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With over 2,800 active erosion sites in Nigeria’s Southeast Region, the risk of people losing their homes and means of livelihoods loom larger than ever before, even as funds to tackle the menace seem to have been diverted. 
Gideon Arinze was In Nsukka, and captured the misery and pain staring victims in the face.

The menacing showers
Each time the clouds begin to gather, farmers in sub-Saharan Africa naturally fall into spates of happiness, but for the residents of some communities in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu and other states in the South Eastern Region, it is a clear sign that they need to get prepared for the unknown.

It was a blistering Tuesday afternoon, and the clouds had started gathering strength before this reporter left the house of 60 years old Leonard Ngwu. Soon, the rain started and on a return to Ngwu’s house after the cry of nature, the once dry environment had become damp, difficult to walk on and potentially wrecking.

By the time the rains stopped, Ngwu who is a teacher had been subjected to turmoil, standing by one corner of his house with his hands wrapped around his chest and his eyes wide open. Anger clearly written all over his face.

At one end of the house, members of his family were removing water and other debris out of their rooms. His compound had just been submerged again. The flood went away with some of his property as usual.

“This erosion has dealt with us,” he said pointing towards the direction by which the erosion channel passes through his house. “This is not the first time we are experiencing this situation. It has caused a lot of damages to me and my family. We have lost many of our property. We don’t even know how to recover them again,” he said visibly trying to stifle his anger.

Over the years, Ngwu had devised a means, or what seems like a means, of mitigating the erosion by building a wall around his house. But this does not often work. The situation is even more terrible now as he and his family are almost forced out of their home.

NEWMAP to the rescue?

Ngwu is a member of a 10-man committee that has been selected by the Nigerian Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) to look into the issue of erosion which till now, has become a major source of concern for the people of Onuiyi, a Community that sits sedately in Nsukka Local government of Enugu in South Eastern Nigeria and other surrounding communities.

A World Bank assisted project aimed at addressing the Nigerian gully erosion crisis in Southeastern Nigeria and land degradation in Northern Nigeria on a multi-dimensional scale, NEWMAP is supported by the International Development Association (IDA), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF). The project was borne out of the request for assistance made by President Goodluck Jonathan to the World Bank in 2010.

“We have lost about 34 people” Ngwu speaks of the erosion which has existed in Nsukka for over 35 years. “Every year, it causes destruction at least four to five times before the dry season sets in and this usually happens between the months of June and September. Sometimes, we even wish there is no rain,” he said with all manner of seriousness.

‘These monstrous gullies can eliminate whole communities’

Erosion which usually starts off with the relatively uniform removal of the soil surface by excess runoff aided by steep sloping topography, soil/rock types, removal of vegetative cover and poorly designed construction works, becomes concentrated with time, forming channels and rills and if not properly checked, progresses into the monstrous gullies which are found scattered all over the south eastern region of Nigeria.

Across the globe, the number of reported weather-related natural disasters has more than tripled since the 1960s. Every year, these disasters result in over 60,000 deaths, mainly in developing countries.

A report by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), reveals that Africans especially Sub-Sahara Africans, are more vulnerable to climate change effects- among which is erosion- and unfortunately they have the least capability of adapting to its deleterious effects.

Prof. Francisca Okeke, the Director, African Climate Change Adaptation Initiative at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka said that the most prominent and dominant erosion category in the South East region is the gully erosion as the geology of the region has a lot to do with the propagation of gullies.

Among the effects of erosion in the region, she listed: Farmland destruction, vegetation loss, disease outbreaks that affect humans, loss of property and effect on life.

“If we refuse to address this crucial issue overtime, roads would be totally inaccessible, there will be no social, environment and economic balance. There would also be loss of facilities and infrastructure for research, hence, non conducive atmosphere for learning, teaching and research would not work in the nation” she said.

It also takes lives

So far this year, three people have lost their lives to the erosion, following heavy downpour between July and August. The first victims were a motorcycle rider and a student whose bodies were discovered in Alor Uno community, about one kilometer from Onuiyi. The second victim was a little girl who was carried away as she tried to cross a water channel on her way back from school.

The death of the three victims threw the entire community into pangs of fear, not because it is the first time the erosion is washing away lives but because they feared who the next victim would be.

Each time it rains, especially at night, Ngwu, like every other villager, does not sleep a wink. He usually stays awake to keep watch and know when the rain will overflow, leaving the erosion channel and finding its way into people’s homes.

“For me, that is a way of making sure that the rain does not swallow me and my family when it comes. As soon as I hear the sound, I quickly carry my wife and children away,” he said.

Mr Ngwu and his family are part of over a hundred households whose livelihoods are constantly being affected by the menace of erosion in Nsukka and the South Eastern region of the country.

Houses have been washed away by erosion

Seated in front of his house nestled somewhere at the backwoods of the picturesque Alor Uno rolling hills is 76 years old Simeon Omeje who Intermittently looks in the direction where the house he had built for his children now lies in ruins.

“My son,” he says as he tries to recall when the house was destroyed. “It happened on a Tuesday in July. Myself and my wife had gone into our own room after a busy day when the clouds started gathering strength by 8 p.m.”

