Casualties of “PetroNaira Warfare”: Free Niger Delta from Pollution
Alali Tamuno, in commemoration of World Water Day, March 22nd, 2017, condemns the pollution and contamination of Ogoniland and the Niger Delta, consequent upon decades-old oil and gas exploration, production and related activities, resulting in unsafe wat
March 22nd, 2017: World Water Day
World Water Day provides an opportunity for this writer to again highlight the severely polluted environment in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria (“Niger Delta”), implore the Nigerian Government to immediately com- mence the cleanup of Ogoniland, Rivers State (“Ogoniland”), and identify, evaluate, and clean up other polluted areas in the Niger Delta, in order to prevent “environment-pollution” deaths in the Niger Delta. Events marking World Water Day, observed annually on the 22nd day of March, highlight the value of freshwater and promote sustainability in freshwater resources management (UN-Water, 2014). The focus of 2017 World Water Day was “Wastewater.”
Decades-old oil and gas exploration, production, and related activities conducted in the Niger Delta, have caused severe damage to the environ- ment in the Niger Delta, particularly in Ogoniland and other parts of Rivers State. Ogoniland, Nisisioken Ogale Community in particular, is used as a reference point for other communities in the Niger Delta that have a se- verely polluted environment. It is not unreasonable to suggest that the en- vironment in the Niger Delta is affected by wastewater discharges from oil and gas exploration, production and associated activities.
Petro-Naira Warfare & Environmental Prisoners
It is not hyperbole when this writer says that the men, women, and children in the Niger Delta, particularly in Rivers State, are being held “hostage” by a polluted environment, their homes, businesses, livelihoods and commu- nities are under “siege” to a polluted environment, they are “collateral damage” of “Petro-Naira Warfare” and “Environmental Prisoners”. This writer considers “Petro-Naira Warfare” to be environment-ravaging oil and gas exploration, production, and related activities under government li- cence and illegal artisanal crude oil refining in the Niger Delta. Building upon the term “Environmental Refugee”, this writer proposes and defines a new term “Environmental Prisoner” as a person whose quality of life, well- being, life expectancy, livelihood, and ability to freely move around is cur- tailed, disrupted, or threatened by severe environmental pollution (Tamuno, 2017).
Wastewater: A Global Concern
Why is wastewater a global concern? In a very broad sense, wastewater is used water from domestic, commercial, industrial, or agricultural activities or processes and is a concern because untreated wastewater, can nega- tively impact water quality. Target 6.3 of the International Sustainable De- velopment Goal (SDG) 6 (ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all) sets a goal: “[by] 2030, [to] improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimising the re- lease of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of un- treated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally” (UNDP, 2017).
Contamination of Ogoniland
Support for this writer’s assertion that the people in the Niger Delta are En- vironmental Prisoners may be found in conclusions and key findings pre- sented in the United Nations Environment Programme/UN-environment (“UNEP”) Ogoniland Environmental Assessment Report released in August 2011 (the “Ogoniland Report”). Two findings that succinctly encapsulate the life-threatening conditions in Ogoniland are:
Despite the Ogoniland Report and a June, 2016 announcement that the Federal Government of Nigeria has put in place funding and legal struc- tures to commence the cleanup of Ogoniland, reportedly, to date the mon- ey for the Ogoniland cleanup has not been encumbered and the cleanup has not started.
Equity & Justice for the Niger Delta Environmental Racism
Fellow Nigerians and people of goodwill around the world, where is equity and justice when it comes to the people in the Niger Delta? How many people in the Niger Delta have to die from diseases caused by harmful substances in the environment, including benzene-induced cancers, before the Nigerian Government commences Ogoniland’s cleanup? This writer asserts that it is environmental racism that people in the Niger Delta are Environmental Prisoners.
Water Injustice
Fellow Nigerians and people of goodwill around the world, where is equity and justice when it comes to the water resources of the people of the Niger Delta? This writer asserts that it is Water Injustice that the people in the Niger Delta have to continually cry “water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink” and the Nigerian Government fails to take any action to safeguard water resources in the Niger Delta. Water Justice for the people in the Niger Delta, requires the protection of water resources in the region from oil and gas exploration, production and associated activities that pollute water resources in the region threatening the social, economic and envi- ronmental rights of the Niger Delta people.
