Tuesday, November 10th, 2020, marks the 25th year anniversary of the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Ogoni born environmental activist. Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo, the Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria(ERA/FoEN) used the occasion to speak about his legacies and other trending issues of the environment
Excerpts:
On the 25th anniversary of the death of Ogoni born environmental rights activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa and his legacies
I appreciate the sacrifice of Ken Saro-Wiwa in Ogoniland. His legacy of environmental justice, struggles and concern for the environment lives on. It has not waived. We ar saddened that the Ogoni sun as conceived by Ken Saro-Wiwa is yet to rise. There is a lot of work that still needs to be done in that regard. The death of Ken Saro-Wiwa signals attention to the massive environmental destruction of the Niger Delta. It is also an example of how Shell and the oil companies have polluted the environment with persistent gas flaring and frequent oil spills. This has led to the destruction of the environment, it affected biodiversity and of course, rural livelihoods. What we have today, the situation in Ogoni is worst than when Ken Saro-Wiwa was talking about it. We can look back and talk of the federal government legacy environmental project – the cleanup Ogoni from the perspective of UNEP(United Nations Environment Programme) report assessment and recommendations. We strongly believe that government will redouble its effort to ensure that the cleanup is properly done. We also reiterate our call for the restructuring of HYREP(Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project).
I call for the unity of the Ogonis – the Ogoni 9 and the Ogoni 4. It’s time to heal our wounds; it is time to mend our differences; it is time to chart a common course so that we speak with one voice for the protection of the environment. Lastly, and very importantly, we have seen how corporate capture of the state is really the issue at stake. Shell, Chevron and the other multinational oil companies wield enormous political and economic power over the state, Nigeria and so it is with other developing countries and to some extent developed countries. We are calling for a global legal binding mechanism through the United Nations binding treatise to hold corporations accountable for their human rights violations. This because we strongly believe that oil companies are not accountable to the states, the countries, where they operate. Therefore, a global binding treaty or law is very important to bring corporations to account for their human rights violations in their areas of operation.
I commend the resilience of Ogoni people inspite of intimidation, oppression and discrimination. Theirs is an example of a minority group struggling to survive in a state such as Nigeria. We can see the task and the obstacles on their way. It may not be as in the days of Ken Saro-Wiwa but kudos to those who have continued to fight; who have continued to rally round the people. They must keep the fore burning; they must keep the spirit high and they must ensure that neither oppression nor intimidation can stop the cleanup of the Niger Delta.
On massive flooding around the country
The issue of flooding can be addressed from two perspectives. One is preventive measures, this has to do with early warning signals. For NIMET(Nigerian Meteorological Agency) and other agencies responsible it is not enough to announce that there would be flooding here and there. We have to take proactive action to actually rescue people and to provide spaces to ensure that the flooding does not destroy lives and properties. As we found my lives have been lost and many properties have been destroyed. We strongly believe that the preventive measure of NIMET, NEMA(National Emergency Management Agency) is not good enough. They should embark on orientation of the people. They should produce information and circulate it on a timely basis so that people can use this or act on it. For most people, I can tell you that the flooding caught them unawares and they have no information whatsoever.
What to do in the event of flooding. That’s the rescue and rehabilitation. How many people has the government rescued? How many have they rehabilitated? What are the relief measures that have been sent to the people? It is little or nothing. And in that respect it is very disheartening. I would expect that government would be up and doing to meet the immediate need of those in distress to alleviate their distress in ways that they can survive this period. The cost of food is very high. In some places in Edo State like in Etsako where they grow rice. The rice farm is under water and the cassava farm is under water. The houses they live in are under water. So, how are they going to survive? It is very critical and we call on the government to take proactive action to alleviate and ameliorate the sufferings of the people because government exist for the welfare of the people. This is the time they should show up. In the time of crisis such as this.