Omeje who now shares a single room with his wife and children was fast asleep when the rain began. At exactly 12 midnight when the rain had become intense, he heard a reverberating sound and when he came out to see what was happening, he discovered that the house he had built for his children had been raised down by the rain which had completely submerged his compound.

“At first, I did not know what to do. But when I saw that the rain was gradually finding its way into our own room, I quickly rushed in and took my wife and our little daughter out and carried them to a place where they slept till the next morning,” he said.

By the time Omeje came back in the morning, his room had also been filled with water. His property- chairs, motorcycle, food items and other valuables had all been damaged. Not even his livestock which he reared at one end of his house was spared.

He recalled that sometime in 2016, a part of his house was also lost to the erosion. “I was still trying to see if I can put that one together when this one was destroyed. Now, I don’t even know where to start rebuilding the house again.” he said.

Omeje who said that his older children had all travelled when the rain came that night explained the why the erosion continues to ravage his community.

‘How it finds it’s way to our houses’

He said that the drainage through which rain passes each time it comes is too small compared to the amount of rainfall. As a result, each time it gets to that point, it does not move further anymore. Often times when it overflows, it starts finding its way into people’s houses.

“We are the worst hit because we live very close to where the bridge is located. Many people who were living here have all relocated due to disturbance by the erosion,” he lamented.

Eight people- Just one room.

For 35 year old Sunday Uguoke who is only struggling to survive, life has literally lost its grandeur. He does not know where to begin as he has almost lost every of his belonging to the erosion that is ravaging his community. At one end of his house, Ugwuoke, like Omeje formally reared livestock which he always sold to provide food for his family and take care of other needs. But now, all of them are gone.

Ugwuoke and his family are not staying in their house anymore, as the rainwater, each time it overflows, finds its way into their house. He is married and has 6 children. But they all share a single room in another house he secured in his community.

On this day, Ugwuoke had just returned from working on one of the water channels to prevent more erosion. He explains his situation with his face forlorn while his shirt hung around his neck “I am tired of everything. I have been trying to see what I can do so I and my family can at least return to our house because we are not comfortable in the one room we are staying now.

“As you can see, he said pointing in one direction, “my wife is bringing out things that the rain packed into our room the last time it came. We are back and trying to fix things again. Maybe before we finish, it will rain again and destroy everything we have repaired” he said.

Because of the menace of the erosion in Alor Uno, Ugwuoke’s brothers have all left the community with their families. But he does not have money to go anywhere. So, he and his family are forced to remain and suffer the menace of the erosion.

No help from the government

When asked what the government has done in address the problem of erosion in his community, Omeje said that there have been successive governments in the state, but regretted that none has tried to address the issue which has always had devastating effects on the community.

“The government has always come here to make promises each time they hear that the erosion caused destruction. They have talked about it on radio and written about it on newspapers. Each time they come around, we become happy that our problems are over. But as soon as they leave, we don’t hear from them anymore” he said.

He recalled that operatives from the Local Government paid him a visit when they heard that the erosion destroyed houses in the community and made promises thereafter. “But after then, no one heard from them again,” he stated.

He also remembered that operatives from World Bank came last year and even two years ago and surveyed the erosion site, taking pictures and measurements in the process to reassure the community of their readiness to deal with the issue. Yet still, nothing has been done.

“Now, we are completely helpless. We don’t have anywhere to go to. The erosion is almost forcing us out of our home. We have lost almost everything and the government has refused to help us out”

Confirming the words of Omeje, Ngwu said the problem of erosion has existed in the community for a long time and that they had written past authorities several times, yet no positive result was recorded.

Our home now make shift kitchen

Chinwe Eze believes that her community is suffering the menace caused by erosion because those who claim to represent them in government are only after their personal gains.

Eze and her family are presently finding refuge in a nearby house following the heavy downpour that entered their home in August and rendered most of their property useless. That was not the first time the rain is entering their house. But it was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. They could not bear to stay any longer.

When this reporter got to Eze, she was sitting on a chair just in front of the house with her frustration showing on her face. She had only come around to prepare what her family would eat for the day.

In front of the house that had now become uninhabitable, Eze and her family usually set a small fire where they prepare meal each day. “That is the only thing we come here to do now as everything has been destroyed” she said pointing in the direction where a portion of their house now lie in rubble

When asked what the community is doing to help remedy the situation, she said that nobody has done anything yet. “Nobody cares. They are all minding their business since it does not affect everybody in the community”. she said.

Constituency development Fund: A tale of corruption and misuse

The neglect of the erosion site in Nsukka and others spread across the South Eastern region, like many other constituency development projects has become .a recurring decimal in this part of the world.

Across the South East, from Enugu to Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia states, erosion has led to the loss of many lives, cut up and washed away roads, destroyed farmlands, pulled down houses and sent residents fleeing their homes.

First introduced during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 after the leadership of the National Assembly approached the executive for approval claiming it was in response to frequent demands of their constituents for the dividends of democracy, constituency development fund, otherwise known as zonal intervention fund, has been widely criticized as a drain pipe employed to perpetrate fraud in the budgeting process and secretly channel public funds into the pockets of Federal legislators.

