COUNTRY CONTEXT SHARING ON NIGERIA

A PRESENTATION AT A CSO CONSULTATION ON THE

AFRICAN AGENDA AT RIO+20 AND BEYOND, NAIROBI 30-

31 MAY, 2012 BY

AKPOBARI CELESTINE.

SUMMARY OF NIGERIA’S SUBMISSION FOR RIO+20

Rio + 20 should result in the adoption of realistic and effective solutions to move the planet forward in all areas of Agenda 21, Rio+5, Rio+10 and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

It should result in specific commitments backed by concrete actions to partner with, and support developing countries in specific areas of environmentally balanced development, in line with identified needs, priorities, agendas / plans of action presented by developing countries.

It should result in enhanced commitment and practical actions with respect to cooperation and provision of relevant support in respect of means of implementation of the Rio and WSSD commitments. These specific areas should include: a. Transfer of appropriate technology b. Capacity building c. Funding d. Equitable access to benefits.

The outcome document should be focused. It should be free of verbosity and be action oriented with specific targets and timelines. It should make provision for effective monitoring and evaluation, feedback and review of strategies to enhance goal actualization.

Nigeria welcomes the green economy as vital in the on-going effort towards achieving sustainable development. Nigeria believes that whilst the green economy offers a new platform for developing countries to jump start their economic growth, she endorses the positions of African Ministers at the fourteenth Special session of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment held in Bamako, Mali from 15th to 16th September, 2011; as well as the Africa Consensus Statement to Rio+20 adopted at the Africa Regional Preparatory Conference for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) held at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia between 22nd and 25th September, 2011 amongst which are the followings:

• That the green economy should open new opportunities to advance the achievement of Africa’s sustainable development objectives;

• That the green economy should be a means to achieve Africa’s objectives of employment creation, economic growth and poverty reduction.

ON THE GREEN ECONOMY ROADMAP

• Agree that the transition to a green economy should be underlined by national objectives, social and economic development imperatives and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. For instance, in the case of Nigeria, it will mean mainstreaming transition to Green Economy into Govrnment Development Plans, such as Vision 20:2020 and Transformation Agenda

• Foster an understanding of the green economy in the context of Africa, in

particular as a way to protect and sustain natural capital, improve resource efficiency and sustainable consumption and production, and enhance contributions to development;

• Ensure that the green economy is not used as a justification for new barriers to trade or create conditionalities for trade, aid and access to finance.

Nigeria submits that individual African States should enter into Green Economy at its own pace and time; particularly, the economic growth of a country should not be held down for that country to practice green economy. Transition into it should be gradual and phased according to the socio-economic plan of the country so as to adequately safeguard existing living standards as well as put necessary safety network in place to guide against any social breakdown.

On Institutional Mechanism for sustainable development, Nigeria reiterates the need for a specialized, strengthened and upgraded United Nations body on Environment to report directly to the United Nations like the UN Women, the WTO, WHO and the WMO.

Towards achieving the above, Nigeria fully supports the outcomes of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN) that held in Bamako, Mali, 12th -16th September, 2011; regarding “Strengthening the institutional framework for sustainable development, the environment pillar”, which “re-affirmed the need for international specialized institution for environment, based in Nairobi, to emerge from the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2012.

HAVE WE HEARD ALL THAT BEFORE?My simple answer will be a capital YES!. Over the years, before and after

Nigerian Independence, succeeding administrations have designed national development plans that puts emphasis on developing a green

economy, even the evil company called sHELL, has such beautiful plans and programmes on their glossy website.

Among some of those sector based interventions frameworks are:- River Basin Development Authority Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) National accelerated Food Production Programme (NaFPP) Directorate for Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) Nigeria Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (SEEDS) Vision 20-2020 ETC

VAST FARMLANDS THAT WERE LOCKED AND HEAVILY POLLUTED

THE REALITY!

POLLUTED DRINKING RIVER IN OGONI

COMMUNITY ROAD

THERE CAN BE NO GREEN ECONOMY WITH FLAMES OF HELL

UNEP IN OGONILANDAccording to Achim Steiner-UN Under- Secretary General and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme in a foreword to the report on Ogoni, “the history of oil exploitation and production in Ogoniland is a long, complex and often painful one that to date has become seemingly intractable in terms of its resolution and future direction. It is also a history that has put people and politics and the oil industry at loggerheads rendering a landscape characterized by a lack of trust, paralysis and blame, set against a worsening situation for the communities concerned”

HOW THE TEAM WORKED

• WORKED OVER A 14-MONTH PERIOD FROM 2007 TO AUGUST 11, 2011

• EXAMINED MORE THAN 200 LOCATIONS• SURVEYED 122 KMS OF PIPILINE RIGHTS OF WAY• REVIEWED MORE THAN 5,000 MEDICAL RECORDS• CONDUCTED DETAILED SOIL CONTAMINATION

INVESTIGATIONS AT 69 SITES• ANALYSED OVER 4,000 SAMPLES OF WATER TAKEN FROM 142

GROUNDWATER MONITORING WELLS SPECIFICALLY DRILLED FOR THE STUDY AND SOIL EXTRACTED FROM 780 BOREHOLES.

