NEMBE: AFTER THE SPILL, WHAT NEXT?

The recent Christmas tree oil spill in Nembe left a devastating effect on the flora and fauna of the Nembe ecosystem. After the pollution and politicking and meager palliative given to the people I ask, what next? Recently a Louisiana-based oil company will pay $43 million in civil penalties and damages and $432 million to a clean-up trust fund over a spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Justice Department announced. When I saw this story, I pondered when will the people of Nembe get compensation? There is a terrible antecedent to oil spill issues in Nigeria, when Ken Saro Wiwa advocated for the top oil majors to pay for damage to the environment in Ogoni.

He was executed and the Ogoni clean-up is now like a mirage. It is poignant that the people of the Niger Delta continue to suffer and their only crime is because of the rich natural resource they have. Their livelihoods have been damaged and their lives destroyed beyond redemption. The case of the Niger Delta is like a series of unfortunate events and it keeps deteriorating like a pugnacious cancer, it’s ferocity keeps destroying the arteries and lungs of the Niger Delta.

I believe in all this debacle, there are some quick wins and they can be as follows. If Aiteo truly cares as it claims it should carry out medical research and blood sample analysis of residents of Nembe and ascertain their health status and build them hospitals that will take care of this health challenges in the future, Also it should institute a quick cleanup process that is transparent and inclusive, that will also provide jobs for residents of the areas affected. Furthermore Aiteo should investigate the state of all its wells and look for ways to ensure they are in proper working shape.

The next question will be who will fight for the people? I believe there should be a legal action in a bid to get compensation for the people affected and the compensation can be lodged in a development fund controlled by an independent body to ensure the best is given to the people. Also there should be a legal action taken against the regulatory bodies like NOSDRA for negligence because regulatory negligence was a major reason fingered. The well heads were not well capped and the regulators did nothing about it. In my view they played possum about the knowledge on the state of the wells. There will be many more spills, in fact, there are more spills going on now. The question is, do we learn?

Rufai Oseni, rufaioseni@gmail.com