Divestment
By Desmond Ejibas
Port Harcourt, June 6, 2024 (NAN) International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in the country have been urged to clean up all polluted and degraded sites in the Niger Delta before divesting their business.
Dr Emem Okon, the Executive Director, Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt on Thursday.
She said that the call followed moves by Shell, Exxon Mobil, Total Energies and Nigerian Agip Oil Company to divest their operations.
Okon said that about 65 per cent of the land in Niger Delta region had been degraded, saying that there is a critical need to restore the region’s ecosystem as part of the campaign against climate change.
“Nigeria is impacted by the silent and invisible crises of desertification, land degradation, and drought, which are mostly caused by human activities and climate changes.
“In the Niger Delta, the ecosystem has been severely damaged due to oil and gas exploration. This has led to various illnesses and disorders among the local population.
“Oil majors are departing the Niger Delta after more that 70 years of oil extraction, the terrible effects of their activities on oil-producing communities, particularly the women are very visible,” he said.
Okon expressed concerns that IOCs are swiftly selling off their assets and primarily shifting focus from shallow waters to deep-water operations.
“In 2022, Seplat Energy Plc, a Nigerian firm, announced to the public that it had purchased ExxonMobil’s Nigerian shallow water business.
“We are concerned about the swiftness of these divestment plans because the government has not provided any guidelines to address pollution issues from these companies.
“These companies have failed to establish women development funds to support those affected by their oil extraction activities,” she added.
The environmental activist said that decades of oil spills had drastically reduced land productivity and impeded subsistence agriculture in the region.
Okon stated that the people of the Niger Delta would oppose any hurried divestment by transnational oil companies unless the environment and the people’s sources of livelihood were first restored.
“For us, a just transition must encompass addressing the damages caused by oil pollution, conducting health audit and developing a clear strategy to combat climate change.
“A just transition should also entail justice for countless victims of oil company-inspired and state-sanctioned abuses along with reparations to the people of the Niger Delta,” she said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
DES/AZU
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Edited by Azubuike Okeh
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