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Niger Delta Fund Initiative - Women, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) And Conflict Issues In The Niger Delta: A Case Study Of Gbaran Oil Filed Communities In Bayelsa State
by Tari Ebimo Dadiowei
Department of Biological Sciences
Bayelsa State College of Arts and Sciences
Agudama-Epie, Yenagoa
Bayelsa State.
E–mail: taridadi@yahoo.comBeing the text Of A Paper Presented at the National Workshop On Gender, Politics and Power: Overcoming the Barriers to the Emergence of Women Political Leaders in Nigeria, Organised by the Centre for Social Science Research and Development (CSSR&D), at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.
(July 28th – 30th, 2003)INTRODUCTION:
It is both a pleasure and an exceptional honour for given me this opportunity to speak on “women, Environmental impact Assessment (EIA) and conflict issues in the Niger Delta: A case study of Gbaran oil field in Bayelsa State” in this National conference on gender, politics and power: overcoming the Barriers to the emergence of women political leaders in Nigeria. Your acceptance is enough testimony of your concern for the Niger Delta environment.
It is a cry all over the world especially by civil society groups that peace will continue to elude the people of the Niger Delta and eventually the entire federation of Nigeria as long as the vital ingredients critical to ensuring an enabling environment for sustainability are missing. I must recognize from the beginning that the time set aside for this presentation is very small and it is therefore a challenge to do justice within the stipulated time.
This paper, therefore will not present a long theoretical discourse but will focus on major issues and concerns facing the people of the Gbaran oil field communities in Bayelsa State. The paper will also highlight the importance of people-oriented Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) especially women who should see themselves as full and equal participants in the fight for environmental justice in the Niger Delta.
The Niger Delta is Africa’s largest delta covering some 7000 square kilometers. About one third of this area is made up of wetlands and it contains the largest mangrove forest in the world (5,400-6,000 km2 ) Afolabi (1988 cited in Nyananyo 1999:44). In addition, it consists of a number of distinct ecological zones such as coastal ridges, barriers, fresh water swamp forests and low land rainforest. A lot of activities currently being carried out in the Niger Delta have introduced considerable changes in this delicate ecosystem. Such activities include costal zone modifications, upstream dam construction and urban growth, agriculture (including fishing), industrial development, population pressure and exploitation of natural r esources (Nyananyo 1999:44)
Gbaran Oil Field is situated near Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State. It is made up of four clans namely, Gbaran, Epie, Atissa and Ekpetiama made up of several communities. It was discovered in 1967, is a swamp land and covers an area of approximately 30 hectares at the land area with OML 28. According to the Shell Bulletin released, in August, 1990, shell Petroleum Development company announced the discovery of an on-shore oil and gas at Gbaran, Rivers state now Bayelsa State. The discovery amounted to some 400 million barrels of oil and over half a trillion British cubic feet of gas, with scope for significantly larger volume of oil being present. The shell statement further asserted that in April 1991, it discovered yet another additional oil reserves of 722 million barrels from two explorations, and eight (8) appraisal wel ls from the same area. The ministry of petroleum resources in a further official statement issued in late April, 1991 confirmed the authenticity of the shell’s discoveries. The Shell Petroleum Development Company’s official statement credited these latest discoveries as “the biggest and largest find from any community throughout its operation in the West African sub-region” Thus the Gbaran Deep Oil Field was developed.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE GBARAN DEEP OIL FIELD
As part of the development of Gbaran Deep Oil Field, SPDC embarked on the construction of the Gbaran link road, about ten kilometer long in 1991. This road construction which was mainly by dredging and sandfilling with several branch-offs leading to the numerous locations caused the blockage of seasonal creeks, lakes, swamp pools and other water bodies. Before this road construction, hardworking fishermen and women from the Gbaran field communities enjoyed the benefit of catching a lot of fishes, shrimps and lobsters during the flood season to enhance our economic base. Moreso, travelling from Gbarain to -and –from Ekpetiama Clans and also from Gbarain to-and-from Epie and Atissa clan were made easier by short communication routes provided by the lakes, cree ks, creeklets, swamp pools etc. But with the construction of this road, the short communication/access routes have been blocked. Being a major project in a delicate ecological system, construction of the road should normally have been preceded by a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which would have highlighted the possible impact of the project and environment, and also suggest mitigation measures. Communities which depend on the forest for sustenance such as Opolo, Onopa, Obunagha, Gbarantoru, Yenizue-gene, Yenizue-epie, Yenagoa, Amarata, Okutukutu, Agudama-Epie, Edepie, Tombia, Bumoundi, Agudama-Ekpetiama, Akaibiri, Kpansia, Polaku, Koroama, Okolobiri, Okotiama, Ogboloma, Nedugo-Agbia, Etegwe, Igbogene, etc have begun to complain about the adverse changes in the environment.
3. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA)EIA can be defined as “the systematic identification and evaluation of the potential impacts (effects) of proposed projects, plans programmes, or legislative action relative to the physico-chemical, biological, cultural, and socio-economic components of the total environment” Sridhar (2001:1). According to Sridher “the primary purpose of the EIA process, is to encourage the consideration of the environment in planning and decision making and to ultimately arrive at actions which are more environmentally compatible” The EIA decree No. 86 in Nigeria was enacted as a response to the need to ascertain the environmental impact of any project embarked upon by either the private or public sector. Section 1 paragra ph a and c states some of the goals and objectives thus :
“… to establish before a decision taken by any person, authority, corporate body or unincorporated body including the Government of the federation, state or Local Government intending to undertake or authorize the undertaking of any activity that may likely or to a significant extent affect the environment or have environmental effects on those activities shall first be taken into account.”
“… to encourage the development of procedures for information exchange, notification and consultation between organs and persons when proposed activities are likely to have significant environmental effects … on the environment of bordering towns and villages”According to Nick Ashton-Jones (1998:140) good EIA of the oil and gas industry in the Niger Delta depends upon satisfying the three essential component of EIA. These are
· a thorough understanding of all the component activities of the oil and gas industry, and the potential environmental impact implications of these activities
· a through understanding of the environment in which these activities take place in terms … of the dynamics of human ecosystems, the ultimate manifestation of which is human society: and
· a thorough understanding of the dynamic relationship between the activities of the oil and gas industry and the environment, this last component being EIA”
4. CURRENT IMPACT ON THE IMMEDIATE ENVIRONMENT TO DATE
· Severe or excessive flooding of forest-and-farm lands destroying food and forest crops seasonally.
· Permanent ponding of our farmlands reducing the arable portion available to us.
· Death of food and economic crops as well as other useful Non-Timber forest Products (NTFP).
· Permanent flooding and ponding of lakes, creeks, swamp pools preventing owners from harvesting them yearly.
· Reduction in games and wildlife populations in our forest.
· Blockage of easy and fast communication/access routes between neighbouring clans.
· General reduction in the economic activities of the people.
“The Niger Delta Phenomenon is a gift Nigerians should thank God for and should be painstakingly managed and not to be destroyed. A practical example of the adverse effect of disregarding environmental issues in carrying out development projects can be found in the Yenagoa – Tombia Road Project by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC). The whole environment has been destroyed and SPDC is now being asked to pay compensation, redesign and reconstruct the road with due regard to the environment. The whole area became water-logged all year round because the dredging work for the road construction blocked the streams. All the trees were destroyed. The land was degraded and the water was contaminated and sinking, and all the aquatic life was destroyed. What this means is that the people in this area who depended on these streams for their fishing lost all and were subjected to health hazards. What amount can you pay for such an inconvenience and economic loss?” (The Guardian, Monday, June 7, 1999 p.45)
Nwadiaro (1993:101) in a paper “oil mineral production and environmental impacts-some issues for OMPADEC attention in the Niger Delta System identifyied that Land destruction, deforestation, deprivation and degradation are physical effects arising from land preparations for seismic, drilling and most conspicuously, production facilities flow stations, manifolds, flow lines, trunk line network … arising from the massive access road networks. The huge land requirement for these (as of absolute need), culminates in the inevitable land deprivation to host communities, compensations not withstanding”. He went further “An idea of the extent of this type of impact can be gained by visiting the Gbaran SPDC field now being developed in Yenagoa LGA of Rivers State now Bayelsa State.
