The president consequently vowed to clean up the land by implementing the united nations environmental programme, uneps recommendations to save the land. It is a wellknown fact, that shell and the nigerian government destroyed ogoniland through indiscriminate oil exploration since 1958 till date while treating the people with disdain. Nyokhana is on the east while kenkhana is on the west. The united nations environment programme has released a report mapping oil spills in ogoniland.
United nations environment programme unep conducted an independent environmental impact assessment with a team of international experts, local experts, and academics. By the end of 1992, ogoni production was some 28,000 barrels of oil a day, about 3% of spdcs total production. Commendations have continued to trail the decision of the federal government to fast track implementation of the report of the united nations environment program, unep on ogoni communities in. When oil is spilled on the land from a pipeline or oil well, it will generally run down the natural slope, evaporate or percolate into the ground. Nigerian government begins implementation of unep report. The report was commissioned by the federal government as part of a wider ogoni reconciliation process, which the shell petroleum. Ogoni congress resolutions on unep report a special ogoni congress was called under the aegis of movement for the survival of the ogoni people. The unep report on ogoniland nigeria and world news. The ogoni issue the shell petroleum development company spdc started operations in ogoni land in rivers state in 1958, drilling a total of 96 wells to bring nine oil fields onstream.
The report highlighted significant environmental impacts from oil pollution in parts of ogoniland relating to a variety of causes. Ogoni will reject unep assessment report sahara reporters. This report represents the best available understanding of what has happened to the environment of ogoniland and the corresponding implications. Factsheet the unep pollution research project in ogoniland and its political importance in 2010, after long years of talks and negotiations, the unep united nations environment programme started a study to get a clear image of oil pollution in ogoniland, a region where oil.
And the unep report is not just about ogoni, there are issues in the report that deals with the way we handle spillages, that deal with the way we manage environmental hazards of oil exploration. Because of oil spills, oil flaring, and waste discharge, the alluvial soil of the niger delta is no longer viable for agriculture. A report by unep on ogoni has found that the extent of damage is far greater than has previously been acknowledged. Aug 19, 2015 commendations have continued to trail the decision of the federal government to fast track implementation of the report of the united nations environment program, unep on ogoni communities in.
Over 4,000 samples collected for analysis from more than 200 sites media resources press release en press release fr executive summary download images site fact sheets. The nigerian oil spill monitor recorded some 5,296 oil spills between january 2005 and july 2014. Mutiu sunmonu comments on unep ogoniland oil spill report. At the request of the federal republic of nigeria, unep has conducted an independent assessment of the environment and public health impacts of oil contamination in ogoniland, in the niger delta, and options for remediation. After several years of bloody agitation against multinational oil companies, particularly shell, over pollution of ogoniland, the nigerian government in 2011 invited unep to do an. Niger delta oil pollution special two reports in the last week are set to cause a fundamental shift in the response to oil pollution in the niger delta. It extends across the local government areas lgas of khana, gokana, eleme and tai. The levels found in the more contaminated sites are high enough to cause severe impacts on the ecosystem and human health. Factsheet the unep pollution research project in ogoniland and its political importance in 2010, after long years of talks and negotiations, the unep united nations environment programme started a study to get a clear image of oil pollution in ogoniland, a region where oil production has been on hold for over 18 years now. Factsheet the unep pollution research project in ogoniland. This important study, the first of its kind in the niger delta, was conceived well before 2006 by the federal government as part of the ogoni reconciliation and peace. May 17, 2019 the report prescribed a comprehensive cleanup of ogoniland and recommended, in line with environmental guidelines and standards for the petroleum industry in nigeria egaspin, that shell clean up every oil spill, no matter the cause.
