Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo, Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), at an event to commemorate one year of flag-off of the Ogoniland clean-up exercise by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, said in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Thursday, August 3 2017, that the motion without movement is enough, and that the time to clean up Ogoniland is now

On August 4, 2011 (exactly six years ago), the Nigerian government received the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Assessment report on Ogoniland. The report x-rayed the Ogoni environment – land, vegetation and water, and came out with damning findings on how Shell callously ruined the environment and livelihoods of the people. Notably, benzene a cancer causing chemical was found in drinking water 900 times above World Health Organisation (WHO) standards, and soil contamination was found over the depth of five meters in places claimed to have been cleaned up by Shell.

Most of you know the story, including the cosmetic complacency and lip service past administration paid to the cleanup process. It was only in 2015 that any semblance of action began with President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval of a $10 million grant for commencement of the clean-up of Shell’s mess in Ogoniland.

The flag-off of the clean-up proper was in June 2016 and the exercise was performed by Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo. Though the people greeted the event with joy, they are now disappointed that the road to justice is still bugged down with bottlenecks and meaningless bureaucracies.

The unease of the Ogoni people has been further heightened by statements credited to the minister of state for environment that government was not in a hurry to commence clean up and fail, and would rather take its time to get it right before commencing. The recourse to such lame excuse for the delayed commencement shows that government is yet to grasp the challenges the Ogoni communities face and the need for deliberate speed in the cleanup process to protect the environment and rural livelihoods of the people.

One year after the flag-off exercise, the relief measures and clean water supply to the impacted communities have not been carried out meaningfully. The communities are yet to get a breather as the polluted soils, blackened waters and foul-smelling mangroves remained. In Ogale – one among the many documented impacted communities, the locals are left with no other source of water than contaminated boreholes. Here, immediately the taps are turned on, noxious odour and smell of petroleum assail the nose and hang thickly in the air. The situation is so bad that a stroke of match could ignite a fire. Residents depend on the polluted water source or forced to expend a fortune on water from vendors. The situation is so bad that that many are asking: When will the pre-clean up measures be put in place? When will a drop of oil be cleaned in Ogoni?

Even with all these tales of woe, the polluter – Shell – has continued with business-as-usual. Shell has failed to properly decommission its corrosive oil facilities in Ogoni as recommended by UNEP. We have said it time and again that decommissioning of Shell’s facilities should be the first step as it would stop the continuous oil spills from ill-maintained pipelines in the Ogoni environment. Added to this, are reports that the oil company has not stopped engaging in divisive activities to split the agitating youths.

In light of the above it is worrisome that even with the governing structures already in place, there is still no phased workplan covering one to five-years in the short term. In the long term, a phased workplan covering the entire clean-up process that will take 25 years should be put in place. Transparency and accountability demand that Workplan should be put in place before public advertisement to hiring of contractors. There is little or no CSOs engagement on the process. Critical stakeholders and community members have been sidelined and have not been invited to make input.  Clearly, when the clean-up proper will commence or when equipment will be deployed to site is still up in the air. Cumulatively, these foot-dragging activities have further lengthened the period for which the people have to wait for justice to come.

Notwithstanding President Muhammadu Buhari’s seemingly good intentions, there is gross inadequate funding and only $10 million has been released from the $200 million pledged by Shell and the federal government of Nigeria for the 2017 fiscal year. Furthermore, there is no statutory budgetary provision for the clean-up in the 2017 national budget. We condemn in strong terms the piecemeal approach to the clean-up planning and implementation process by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) and the “snail pace” approach of the federal government that is motion without movement.

In particular, the UNEP report indictment of Shell for the company’s deployment of a one size fits all clean up measures through the Remediation by Enhanced Natural Attenuation (RENA) technologies that are widely used by Shell in Nigeria. Rather the UNEP report had recommended site-specific remediation measures that require soil excavation, and overlaying by new sediments. The report said that RENA is inappropriate because of the proximity of communities to spill sites or degraded areas, shallow aquifer and heavy and lengthy periods of rainfall.

That Shell sits comfortably in the Governing Board with oversight functions wielding undue political and financial influence may have already compromised the cleanup process hence we call for their immediate removal from such governmental institutions.

As we mark two years of the flag off exercise, ERA-led coalition of civil society groups and Host Communities (HoCON) join voices with the Ogoni people to insist that, so far, the Ogonis have been short-changed and no justice in sight. They join their voices to ask: “When will the Ogonis get justice? When will the first drop of oil be cleaned up in Ogoni?” Justice delayed is justice denied.

The UNEP recommendations and clean-up is non-negotiable. Clean up should commence without further delay and to serve as prelude to a comprehensive environmental and social audit of the entire Niger Delta and other impacted regions. We urge the federal government and Shell and the other transnational oil companies to establish a $100 billion restoration fund for the clean-up and remediation of the entire region.

