shows the importance of Port Harcourt in the Federal Government’s plans and it also complements the fact that we want to open up an entry point for commerce and industry internationally.

“Although the Port Harcourt airport facilitates oil and gas exports, it is also strategic for the exportation of agricultural produce because of its location,” he said.

Dati said the Port Harcourt airport was important to the Federal Government’s transformation agenda, saying that the first phase of the terminal’s remodelling project would be inaugurated soon.

He said the cargo terminal would enable Nigeria to effectively export oil palm and other agricultural produce for wealth creation.

Significantly, the National Planning Commission (NPC) yesterday said agriculture contributed N348.7 billion to the nation’s economy in 2012, as against N335.18 billion recorded in 2011.

The figure is contained in the 2012 Performance Report on the nation’s economy issued in Abuja by the commission.

The report noted that the sector’s value added stood at N348.7 billion in 2012, compared with N335.18 billion recorded in 2011, indicating a growth rate of 3.97 per cent as against 5.64 per cent in 2011.

It added that “the contribution of agriculture to overall real Gross Domestic Product Growth was 24.25 per cent in 2012, compared with 31.04 per cent in 2011.

“Growth was led by crop production, which accounted for 20.46 per cent of the overall economic growth in 2012, compared with 27.41 per cent in 2011.”

It stated that the slowdown in the sub-sector’s contribution to growth in 2012 was due to security issues in some parts of the north that adversely affected agricultural production and marketing.

Flooding had also affected the productivity of the sector in 2012, it added.

The report showed that the Federal Government’s initiatives to improve agriculture and investments had not been significantly felt due to security challenges and that food imports were taking huge amounts of the country’s foreign exchange earnings.

”In the first quarter of 2012 alone, more than 1.4 billion U.S. dollars (N221.2 billion) was spent on food imports, compared with 1.11 billion U.S. dollars ((N168.75 billion) in the first quarter of 2011, indicating a growth of 26.6 per cent,” it said

The commission stressed the need for the nation to learn from the success stories of China and India that exited from being food importers to exporters in the last 30 years.

The sector will contribute more if the cargo airports initiatives fully take off and with time, the era of over 50 per cent of perishables being wasted may soon be over.

January 29, 2014