A renowned environmental activist, Dr. Nnimmo Bassey has tasked the Nigerian government and stakeholders on implementation of climate action in the Niger Delta region.
Bassey, who is also the Director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation, made the call while delivering a keynote at the Niger Delta Climate Conference held in Port Harcourt City, Rivers State.
Speaking on the theme, “Building a Resilient Future: Climate Action and Community Empowerment“, Bassey lamented the levels of pollution in the region and the impact on the people, noting that urgent actions were needed to build a resilient future.
He said: “When we speak of building a resilient future, we have to look at the environment and examine the living conditions for humans and other beings. The Niger Delta is a deeply polluted environment, a deeply degraded territory, one of the worst polluted places on the planet.”
The environmentalist recalled that different researches such as the Ogoni report, the Bayelsa report and the Niger Delta Environment Survey commissioned Shell in the 1990s, the Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Center report and more revealed the extent of pollution over the past 68 years occasioned by oil spills, gas flaring and related activities.
He explained, “the Environmental Assessment of Ogoni land issued by United Nations Environment Program in 2021 clearly shows the desperate pollution of Ogoni land – the land, water, and air. In some places, hydrocarbons have penetrated the soil up to 5 meters. By the time the cleanup started, pollution had sunk as deep as 10 meters.”
Continuing, he explained that about “14 million cubic meters of natural gas was being flared daily across 17 facilities in Bayelsa alone releasing toxic elements into the air and causing cancers, breathing illnesses and acid rain.”
Way Forward
The activist noted that the way forward for communities in the Niger Delta was to building a resilient future by integrating climate action and community empowerment, saying the key climate actions that are being taken globally are adaptation and mitigation.
According to him, certain measures must be taken to enhance adaptation and mitigation and these, he stated include having a detailed environmental audit across the entire Niger Delta region followed by a critical health audit and then remediation.
Bassey reiterated, “there must be a cleanup of the entire Niger Delta. There must be reparations. There must be payment for the damage that has been done to lives and to the environment.
“Gas flaring must be stopped and halted. Divestment must be reversed, it is time to empower the communities and take real climate action by bringing into play community control, renewable energy provision, supporting food sovereignty and building resilient infrastructure,” he added.
Oyenike Oyeniyi