The Niger Delta Alternatives Convergence a forum community leaders, civil society groups, government, socio cultural organization and the academia has lamented the ” environmental genocide” of over sixty years of oil exploration in the region, demanding the immediate remediation, restoration as well as reparations of the environment.
The Coordinator of Social Action International, Dr. Isaac ‘Asume’ Osuoka, who delivered a keynote address at the 4th Niger Delta Alternatives Convergence (NDAC) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, urged stakeholders to take action against Shell’s divestment in the Niger Delta.
Dr. Osuoka described the environmental devastation in the Niger Delta as “environmental genocide,” citing the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission (BSOEC) report and the 2011 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland.
He emphasized that the region’s land and waters have been ravaged by unrelenting oil pollution.
According to Osouka, the BSOEC report highlighted extreme environmental degradation, public health crises, and corporate negligence in the Niger Delta, noting that the report’s findings reinforce the UNEP report’s conclusions, emphasizing the need for immediate action to address the region’s ecological catastrophe.
Dr. Osuoka urged stakeholders to challenge the International Oil Companies’ (IOCs) onshore asset sales, reclaim community sovereignty, and demand participatory governance and local control.
He emphasized that environmental justice in the Niger Delta is inseparable from democratic transformation.
The keynote speaker stressed the need for constitutional restructuring to affirm the political, economic, and environmental rights of peoples and host communities and called for a just transition that centers ecological repair, democratic control, and restorative justice.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Nnimmo Bassey, called for action to stop the deliberate and systemic destruction of the Niger Delta.
Bassey emphasized that the Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission (BSOEC) report, titled “An Environmental Genocide: Counting the Human and Environmental Cost of Oil in Bayelsa, Nigeria,” demands urgent attention, noting that the report’s findings are a clear indictment of environmental genocide in the region.
According to him, the NDAC aims to ensure that mindless ecological assault does not continue and urged stakeholders to demand direct reparations from oil companies, conduct environmental and health audits, and prioritize remediation and restoration efforts.
Bassey stated that the BSOEC report called for a restoration fund of $12 billion over 12 years for Bayelsa State: estimated that approximately $150 billion would be needed for remediation and restoration efforts in the entire Niger Delta region over the first five years.
He emphasized that time is running out, and delay is a luxury that cannot be afforded and urged stakeholders to take immediate action to address the environmental genocide and human rights abuses in the Niger Delta