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Ogoni cleanup is nothing but a political statement

On June 6 2017, a year and some days after the current administration officially launched the cleanup exercise in Ogoni land, the Nigerian Senate resolved in a motion to probe the exercise, which it described as a sham.

HRH King Suanu TY Baridam, the Gbenemene Bamja II, Kasimene Bangha VII of Ogoni land

• No Area In Ogoni Land, Where Cleanup Is Taking Place-Chairman Ogoni Council Of Traditional Rulers,HRH King Suanu TY Baridam JP (ANIM, FNIS, AMB.P Gbenemene Bangha II, Kasimene Bangha VII of Ogoni Land

On June 6 2017, a year and some days after the current administration officially launched the cleanup exercise in Ogoni land, the Nigerian Senate resolved in a motion to probe the exercise, which it described as a sham.

The probe order was due to a motion entitled: “Motion on World Environment Day,” tabled by Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the senator representing Lagos Central. In the motion, she called for awareness and protection of the Nigerian environment.

Senator Tinubu lamented that in spite of the recent launch of the Ogoni clean-up campaign, it appears work has not commenced in any of the sites in Ogoni land.While this was going on in the hallowed chamber of the Senate, Palace Watch was a guest of the Chairman, Ogoni Council of Traditional Rulers, HRH King Suanu TY Baridam, the Gbenemene Bamja II, Kasimene Bangha VII of Ogoni land in his Palace for an interview.

The government last year launched a programme to cleanup Ogoni land after several years of oil pollution. How is the job progressing?
FIRST and foremost, let me thank Federal Government for having us in mind to have made that pronouncement and launched a campaign to cleanup Ogoni land. As an active member of the Movement For The Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and Chairman of Ogoni Council of Traditional Rulers, which is under MOSOP, from what we can see on ground, the Federal Government has not done well in the planned cleanup exercise in Ogoni land. The activities on ground simply point to the fact that the cleanup project was a mere political campaign, because right from June 2 2016 till date, when the project was official launched, which is well over a year now, there is no single structure on ground to show that the cleanup exercise is for real.

So, what is the next line of action from Ogoni people concerning the matter?
As it is our culture here, we have only one tool, which we have been using. This is non-violent agitation, and this is what we have been doing right from day one. I am aware that MOSOP will be calling for a general meeting to review what is going on, with regard to the cleanup exercise. Any decision we reach at that congress is what we will be working on. It all depends on the decision reached. If we are going to do a peaceful protest, or write Federal Government on the matter or do a press conference, will depend on the outcome of the planned congress. All these actions are lined up for us to act upon.

The late Ken Saro-Wiwa helped in no small measure to raise the level of awareness among the Ogoni people, due to his consistent campaign for a clean environment in all the oil producing areas of Niger Delta. How has it been several years after his passage?
Importantly, almost everybody in Ogoni land is now aware about the happenings in and around the environment. As a matter of fact, the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa did not end the struggle. What his death has done to us here is to raise more people to fit into the purpose for which he died. As far as we are concerned here, the struggle continues. We are not relenting until victory is achieved. That is what every Ogoni man and woman is yearning for.

The Niger Delta people have been collectively agitating for improved infrastructure and healthy environment, among other demands for a very long time now. How is the situation after these years of agitation?
Personally, I think Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Federal Government are working hand-in-gloves in the looting of the resources in Niger Delta Region. What they are doing is to take the corporate interest of the companies more seriously than the general well-being and interests of host communities or people in the region. Nigerian government is more concerned about the corporate interest and profit accruing to them. The Federal Government and the companies are sharing the profit, which is what concerns them the most. They, therefore, do not care a hoot about what happens to the host communities.

Once there is any agitation, the Federal Government will provide these companies with security personnel. So, they still come to the host communities and do whatever environmental damage they like and leave. However, in Ogoni land, it has not been easy for them, as we stopped them from operating since 1995 till date and that is how it has been. Of course, we are not going to relent.

But Federal Government said before the launch of the cleanup programme, it had deployed experts to come and examine the situation…
What experts are they talking about? I am here in my palace in my community in the heart of Ogoni land. They came here sometime in June 2 2016, to launch the cleanup programme. Since then till now, nothing has happened. You can’t just wake up and say you want to come and do assessment of the situation here without first thinking about the issue of water. It is the same bad water my people have been drinking for God knows when they are still drinking.

Since how many years ago did the World Health Organisation (WHO) release a damaging report about the situation in Ogoni land? And in that report, it was declared that the water in all the oil producing areas in Nigeria, especially Ogoni land, is not fit for consumption. It is that same water our people are drinking up till date. The same medical problems people from these areas have been having for years now are still there. Nothing has changed. For every Ogoni man or woman with medical problem that is tested, one out of five of such persons must be having medical issue relating to cancer. What I am telling you now was the medical situation in Ogoni land five years ago.

