Ogoni Clean Up and the Challenges of Environmental Governance in the Niger Delta
CHAPTER ONE
Objectives Of Study
The objectives of this study are to:
- Highlight the impacts of ogoni clean up on the environment and lives of the people of Niger Delta
- Examine the key roles played by different stakeholders in addressing climate change in Niger Delta
- c) Investigate why environmental governance has failed in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria in spite of the laws and institutions established in Nig
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW & THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Literature Review
This chapter deals with the review of extant literature and framework for analysis. It helps in providing a guide for analysing the contending issues arising from this study. This chapter is therefore divided into two related sections.
The first section shall review extant literature as this gives adequate insight into the discourse. To enable a proper grasp of the subject-matter, the literature review will take a thematic approach. It must be said that the review is by no means exhaustive; nonetheless, it will provide us with adequate knowledge of the state of scholarship in this important area.
The second section of this chapter is devoted to theoretical perspective. This study shall adopt the securitisation theory in analysing the issues therein. This is because the perspective provides an understanding of the subject-matter.
Bariton (2018) as well as Okhumode (2017), posit that Ogoni is made up of six kingdoms: Gokana, Babbe, Eleme, Tai, NyoKhana and Ken-Khana, with close to 220 communities that extends across the six kingdoms. There is a sense in which we can argue that the ogoni people are minority ethnic group in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Ogoni nation later became part of today Rivers State of Nigeria in the 1970s and it covers around 1,000 km2 (UNEP report, 2011: 8). The area is naturally endowed with an abundance of rivers, creeks, and streams. Consequently, it has predominantly traditional fishers and farmers. In the past, it was referred to as the “food basket of the Niger Delta” because it produced cash crops for neighboring Niger Delta regions (Kadafa, 2012).
Eghosa (1995) argues that the Ogonis do not have a myth of common origin as do most ethnic groups in Nigeria and they constitute an ethnic group only on the basis of sharing common tradition, custom, language, and farming methods. Indeed, the region has proven crude oil deposits, despite its proven oil deposits; evidence shows that there have perpetual failures to the transform natural wealth into economic and social development. This point will be discuss later in this chapter.
Environmental governance is about how societies deal with environmental problems. It is concerned with the interactions among formal and informal institutions and the actors within society. These interactions influence how environmental problems are identified and addressed.
Environmental Governance is a concept in environmental and political ecology policy that advocates sustainability as the supreme consideration for managing all human social, political and economic activities. It refers to the all over all processes of decision making involves in the control and management of the environment and the natural resources thereof. International Union for Conservative of Nature (2014), define environmental governance as the multi-level interaction (Local, Global, National) among, but not limited to three main actors that is State, market and the civil society, which interact with one another, whether in formal and informal ways; in formulating policies in response to environment related demands.
Aligning with the above, Ortolano (2009), describe environmental governance as how humans exercise authority over natural resources and natural systems. This has to do with the question of how we humans make environmental decisions, which makes them and the purpose it serves for the generality of the people. Using this broad conceptualization, environmental governance involves much more than the work of governments. It “relates to decision-makers at all levels—government managers and ministers, business people, property owners, farmers, and consumers. In short, it deals with who is responsible, how they wield their power, and how they are held accountable.”
CHAPTER THREE
UNEP REPORT AND OGONI CRISIS
Introduction
This chapter examines the UNEP report and the ogoni crisis. The first section will look at the overview of the UNEP report, while the second analyses the politics behind the UNEP report. The final part discusses Covid-19 and the Ogoni cleanup.
An Overview of the UNEP Report
On the 4th of August 2011 the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published its Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland, a study of oil pollution in the Ogoniland region of Rivers State in the eastern Niger Delta. The report was commissioned by the Federal Government as part of a wider Ogoni reconciliation process, which the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) supports. The SPDC joint venture financed the report and supplied data. The UNEP report highlighted significant environmental impacts from oil pollution in parts of Ogoniland relating to a variety of historical sources and ongoing crude oil theft and illegal refining activity. It identified some emergency measures requiring immediate action, particularly relating to the provision of potable water to impacted communities.
It called on government, industry and communities to take action to put an end to all forms of ongoing oil contamination (including crude oil theft and illegal refining) and to begin a comprehensive clean-up of the region. Most of UNEP’s recommendations – including the creation of an Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority and an Environmental Restoration Fund for Ogoniland – were directed at the Federal Government and require it to take the lead on coordinating the activities of the many stakeholders involved. The report also contained a number of findings specifically relating to SPDC practices and performance. The UNEP report stated that devastating oil spills in the Niger delta over the past five decades will cost $1bn to rectify and would take up to 30 years to clean up.
