Director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Dr Nnimmo Bassey, has called for thorough environmental and health audits in the Niger Delta, in response to ongoing pollution in the oil-producing region.
Bassey, a prominent environmentalist, made the appeal during the Niger Delta Alternatives Convergence (NDAC) in Yenagoa, following the release of a report by the Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission (BSOEC) titled “An Environmental Genocide: Counting the Human and Environmental Cost of Oil in Bayelsa, Nigeria.”
He criticised oil companies for what he described as the deliberate, systematic destruction of the region, stressing that the Niger Delta has been treated as a sacrificial zone since the 1950s.
Bassey condemned the environmental devastation caused by oil and gas extraction, massive deforestation, and both land and coastal erosion.
He noted that while the term “environmental genocide” may seem severe, the issue must be taken seriously.
“As much as we are unhappy about the silence that has engulfed the report, we must applaud the government of Bayelsa for taking the steps, assembling a top-notch team of experts to drive the commission and to produce such an important report,” he said.
“Other states in the Niger Delta should toe the path set by Bayelsa. There is no time to dither on this.”
King Bubaraye Dakolo, Chairman of the Bayelsa Traditional Council, described the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) as anti-people, arguing it criminalises communities and works against the interests of the Niger Delta.
On divestment by multinational oil firms, he insisted that environmental restoration must precede any exit.
“We owe a duty to hold them to account and even if at the end of the day, they have to leave, there must be a clear programme for restoration of the environment,” he said.
“For more than 70 years the oil firms have made lots of money from our environment, leaving the people to die in pains, in spite of the huge monies they have made.”
Dr Isaac Osuoka, Coordinator of Social Action International, praised HOMEF and the NDAC organising committee for their efforts.
He recalled that the first NDAC, held in Uyo in 2022, led to the adoption of the Niger Delta Manifesto for Socio-Ecological Justice.
“It is a foundational and timely document reflecting the shared analysis and demands of our people,” he said.
“That Manifesto builds on more than 30 years of heroic struggles by communities in the Niger Delta, from Umuechem to Ogoni, from Kaiama to Koluama.”
Osuoka described the Niger Delta as not only a site of oil extraction but also one of cultural erasure and livelihood destruction, citing landmark events such as the Umuechem Massacre of 1990 and the Ogoni struggle led by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).
He added that the Ijaw Youth Council’s Kaiama Declaration in 1998 and the launch of Operation Climate Change were further examples of the region’s long-standing resistance.
Correspondents report that the event attracted hundreds of participants from key oil-producing communities across Bayelsa.
(NAN)