Security & Welfare
Fellow Nigerians and people of goodwill around the world, where is equity and justice when it comes to the Niger Delta people and their environ- ment? Is the security and welfare of the Nigerian people as set forth in Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (“Consti- tution”) no longer the primary purpose of the Nigerian Government?; Doesn’t Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution apply to the people in the Niger Delta? (as I have previously opined, Section 14(2) (b) of the Constitu- tion should be read with an environmental component); doesn’t SDG 6 ex- tend to the people in the Niger Delta?; Is there a caveat in Section 41(1) of the Constitution limiting the Niger Delta people’s movement to a polluted environment?; Doesn't the right to the “best attainable state of physical and mental health” as set forth in Article 16 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights adopted in 1981 (“African Charter”) also apply to the people in the Niger Delta?; Shouldn’t the people in the Niger Delta enjoy a right to a general satisfactory environment favourable to their development as set forth in Article 24 of the African Charter?; Shouldn’t the people in the Niger Delta demand a right to clean and safe water as provided in in- ternational law?; and Don’t the people in the Niger Delta have a right to life as set forth in Section 33(1) of the Constitution? (clean and safe water is an essential requirement for human wellbeing and life).
The Nigerian Government is reminded that in 2010 the United Nations General Assembly affirmed a right to safe drinking water as a human right “that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and [other] human
rights” (UNGA, 2010), and Nigeria is a party to the African Charter and has domesticated the African Charter into Nigerian law by means of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act Cap A9 LFN 2004.
Conclusion:
I conclude by imploring:
The Nigerian Government to: be reminded that your primary responsibility is to protect ALL Nigerians from all forms of threats to their safety and wel- fare, including environmental threats; immediately commence cleanup of Ogoniland in accordance with the recommendations in the Ogoniland Re- port using reliable, innovative, and effective oil-removal technologies; im- mediately evaluate and cleanup of other polluted areas in the Niger Delta, especially in Rivers State, as recontamination can occur if every polluted area is not remediated, particularly as it concerns groundwater contamina- tion. These recommended first steps should be immediately taken so that the people in the Niger Delta can regain their freedom from the decades- old polluted environment.
The men, women and children from, and in, the Niger Delta, we also have a role to play to regain our freedom from the polluted environment in the Niger Delta, which has kept us Environmental Prisoner(s) for decades. We should: not, through our actions or inaction, contribute to pollution in the Niger Delta; take precautionary measures to prevent pollution of the envi- ronment in the Niger Delta from harmful chemicals; participate in environ- mental decision making processes with respect to our communities and in environmental enforcement; demand and obtain information on the envi- ronment in the Niger Delta from the government and companies that pol- lute the environment; require, and attend, public meetings/ hearings on the environment in our communities; seek and obtain technical assistance grants to hire experts to assist our communities to speak with one voice on environmental matters that affect us; require the enactment of comprehen- sive environmental laws, regulations, standards and guidance and the en- forcement of such legal instruments; demand the establishment of a Toxic Release Inventory to obtain information about the release of toxic chemicals in our communities; require the establishment of an Oil Spill Fund in Nigeria to pay for the cleanup of all polluted sites in Nigeria-funding for such fund should come from oil companies and associated companies op- erating in Nigeria in the form of e.g. taxes, registration, and licence fees; demand the inclusion of citizen suit and environmental court provisions in environmental laws in Nigeria and seek redress in court for violations to the environment, a public resource; and speak with one voice demanding an end to environmental racism with respect to the Niger Delta and its people.
High-level Nigerian Government Officials: be humbled by the enormous political power you are given, which requires more social responsibility from you; be aware that sustainable development is impossible in a pollut- ed environment; and respond positively to the demands in the preceding paragraph.
For ALL Nigerians and people of good will around the world, let us be guided by an indigenous American saying to “treat the earth well: it was not given to [us] by [our] parents, it was loaned to [us] by [our] children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”