There has been excitement all over the Niger Delta region since President Muhammadu Buhari announced the intention of the Federal Government to commence implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations Environmental Programme report on the clean-up of Ogoniland. This is one high point of the current administration in keeping faith with their electoral promises. Somehow, past efforts to do the same did not manage to take off and so one is optimistic that this fresh resolve will not suffer a similar fate.
For me, the clean-up goes far beyond the environmental restoration of the impacted communities in Ogoniland or the thousands of employment opportunities it will likely create or skill transfer it may generate for the community people. It is rather a symbolic opportunity for the region and indeed all of us to collectively bring that protracted and painful history to a closure. For those who are already singing discordant tunes, I hope they realise the urgent need to think beyond pecuniary benefits and turn a new leaf. Does the description as catalysts of sustainable development not sound well to them?
I think we should also use this opportunity to try to review and interrogate the set of challenges and events often referred to as the Niger Delta Question. It will be important to clarify whether it is just one question or a set of questions. Whether it is simply an environmental question, political question or a security question or a livelihood question or a combination of the three. Whose business it is to ask the question and most importantly whether some parts of the question have been answered. It will also be helpful to know whether there is a possibility of answering the questions completely or whether there are people who benefit from making the questions complicated by the day. It may also be worthwhile to unpack the word, stakeholders, in the region – those who rightly or wrongly define how the region is perceived by others. Can we also peep into the future and visualise what the Niger Delta region will look like when oil dries up or when its economic value diminishes?
I had an opportunity to peruse the UNEP report again. I believe that every Nigerian should read a copy. Those who cannot should at least read the executive summary. Perusing that report gave me an insight into the level of pollution, pain, failed expectations, palpable neglect, abdication of responsibilities, break down of trust, political tensions, insecurity and livelihood decay that construct the unsustainable development in a region so important to the economy of our country. The Niger Delta region remains a sore on the psyche of the nation called Nigeria. It is a burden on all of us. We must take collective responsibility for what has become of that region. We can point fingers but the truth is that all those who benefited from the resources extracted from the Niger Delta have a vicarious liability about the devastation we see today. I believe the clean-up is a remedy which is why we must also collectively support it.
Reading the report, I was taken aback when I found out that chemicals like benzene, toluene, ethyl-benzene and xylene – known cancer-causing agents and other dangerous polycyclic organic hydrocarbons are widespread in Ogoniland 900 times above the WHO guidelines. That community people are left with no choice than to depend on water sources laden with these carcinogens for consumption and household uses warrants a declaration of a state of emergency. To discover that artisanal refineries, known as “kpo fire”, for makeshift distillation of crude oil and reckless bunkering, still proliferate, is akin to what President Buhari referred to in his last media chat as a state existing within a state. I was not totally surprised to read about the lack of qualified technical experts, overlapping responsibilities and lack of resources among government regulatory agencies. No wonder the oil companies had a free hand to operate with minimal standards and were allowed literally speaking to get away with murder in the region. One hopes that such a trend will be reduced by a more focused and coordinated effort under Buhari. The purposeful leadership so far provided by the Minister of Environment, Mrs. Amina Mohammed, seems to signify that such a trend is about to stop.
Beyond blame game, I still wonder how the nation called Nigeria, that have benefitted so much from the region, allowed the level of decay that happened. Where were we? It brings to fore the criminal hypocrisy of the multinational oil companies and the laziness of some government agencies who masquerade as regulators, yet who probably collude with the polluters. If you read the report, you could begin to develop a weird “Stockholm Syndrome” of empathising with the “oppressors”, that somewhat excuses the level of anger and violence in the region, while knowing full well that those conflict entrepreneurs who draw benefits from the violence are far away from the impoverished and endangered communities.
Now the comprehensive clean-up prescribed by the UNEP report is potentially able to wipe all of these away. It is expected to take between 25 to 30 years and we must get it right. Yet, it cannot happen unless concerned stakeholders decide to allow it to progress. Communities in the Niger Delta, especially Ogoniland, must understand the threat to human health arising from the polluted environment and rally round the well-intentioned effort. We must not use the same old methods of hostility and expect a different result. This is not a time to disagree or allow avoidable conflict become an encumbrance to something that will likely benefit up to generations yet unborn. Such an elaborate effort can only take place under an atmosphere of peace and security. I am aware that representatives may be drawn from the communities to superintend over the clean-up effort. Let us listen to one another and ensure that grievances that may arise from the choices are resolved amicably. Communities must begin to trust the sincerity of government efforts or at least give them a benefit of doubt. Let us do away with entrenched interests that have no sense of the common good of society. The higher goal of the potential long term benefits that will accrue to the people must be placed above the interest of the privileged few. We must all come together and get this effort to work for us. It is the right time to make another attempt to bring the Niger Delta question to closure. This region will still remain our home for some time to come.
PUNCH
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