N/Delta clean-up must go beyond Ogoni, group warns

A group, ‘Kebetkache Women Development Centre’, has advocated urgent and expanded cleanup of the Niger Delta, warning that limiting remediation efforts to Ogoniland alone will leave large parts of the oil-bearing region in continued ecological ruin.

Executive Director of the Centre, Emem Okon, stated this in her keynote address during the Dinner Night of the Correspondents’ Week organised by the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Port Harcourt.

The week, which has as its theme “The imperatives of comprehensive cleanup of the Niger Delta environment: role of the media”, was supported by Renaissance Africa Energy Company, Nigeria LNG Limited and Kebetkache Women Development Centre.

Okon said the Niger Delta crisis requires immediate expansion of environmental remediation efforts beyond the Ogoni cleanup project, insisting that delays will worsen pollution and suffering in the communities.

She stated, “The media needs to make the government realise that we need to extend the Ogoni cleanup to the entire Niger Delta. We must begin now.”

Okon referenced findings of the United Nations Environment Programme, which estimated that full restoration of Ogoniland could take up to 30 years, arguing that other polluted communities cannot afford to wait that long.

“The UNEP report said it will take 30 years to have the Ogoni environment restored. We don’t need to wait for 30 years. We shouldn’t wait till then before we begin to remediate other parts of the Niger Delta. It must begin now,” Okon said.

She also called on journalists to intensify scrutiny of environmental legislation, particularly the Petroleum Industry Act, which she said contains provisions that many host communities do not fully understand.

“Environmental degradation in the Niger Delta demands urgent action. The media should take up the PIA and expose the hidden clauses, investigate and interrogate these things,” Okon said.

She emphasised that independent reporting is critical to closing the gap between policy and implementation, especially in the oil sector, where communities often lack access to technical or legal information.

“Independent reporting exposes gaps between policy and practice, and when that is done, it strengthens implementation and also builds confidence and power of communities,” she added.

The activist painted a bleak picture of affected communities, saying many residents remain silent despite suffering severe environmental and health consequences due to fear of powerful institutions.

According to her, “Communities most affected are often defeated. Some of them don’t even know that they can speak out. They abstain because they know that if they speak up, they are speaking against very powerful forces — the corporations, the government.”

She further said multinational oil companies, government agencies and security structures collectively create a system that discourages community resistance or accountability demands.

Okon highlighted the direct human impact of long-term pollution in oil-producing communities, sharing testimonies from affected women in the Niger Delta.

“One of the women in Otuabagi (Bayelsa State) said if you cut my waist, you will not see blood, you will see crude oil,” she recounted.

Okon said the statement explained what environmental groups described as extreme levels of contamination in some communities where oil spills and polluted water sources have become part of daily life.

“We are told the Federal Government is now building a museum, which to me is another level of deception. Communities will begin to think the museum is going to bring something good for the community and then they will sit and expect, and nothing reasonable will come out,” she stated.

She argued that meaningful intervention must focus on environmental restoration, livelihood recovery and pollution control rather than symbolic infrastructure.

Okon urged journalists to take a more active role in translating technical environmental reports and laws into accessible public information, particularly for host communities.