By Odimegwu Onwumere
Between 1970 to 2018, the Niger Delta region has recorded over 10,000 oil spillages and hardly were the affected communities compensated or quick clean-up of the affected communities impacted, Odimegwu Onwumere writes.
Oil spill has become a recurring decimal in the Niger Delta region since 1956 that oil was first found in Nigeria.
The country was then a British protectorate and the oil was found by a joint operation between Royal Dutch Shell and British Petroleum.
Investigations have shown that the country has recorded over 10,000 spills between 1970 to 2018 and hardly, were the affected communities compensated.
There have been incessant oil spills in Ogoni and by extension, the Niger Delta region, leading to thousands of litres running on Ogoni farmlands and rivers.
There was a major spill in 1970 which led to a £26m fine for Shell in Nigerian courts 30 years latter, and the authorities were recalcitrant to the plight of the victims of the disaster.
Besides this, just on May 17 2018, over fifty fishing settlements in Bayelsa community of Niger Delta were destroyed by oil spill.
The incident occurred in Aghoro 1 and 2 communities, hosting an oilfield operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa.
The story of the spill was confirmed by the Oil and Gas Producing Areas Enlightenment and Empowerment Initiative (OGPAEEI), an NGO in Bayelsa.
This was as Nembe Creek community in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State called on federal and state governments to look into the delay of AITEO Production and Exploration Company in cleaning up an oil spill that was destroying farmlands in the area since 2016.
The Amanyanabo of Nembe Creek Community, Chief Kemmer Igbeta, and Vice Chairman of United Nembe Creek Fishermen Association in Yenagoa, was not pleased with the situation.
According to a statement from the community in April 2018, “The reckless activities of the company have endangered the health of our people, while the sources of drinking water are all damaged.
“We wish to notify the public, as a demonstration of our commitment to peace, of our frustrations and disappointment at AITEO Production and Exploration’s indifference and nonchalant attitude to the plight of the people of Nembe Creek communities, precipitated by AITOE’s exploration and production operations at Nembe creek oil fields.”
In Odimodi Community in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, there was a devastating oil spillage that occurred on the 24 inches Trans Ramos crude oil pipeline owned by the SPDC.
The crude oil spillage spread to over fifty communities under the Odimodi Federated Communities and others in the creek.
Dr. Anapunere Awoli, Spokesman of the OGPAEEI, speaking to our correspondent on behalf of the President of the group, Mr. Jackson Igbabiri, in Yenagoa, disclosed that the spill in Aghoro was devastating as sources of water and farmland and fishing tools worth millions of Naira were destroyed.
He added that communities in Aghoro 1, were most greased with the spillage and they included Garden of Eden, Aya Ama, Famous Ama, Azatitor and Birigbene and so many others.
According to Igbabiri, “From the assessment we conducted on the incident, we found out that about 10,000 fishing nets, over 50 fishing settlements, farmlands including coconut farms, plantain and water yam farms were destroyed by the spill.
“Some of the fishing settlements in the area are Amasese, Idolo, Semetiegbe, Yoba, Agoloudu, Ama Iyorodtugbene, and Isun Adofeye camp, among others.”
He went further, “We are calling on SPDC to urgently provide alternative sources of water like borehole for the people; the people are also in dire need of medical aid and food items; the situation can lead to public health challenges if not taken care of.
However, His Majesty, King Enimikem Famous, the traditional ruler of Famous Ama Community in Aghoro, was not pleased with the incident. He described it as “unfortunate”.
In his words, “We have suffered too much of spills; our people have suffered from several illnesses such as cholera, severe cough and infertility caused by the type of water we consume.”
The Bayelsa State Government, through the Deputy Governor Gboribiogha Jonah led a delegation that visited the affected areas and admonished the SPDC to embrace international oil practice standard to avert further spillage.
Conversely, Dr. Alice Aje, Manager, Stakeholder Relations at SPDC, described the spill as “regrettable”.
But this is primary to disasters that Ogoni people have been suffering for years in the hands of multinational oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region.
UNEP Rescues Ogoni
It was the umpteenth time that this writer has to investigative disasters occurring from oil spillage that the people of Ogoni have come to endure for decades.
The Ogoni people are in shadow of the negative impact of crude oil explorations by multinational oil companies in their land.
The SPDC was at the centre of the environmental degradations that Ogoni are suffering till date.
The company operated in Ogoni without any development or implementation of environmental assessment methodologies. It did not take into account the economic, socio-cultural and conservation values of the environment in Ogoni.
The observation with Environmental Impact Assessment Laws was zero, so also was the implementation of health safety and environmental management systems and quality assurance control, as oil production began in the Delta in 1956.
While Ogoni Suffer
Nigeria as a colony of the rapacious British Empire, the imperialist gave the SPDC the unlimited right to explore crude oil anywhere in Nigeria. This Right was given in 1937.
Scrutiny was that not less than $900 billion profits have been made by the FG from results of oil exports to foreign countries since 1960.
The SPDC did not give a hoot to launch inclusive waste management programmes or put-into-practice a continually update of fully operational oil spill prevention programmes.
The Ogoni people suffer environmental risk assessment. They experience ultimate results of accidents as regards to lack of mitigation measures.
There is hardly any design for National oil spill contingency plan for control, containment, and cleanup.
Ogoni being the third party among the FG and the SPDC, do not experience a review in practice to effectively address in a timely manner the damage oil explorations are causing the area. Gas flaring is a scourge in Ogoni.
Ogoni Voice
About twenty-five years ago, a voice emerged among the sons and daughters of Ogoni; a people in the Niger Delta region with a population of close to 832,000 (according to the 2006 National Census) and covering close to 1,000 square kilometres in Rivers State, southern Nigeria.
A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) examination characterises Ogoni by the third largest mangrove ecosystem in the world. An internationally acclaimed writer, satirist and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa emerged from this ‘mangrove’ in 1990.
He was peacefully protesting against the oil pollutions and severe environmental degradations in Ogoni, being caused by the oil companies, especially the SPDC.
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) was born and was one organ through which the activist informed the entire world of what the people are suffering in the hands of the oil companies and the Nigerian military government.
In that regard, Ogoni Bill of Rights was created. This was the people’s self-determination manifesto, to streamline the activities of the foreign oil companies in the area.
The Bill also helped other ethnicities in the Niger Delta region, to formulate manifestos around the activities of the oil companies in their respective communities.
