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- Seek Immediate Action on Niger Delta Environmental Crisis
By Henry Uche, Lagos
International civil society organizations, including HEDA Resource Centre (Nigeria), ReCommon (Italy), Hawkmoth (Netherlands), and Corner House Research (United Kingdom), have jointly submitted a comprehensive report to the Public Hearing on Environmental Damages in Oil Producing Communities hosted by the House of Representatives’ Joint Committee on Environment, Petroleum Resources Upstream, Petroleum Resources Downstream, and Climate Change.
The ten-page report, signed by Olanrewaju Suraju (HEDA Resource Centre), Antonio Tricarico (ReCommon), Simon Taylor (Hawkmoth), and Nicholas Hildyard (Corner House Research), highlights the environmental crisis in the Niger Delta and the urgent need for action.
The report criticizes the role of industry giants Shell and Eni in perpetuating environmental degradation and expresses concern about their proposed divestments from onshore oil licenses. The coalition emphasizes that the devastation caused by oil companies demands immediate, holistic, participatory, and decisive action.
“The international oil companies should not be permitted to evade their obligations to remediate the legacy of pollution, regardless of its origins,” the report states. The coalition urges the Joint Committee to recommend empowering relevant agencies like the NUPRC to enforce regulations governing divestment and accountability by the oil operating companies.
Central to the coalition’s demands is the insistence that no divestments should proceed without comprehensive consultation with local communities. “Environmental damages must be thoroughly assessed, and funds must be secured in escrow to ensure the full coverage of cleanup costs,” the report underscores.
The coalition also calls for the establishment of legally enforceable measures to remediate polluted areas and companies’ fidelity to decarbonization plans.
To oversee and ensure compliance with these critical actions, the coalition advocates for the establishment of a parliamentary monitoring committee. “This committee would serve to oversee and uphold the cleanup process while ensuring the accountability of all stakeholders,” the report adds.
The civil society organizations reaffirm their commitment to providing further information and offering their insights to support the parliamentary oversight and investigative efforts.