Roads and canals built by the oil companies promote the mixed blessing of human access but can be destructive in more ways. A number of roads has been built on causeways across seasonally flooded plains, whose ecology depends on the changing hydrological conditions. This makes it a duty to build proper culverts under the causeways. If not, as often was the case, the drainage of the area is blocked, causing permanent flooding on one side of the road and the drying out on the other. As a result, trees die, fishponds are destroyed and seasonal fishing disrupted, cutting a significant percentage of locals’ income or even the entire livelihood of families.
A typical case is that of Gbaran oil field in River State. In 1991, a causeway to carry a road to the well heads was built on behalf of the SPDC by Willbros West Africa Inc., a US-based contractor to the oil industry.
According to local people, the causeway initially had no passages for water to cross underneath, blocking the drainage channel. Passages were added later, but either insufficiently designed or poorly constructed, so that the drainage of the area is still disturbed. Here too, trees and other vegetation over a wide area have died from water logging, and seasonal fishing grounds have been destroyed, to substantial economic damage for local people. As culverts were cut, the lake that had built up gushed through them; several young people drowned in the arising turbulence. Hrw and Ohia (1999,2002 )For an oil company, proper base line studies, EIA and a daily monitor of its operations ought to be a routine. ERA’S investigation in the Gbaran field revealed that no proper baseline study was conducted by shell. An official who claimed anonymity told ERA that: we made use of consultants from the University of Port Harcourt . But we rejected their first draft for reasons I cannot explain. They brought a new draft which falls in line with the thinking of management and wilbros was called in to do the work. The rejected report ERA can reveal, had outlined the general nature of the terrain but was also deficient and flawed, lacking specific information on biodiversity. Shell’s rejection was more of convenience and econ omy than any genuine concern for the Environment. An official told one of the consultants: “Una wan ruin shell? Una no want make we progress?”
The completely watered down version which shell accepted cannot pass any test as a baseline study, let alone an EIA (ERA 1997:7) . According to Felix Tuodolor as reported in ERA (1997:8) shell did not do an EIA… Although shell claims to be meeting international standards, any opportunity of making profits subordinates environmental protection to the dictates of economic exigency. The impact of oil activities in the Gbaran field also attracted the attention of the media “ The case of the Gbaran oilfield near Yenagoa capital of Bayelsa State, is possibly the clearest instance yet of how oil prospecting related activities fatally wound the environment of the area of operation. When the oil field was discovered in 1990 shell contracted wilbros… to construct a road to link it up with the main Mbiama-Yenagoa ro ad. Unfortunately, wilbros chose a rout which ran through a shallow but large lake, bordered on both sides by rich timber and dense tropical vegetation. When it was eventually built, the road resembled a dyke with only two short bridges. The effect was that the flow of water to large sections of the timbered area was cut off. Today, an area covering about 1000 acres of forest has simply died away. In an interview with Tell kemedi Von, an environmental activist said “if an EIA had been carried out, it would have informed on the lay of the land and shed light on how to bridge the waterways to ensure unbroken water distribution to both sides of the forest (Tell 1997:29). To confirm further the destructive activities of oil companies on land and environment Constitutional Rights Project (CRP) visited the Gbaran field. “One of the locations visited for the purpose of this report is the Gbaran field operated by shell. The situation in the area is c ertainly one of the most vivid illustrations of devastation caused, not just because there is oil activity but as a result of absolute indifference to the environmental consequences of oil production. After visiting the degradation…CRP visited the inhabitants … to obtain there own story on how the situation was affecting them. Their primary concern was that they have been deprived of their traditional economic activities. Before the coming shell, the devastated area was not only there fishing site, but also the venue of an annual fishing festival, closely tied to their traditional environmental protection practices. Then on the other areas now cut off from seasonal flooding, they used to dig trenches in the dry season, which with the coming of the tides from the south became ponds filled with fish and other seafood. Then in the now devastated forests they used to pick the seeds of Ogbono tree, an agricultural product in high demand all over the country, … a highly valued sour ce of income. They can not do any of this things any more” (CRP 1999:17-18) According to ERA monitor report No. 2, a youth leader from Opolo Mr. Morenia Enemia said that shell did not seek the expert opinion of members of the communities in the area before proceeding to do these environmentally hostile works.
