By Daniel Abia – Snr Correspondent P/Harcourt
Franca Siitu was just 14 years old when she lost her father, Mr. Joseph Siitu in 2001. Now at age 21, she is already a mother to a six-month-old baby. A secondary school dropout, the fair skinned Franca cannot define her future at the moment. This is pitiably so because the means of furthering her education looks almost bleak and hopeless.
Franca’s situation is further worsened by the fact that her late father left behind a huge family burden with a composition of four jobless boys and five girls with single inheritance bequeathed to them for survival. Hence, as a means of survival, the girls will not hesitate to fall prey to the sex appeal of equally jobless men lurking in the community.
This was basically how Franca was lured to the man who got her impregnated and trapped to play role of a father. Today, Franca is saddled with the full responsibility of catering not only for herself but her little baby in a harsh community of Bodo in Gokana local government area of Rivers State. Her only hope remains that the father of her beloved baby will “someday see the reason to send me to school so that I can get a job to do. Apart from that, I will be happy if we eventually get married”, was her wish.
Bodo is a community of about 67,000 people. A community blessed with all good things of life such as beautiful flora and fauna, green vegetation and fresh water with its aquatic life. With such endowment, life of an average Bodo man was supposed to be a flourishing one. More so, the community seats atop multi-billion dollar oil and gas reserves that could be enough to serve four or more generations. Despite its abundant natural wealth, a trip to Bodo does not indicate a picture of an environment whose resources have contributed immensely in transforming Nigeria and other countries of the world. What stands out as a relic of reserve of the black gold not just in Bodo community, but across thousands of other oil producing communities in the Niger Delta region is the putrefying stench of years of dry oil spills abandoned by the oil companies by which facilities such industrial accidents occurred.
Most worrisome is the fact that natural sources of drinking water like streams and rivers have all been grossly polluted by the oil spills mainly from either failed facilities of Shell Oil Company or a deliberate sabotage by oil thieves in the Niger Delta region. The economy of the Niger Delta is facing a grave danger as a result of bunkering business. Several records have revealed that bunkering is a huge business that can only be successfully executed by the rich in society. It presupposes, therefore, that the security agencies may be undoubtedly aware of the players in this ignoble business. But who can arrest them? The droplets from the extracted oil using long pipes fixed into the head tap of the oil companies’ facilities endanger the environment in a way that it impinges gravely on the flora and fauna as well as the sea foods, which should ordinarily be a lifeline for the residents there. The impact of the oil droplets and the unwillingness of Shell and other companies to immediately clean up spills whenever they occur, to a large extent, has caused unimaginable poverty to the people of Ogoni and by extension the Niger Delta region at large.
Virtually, all the oils companies in the region have consciously neglected what should have been their social responsibility of catering to the needs of the communities they operate in. In Bodo, for instance, road network, standard hospital, schools and other basic facilities are conspicuously lacking. This is despite the huge natural resources accrued there.
“I can’t remember the last time I saw light. We have been living in darkness for months. Those who own generators burn fuel on daily basis. That is why small-scale businesses like barbing, hair dressing, business centres are not common here,” Franca disclosed.
The nearest village to Bodo is Teneol, which is almost surrounded by the biggest river there. Moving towards the bank of the river is a rusted signpost with a clear inscription of warning: “Public Notice, Prohibition. Polluted Water, Do Not Drink, Fish or Swim Here”. You will not need any further instruction than this.
By the shore of the river, which is a corridor that connects any traveller with the outside world is an environment that nobody would love to visit. The river is a link to the Atlantic Ocean, Bonny, Cameroon, Brazil and other countries. Any big ship that is coming into Port Harcourt passes through this waterway in Bodo community. Several dug out boats were found anchored by the bank of the river which is also called River Teneol. One or two speedboats just sailed off with a speed of a lightning. Few steps away from the shore, one could see a large portion of dry dark earth copiously hanging out within the body of the water. There were no mangroves. Seafood like mudskippers, crabs, water snail, which are common features at rivers were conspicuously missing. What was rather visible was a thick pool of oil on the water and a heap of refuse, hard and dry excreta adorning the tainted river bank.