Specific details on the projects such as cost and target sector are usually kept secret because the lawmakers allegedly engage in self-enriching deals in the implementation of the projects. As a result, constituents hardly know what should statutorily accrue to them.

Though implementing the zonal intervention projects does not involve cash payments or any other form of payment to legislators, as their duty is simply to identify the location and the type of project to be sited; only contractors nominated by the lawmakers are often awarded the contracts. As a result, they still have a say on what happens to the project.

This year, the Senator representing Enugu North Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Utazi Godfrey Chukwuka, nominated a total of N460 Million as constituency development project, out of which N36 million was set aside for erosion control at Onuiyi Nsukka/ Adani Road, Enugu North Senatorial district.

Sadly, a physical inspection of the erosion sites by this reporter shows that no work has been done yet. The sites have remained the way they used to be and the erosion continues to have devastating effect on different communities.

Whereabouts of funds allocated unknown, senator shuns enquiries

Several efforts made by this reporter to contact the Senator to explain how the fund for erosion control in the affected communities have been used did not yield any result as he was neither picking calls nor responding to text messages sent to him.

In September, the West Africa Reporter (WAR) reported how the lawmaker also failed to account for the sum of N104 million he nominated for constituency development project in 2017.

A senior official with Tracka, a non- governmental organization that works to ensure quality delivery of government projects across Nigeria said that the organization has written the lawmaker in the last two months, using the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act asking for explanations on the project he nominated last year. Yet, he has not responded

In 2017, The Federal government approved the sum of N5.567 billion for the 3rd quarter erosion control Accelerated Intervention in six states of the federation, including Enugu, Kano, Bayelsa, Sokoto, Ondo and Osun. But ever since, nothing has changed.

Hope for better days

Over the years, successive governments in Enugu and other states in the South Eastern region have only paid lip service to the menace of erosion. But Ngwu hopes for better days ahead. He believes that the present government in Enugu State will take bold steps to address the situation, as it is so far the only government that has truly realized the extent of damage erosion is causing in rural communities.

In August, the state governor made available the sum of N500 million to demonstrate its political will to qualify for the additional financial programme of the World Bank and also approved the Anyaurum Ohom Orba, Onuiyi Nsukka and Enugu Ngow gull erosion sites as priority of his administration.

Ngwu called on the state government to speed up measures to deal with the menace of erosion in the communities affected so residents can heave a deep sigh of relief.

Eze and her family are afraid of returning home. She believes that if nothing is done to deal with the threats posed by erosion in her community, the government may wake up one morning to discover that everybody has been swept away.

 

 

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A six-month long investigative story, with laboratory tests, by RUTH OLUROUNBI and  KELECHUKWU IRUOMA reveals how contaminants in the air, water and soil, as a result of the oil spills in Nigeria’s Ogoniland are affecting the health of people and how the slow cleanup exercise is putting more people at risk of dying.

Eric Dooh, 60, had just returned from Goi, a community in Ogoniland, within Nigeria’s Niger Delta region. He had visited his family’s property in the community he left a few years back due to air pollution. Near the property is a large river where men fish, but it has been contaminated as a result of oil spills, causing unending pollution that pervades the air.

He was exhausted. He sat on a red couch in his sitting room wearing a red traditional shirt and cap. His eyes were red like fire due to the poor quality of air containing harmful gases such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide he was exposed to.

Dooh had hung a plain trouser he wore to the community the previous day on a wall. He stood up, went to the place the trouser was hung and dipped his right hand inside one of the pockets. He searched for a sachet of franol —  a medication that relieves breathing difficulties — he usually took after returning from the oil spill site but could not find it. Goi is one of the affected communities ravaged by oil spills.

“Our people suffer very seriously; they inhale chemicals,” lamented Dooh. “My mother and father died in 2005 and 2012 respectively. They were diagnosed with respiratory disease and could not survive it.”

Nigeria has the largest oil-producing mines in Africa with the bulk of its crude laying beneath farmlands and rivers in Ogoniland with oil companies like Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) extracting about 100 million barrels of crude every year.

Crude oil is very important to Nigeria’s economy. The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that crude oil export accounted for N3.74 trillion or 70.84% of total exports in the third quarter of 2019, making it the most exported product in Nigeria while its contribution to the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) was 9.77%. Despite this, the oil-producing communities suffer from numerous oil spills.

Between 2003 and 2014, there were devastating oil spills from the Bomu manifold, a Shell facility at Kegbara Dere (K-Dere) located in Gokana local government area of Rivers State. Shell has been pumping oil from the Niger Delta since 1958 and it remains the largest multinational oil company operating there.

Although Shell has not pumped oil from its oil wells in Ogoni since 1993 when Ogoni activists led protests against the oil company for destroying the environment, halting its operations, its pipelines still carry crude oil worth 150,000 barrels daily through the region to its export terminal at Bonny Island on the coast.