“if they had consultedus we would have educated them on the nature of our lend. They call us illiterate even on matters of our environment. We would have told them where and how to put bridges or culverts and thus avoid this catastrophe… they have destroyed the habitat of our fishes our animals, our forests, and also farmlands. Does this mean that they do not know what is right and wrong” (ERA 1997:8).
5 ISSUES ARISING FROM THE IMPACTED GBARAN OIL FIELD
· Several Claims by communities
· Several court cases YHC/35/91, YHC/36/91, YHC/40/91, YHC/41/91, YHC/35/92, YHC/40/92, YHC/24/97, etc.
6 CURRENT ISSUES:
I. EIA of Gbaran Phase I field Development by SPDC (well Drilling Campaign)Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (spdc) plans to drill two (2) development wells in the Gbarain field and it is expected that the production data gathered during this drilling Phase will be integrated into the Phase II development for the field according to their EIA report.
In line with regulatory requirement of Federal Environmental Protection Agency FEPA, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), and SPDC Environmental Policy, SPDC-East Commissioned an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Gbaran field development activity to identify, predict and describe in an appropriate term the likely environmental impacts on the people and the community, both adverse and beneficial as well as identification of measures for mitigating the adverse effects.
The EIA was reviewed on the 9th of March, 2001 at Yenagoa by the Federal Ministry of Environment with serious objections from the stakeholders although the primary stakeholders where not officially invited for the review meeting It was resolved in a meeting on the 8th of April, 2001 at Opolo Town that the whole EIA should be repeated. The decision of the EIA does not reflect our opinion because the rights of the citizenry should be recognized in a democracy to participate in decisions that affect our lives, property and the things we value according to Linda Rahm Crites (cited in Webster and Fittipaldi 1998). One of the principles of ecosystem management is that common ecological management g oals should be socially defined through a collaborative vision process that involves all interested participants and that incorporate ecological, economic and social considerations (Keiter and Adler 1998). In the present EIA aimed at drilling the two wells to increase production to 40,000 bpd in the Gbaran field, we observed the following :
i) Whereas Section 7 of the EIA Decree empowers government agencies, the public and other interest groups to make input in EIA reports, no copy of the said EIA was on display either at Yenagoa Local Government Council Office, nor Okolobiri, headquarters of Gbarain/Ekpetiama L.G.A. Therefore the interested groups in the main host Local Government Areas were denied the opportunity to have access to and comment on the EIA report.
ii) No health risk analysis in the Gbaran Oil Field communities and therefore no mitigation measures.
iii) There was no consultation with communities.
iv) Impact on Obunagha Community was not predicted knowing the current effect of the Gbaran Link road on Obunagha Community’s land.
v) How do they (Shell) intend to reinstate adversely impacted areas to a condition suitable for the original use of the area in view of the previous impact without remedial measures.
vi) What has happened to the withered trees as an indirect result of civil engineering activities which have changed the hydrology of the environment.
vii) Respondent to structured questionnaires were not representative enough because they were from a particular village out of the 19 communities.
viii) On page 77 it was said that Banks, Police Station, Post Office, one nursing school are available in Opolo.
ix) Can Shell identify where the Bank, Police Station, Post Office, One Nursing School are located in Opolo.
Wilkinson summarizes emerging environmental justice requirements as
1. Demographic Analysis
2. Impact Assessment and
3. Community involvement. These stages deal respectively with (1) Identification of minority and low income populations (2) somewhat traditional impact assessment focused on “disproportionate” impacts upon those communities identified and (3) the full open participation of these affected minority and low income populations in the EIA process (Webster and Fittipaldi 1998:23) Did the EIA satisfy these conditions?
According to Mark Moody-Stuart, Chairman of the committee of Managing Directors in a summary of the Shell report, 2000 said the "Project Proposals, for example, will only succeed if they take account of environmental and social factors…." It is therefore our decision that since the local hydrology due to poor Civil Engineering activities has been destroyed given rise to flooding, dead trees, habitat disturbance, the past must therefore be brought to the present before the well drilling campaign for ULTR-1 and Gbaran East-2 begins. But did the propo nents listen to the communities?