CHAPTER FOUR
EVALUATION OF UNEP’S ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESMENT REPORT ON OGONI
Introduction
The issue of ogoni cleanup in recent times has gained an unprecedented attention in Niger Delta region and Nigeria at large. This chapter examines UNEP’S environmental assessment report on ogoni. The first section of this chapter is dedicated to the struggle for justice of the ogoni people. The second section traces the history of ogoni cleanup. In the final section, the study examines the oil multinationals, Nigerian state and the agony of the ogoni people.
The Ogoni Struggle for Justice
Ogoni is the name of a region in the Niger Delta of Southern Nigeria as well as the name of ethnic group that lives in that region. The region is an important wetland and coastal marine ecosystem and is home to some 1 million people many of whom rely on it for their livelihood. Indeed, the entire Ogoni community is purely for agricultural activities which involve tapping, fishing, farming, boat building to mention but few (Vincent, 2003: 7).
Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer. Its industry is based in the Niger Delta, in the south of the country, where commercial production began in 1958.The industry is run by joint ventures between the Nigerian government and multinational companies. Shell has always been the most important of these. Shell runs its oil operations in Nigeria through its subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).
Every year there are hundreds of oil spills, devastating people’s livelihoods, health, and access to clean water and food. The impact of the oil industry on the people of the Niger Delta gained worldwide attention in the 1990s.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
This study investigated the ogoni clean up and the challenge of environmental governance in the Niger Delta. It concentrated on the nuances of ogoni clean up by focusing on the effort at mitigating the problem of environmental degradation in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. In also investigated the role of the state, oil multinationals, non-governmental organizations and social movements in the region. Chapter one focused on the background to the study, and it highlighted the statement of the problem, research questions, research objectives and the research assumptions. It also explained the significance of this study as well as its limitations. It defined the key terms and finally stated the contributions the study makes to knowledge. Chapter Two was dedicated to a review of extant literature where we got knowledge of the subject matter. The latter part of this chapter was devoted to the method of research employed in the study.
In Chapter Three, we looked at the UNEP Report and the ogoni crisis. It traced the history of ogoni crisis in that region. We also examined what the report entails and the remedial actions that must be taken to have a clean environment habitable for human. Finally, chapter three examined the politics of the clean up. Chapter four focused on how ogoniland have not been able to benefit from years of oil exploration. It also demonstrated how Shell takes people land with little or no compensation.
Findings
In the course of the study, it was found that before the discovery of oil in Niger Delta, the indigenes depend solely on fishing and subsistence farming as means of livelihood. However, since 1956 when oil was discovered in commercial quantity, exploration activities of the oil multinationals in Niger Delta, have affected the means of livelihood through release of toxic waste and other harmful substances. This is particularly so because the oil multinationals, as it would seem, have failed to take complete responsibility of the damage on the ecosystem. It was also discovered that the government has continued to play lip service to the issue of environment in the Niger Delta. Nigeria still ranks as one of the lowest in environmental ranking. This government in action largely due to the fact that oil production constitutes a major chuck of revenue for the Nigeria state.
It was also discovered that even though the oil industry is no longer active in ogoniland, the people of the region still live with pollution caused by oil spillages every day of their lives.
Conclusion
The commencement of the environmental clean-up in Ogoniland by the Nigerian state arguably made a significant impact on the hopes of the Ogoni for a sustainable balance between the political economy of oil production and environmental security in the Niger Delta. However, the actual implementation of the clean-up process since 2012 stopped short of ensuring the human security and other aspirations of the Ogoni people, including their expectation that the contestation over ownership of the oil in the region would be resolved in their favor. Given this, the disputes over the clean-up reflect the continuation of oil politics in the Niger Delta, a situation that will continue to pose a threat to sustainable peacebuilding in the region for the foreseeable future.
As stated by UNEP, it is crucial to put an end to the widespread theft and illegal refining of crude oil and sabotage of infrastructure, which continue to cause new spills and impact on the environment of ogoniland. The communities’ cooperation in granting access has been and will remain a key factor in making progress in the clean-up and remediation of impacted areas.
Recommendations
This research put forward the following recommendations:
- The government as well as oil multinationals should invest in human resource development, including jobs, scholarships and training; and sustainable development, including improved electricity and water supplies, roads and telecommunications to ogoni community. Provision of these amenities must meet international standards.
- Develop a human capital development plan for the Ogoni and train the local population for technical and managerial positions.
- The people who have suffered various human rights abuses must be dully compensated, including implementation of the same set of UN recommendations.
- The Ogoni community should take full advantage of the employment, skills development and other opportunities that will be created by the clean-up operation which is aimed at improving their living conditions and livelihoods.
- And finally the community should take a proactive stand against individuals or groups who engage in illegal activities such as bunkering and artisanal refining.
REFERENCES
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