The pipelines were reported to be ageing and poorly maintained, prompting multiple splits as a result of internal pressure, spilling thousands of barrels of crude oil. Amnesty International, a human rights organization, in its 2015 report said about 352,000 barrels of crude were spilled between 2007 to 2014.

But the major oil spill occured in 2009 when fire from the Bomu manifold burned for 36 hours and spread to neighbouring Goi and Mogho communities, causing damages that destroyed the people’s livelihoods.

Loss of livelihood 

That cold night, 35-year-old Dorgbaa Bariooma kissed her children and husband good night, turned off the light switch and went to sleep. Neither she nor thousands of people at K-Dere knew the event would change their lives forever. The first thing she woke up to was the heat from the explosion.

“It was as if our house had been set on fire. Later came the smell of crude oil. It was so bad we could not breathe well for the first few months,” said Bariooma.

The oil spills had devastating impacts on the forests and fisheries that the people depend on for their food and livelihoods. Many K-Dere residents grew up near Kidaro Creek, where they fish. Fishing was one trade they excelled in but the harvest is poor as the creek is now contaminated with crude oil.

“Growing up, I would watch my father fish from this very creek and on sunny days like this, many of us will come to the creek to cool off. Here, there was once luscious vegetation and the sound of laughter and happiness was infectious,” said Erabanabari Kobah, an environmental scientist from K-Dere as he pointed towards the oil on the creek.

Reaching the intersection leading to Goi, the smell of crude oil pervaded the air and deserted houses were seen around the community. As the car conveying the journalists screeched to a halt and its windows wound down a kilometer from the spill site, everyone covered their nose as the smell of benzene spreading through the air intensified.

Mounted near the riverbank which thousands of people depended on for food was a public notice inscribed “Prohibition! contaminated area. Keep off.” The river has been contaminated with crude oil crawling on the water. Fishermen could no longer catch healthy fish but a few unhealthy crabs.

Raphael Vaneba, 47, still goes to the river to fish despite the environmental and health risks involved. He came out of the river carrying a fishing net on his right hand and an open gallon containing five crabs he had caught. His body was soaked in crude oil. Soon he dropped the fishing net and started to itch every part of his body.

“I scratch my body whenever I come out of the contaminated river after fishing. We do not catch fish here anymore because the spilled crude oil has killed them and we don’t get money,” he lamented as he opened the mouth of a crab to show crude oil inside.

Caroline Gbogbara sells food items at the community market in Bodo, one of the affected communities that experienced major oil spills in 2008 and 2009. She goes to the river to pick periwinkles to sell but since the oil spill happened, she was not able to pick periwinkles. As a farmer also, her  farmlands were affected by the oil spill but she still farms on the contaminated farms. When it’s time to harvest her cassava and vegetables, she smells the stench of crude oil.

“We don’t have anything to eat. Farmers farm on lands filled with crude and have no choice but to eat the contaminated produce. Families are forced to eat the chemicals from the spills,” she said.

According to the Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), oil spills could lead to a 60% reduction in household food security and is capable of reducing the ascorbic acid content of vegetables by as much as 36% and the crude protein content of cassava by 40%, which could result in a 24% increase in the prevalence of childhood malnutrition.

Besides the contamination of rivers and farmlands, the communities’ sources of drinking water, which are mainly underground water and streams, have also been contaminated. Goi has a stream where the people collect water to drink. The stream which pathway is now bushy no longer receives visitors to fetch and drink from.

“If you fetch the water and pour in a glass cup, you will see crude oil inside. We are drinking poison here,” lamented Dooh.

Exposure to toxic substances

Petroleum hydrocarbons can enter the body through the air, food, and water, or when one accidentally eats or touches soil or sediment that is contaminated with oil. Crude oil contains a significant amount of aromatic compounds including Benzene, Ethylbenzene, Toluene, and Xylenes (BTEX), which are the most dangerous gaseous elements of crude oil and poses the risk of acute or chronic toxicity in humans during its production, distribution, and use.

In 2011, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published a report on the impact of the oil spill on the communities in Ogoniland after the federal government hired its services to assess the extent of the oil spills.

The report revealed an appalling level of pollution, including the contamination of agricultural land and fisheries, drinking water, and the exposure of hundreds of thousands of people to serious health risks.

It revealed drinking water from wells in communities in Ogoniland was contaminated with benzene, a known carcinogen at levels over 900 times above the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline.

Before oil was discovered in Bodo community, Emma Pii, chairman council of village heads, said the people were living a peaceful life and the economy was buoyant. But with the discovery of oil, they started living in bondage.

“Instead of oil to be a blessing, it became a curse to us,” said Pii. “What Shell has done is to take our oil and make money from it while the people who own the oil are suffering.”

It’s a terrible moment for the people of Ogoni who now live with the consequences of mistakes that were not their doing.

Eleven years after the major oil spills that rocked the oil-producing communities, their health is now failing them. They complain of symptoms, of which they do not know the underlying cause.

Oil spills release certain harmful chemicals such as benzene and toluene. Benzene is a known carcinogen while toluene can cause kidney and liver damage. Many spills also cause fires, which release toxic fumes that can cause respiratory problems.