RED CARD CAMPAIGN AGAINST UNEP FOR ALLOCATION OF 90% BLAME TO COMMUNITY PEOPLE

A PROTEST AGAINST AN UNFAVOURABLE UNEP REPORT ON OGONI

KEY FINDINGS IN UNEP REPORTPOLLUTION IS WIDESPREAD IN OGONI LAND (OF COURSE!)MOST FOLKS HERE HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO CHRONIC OIL POLLUTION THROUGHOUT THEIR LIVESSURFACE WATER THROUGHOUT THE CREEKS OF OGONI HAVE HYDROCARBONSHYDROCARBON CARBON POLLUTION HAS REACHED GROUNDWATER AT 41 SITES AND AT A PLACE THE GROUND WATER THAT SERVES LOCAL WELLS WAS FOUND TO HAVE UP TO 8 CM LAYER OF OIL ON IT!SOILS ARE POLLUTED WITH HYDROCARBONS UP TO A DEPTH OF 5 METRES IN 49 OBSERVED PLACESFISHERIES DESTROYED BENZENE, A KNOWN CARCINOGEN, FOUND IN DRINKING WATER AT A LEVEL 900 TIMES ABOVE WHO STANDARDS. BENZENE ALSO FOUND IN SOME AIR SAMPLESHYDROCARBONS FOUND AT LEVELS 1000 TIMES ABOVE NIGERIAN DRINKING WATER STANDARDSSHELL HAS NOT MET THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS FOR THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRIES IN NIGERIA (EGASPIN)SHELL HAS ALSO NOT MET ITS OWN MINIMUM STANDARDSNEEDLESS TO SAY THAT THEY (SHELL) OPERATE BELOW INTERNATIONALLY ACCEPTED STANDARDS

Commenting further on the report, Mr Achim Steiner said, “The findings in the report underline that there are, in a significant number of locations, serious threats to human health from contaminated drinking water to concerns over the viability and productivity of ecosystems. In addition that pollution has perhaps gone further and penetrated deeper than many may have previously supposed”

In a critique by Professor Richard Steiner, a Consultant to UNEP “The UNEP study provides a quantitative understanding of hydrocarbon contamination only, and thus does not constitute a comprehensive ecological assessment of oil damage.  A full ecological assessment is described and recommended in UNEP’s own manual on oil spill damage assessment and restoration (which I drafted on contract to UNEP in 2004). But in the Ogoniland study, the UNEP team surprisingly did not follow its own recommended procedures to comprehensively assess ecological injury from oil spills”

GOI COMMUNITY, OMITTED IN THE REPORT.

POLLUTED WATER AT GOI COMMUNITY IN OGONI, NOT MENTIONED IN THE REPORT.

ANOTHER EVIL--LAND GRAB• School to land farm, Bori/Wiyaakara in Khana Local Government

Area• School to land farm, Kpaa/Daen in Khana Local Government Area• Agricultural Demonstration farm, Taabaa in Khana Local

Government Area• Risonpalm oilpalm plantation, Okwale in Khana Local Govt Area• Niger Delta Basin Authority farm, Kpong in Khana Local Govt Area• 258.954 Hectares for new town at Beeri/Nyokuru in Khana Local

Govt. Area• Fish Pond Nonwa in Tail Local Government Area• Songhai farm project, Bunu in Tai Local Government Area• IITA ONNE in Eleme Local Government Area• Rivers State University of Science & Technology farm land at Onne

in Eleme LGA

OGONI LOCAL FARMERS IN COURT OVER LAND GRAB

GREEN ECONOMY? WHAT TO DO

HANDLE MOTHER EARTH WITH CARE AND WITH SOME RESPECT

BUILD INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY AROUND THE SUBJECT

DO MORE WORK AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL

MORE ADVOCACY AND LOBBYING

BUILD POLITICAL WILL AT THE COUNTRY LEVEL

THANK YOU!AKPOBARI CELESTINE .N.

NATIONAL COORDINATOROGONI SOLIDARITY FORUM-NIGERIA.

ogoniadvancement@yahoo.comcelestine@peoplescentre.org

www.peoplescentre.org