NGOs call for total clean up of Ogoni land
No fewer than 10 Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have called for thorough and transparent clean-up of Ogoni-land in commemoration of the Life, Times, and Judicial Murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa.
Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and Chairman, Ken Saro Wiwa’s 30th Anniversary Planning Committee said this on Monday at a press briefing in Lagos.
Bassey said that after 30 years of his death, his legacy reminded us that any economy built without fairness and human dignity was an unsustainable economy.
He said that although the injustice he denounced has continued, today the people have risen and refused 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, ” he said.
He said that, Communities were still crying out in hunger, robbed of their livelihoods and still living in poverty, while oil corporations and their collaborators continued to bathe in profit.
“They continue to enriching themselves with the very resources that keep the people below the poverty line, ” he said.
Speaking, Mr Celestine Akpobari, Director, Miideekor Environmental Development Initiative said the clean up of Ogoni-land should not be
in cosmetic reports.
Akpobari said the NGOs demanded that every drop of spilled 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, ” he said.
According to him, anything less was an
insult to the memory of those who died demanding justice and a continuation of the very injustice Ken Saro-Wiwa fought against, ” he said.
Also, Dr Prince Edegbuo, Resource Justice Manager, Social Action said that the state must prioritise the interests of the communitie
Edegbuo said that justice means safeguarding the right
of people to live in dignity, to breathe clean air, drink safe water, and farm on
unpolluted soil.
He said it means rejecting policies and contracts that sacrifice communities at
the altar of profit.
He said above all, justice for
communities required that their voices guide decisions about their land and resources,
“So they are never again treated as expendable in the chase for oil wealth,” he said.
He said that never again must dissenting opinions and
voices of truth be silenced or intimidated.
Ebiaridor who was also the Coordinator, OilWatch International called for the protection and not
incarceration of environmental and human rights agitators
He acknowledged that their
voices are not threats to the state nor democratic control of common resources.
The NGOs in unison demanded the immediate demilitarization of the Niger
Dekta and a halt of all attempts to resume oil operations in Ogoni-land.
“We are not unaware of the quiet negotiations and ongoing talks aimed at reopening extractive
activities in our communities” they said.
The NGOs included Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA)
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