Aug 23, 2015 by taking actions aimed at fasttracking the implementation of the united nations environment programme unep report on ogoniland, president muhammadu buhari, the other day, demonstrated, in no. Buhari to implement unep report, approves ogoniland cleanup august 6, 2015 0 president muhammadu buhari has given approval for. Ogonis will reject any aspect of the united nations environmental program unep report, which may conclude that the nationality is responsible for more than 90% of oil spills its assessed. The united nations environment program unep, which was chosen by the government to. Iucn attempts to greenwash shell with flawed report on oil. The oil spill devastation in ogoniland and the effects on the. The conclusion of the unep report was that shell had, for years, not cleaned up oil pollution properly. Addressing environmental health problems in ogoniland through. On the contrary, the report exposed serious and systemic problems with shells cleanup processes in nigeria. A journey through the oil spills of ogoniland friends of. But seven years after publication of uneps report, very little meaningful progress has been. It is evident from the unep field assessment that the shell petroleum development companys spdcs postoil spill cleanup of.
This was reportedly linked to an oil spill which occurred more than six years ago. The devastation caused by oil spillage has destroyed many lives and livelihoods and is clearly one of the reasons many people in that region lost faith in government and resorted to the. Mutiu sunmonu, md of the shell petroleum development company of nigeria comments on. The study shows extensive oil contamination of rivers, creeks, and ground waters in ogoniland, nigeria. After decades of neglect, its time to clean up ogoniland. The original version of this article, by deirdre lapin, appeared on the niger delta working group and allafrica. Canoes lie in oilslicked mud on the shore of the bodo creek in ogoniland near nigerias oil hub city of port. On 4 august 2011 the united nations environment programme unep published its environmental assessment of ogoniland, a study of oil pollution in the ogoniland region of rivers state in the eastern niger delta. An important observation in the unep report is that because ogoniland has high rainfall, any delay in cleaning up an oil spill.
Mr inemo samiama, an environmentalist, on tuesday called for proper cleanup of ogoni environment polluted by years of oil exploration. Meanwhile shells admission of responsibility in a british court. By taking actions aimed at fasttracking the implementation of the united nations environment programme unep report on ogoniland, president muhammadu buhari, the other day, demonstrated, in no. Ogoni, environment, production, spillage, cleanup, exploration. An evaluation of the implementation of uneps environmental. The report prescribed a comprehensive cleanup of ogoniland and recommended, in line with environmental guidelines and standards for the petroleum industry in nigeria egaspin, that shell clean up every oil spill, no matter the cause. Environmental assessment of ogoniland, a study of oil pollution in the.
This report makes a valuable contribution towards improving understanding of the issue of oil spills and the environment in ogoniland and we pledge to work with the government, unep and others on the next steps. Spdc welcomes unep report and responds to recommendations. Environmental assessment of ogoniland nigeria reliefweb. Unep ogoniland oil assessment reveals extent of environmental. After decades of neglect, its time to clean up ogonilands.
Although shell has said that it has overhauled how it tackles oil spills, the company has not provided any details. Shockingly, despite unep s 2011 recommendaons, communies a. The unep report on ogoniland was released on august 4, 2011 confirming claims by local communities and civil society groups that there exists an ecological disaster in the area. It called on the federal government of nigeria, the. The longawaited report from the united national environmental program unep on oil damage in the ogoni area was presented to president goodluck jonathan on august 4 in abuja. April 2018 recent developments to implement unep report recommendations. The unep environmental assessment of ogoniland shell nigeria. The unep report was very clear that this was not the case.
