Tony John, Port Harcourt
Recently, reporters, activists, community representatives and other stakeholders gathered in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to discuss issues bordering on environment. At the workshop, which attracted experts, the stakeholders were tasked on how best to report environmental activities effectively.
The training workshop, organised by Environments Rights Action (ERA), in collaboration with African Citizen’s Initiative for Rights and Development (ACIRD), had as theme: “Effective Reportage of Environment Activities for Journalists, Civil Society Organisations and Community Representatives.”
One of the facilitators and co-ordinator, Global Livelihood Alliance (GLD) Niger Delta, Mr Young Kibara, expressed concerns on how issues on the activities are reported: “Most times we perceived account report of the environment as small, reports that reads like news, like normal literature, it doesn’t capture the essence and concerns of humans, the environment at all and people can’t adapt to it, there is no relationship in what is reported with the people, society or environment.
“This training will promote, investigate research and actions in environment-related to the best interest of the society. It is also going to create awareness regarding environmental pollution, degradation and its effect on human earth, social set up and the economy at large.
“From the family, to the local government, to the state and Federal Government, it is about humans. Environment has meaning because people live in the environment. So, we are trying to see a situation, where from now onwards, we will be reporting in such a way that the human needs, concerns will be seen in our own reportage because, when the environment is left out, the people suffer. We want to see how we can put issues that concern humans in the front burner in our society and environment.”
Programme Manager, ERA, Mike Karikpor, noted that, as a vanguard of monitoring the clean up process, it is important that, aside from Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYREP) officials, independent people should be allowed to monitor the process and tell the truth about the clean up: “Thankfully, we have been campaigning for government to kick start the clean up and finally they have kick started the process. But, it is important that there should be people monitoring the process not from inside UNEP/HYPREP, as HYPREP wants it, but independent people to monitor the process and tell the truth to power, and that is what we are trying to do.
“We are not against HYPREP officials, we just want that these things should be done properly, because we think that the entire Niger Delta deserves to be cleaned up, not just Ogoni area. And, if the Ogoni area here works, then, the template would have been set to clean up other areas in the Niger Delta, that is even more polluted than Ogoni area. So, it is important that we all work together to ensure that the clean up in Ogoni works, so that the rest of the Niger Delta will be cleaned up.
“The last 50 to 60 years of oil production and extraction has earned Nigeria close to $700 billion. Our message is very clear, that we want them to succeed. We want this to be a proper template for the clean up of the Niger Delta; oil companies and everybody, who is involved, to set aside a $100 billion to clean up the Niger Delta, as soon as possible.”
On a trip to field remediation site, Plot 19 Korokoro in Tai Local Government Area, the Gberemene of Tai, Head, Supreme Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers, King Godwin Gininwa, expressed optimism that the clean up process is going to happen everywhere in the Niger Delta. He stressed that despite the abundance natural resources bestowed on the land, they are far from enjoying the dividends of it: “I do not think it is a curse. God does not make mistakes when He has given the people something. I wonder why my village would have looked like? Who would have remembered us? Nobody would have remembered us, except that we have oil. God just brought it and even when God did it, we are not benefitting from it.
“I want to appeal to HYPREP, they should try and distinguish themselves and think of what they will do to embrace the people in terms of development.”
Karikpor aligning with the monarch, he said that it was vital for the process to be all-inclusive and participatory: “It would give a sense of ownership to the people and not lead to a situation where people.
It is important that HYPREP creates the opportunities and spaces for people to participate and to own the process, to feel that there are still stakeholders within the process. If that is not done, it creates that challenges of communication between local communities and the project coordination team.”
On the issue of distrust, accountability and transparency to enable people have confidence in HYPREP, he reiterated that the process has to be accountable and transparent, giving the people information as at when due: “Where is your own plan as HYPREP? How do we monitor the process? Do we need to take permission from HYPREP to see what is going on?
“These are the issues around transparency and accountability; these are the standards everywhere in the world, whether it is World Bank, African Development Bank or Nigerian Government. The project is inclusive policy.” He urged HYPREP to wake up and be open in its operations, “so that people would see what is going on and be confident that the process will work for everybody.”
At the Biosel remediation site, the engineer in charge, Prosper Otokpa, detailed a template of how the work is done by maintaining the standard: “We pack all of those degraded soil, put them in a particular place, or have them in the biosel, so it will not sink into the environment. After we are done, we do another analysis to ascertain that nothing is contaminated.
“Most times, we don’t work because it rains almost always. So, it disturbs our work, and we have people paid for working on a daily basis. So, the day it rains, they will not get paid.”