The life span of an average Bodo person is between 39 and 42 years, according to some elders there. This is mainly caused by the air and land pollution by Shell and other oil exploring companies. Of course, fishing business is highly prohibited in this river and nobody can drink from it, no thanks to Shell.
Miffed by this unwarranted treatment, Bodo people summoned courage and dragged Shell to court to address the untowardly issues of environmental degradation and pollution of their sources of livelihood. For six years of breathtaking legal battle in a London Court initiated by the people of Bodo community, Shell, out of international pressure and wide range condemnation of its inhuman activities in the community, pleaded with Bodo lawyers to settle the matter out of court in 2010.The settlement implied the payment of 56million euros as a palliative measure to cushion the unfortunate effect of Shell’s uncanny activities in Bodo. To disburse the largess, each authenticated indigene of Bodo was entitled to the sum of N600,000 irrespective of age, sex or social status. Altogether, about 15,500 people have so far benefited from the money. Today, there is increase in small business in Bodo. Women are now opening shop businesses while their men counterparts are into motorcycle riding (okada) business. In effect, there is an impressive difference in both individual and general economies of the people. But this can only fare a little if the environment is not cleaned up in line with the United Nations Environmental Programme, (UNEP) report which stipulated that a comprehensive clean up of the environment was urgent.
“We now have plenty motorbikes because this is the only business that is common in Bodo City”, said Kelvin Valley, a 26-year-old motorcyclist. He said that in a day, he makes between N3000 and N4000 from conveying passengers from one point of the city to another. Valley lamented that there were no enough schools in the community, no hospitals, no water.
“If Shell cannot provide these things, then the government must come and help us. People die on daily basis as a result of one disease or another”, the young man volunteered.
On February 26, a delegation of Friends of the Earth and Environmental Rights Action, FoE/ERA led by its executive director, Dr Godwin Ojo, paid a solidarity visit to the Bodo people for leading a successful legal war against the oil giant, Shell. The delegation was received at the Bodo Town hall by chiefs of the community. Mene Sylvester Kogbara, chairman Bodo Council of Chiefs, who was elated to receive the delegation which also included Geert Ritsema from Friends of the Earth in Netherlands, said the contribution of the various human rights groups were not unnoticed in the battle.
“Bodo is now a metaphor in the fight against environmental pollution by the oil companies and other communities presently facing the same difficulties like them will take courage from the success of this community,” Ritsema said.
“The message from Bodo will go a long way to inspire other communities in the Niger Delta and other countries of the world”, he said.
Ritsema, who is also the campaign coordinator, energy and natural resources, Netherlands, warned that on no account should there be a cover up in the comprehensive cleanup of the Ogoni environment according to the UNEP guidelines.
On his part, Mene Kogbara explained that after six years of intensive legal battle, Shell agreed to cough out the sum of 56million euros as compensation to be shared amongst the indigenes of Bodo to alleviate the danger posed by the spills. He noted that though the compensation had been paid, “what is most disturbing now is the cleanup of the Ogoni environment as stipulated in the United Nations Environmental report, UNEP.”
Speaking on the plans by some local companies to re-enter Ogoni for exploration, Kogbara said no company would enter the community “except we know the directors, management and the history of such company”, adding that of the companies that have shown interest so far, “it is only Belemaoil that we have seen”._
The ML11 oil bloc,k according to him, does not only have to do with Bodo but such areas as Andoni, Eleme, among others.
Speaking earlier, Ojo emphasised the need for the Ogoni people to unite in the face of the environmental degradation caused by oil companies’ spills. Ojo expressed satisfaction that Shell was able to pay the compensation which he said would go a long way in improving the lives of the Bodo people. “What is most important here is to ensure that both the federal government and Shell come together to clean-up the polluted environment of Ogoni”, he said.
Ritsema blasted Shell for the continuous gas flares in Nigeria which he said has contributed to the global climate change.
“Oil companies in the Niger Delta behave like criminals. They don’t even respect their guidelines, which is why they must be made to comply with the international best practice. Shell is known for its poor environmental behavior”, he said. Ritsema called on the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to double its efforts and ensure that the polluted environment was thoroughly cleaned up.
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