Blood Tests

Each year, hundreds of post-impact assessment studies are conducted to assess the impact of the hazards generated by the oil industry on the social environment and human health due to oil spills. The reporters decided to do blood testing to determine how oil spills impact the health of the people of Ogoni.

The reporters consulted Dr. Olawale Shipeolu, a medical doctor in Port Harcourt who recommended we carry out blood tests to check the kidney and liver functions of the people.

Chukwunonso Okoye, a clinical lab scientist with the Union Diagnostics and Clinical Services, traveled with the reporters to Ogoniland to take blood samples of 50 non-smoking and non-drinking volunteers from Bodo, Goi, K-Dere, and Mogho communities. The collected samples were then taken to the lab’s headquarters in Lagos for analyses.

Full Blood Count (FBC), electrotype urea and creatinine (e/u/cr) and Liver Function Test (LFT) were conducted on 50 blood samples drawn from 26 males and 24 females, including youths and adults.

Based on the results generated by the Union diagnostics and clinical service, no electrolytes were deranged, indicating nothing was happening with the kidneys. However, the results showed some level of derangements of liver enzymes.

Out of 50 people sampled, 38 people representing 76% of the total number were found to have elevated Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and 18 people representing 36% of the population had elevated Alanine transaminase (ALT).

The United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2008 put the reference range for Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), an enzyme found primarily in the liver and kidney at 11-47 U/L for males over 20 years and 7-30 U/L for females of the same age.

CDC in 2012 also put the reference range of Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) at 13-38 U/L for 10 to 20 years of age and 13-33 U/L for 20 years and above for both genders.

Based on the results, more than half of the volunteers had their unit levels higher than the CDC reference range.

With their consent, Stephen Kpea had an elevated AST of 253 U/L and ALT of 107 U/L while Clement Glogo had an elevated AST level of 164 U/L.

Young people within the age of 18 – 25 also had elevated liver enzymes. 19-year-old Gbogbara Barriduula had an elevated AST of 60 U/L while 20-year-old Happiness Sunday had an elevated AST of 62 U/L and ALT of 79 U/L.

On the other hand, results for direct bilirubin showed that 22 people representing 44% had elevated direct bilirubin; 11 people representing 22% of the population had elevated total bilirubin while none had an elevated alkaline phosphatase.

According to the Union Diagnostics, total bilirubin normal levels fall between 0.3 and 1.2 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). Anything above 1.2 mg/dL is usually considered high while direct bilirubin level is less than 0.4 mg/dl.

For example, Lucky Yira’s total bilirubin and direct bilirubin were 8.0 mg/dl and 3.9 mg/dl respectively.

“Such elevated liver enzymes may indicate damage to the liver cells and such patients might be prone to liver disease,” said Dr. Festus Davies of the Sapphire Health Group.

A study published in the Journal of Hepatology by Dr. Kezhong Zhang of the Wayne State University School of Medicine’s Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics and his team discovered that exposure to airborne particulate matter in fine ranges (PM 2.5) has a direct adverse health effect on the liver and causes hepatic fibrosis, an illness associated with metabolic disease and liver cancer.

Also, research by Kesava Reddy and Mark D’Andrea of the University Cancer and Diagnostic Centers, Houston, Texas, linked elevated AST and ALT to exposure to toxic substances due to oil spills.

“That is the effect of the environment,” said Dooh, when he learnt he had an elevated AST.

“Any young man who wants to [continue to] stay here will definitely not see tomorrow.”

Migration looms

At 60, Dooh still remembers how his parents suffered and died due to diseases caused by the oil spills. Dooh’s anger was felt through his voice as he spoke.

Houses in Goi have been deserted as residents run for survival. While some migrated to Port Harcourt, others migrated to neighbouring communities.

Dooh now lives with his family in a small bungalow in Bodo having been asked to leave Goi by UNEP to protect themselves.

“We are migrating,” said Pii. “We are refugees because when the means of livelihood of the people have been destroyed and you do not have what to sustain you, you have to migrate to where you can do something to survive.”

89-year-old Tudor Tomii is from Goi community but now lives in Bodo due to the oil spills that ravaged his community.

“Here I am living in diaspora because of oil pollution. We can’t eat anything we plant there. We order anything we eat from Port Harcourt. We buy water from outside Ogoniland. Normally we drink from streams. Since the stream is polluted, we don’t have anywhere to drink from,” he lamented.

Compensation to the communities

The people of Bodo have been compensated by Shell after they filed a case in the United Kingdom, where Shell is incorporated. Shell accepted the responsibility for the oil spills in Bodo. The parties settled in 2015 and US$83.4 million, 82 percent short of their original demand of US$454.9 million was paid to the people of Bodo.

Pii said every indigene of Bodo who was 18 years or above received N600,000. But they are still not satisfied because the oil spill is yet to be cleaned.

Goi, Mogho, and K-Dere are hoping to be compensated by Shell for destroying their livelihood. K-Dere had filed a case for compensation in a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt against Shell for the havoc caused on its land.

But Shell said it can only pay compensation to communities whose oil spills occurred as a result of operational failure and not spills caused by sabotage and vandalism.