In a paper "EIA in Developing Countries,: why more failures than success" Basil Enwegbara (Thisday Wed, Aug, 25 1999 P 30) said that "public participation is an important requirement to fulfil on the way to project implementation and monitoring. Shepherd and Ortolano are of the view that for EIA to be successful, all participating stakeholders have to be fully involved at every stage of the project, EIA. Allowing public participation leads to fair and transparent EIA decision making activity Since they are the primary stakeholders and beneficiaries of such projects. In addition, a project could carry more legitimacy and less hostility, if the public has become adequately involved to influence all stages of decisions-making process. And finally the public can exert pressure on project sponsors and donors to address the negative environmental impacts of such proposals, as has been the case in Wales where protest by a group of concerned communities in a Shell Project at Almwch, forced the organisation to abandon its completion. In his further testimony Enwegbara stressed that in most developing countries, the Governments lack of necessary experience in fostering public participation, and often the exhibition of superiority to the participating public, by the implementing agency, tend to make EIA implementation an uphill task. The Osborne Dam project in Zimbabwe, was unsuccessful because conflicts between the implementing agency and the general public were not only unsettled, but were even allowed to degenerate to physical confrontation. In most of these developing countries, authorities tend to view public participation as a process that delays pr ojects and makes them expensive. Besides, planners see public lack of project expertise, as justification to discourage its involvement in projects that normally affect them. Shell should remember that local knowledge could be very useful in EIA realization.
If it is the wish of SPDC therefore to ensure sustainable development, balancing economic progress with environmental care and social responsibility by listening and responding, is Shell not aware that communities which depend on the forest for sustenance have begun to complain about the adverse changes in the Gbaran field environment?. Does Shell monitor their oil field environment? Is it in line with their statement of general business principles2….to observe laws of countries in which they (SPDC) operate….to give proper regard to health, safety and the environment consistent with their commitment to sustainable development. Principle 6….Shell companies have a systematic approach to health, safety and environmental management in order to achieve continuous p erformance improvement. To this end, shell companies manage these matters as any other critical business activity, set targets for improvement, and measure, appraise and report performance.
Can we reconcile the above principles with the Gbaran oil field devastation?
7 WOMEN AND ENVIRONMENTAL BURDEN IN THE NIGER DELTA
Recent events in the Niger Delta reveals that there is now a gender angle to environmental devastation. Few examples include the Escravos episode in which about 600 women (ages 30 to 90 ) held 700 ChevronTexaco workers at the Escravos terminal in July, 14 2002, Ekpan women’s uprising in 1986, Okutukutu and Etegwe women protest in November 1991 due to over flooding of their farm lands caused Gbaran link road in Yenagoa and the Obunagha community protest in 1992 due to lack of social responsibility by shell while drilling Gbaran 1 . Grievances/Demand of women include clean environment conducive for survival, jobs for their children, safe drinking water, hospital, pollution of the rivers and creeks, low farm yields, no fishes and crayfish e.t.c. The above issues raised by the women is a clear indication that oil production which is the most crucial factor in Nigeria has impacted beyond endurance on the people of the Niger Delta. “it is the consequence of the intense pollution of the Niger Delta on the economy of the people and their general standard of life that has given birth to the phenomenon which is generally known as the Niger Delta crises (Aworawo 1999:156). Also Ononge (2002:6) argues that the traditional division of labour gives the rural women primary responsibility for providing and managing natural energy sources required for the sustenance of the family household, environmental pollution places a special extra burden on her. Pollution increases the women hours she will devote to fetching clean drinkable water, gathering forest and water products, which are crucial for food supplements, and firewood for domestic use. Overall, because the rural wo man is also the last to be hired by the oil companies, she suffers a discrepant impoverishment, thereby specially deflating her collective gender status vis-à-vis men”. The effect of the environment to the women of the degraded Niger Delta communities include high level of poverty access to good antenatal care, spread of diseases, cooking with fire wood with uncontrollable smokes which may cause respiratory problems, wastage of man hours in search of clean water, teenage mothers with fatherless babies, spread of HIV/AIDS, reduction in economic activities, scarcity of medicinal plants useful for TBAs , blockage of creeks, lakes, swamps. etc
Quoting Mr. E U. Imomoh, former Deputy Managing Director of SPDC in a paper presented at a forum on “community relations and sustainable development” in April, Prof. Itse Sagay said that E.U Imomoh admitted that the company’s operations had grave disruptive effects on the socio-economic life of the people of the Niger Delta. I also wish to bring to your knowledge the presentation made by the Centre for Advanced Social Science to the Oputa Commission entitled Report on Research on Human Rights Violations in the South South Zone. as quoted by professor Itse Sagay in a paper “The extraction industry in the Niger Delta and the environment” at the forth annual lecture of the Anpez centre for environment and development delivered at P ort Harcourt on 15th November 2001.
