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From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has challenged presidential candidates of various political parties to demonstrate a clear commitment to environmental justice for communities in the Niger Delta region.
PANDEF threw down the challenge at a stakeholders’ meeting of its Board of Trustees (BoT) and National Executive Committee (NEC), held virtually in Abuja.
The forum tasked the candidates to present practical, measurable and time-bound plans for the cleanup, restoration and sustainable development of affected communities.
The meeting was attended by the BoT Chairman, Obong Victor Attah; the National Chairman of the NEC, Ambassador Godknows Igali; former governors; former ministers; first-class traditional rulers; political leaders; opinion leaders; and other stakeholders.
In a communique issued after the meeting, PANDEF observed that after more than six decades of oil and gas exploration and production, communities across the Niger Delta had continued to bear the consequences of environmental degradation, pollution and damage to their ecosystems and livelihoods.
It called for urgent attention to the environmental situation in Nembe Creek in Bayelsa, Odidi in Delta and Kula in Rivers, while assuring the public of its continuous advocacy and engagement with the Federal Government on environmental protection and remediation.
The forum called for adequate, sustained and transparent funding of the Ogoni cleanup programme and urged the Federal Government to develop a comprehensive framework for replicating the remediation process across the Niger Delta.
PANDEF commended President Bola Tinubu’s decision to modernise and upgrade the ports at Warri, Port Harcourt and Calabar and welcomed approvals for proposed deep sea port projects in the region.
The projects include the Ibom Deep Sea Port in Akwa Ibom, the Bonny Deep Sea Port in Rivers and the Agge Deep Sea Port in Bayelsa, with the forum noting that their strategic location could strengthen trade links with East, Central and Southern Africa and facilitate access to the Indian Ocean.
It urged the Federal Government to establish a sustainable financing framework for the South-South port projects, comparable to the financing arrangements adopted for major port infrastructure around the Lagos corridor.
PANDEF noted the Federal Government’s decision to retain the original broad alignment of the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as a distinct legacy strategic infrastructure project, after the reported reconsideration of an earlier proposal to integrate the route into the East-West Road.
Considering the expected development of states within coastal areas, the communique said the forum had set up a high-level technical committee to assist the Federal Ministry of Works on the road project, which had been on the drawing board since before Nigeria’s independence.
It declared that the accelerated and successful completion of the highway was non-negotiable, arguing that it would boost connectivity across coastal states, stimulate trade and investment, strengthen national integration and unlock economic opportunities.
PANDEF also appealed to the Federal Government to take the necessary steps to establish an appropriate North-South rail connection to link the region for the benefit of Nigerians.
The forum further called for an increase in derivation allocation from the current 13 per cent to a minimum of 50 per cent, to enable oil-producing communities to address long-standing developmental deficits, environmental damage, health hazards and the socio-economic consequences of oil and gas exploration.