“The majority of the spill recorded in the Niger Delta, including in Ogoniland were as a result of sabotage and vandalism,” said Shell’s spokesperson Bamildele Odugbesan.

“Every operational spill with impact is what we pay compensation for and if there is no impact, we don’t pay. Our pipelines have continued to suffer third party interference.”

Slow cleanup exercise

UNEP in 2011 said the environmental restoration of Ogoniland was possible but could take 25 to 30 years if a comprehensive clean up exercise could begin immediately. It recommended the creation of an Environmental Restoration Fund (ERF) for Ogoniland with a capital of USD 1billion, to be co-funded by the federal government, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Shell for the remediation of polluted sites in Ogoniland and restoration of livelihoods of people in impacted communities.

A year later, the Nigerian government established the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP), an agency under the ministry of the environment with the mandate to implement the environmental clean-up programme in Ogoniland.

In 2016, the government then launched a USD 1 billion clean-up and restoration programme of the Ogoniland, with $200 million to be released every year. But the cleanup exercise did not kick off immediately.

UNEP said continued delay in the implementation of the recommendations will not only undermine the livelihoods of the Ogoni communities. But it will also cause the pollution footprint to expand, requiring a fresh investigation to rescope the place and determine the extent of the contamination. Ogoniland is a high rainfall area and the spill has been carried across farmlands and into creeks and the root zone to other areas.

The cleanup exercise later took off in 2019, eight years after UNEP’s recommendation. So far, the sum of $360 million has been released to HYPREP out of which less than $30 million has been spent.

But the cleanup exercise has been slow. 

“The cleanup may not be successful,” said Kobah.

“The speed of the cleanup is so slow that the desired results will not be achieved. Since 2011, this place has remained contaminated. This is what the people have been living all through their lives with. This is suicide. The people have been crying and complaining.”

HYPREP said it is only following due process to have a successful cleanup exercise. Being quick without observing the rules, according to HYPREP, will be the reverse side of the slowness bad coin and that will be counterproductive.

“The Ogoniland cleanup project is not slow, it is on course and going at a pace that standard remediation practice allows,” said HYPREP’s spokesperson Joseph Kpoobari Nafo.

Sam Kabari, an environmental expert and a lecturer at the Nigerian Maritime University, Delta State, disagrees. He sees the drag as a bureaucracy every government agency experiences in the procurement and civil service processes. He believes HYPREP will only achieve its mandate if it functions independently.

“We wanted an independent HYPREP that would own its processes and take critical decisions towards achieving its aims and mandates itself. HYPREP should be in charge of its funds, decisions and day-to-day running,” he suggested.

Dooh accused HYPREP of only cleaning less impacted sites, leaving the highly impacted areas. But HYPREP said the highly impacted sites are not being cleaned yet because they are complex sites, which will be difficult to clean by any of the Nigerian contractors.

According to HYPREP Project Coordinator Marvin Deekil, “We are coming to the highly impacted areas. We need more detailed and extensive work in delivering those sites. That is why we had further strategic meetings in Geneva with UNEP so that we can come up with a better way of addressing those sites. We need international contractors.”

Declare state of emergency in Ogoniland? 

The people of Ogoni want the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the region to cleanup the entire affected areas.

“With what we have seen here, what we have passed through, what has happened to our children, the elderly and pregnant women, we want the government to declare a state of emergency in Ogoniland,” Pii said.

He said the emergency measures such as the construction of hospitals and providing alternative sources of water for the affected communities have not been done, putting the health of the people at risk.

Kabari, who is the Head of the environmental and conservation unit of CEHRD described UNEP’s inability to implement the emergency measures as unacceptable. He said the emergency measures were supposed to have been implemented before the actual remediation activities began.

“Stakeholders are yet to see the provision of portable drinking water in communities where the groundwater was significantly impacted. Stakeholders are, however, doubtful of HYPREP’s understanding of the UNEP report given the misplaced priority of sequence of the UNEP report implementation,” he said.

“Water for Ogoni is almost there,” said Deekil.

“This year [2020], we told you there will be water in the communities. That is the commitment the government is keeping and we are working very hard to ensure it happens. We are going to be seeing the [water] contractors in the communities very soon.”

To avoid future oil spills, Shell said it has taken effective steps. For the last seven years, Odegbesan said Shell has replaced 1,300 kilometers of its pipelines, including in Ogoniland.

“We also monitor the pipelines to ensure nothing is happening to them. If something is happening to them, we can respond swiftly. We have helicopters with high definition aerial cameras hovering over our assets daily to capture the illegal activity of our pipeline. We have intensified our campaign among the local people not to go near oil facilities and engage the public on the danger of pipeline vandalism”, he said.

Dooh is sad the cleanup exercise has not been effective as expected. He believes until the people are compensated and HYPREP follows UNEP recommendations as instructed, Ogoniland cannot be restored.

“If the cleanup becomes effective, people will go back to the communities and start living well,” said Dooh. But if the cleanup is not successful, Ogoni people will continue to suffer.”

 

This investigation was supported by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and Microsoft Modern Journalism.