“The South-South zone covered in this report, unlike other zones of the federation, has this contradictory peculiarity. The Niger Delta, which is the homeland of the peoples now so politically constituted into 6 states of the south south is the economic life support of the Nigerian federation. The nation depends maximally on its oil and gas despite the annual ritual budgetary pronouncements of intent, by various ruling regimes, to diversify the national economy. Given the mono-cultural character of the economy of the nation, the south south bears the brunt of being the goose that must lay the golden eggs. However, as a result of decades of marginalisation and obnoxious regulations, the people of the area are not involved in th e production processes in the area. The cumulative effects of the Petroleum Law, Land Use Act, etc. are alienation, disempowerment, pauperization and immiscrization of the people against the spirit of “the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy’ which stipulate inter alia that “the exploitation of human or natural resources in any form whatever for reasons, other than the good of the community, shall be prevented”. It is common knowledge that the environment of the south south has been so degraded that it is already endangering livelihoods and health of the people in several communities. Indeed, this is matter that requires urgent scientific documentation using participatory methodologies that involve the Niger Delta communities. It appears to us that there is a collaborative amnesia by the Nigerian state and the oil companies over the hazards which ongoing pollution, arising from gas flares, oil spillages , etc, pose to the health of the people. Today, the right to a clean and safe environment and the right to life are being negated by the destruction of the environment and the forceful alienation of communal lands. Fishermen spend more hours in the high sea without any catch because countless species of seafood are now extinct as a result of the deleterious effects of oil exploration in the marine eco-system. In the place of communities where anti-social vices were the exception we now have such monstrosities as ‘Ashawo’ villages and hellish ghettoes where rampaging youths decapitate traditional rulers as they struggle for crumbs of manipulated compensations while members of the ruling class cart away petro-dollars. Attempts by the peoples of the area to protest their marginalisation in the power matrix and political economy of Nigeria have been repressed by the combined monstrous might of the state, multinational corporations and the ruling classes. In this respect the tales from Jesse. Odi, Kaiama, Umuechem and Ogoniland are still fresh in o ur minds.
Indeed, judging from the impunity with which a succession of ruling regimes in our recent history, have misappropriated the oil and gas wealth, it would appear that the strident official state advocacy of national unity is merely an expedient ploy to ensure that there is a centralized, united treasury to loot. When corrupt regimes without any developmental agenda, nonetheless, proclaim Nigeria to be “our great nation”, and the multinationals concur with such conceit, it is their appetite for the vast natural wealth of the Niger Delta that fuels such flattery.”
8 CIVIL SOCIETY: WHAT ROLE ?
Civil Society organizations are founded to provide relief following crises or for political struggle, always for the benefit of poor and voiceless communities. Poverty alleviation social welfare, Environmental justice and community rights to resource have been used by civil society organizations to lobby governments to take greater social responsibility.What role can they play to bring peace, environmental justice, community rights to resource in the Niger Delta?
* Capacity building – international donors need to support capacity building of NGOs and CBOs at the grassroot so as to make us capable and effective in our development work..
Niger Delta environmental problems.
- Civil societies exists to serve particular communities, thus they should develop a deeper, more communicative relationship with the communities they serve to ensure effective mobilization at the grassroots.
- Environmental awareness campaigns to ensure that impacted areas are remedied e.g the Gbaran Oil field, which is an environment in search of justice.
- Effective monitoring of changes in the environment to ensure compliance.
- Environmental NGOs should take active part in environmental impact assessment for accuracy of prediction, transparency and credibility.
- NGOs should carry out a comprehensive post impact assessment of oil producing communities to ascertain loses incurred as a result of oil exploration and exploitation in the Niger Delta region.
