By Anayo Ezugwu,New Telegraph
Copyright newtelegraphng
…Reject reopening of oil exploration
Coalition of Civil Society Organisations has urged the Federal Government and international oil companies to clean up Ogoniland in honour of the former leader of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders.
Speaking at a press conference in Lagos to announce the 30th anniversary of the judicial murder of the Ogoni leaders, the Chairman of Ken Saro-Wiwa’s 30th Anniversary Planning Committee, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, said there must be a thorough and transparent cleanup of Ogoniland and the entire Niger Delta region.
Bassey said despite remediation efforts remaining slow, flawed and incomplete, there has been a renewed attempt to reopen oil wells in Ogoniland against the will of the people.
He said such a move, rather than healing wounds, risks reopening them, signalling that lessons from Saro-Wiwa’s struggle have yet to be learned.
The CSOs said: “Thorough and transparent clean-up of Ogoniland and the entire Niger Delta, not in cosmetic reports that will later gather dust, nor in committees that apportion blame and politicise recommendations; but in real, visible action that restores land, rivers, and livelihood.
“We demand that every drop of spilt oil must be accounted for, every community must be healed, and every life must be restored. This clean-up must be scientific, transparent, and independently monitored, with local communities fully involved in planning and execution.
“Polluted water sources must be detoxified, mangroves regenerated, and farmlands returned to productivity. Anything less is an insult to the memory of those who died demanding justice and a continuation of the very injustice Ken Saro-Wiwa fought against.”
The CSOs insisted that multinational oil companies whose current and historical activities contributed to environmental infractions and injustice must pay commensurate reparations for the devastation that they have caused.
“Although the injustice he denounced continues today, the people have risen and refuse to be silenced. Ogoniland remains polluted, covered by toxic spills, making fishing, farming and diverse land uses difficult.
“Rivers remain contaminated. Gas still burns toxic smoke directly into the lungs of children and elders. Life expectancy continues to drop. Communities are still crying out in hunger, robbed of their livelihoods, still living in poverty, while oil corporations and their collaborators continue to bathe in profit, enriching themselves with the very resources that keep the people below the poverty line,” it said.
On his part, the Resource Justice Manager, Social Action, Dr Prince Edegbuo, said the Federal Government must prioritise the interests of the communities and keep them from being further exposed to harmful acts perpetrated by oil and gas corporations.
Edegbuo said: “Justice means safeguarding the right of people to live in dignity, to breathe clean air, drink safe water, and farm on unpolluted soil. It means rejecting policies and contracts that sacrifice communities at the altar of profit and ensuring that remediation, restoration and development reach the people directly.
“Above all, justice for communities requires that their voices guide decisions about their land and resources, so they are never again treated as expendable in the chase for oil wealth.”