Our Demands

• The federal government should declare the Ogoni clean up as environmental state of emergency and channel resources to it so that clean-up will commence immediately. No more delays, clean up now.
• HYPREP should put in place a definite work plan and timeline for the clean-up process through an inclusive planning process that accommodates input from stakeholders.
• Shell and the federal government should be compelled to commit fully to funding the clean-up costs, including but not limited to, the initial fund of $1 billion. They should declare their contributions for the year 2017 and pledges for 2018.
• The National Oil Spills Detection and Remediation Agency (NOSDRA) and other government agencies being starved of funds and roles in the clean-up process should be empowered to monitor the process.
• Shell should not force HYPREP to use RENA technologies that is inappropriate to the Ogoni environment.
• Shell should not use the clean-up process as a guise to re-entering Ogoni oil fields for drilling. They should vacate the governing council, and decommission its old oil pipelines responsible for frequent oil spills.
• Conduct an environmental and social audit of the Niger Delta and ensure the establishment of $100 billion remediation fund to be funded by Shell and all the oil companies operating in the region.

Humans have already used up their allowance for water, soil, clean air and other resources on Earth for the whole of 2017.

Earth Overshoot Day is on August, 2 this year, according to environmental groups WWF and the Global Footprint Network.

The date, earlier this year than in 2016, means humanity will survive on “credit” until 31 December.

“By August 2 2017, we will have used more from Nature than our planet can renew in the whole year,” the groups said in a statement.

“This means that in seven months, we emitted more carbon than the oceans and forests can absorb in a year, we caught more fish, felled more trees, harvested more, and consumed more water than the Earth was able to produce in the same period.”

According to campaigners, the equivalent of 1.7 planets would be needed to produce enough natural resources to match our consumption rates and a growing population.

The Earth Overshoot Day measure has been calculated since 1986 and the day has never fallen so early as in 2017. It looks at the balance between global footprint – what humans take from the earth – and biocapacity, which allows us to produce resources and absorb our waste.

In the 1980s, the overshoot day fell in November, shifting back to October by 1993 and to September just after the millennium.

By 2016 it had reached August 8.

The grim mark may have reversed throughout the calendar, but campaigners said the move had slowed down.

Scientists also calculate the overshoot day for individual countries, providing a measure of where the day would fall if the whole world consumed the same as one country.

In the UK, the day is even earlier, on May 4.

Campaigners and charities advised individuals to help reverse the trend by eating less meat, burning less fuel and cutting back on food waste.

The Global Footprint Network reported that food makes up 26 per cent of our global footprint, and if we cut food waste in half, ate less protein-intensive foods and consumed more fruit and vegetables, it could be reduced to 16 per cent.

Our carbon footprint has the largest impact at 60 per cent.

Courtesy: The Independent

Bothered by the prevalence of mercury due mainly to Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) activities, Nigeria is to develop a National Action Plan (NAP) for the sector.

This appears to be a fall-out from the “Minamata Convention Initial Assessment (MIA) in Nigeria”, a project which, among other functions, conducted a preliminary inventory of mercury releases in the country.

Inventory results showed that ASGM processing is significant, thereby prompting the development of a NAP for the ASGM sector.

Proposed and approved by Global Environment Facility (GEF), the project’s objective is to improve national capacity and capability for the management of mercury. Implementation arrangement has been finalised, with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) as the implementing agency.

Making the disclosure recently in Abuja at the inception workshop on the NAP on mercury use in the Nigerian ASGM sector project, Environment Minister of State, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, disclosed that the components of the NAP are in accordance to Annex C of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, adding that project implementation commenced with the inauguration of a National Steering Group (NSG) recently. The NSG, he added, would be responsible for providing guidance and technical support to the executing agencies for effective implementation of the project activities.

The workshop participants, who deliberated on the best approaches to formalise the ASGM sector in Nigeria, as well as available mercury-free alternatives for ASGM activities, noted that, while holders of exploration licenses lease out to illegal miners, ASGM miners lack operational equipment and funds to facilitate operations.

They also underlined the fact that while enforcement of laws and policies in the ASGM sector is weak, informal miners in the ASGM sector engage in unhealthy practices including continued use of mercury.

To formalise ASGM sector in Nigeria, the participants want government to:

• Take appropriate steps to control and eventually eliminate illegal mining,
• Provide security for ASGM workers,
• Have functional cooperative societies,
• Provide access to capital and fund mining activities and facilitate provision of appropriate equipment,
• Facilitate the establishment of gold buying centres across the country,
• Engage in establishing a strategic gold reserve, and source products only from licensed mines,
• Educate law enforcement agents and security agents on enforcement of mining laws,
• Sensitise ASGM miners and host communities.