- To ensure the training of CBOs and community leaders on natural capital (resources) management
- The civil society should ensure that the press gives adequate coverage to the
- The civil society organizations should ensure that federal government, State Government, regulators, Federal Ministry of Environment are not all collaborators in the exploitation of the Niger Delta. The federal government is only interested in boosting their economic base with resources from the Niger Delta region for the development of other parts of the federation and leaving us with abject poverty, ecological abuse, economic dislocation and social frustrations beyond endurance.
9 STATEMENT BY SHELL MD
In the light of the above, we strongly condemn the statement credited to the Managing Director of shell Mr. Ron Van Den Berg in a paper delivered at a national interactive forum on the roles of elders and governments in children's environmental health in Abuja. According to the communiqué of the forum, Berg was said to have explained that shell had "made real advances in reducing the impact of oil and gas operations through impact assessment before new projects" adding that shell had envisioned and implemented the health, safety and environmental policy in its operations (punch June 27, 2002 page 7 )
We are therefore calling on the management of shell with their Nigerian collaborators represented by the federal ministry of environment to visit the Gbaran oil field for an on the spot assessment of the devastated environment to confirm if shell is really interested in balancing economic progress with environmental care and social responsibility by listening and responding to ensure sustainable development.
10 THE WAY FORWARD
The Gbaran oil field communities are of the view that to save our environment, arrest its further decline, and mend the damages already done.
- That an immediate post impact assessment (PIA) be carried out in consultation with recognized environmental NGOs with necessary remediation.
- That the EIA for the development of the oil wells ULTR-1 and Gbaran East 2 should be repeated in consultation with the host communities.
- The specific environmental and related socio-economic problems identified in Gbaran Oil Field be addressed as to avert breakdown of law and order in this millennium.
- That a workshop on conflict containment strategies for host communities in the Gbaran Oil Field be carried out.
- That a blue print be drawn for the development of the Gbaran Oil Field Communities.
Remember the several cases in court since 1991, all because of the destroyed Gbaran field environment-s
YHC/35/91,YHC/36/91,YHC/24/97, YHC/40/91, YHC/35/91, YHC/40/92 YHC/41/91 and several others.
11 OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS
COMMUNITIES: avoid conflicts, monitor environment, be transparent and accountable, avoid divide and rule tactics, demand for post impact assessment, be involved in EIA, set up peace building committees.
OIL COMPANIES: Adequate consultation in EIA, post impact assessment, train communities on environmental education, maintain same standard as in Britain, America, Canada etc, etc, monitoring of oil and gas activities, resolve environmental conflicts.
REGULATORS: effective monitoring, post impact assessment before giving proponent a new approval, environmental education
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: Ensure the convocation of a sovereign national conference before the exhaustion of hydrocarbons in the Niger Delta to discus NIGERIA in the years ahead with the invitation from professor Samuel Akande calling on the “Federal Government to intensify exploration activities in Niger Delta, stating that the present oil reserve in the area would get depleted in 30 years” as reported by Charles Okonji (daily Independent of July 15, 2003 page B4). In an interview with USA Today’s editorial board energy secretary Spencer Abraham the administrations point man on these issues said that Bush administration has proposed spending $ 1.7 billon over five years to start developing hydrogern fuel cells that could power car s, eventually eliminating U.S dependence on foreign oil. “with a hydrogen fuel-cell powered fleet, we would’t have to import oil “… we believe a commercialization decision would be made as early as 2015 that would translate into mass market penetration in showrooms by the year 2020. we are very serious about this commitment “(USA TODAY FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2003:9A The questions we should attempt to provide solutions now is (1) WHO WILL PAY FOR THE ECOLOGICAL DEBT IN THE NIGER DELTA DEVASTATION WHEN THE OIL IS NO MORE AS IN ABANDONED OLOIBIRI COMMUNITY IN BAYELSA WHERE OIL WAS FIRST DISCOVERED IN 1956 (2) WHO WILL ASSUME THE ECOLOGICAL LIABILITY
12 COMMENDATION: The Gbaran Oil field communities commends the efforts of Environmental Rights Action (ERA), chikoko Movement, Human Rights watch London, CDHR, CDD, CRP,NGO guide 2000 for their struggles towards environmental justice in the Niger Delta by investing their time and resources in this direction. All of you that were involved in this workshop, the gentlemen of the press and those that are too numerous to mention ……ONUA
13 CONCLUSION:
Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a necessity to determine the effect of a proposed development action which requires the analysis of many diverse subject areas including the environment, social and economic impacts, health and public opinion “listening to public opinion at an early stage is a good way, to avoid crisis and conflicts” south-south express, Friday, march 1, 2002 p.10 . EIA thus aims to ensure that the possible negative impact of a proposed development are predicted with possible mitigation measures to ensure environmental sustainability. The paper identifies lack of information to local communities, degradation of the peoples sources of livelihood (environment) lack of awareness seminars, lack of awareness campaigns on how to manage the environment, preference for profit by the proponents, poor monitoring by regulatory agencies, l ack of community involvement, divide and rule system operated by oil companies as some factors that have led to the non observance of the environmental guidelines by oil companies in Nigeria. Making a remark during the EIA review panel meeting on the proposed Soku-Awoba to Bonny gas development project by SPDC on Tuesday, february 5, 2002 in Port Harcourt some community elders said they were not consulted during the assessment, others pointed out that shell, through its consultant, did not visit the location of the project. Mr Pleasant Braide chairman Degema Local Government council noted that the consultant only went into research on papers to get the EIA report ready.
Commenting also the chairman INC, Bonny clan Mr Donald Hart said he was not aware of the extensive consultation as claimed by the report. It was also reported in the Tide of Thursday, June 14, 2001 pg 11 that an environmentalist and representative of the Bayelsa state ministry of environment, Mr Ebisomu Agedah as having faulted the EIA report proposal for the offshore gas gathering project of shell petroleum development company. According to Agedah a project such as the offshore gas gathering which will impact negatively on the people of his state (Bayelsa) failed to involve the Bayelsa state ministry of environment.
He further said that SPDC failed to consider all stakeholders in the data gathering, no public forum to enable the people make contributions. This lack of consultation is the result of high intensity of environmental impact in the Niger Delta communities, which has forced them (communities) to take the laws into their hands in the renewed war for sustainable development and environmental justice. The Gbaran Oil Field – a stressed environment in a dire need for urgent redress illustrates how the interests of the local people and the environment are coming into conflicts with the interests of the global oil industry. The paper calls for a revision and enforcement of compliance to environmental guidelines and standards in the industry and stressed the need for public participation as a strong tool for raising the level of environmental impact assessmen t in Nigeria. It is also my view that for EIA to be successful women should be in the main stream because they carry majority of the burden, work hard and preventing them from free participation at the community level will be a serious impediment to the credibility of co-operation in development .
Thomas (2001) said “The plight of people in the Niger Delta is not a gender issue. Every section of the society is affected by the problems in the region but women bear the brunt of these problems mainly because of the unique positions they occupy in society. In the Niger Delta women are income earners, they do most of the farm work, process the produce and in some communities, petty trading and some form of fishing are the exclusive preserve of women. Like in other parts of Africa and the developing world, women in the Niger Delta are an unrecognized but indispensable group in society.
“Even though the continent is blessed with abundant human and natural resources, the constant squandering of these resources by its leaders and their tiny cronies has placed the continent, ( Nigeria especially Niger Delta emphasis-mine) the poorest in the world.
The implication especially for the rural woman and her children is incomprehensible hardship. Since women constitute the majority of the work force both in the formal and informal sectors, developments that exclude their health and economic rights would amount to mere waste of resources according to Agatha Edo in an article in Daily Independent, July 11,2003 PgB
“Man has taken his natural resources and wildlife heritage for granted as resources continue to give way to development … the day is here when man should recognize these ecological restraints on his management plans. If we are to save our environment, arrest it’s further decline, and mend the damages already done, awareness, concern, and new attitudes towards nature are needed. Without a change in our thinking there can be no real abatement of the environmental problem. As our general condition worsens, a situation may arise from which there is no redress. An over view policy at the high government levels, given impetus by an informed citizenry, could provide the legislation that could result in an early cure of the damage already effected but more importantly in the prevention of future alterations” (Kucera 1973).
Thank you and God bless.
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