Increased rainfall, as a result of climate change, has impacted negatively on many parts of the world. In Anambra State, Nigeria,  KELECHUKWU IRUOMA, writes that farmers have also felt this environmental challenge, with means of livelihood threatened. With no help coming from government to mitigate their losses, there are concerns that food shortage looms.

On October 1, the day Nigeria marked its 60th independence anniversary, Kenneth Nwabueze was in his house with his family at Omor community in Anyamelum local government area of Anambra State when it began to drizzle. At that moment, he knew it was going to rain but he never thought the rain could cause a devastation that would destroy his means of livelihood.

When the heavy rain continued without stopping, he was scared. Worried, he called two of his friends and picked his farming tools and went to his farmlands. When he got to the farmlands, he was devastated.

“All my farmlands — rice, yam and cassava farms — were washed away by the flood,” Nwabueze lamented.

Kenneth Nwabueze standing on the flooded rice farmlands at Omor in Anyamelum

The rice he cultivated on his five hectares of land was due for harvesting while his yam and cassava in three hectares of land had just been cultivated. Nwabueze lost the rice. In a bid to rescue some of the tubers of yams, he started to uproot them. He succeeded in uprooting a few of the yam the rain had not completely damaged.

Independence day became a day of sorrow for Nwabueze.

The rain continued the next day. This time, it was heavier. He carried two baskets and went back to the farms and uprooted the rest of the yam tubers he laid his hands on. Unfortunately, the rice and cassava farms had all been washed away and destroyed by the heavy rain.

“It is unbearable,” he lamented again. “I have no hope. All the money I borrowed to cultivate the rice, cassava and yam is gone and I am left with nothing.”

“How will I repay the loan I collected? How will I repay the one I borrowed from my community members?” he questioned. “I am finished. I borrowed 1.2 million naira to invest in my rice farms. I still borrowed money from my community meetings. I lost about 2.3 million naira to the flood.” he lamented.

Rice farmlands in Anyamelum submerged by flood as a result of heavy rainfall

Anyamaelum is one of the local governments whose lands are rich for cultivation of various crops such as rice, yam, cassava and other crops. The local government is the highest producer of rice in the state. The farmers basically cultivat rice and complement it with other crops, but flooding as a result of heavy rainfall exacerbated by climate change has become a problem.

Climate change affects agriculture production

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), a government agency that issues weather and climate forecast, in its 2020 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) predicted near-normal to above normal rainfall of varying magnitude is expected for most parts of the country. It said the country was expected to have rainfall amounts ranging from 400mm in the north to over 3000mm in the south, warning farmers to adopt measures to reduce the impacts.

Benedict Unagwu of the University of Nigeria’s Soil Science department said flooding is as a result of heavy rain falling at a particular time and in watershed areas, which washes away crops, especially in Anambra where the effects are huge.

“To some extent, heavy rainfall is now linked to climate change. There are changes in climate.  Looking at the amount of rain, the duration of rain and the time it comes. Climate change is true and it is the changes in weather. That is not the only reason. Whether climate change or not, we human beings have to do everything to manage our climate,”

“Flooding affects farmers in the sense that they will lose all their [farm] produce for the year and further incur losses,” he said.

Heavy rainfall as a result of climate change is affecting Nigerian farmers, limiting their contribution to agricultural production in the country. Anambra State is one of the states in Nigeria that is affected by floods annually.

An unusual flood in 2012 displaced 2.3 million Nigerians in what the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) described as the worst flooding in over 40 years, affecting 30 of the country’s 36 states and causing damage that was estimated at N2.6 trillion.

In 2015, heavy rainfall in Cross River displaced more than 1,220 families, and destroyed 4,501 farms in coastline communities.

Cultivated cassava did not germinate as a result of the flood that destroyed cassava farmlands

In 2017, floods as a result of climate change destroyed over 3000 hectares of farmlands in Benue, a state known as Nigeria’s food basket. The heavy rainfall submerged farmlands in 21 out of the 23 local government areas of the state and displaced more than 110,000 people, according to a report credited to Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). for an impending food scarcity in the country.

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)estimated that the world population would reach 9.1 billion by 2050 and to feed that number of people, global food production will need to grow by 70%. For Africa, which is projected to be home to about 2 billion people by then, farm productivity must increase at a faster rate than the global average to avoid mass hunger.

500 hectares of farmlands submerged

Ken Onyeabu, a farmer and a royal cabinet member of Omor community likened the flood that ravaged farmlands in the community to that of the 2012 flood.

Ken Onyeabu’s 10 hectares of rice farmlands were washed away by the flood

“It is a terrible situation,” he said. “The flood covered both the upland and wetland. It did the same in 2012 but ever since, it has been coming on a yearly basis but we have mastered the areas that are regularly covered. So even when people avoid planting in some upland areas, the flood of this year still covered a lot of farmlands.”

Onyeabu, who cultivates rice said the flood ravaged his 10 hectares of rice farmlands. Some farmers who cultivate more lost over 10 hectares. He estimated the ravaged farmlands to be close to 500 hectares of land.