If the situation is reviewed now, maybe five out of 10 Ogoni persons will be suffering from cancer related issue. So, we are all like walking corpses in this part of the country. So, what do you think any person can do now to help our situation here? They came here to say they wanted to build integrated medical centres. They came to Bori and launched that, but you won’t believe that up till now, nothing has happened. So, what can they say they have been doing all these years? Is it now that they are supposed to send people around? I have not seen what they claimed to be doing here. They are just wasting their own time.

A man that was appointed the HIPREP Director, one Dr. Manvindeke, he was not given free hand to operate. That is how bad things are. He has not been given money to operate. So, what are they talking about? How can you appoint a man, as the project manager of HIPREP and you are not giving him money to operate?

Are you sure some people from the oil producing areas are not conniving with SPDC, Federal Government and other oil companies to do what you are complaining about?
Of course, it is divide and rule system they are operating here. Every oil company knows how to do this divide and rule system. So, in all honesty, you cannot rule out the possibility of some traditional rulers benefiting from this type of system. Even some of the very highly placed people in some of these communities cannot be exonerated, because they are part of it. So, what most companies do is to come to the area where they want to prospect oil and discuss with a very few people, maybe, those people who are a little strong in the areas and can give them problems. Once that is done, they now use that system to divide the community. That is what they have been doing. Anyhow, we are equal to the task.

But in spite of the picture you have just painted, traditional rulers across the country, including those in the oil-rich Niger Delta Region, complain daily of inability to meet their people’s demands, that they are unable to sustain the responsibilities given them…
The situation here is not at all different from what other traditional rulers across the country are suffering or facing. The same hardship every other traditional ruler in Nigeria faces is what we are also complaining about here.

Are you saying oil companies doing business here and politicians from Abuja don’t come to pay homage to you and other traditional rulers from this region?
What homage? What we are asking for is the massive development of our areas. We are not talking about individual development, but the development of our areas. If our region is not developed, what type of homage are they coming to my palace to pay? No politician comes here to pay any homage. They only come here during elections. And after that, you don’t get to see them again. That is the same thing most companies do. The companies play the divide and rule system. Once a company is doing that, it is clear it is not ready to do what is expected of it under normal circumstances. This is exactly what is on ground here.

What would you say the average Ogoni man really wants?
All we want is a clean environment and infrastructural development of our areas.

So, what is the way forward, if you were to advise Federal Government?
The way forward is for Federal Government to be more pro-active in its development of the Niger Delta Region. They should know that Ogoni people and the other oil producing areas are also part of Nigeria. They should also realise they have taken so much from these areas, without giving them in equal measures. Oil taken from this region has been used to build so many places in Nigeria, while the areas where this oil is taken still remain the same.

So, what we are asking is for them to come and also develop these areas. Let Federal Government come and cleanup these areas, even if nothing else is done, let the people from the oil producing areas also have clean air, free of toxics to breathe, just like most people in other areas of the country. The Federal Government should, therefore, stop paying lip service to anything that concerns the Niger Delta Region.

Are you saying no government has actually done anything to help people in this region live in good and healthy environment?
You see, I always try to avoid issues that say ex-president Jonathan did not do this or that. Jonathan was in power, when this UNEP report was released. And as a matter of fact, we had expected that as someone from this part of the region, he ought to have immediately sprung into action, but sadly, that was not the case. But there are some things that ex-president Jonathan did. I was one of those that travelled to Geneva then to look at the entire process. He also set up committees and in between this, elections came, and as God would have it, the Buhari administration came on board. President Buhari made it clear he was going to continue from where Jonathan stopped with regard to the issues of the Niger Delta Region. So, if ex-president Jonathan did not do anything, the Buhari administration would not have said it was going to continue from where Jonathan administration stopped.

So, ex-president Jonathan tried a little in his own ways, but his efforts were not good enough for us as a people. We expected that as a man from this region, he should have been more active. Anyhow, all the other governments before Jonathan equally refused to do anything about our plight.

With Goodluck Jonathan’s performance, do you see another Ijaw man ever becoming president again?
You cannot base your opinion on whether Jonathan performed well or not to judge what will happen to an Ijaw man or woman in the future. I don’t think this is fair. The Ijaw man’s future in the Nigeria Project should be based on equity and fairness. Ex-president Jonathan is just an individual, and in future, we might have a man or woman from Ijaw land, who will perform better than him. You might also have somebody from here who might not be as good as Jonathan. So, you can’t say Ijaw people can’t be president of Nigeria again.

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