Environmental activists in Rivers State have raised fresh alarm over persistent oil spills, sluggish cleanup efforts, and worsening health challenges in the Niger Delta, attributing the crisis to decades of oil exploration, weak regulation, and inadequate remediation.
Speaking to reporters during a survey on environmental degradation in the region, the activists described the situation as widespread and deeply entrenched, with oil prospecting continuing to devastate ecosystems, farmlands, fishing grounds, and human health.
Mr. Olu Wai-Ogosu, President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), said oil activities had destroyed coastal vegetation, rendered farmlands infertile, and eliminated traditional fishing grounds that once sustained entire communities.
“Many rural communities in states such as Bayelsa and Rivers have been adversely affected by oil exploration activities that have disrupted ecosystems and livelihoods,” he said.
He highlighted how the creation of artificial oil channels had altered natural waterways, sometimes isolating communities from their traditional lands and resources.
“Today, you go to several communities and perceive fumes of hydrocarbon in the air. That means people are inhaling these substances daily,” Wai-Ogosu stated.
He added that residents ingest contaminated substances through vegetables, fruits, and other food items exposed to hydrocarbon pollutants, while surface water and rainwater sources remain heavily contaminated with hydrocarbons and associated heavy metals.
The activist linked prolonged exposure to hydrocarbon pollution with rising cases of petroleum-related illnesses, including a possible connection to increasing cancer cases—particularly breast cancer—in parts of Ogoni, based on ongoing research by environmental groups.
Fishing, once a major livelihood, has been severely impacted as pollution has destroyed fish breeding grounds. “Before, people could easily fish around their communities, but today those fishing grounds have been eliminated. The natural food chain has been broken,” he lamented.
Wai-Ogosu criticised the slow implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report on Ogoniland, noting that many recommendations remain unfulfilled more than a decade after its release. He pointed to communities like Oloibiri—site of Nigeria’s first commercial oil discovery in 1956—as examples of long-term environmental degradation without commensurate development benefits.
He called for a comprehensive review of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to ensure greater participation and benefits for host communities. He described the current 3% allocation to host community development trusts as inadequate to address environmental damage and socio-economic challenges.
Wai-Ogosu welcomed recent financial reforms in the oil sector under President Bola Tinubu as an opportunity to revisit the PIA for better implementation, advocating for stronger representation of host communities in oil operations.
“We believe host communities should not be treated as bystanders but as key stakeholders in the oil industry operating in their areas,” he said.
He proposed allocating about 7.5% equity in petrochemical projects to host communities to make them direct stakeholders, reduce tensions, and promote shared prosperity. He also urged communities to form credible, knowledgeable committees to manage benefits transparently and hold oil companies accountable.
Additionally, he called for stronger legal backing for the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), including direct budget submission to the National Assembly, reporting to the presidency, and freedom from political interference to restore public confidence.
Environmentalist Mr. Nnimmo Bassey echoed concerns that the PIA fails to adequately address pollution or protect communities. He cited the ongoing blowout at the Ororo-1 oil field in Awoye community, Ondo State, which has spilled and burned since 2020 with no resolution six years later.
Bassey noted that only the Ogoni cleanup under HYPREP is currently active, and even then, only a few simple sites have been remediated. He described President Tinubu’s executive order halting 30% oil profit deductions for frontier exploration as a step forward but argued a full PIA review would be more effective.
Mr. Celestine Akpobari, another environmental rights activist, blamed oil companies and government agencies for failing to replace ageing pipelines and address spills promptly. He recalled a December visit by the National Security Adviser and ministers to Benya community in Ogoniland after a spill, yet months later, no action has been taken.
Akpobari criticised international oil companies for divesting onshore assets without remediating damage, leaving cleanup to smaller firms. He highlighted abandoned wells, including the historic Oloibiri site, as continuing sources of farmland, river, and drinking water contamination.
He criticised the slow pace of the Ogoni cleanup, noting that the UNEP report recommended a $1 billion start-up fund. On recent reforms affecting NNPCL, he said they would make little difference without deeper structural change.
The activists collectively urged urgent, transparent, and community-centred action to halt further degradation, enforce remediation, and ensure host communities benefit equitably from oil wealth in the Niger Delta.