The workshop also mentioned the following mercury-free alternatives:

• Borax – however it is not available yet for use in Nigeria,
• Igoli machine – not yet in use also because the needed chemicals are not available and the miners are not trained yet for its use,
• Traditional panning methods and the sluicing method,
• Use of retort capture method for fugitive emissions from the mines during burning processing.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a new international environmental convention for global community to work collaboratively against mercury pollution. The Minamata Convention aims at achieving environmentally sound mercury management throughout its life cycle. The Convention was adopted at the diplomatic conferences held in Minamata City and Kumamoto City in October 2013.

Having achieved the required 50 ratifications, the Convention came into force on Thursday, May 18, 2017. Consequently, the Convention, which aims at protecting human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds, will become legally binding for all its Parties on Wednesday, August 16, 2017.

The 1st Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention (COP1) will gather governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations from around the world in Geneva from September 24 to 29, 2017.

Nigeria is yet to ratify the Convention.

Environment Minister of State, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, in Gombe on Wednesday, August 2, 2017 at the commemoration of the year’s World Day to Combat Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought, says that rising up to the Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought (DLDD) challenge is a prerequisite to achieving the nation’s commitments for climate change adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity conservation, forest cover and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets

Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought (DLDD) negatively affects water resources, drives deforestation, food security; and contributes to environmentally induced migrations. DLDD is, therefore, amongst the most critical sustainable development challenges. It undermines government’s efforts in poverty eradication, fighting unemployment and enhancement of economic opportunities especially in rural communities.

This year’s theme: “Our Land. Our Home. Our Future” is a key for making Land Degradation Neutrality a fundamental solution for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals as adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015. Goal 15 of the Sustainable Development Goals calls on nations to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation, as well as halt biodiversity loss.

This becomes our pillar for sustainable land management for agricultural productivity and shelter for our present teaming population and the future generations. Today, I urge cooperation among all actors to help achieve land degradation neutrality as part of a broader effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and build a future of dignity and opportunity for all.

It is in this context that the World Day to Combat Desertification provides a unique occasion to remind all people that desertification and land degradation can be effectively tackled reminding us that solutions are possible, and that key tools to this aim lay in strengthened community participation and collaboration at all levels.

Land is a vital resource for producing food and other ecosystem goods and services including conserving biodiversity, regulating hydrological regimes, soil nutrients cycling, and storing carbon, among others. Indeed, the most significant natural capital asset is productive land and fertile soils. As people rely heavily on land as their main source for farming and housing, especially the rural poor, human well‐being and sustainable livelihoods are completely dependent upon and intricately linked to availability and productivity of the land. Land also is the major employer in most of human endeavours such as agriculture, geology, biology, architecture, town planning, transportation, just to mention a few.

If we do not rise to this challenge of DLDD, we will not achieve our commitments for climate change adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity conservation, forest cover and the Sustainable Development Goals targets; we will not effectively alleviate rural poverty and hunger nor ensure long‐term food security nor build resilience to drought and water stress.

This year’s WDD Commemoration advocates for the importance of inclusive cooperation on land management and contribute towards protective shelter for the present and future generations because land is a vital link to provide solutions to food security, housing, poverty eradication and employment generation.

The campaign: “Our Land. Our Home. Our Future” intends to promote public awareness in the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa. In compliance and effectiveness, the Federal Government has domesticated the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These are fallouts from the Rio Convention of 1992.

Since the catastrophic sahelian drought of 1972/1973, the government of Nigeria has regarded the challenge of DLDD as inimical to its national sustainable development that must be squarely addressed. Nigeria has developed numerous policy documents in the fight against DLDD and these include: National Policy on Environment, National Action Programme (NAP) to Combat Desertification and Mitigate the Effects of Drought. National Drought and Desertification Policy; National Drought Preparedness Plan; National Strategic Action Plan for the Implementation of the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative, Nigeria Climate Change Policy and Response Strategy, National Adaptation Strategy and Plan of Action for Climate Change, National Forest Action Plan, National Conservation Strategy,  National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, National Resources Conservation Action Plan, National Policy on Agriculture, National Water Resources Master Plan, National Energy Policy, Nigeria National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) and States Environmental Action Plan (SEAPs).

In its renewed commitment to fight desertification, land degradation and drought, this administration has recently signed agreement of permanent adhesion to the Sahara and the Sahel Observatory (OSS), an international organisation with the mandate of monitoring environmental changes and providing information necessary for formulating policies and programmes that can help in ameliorating the emerging environmental challenges. Information gathering for decision making is key in taking both proactive actions to ensure sustainable livelihood for the population.

The Ministry is currently piloting the Greening Programme as part of the move to protect and rehabilitate areas in hot spots.  The planting of trees and other associated activities will provide measures to curb land degradation and to deal with impacts of climate change. The Ministry has invested on implementation of projects/programmes to curb the rampaging effects of these disasters in the country. These include but not limited to the establishment of shelterbelts, woodlots, orchards, acacia plantations to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought and climate change.