Based on the pedigree of the united nations environment programme unep as a credible international organization with proven track records of coordinating challenging environmental assessments and providing scientific and empirical evidence for policymaking and implementation, the nigerian government invited it to carry out an environmental assessment study of ogoniland, an oil. The conclusion of the unep report was that shell had, for years, not cleaned up oil pollution. Fresh opportunity to make progress by ifeanyi izeze when the movement for the survival of ogoni people mosop in its statement on the federal governments recently proposed and announced fasttrack actions for the implementation of the unep report on the cleanup of ogoniland warned that it is important that we ogoni people avoid, even if. This important study, the first of its kind in the niger delta, was conceived well before 2006 by the. Unep delivered its report to the federal government of nigeria in august 2011. Today, ogoniland is the center of the worlds oil pollution, destroyed living things and nonexistence of. Aug 10, 2011 ogonis and others say there was little new in the report, and it has been argued well by us oil spill expert richard steiner that it was not complete. Inadequate monitoring and enforcement in the nigerian oil. The unep report highlighted significant environmental impacts from oil pollution in parts of ogoniland relating to a variety of causes. On 4 august 2011 the united nations environment programme unep published its. As a result of the oil industry pollution, hundreds of thousands of children, men and women have been exposed to a sustained assault on their human rights to food, water, health and work. Before and during the assessment, the consensus that has allowed this work to proceed in the. Pdf the environmental degradation brought about by petroleum exploration in the.
In a 2011 assessment of over 200 locations in ogoniland by the united nations environment programme, they found that impacts of the 50 years of oil production in the region extended deeper than previously thought. Aug 12, 2011 the longawaited report from the united national environmental program unep on oil damage in the ogoni area was presented to president goodluck jonathan on august 4 in abuja. Fresh opportunity to make progress by ifeanyi izeze when the movement for the survival of ogoni people mosop in its statement on the federal governments recently proposed and announced fasttrack actions for the implementation of the unep report on the cleanup of ogoniland warned that it is important that we ogoni people avoid, even if tempted. Samiama, country director, stakeholders democracy network, a non governmental organisation ngo, made the call in an interview with the news agency of nigeria nan in port harcourt. The unep environmental assessment of ogoniland shell. Unep identified flaws in shells approach to oil spill cleanup and remediation and made recommendations for how it should improve its methodology. The team surveyed 122 kilometers of pipelines and visited all oil spill sights, oil wells, and other oil facilities in ogoniland, including decommissioned and abandoned. While the report provides clear operational recommendations for addressing the widespread oil pollution across ogoniland, unep recommends that the contamination in nisisioken ogale warrants emergency action ahead of all other remediation efforts. The oil spill devastation in ogoniland and the effects on. Ogonis and others say there was little new in the report, and it has been argued well by us oilspill expert richard steiner that it was not complete. The uptotheminute unep scientific assessment of oil operations by shell in ogoni land, rivers state is spinetingling, given the hawk and chicken relationship between the. Many years of struggle between ogoni communities and shell to clean up oil spills from their operations have brought practically no changeof the 27 united nations environment program unep speci.
Ogoni congress resolutions on unep report sahara reporters. Ogoni oil spills, causing deaths, leave us homeless. Addressing environmental health problems in ogoniland. Jun 02, 2018 the conclusion of the unep report was that shell had, for years, not cleaned up oil pollution properly. The spdc jv is committed to the implementation of the unep report and welcomes the federal government of nigerias fgn efforts to progress its implementation, including the creation of governing council gc and board of trustees bot of the ogoni restoration fund orf in aug 2016 to oversee and fund the cleanup. The territory is located in rivers state on the coast of the gulf of guinea, east of the city of port harcourt. As of 2010, royal dutch shell admitted to have spilled nearly 14,000 tons about 100,000 barrels of oil which was majorly across the oilrich ogoni, made up of a total. Traditionally, ogoniland was divided into the six kingdoms. Aug 19, 2010 ogonis will reject any aspect of the united nations environmental program unep report, which may conclude that the nationality is responsible for more than 90% of oil spills its assessed. At the request of the federal republic of nigeria, unep has conducted an independent assessment of the environment and public health impacts of oil. As a result of the oil industry polluon, hundreds of thousands of children, men and women have been exposed to a sustained assault on their human rights to food, water, health and work. Samiama, country director, stakeholders democracy network, a non governmental organisation ngo, made the call in an interview with the. As of 2010, royal dutch shell admitted to have spilled nearly 14,000 tons about 100,000 barrels of oil which was majorly across the oil rich ogoni, made up of a total of 18 communities in four local government areas. Nigerian government begins implementation of unep report on.
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