“If I had harvested the rice flood washed away, I would make a lot of money going by the present price of rice. The fertilizers and herbicides are very costly but we have done everything to the final stage, which was fertilizer application. The only thing we were waiting for is for the rice to be matured and then we harvest. All the required investment had been done. It is only to harvest and receive back our money and the profit,” he said.

Onyeabu said he spent N5 million cultivating on the rice farmlands before it was washed away. “So I was not expecting anything less than 15 million, that is at least if the year is not so bumper.”

Angela Ejike’s five hectares of rice farmlands, two hectares of cassava and yam farms were destroyed by the flood.

Angela Ejike lost her rice, cassava and yam farmlands to the flood, leaving her with nothing

“At that time, it seemed like every hope was lost. Honestly, I am thinking about our future and my household. How are we going to cope in the coming months and next year? Because it seems the flood will continue,” she said.

Last year, Ejike’s rice, okro, yam and cassava were washed away as a result of floods. She lamented the increase in the prices of food and how the destruction of crops due to floods will exacerbate current agricultural challenges. She said if she had harvested and sold the rice, she would have made N2 million and contributed to agricultural production in the country.

“We do not want the recurrence of the flood. The government should help,” said the mother of four.

The community youth leader of Omor, Peter Ahanti is devastated. He is furious the flood has become an annual tradition in Anyamelum.

He said the adaptation method adopted by farmers in the community to reduce the impact of the flood is not working.

“Our hands are tied,” he lamented. “We are looking at the government to see if they have something to do concerning this incident because it is definitely above our capacity.”

Ravaged rice farmland at Omor community in Anyamelum local government

The public relations officer of Omor youth council, Igwebuike Mgbechi also said measures were adopted by farmers to reduce the impacts of the flood by not cultivating in some parts of the wetland areas, yet, the floods “came again in a mighty way.”

Lack of compensation to farmers

He has been relaying the information concerning the devastating effects of the flood on farmlands in the community to the state and federal governments but they have failed in assisting to reduce the effects of climate change in the local government.

He has made efforts for farmers from Omor to be compensated after every flood incident but laments none of their farmers receive compensation from the governments.

After the flood of 2012, to reduce the impact of the flood, the federal government provided a total of N17.6 billion. In Anambra, where over 150,000 people were affected, N500 million was provided to the state government. Eight years after, Mgbechi said farmers did not receive any compensation from the state government.

“We compiled it [names of farmers affected], we did video on it and presented it to the Anambra State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). Once they brought the items to the people that were affected, my name and others affected were not in the list,”  he said.

When contacted, Anambra SEMA’s executive secretary, Paul Odenigbo declined to speak to this reporter.

Anam community, which comprises eight villages in Anambra West local government was also affected by the floods. Before now, Anam had always been impacted by floods. Houses are always submerged and farmlands destroyed.

Arinze Obediegwe, a farmer in Mmiata Anam was affected by the flood as flood his cassava and potato farms

At Mmiata Anam, Arinze Obediegwe, a crop farmer and fisherman said 2020 is the third consecutive year the community has experienced huge flooding that destroyed crops and farmlands. “My five hectares of yam, likewise the cassava and potato were damaged by the floods,” he revealed.

In previous years where floods damaged farmlands, some of the farmers resorted to fishing in the Anambra River but this year, fishing was not favourable as the floods killed fishes.

“The destruction is so huge,” he lamented. “After the annual farming, I was expecting 2 million but we are always losing because most of the crops did not germinate.”

“If this [flood] is not controlled, by next year, there will be a very big famine”

He calls for assistance from the government to help affected farmers start again. “The farmers are the food baskets of the society because what the farmers do is for the benefit of the society and states, including providing the food we need for human sustenance. The farmers need to be assisted in one way or the other. We must be farming to sustain our lives because we cannot do without food,” he said.

If measures are not taken to reduce flooding as a result of climate change, there could be “10 to 25 per cent decline in agricultural productivity by 2080”, according to a study by the Centre for Global Development.

Destroyed yam and cassava farmlands at Anam in Anambra West local government

Onyeabu admits that climate change is a natural occurrence but can still be controlled to mitigate its effects.

“This type of flood is unavoidable. The only way we can avoid it is to sit at home or be resigned from being farmers. In the situation that we resign, what else do we have to do because this is what we have been doing over the years,” Onyeabu said.

Unagwu urges the government to provide alternative lands for farmers whose farmlands have been impacted by floods and sensitize them on what to do before rain comes.

“Drainage can be constructed so that when that heavy rainfall occurs, the impact can be minimized. Nigerians have bad culture. They pour refuse on waterways. They affect water flow. The channels have to be open so that when heavy rainfall occurs, the water will follow the pathway and move, thereby minimizing flood,”Unagwu said.

According to Ahanti, “if this [flood] is not controlled, by next year, there will be a very big famine,” he predicted.

Nwabueze is hopeless. He is scared that in months to come, he will be bankrupt.

“I am left with no hope,” he lamented. “I am only begging and crying for help. Very soon people I am owing will come and be disturbing me. Let the government come to our aid before person will commit suicide.”

This report was published as part of the BudgIT/Civic Hive Media Fellowship 2020