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The Niger Delta is sick and needs to be healed
By Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi and Faith Imbu
April 18, 2024. 12:00pm
The Niger Delta region has for over six decades been paying huge ultimate prices orchestrated by fossil fuel companies. While these companies make millions of dollars annually from their fossil fuel exploration, the people of the Niger Delta continue to suffer environmental degradation, which affects their entire livelihood and ecosystem.
The majority of these affected people in remote areas do not have a voice to ask the right questions. The few lone voices that know how to fight, have perhaps been put in a cage with a clipped wing and bruised sore throat and only a few communities, with the help of environmental organizations such as the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), educate the people on their rights, for which they then demand justice. Unfortunately, many of these hearings suffer snail speed as they are dragged and linger on in court for years before justice prevails, and others have resulted in adverse outcomes for the affected parties.
The wound from the impact of fossil fuel still hurts both community residents and the environment, causing climate crises, which prompted HOMEF to hold a two-day school of ecology (SoE) to educate, enlighten, and inform residents in affected communities on how to heal from the impact of fossil fuel addiction.
Nnimimo Bassey, the founder of HOMEF, stated during his teaching at the SOE that no oil spill is minor. The majority of oil pipelines, according to him, only last 10 to 15 years, but some in the Niger Delta have been in place for longer and have not been altered. They passed their lifespan and began to leak.”
According to Bassey, some oil wells that were closed in the 1960s are still leaking oil and polluting the area. “The environment and people are reaping corrupted harvests because of the oil pollution near farmlands.”
Oil spills and constant gas flaring have been among the issues bedevilling communities in the Niger Delta, and several investigations have revealed rusty oil pipes, that eroded and spilled over land and water bodies.
Several investigations have exposed how fossil fuel companies pipe leaks and spilled oil into farmlands and residential areas, and oftentimes, the companies have blamed locals for vandalism of the oil pipeline.
Fossil fuel companies are making people believe that oil spills are caused by people of the Niger Delta region, said Ken Henshaw, the executive director of We the People.
Henshaw told The Colonist Report Africa that fossil fuel companies are carrying out climate misinformation by deceiving the people, saying “they have reduced their carbon emission footprint. Nigeria has 178 gas flames but none of these flames has been turned off.”
Oil companies are gradually disappearing because of ecological justice host community chants in the Niger Delta, and oil multinationals are leaving the Niger Delta for fear of being held accountable for polluting the lands for over 60 to 70 years, according to Kenshaw. “The community has a role to play to speak for themselves for their voices to be heard.”
Over 100 students were admitted into the school of ecology programme which took place on March 20 and 21 in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Attendants include some affected community members who shared their experiences about the sufferings of the communities hosting fossil fuel companies.
One community leader, Chief Eniya Wilson, the secretary of chiefs in Okoroutip community in Ibono Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State, said his community is known for fishing and residents depend on the sales from their catch to make ends meet but constant oil pollution has made fish go extinct.
Wilson remembered that following the constant oil spills, community residents had thought of holding a peaceful protest, dragging attention to their plight, but then decided not to continue to avoid being attacked by security personnel attached to the fossil fuel companies operating in their companies. “We can’t get good harvest from our crops, our drinking water are filled with water, and whenever we dig the ground to plant, we see crude oil.”
Editing by Kevin Woke and Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi
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