Foremost environmentalist, Mr. Nnimmo Bassey, has described Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta as an occupied territory. Bassey, Chairman of Friends of the Earth International from 2008 to 2012, and currently director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation, stated this while speaking on the topic, ‘Oil Spillage, State Response and Implications for the Environment’ as a guest of the weekly #MondayTango tweet chat session of HEDA.

He stated that although the discovery of oil is ‘neither a curse nor a blessing’, the major problem with oil activities ‘starts when men decide not to leave it (oil) underground’. He further explained that due to the country’s sole reliance on oil, its exploration has greatly affected the ‘politics and socio-economic progress’ of the country. He listed the oil companies, the Nigerian government, oil contractors, oil subsidy scammers and oil thieves as the major groups that have benefitted from oil exploration activities in the Niger Delta, overtime.

According to him, “Without security breaches no one can successfully steal and transport crude in the creeks.”

Given this background, Mr. Bassey defined oil spillage as “the release of crude oil into the environment from compromised pipelines or related facilities.” He proceeded to explain the effects of oil spills, and stated that oil spillage is highly “damaging to the eco-systems,” and it also poses great hazard to “water, land and even air.”

On the question of the major perpetrators of oil spill cases in Nigeria, Mr. Bassey stated that the oil companies are mostly responsible for the number of oil spillages in the Niger Delta region. He explained that the problems of poor standards, poor maintenance and expired pipes used by the oil companies are also responsible for the cases of oil spills in the region. He added that although, there is a connection between oil theft and oil spillage, but the connection is not as major as that of the oil companies. Mr. Bassey mentioned that Shell’s recent admittance of responsibilities in the Bodo oil spill was a step in the right direction and that the oil company still has to admit other major oil spills that it was responsible for. He charged the oil companies to also ensure they clean up the affected areas. According to him, Military presence is an intimate part of the problem. They bomb crude laden boats, burn bush refineries.

He explained that in order to ensure that compensations paid by oil companies get to the affected communities and individuals, proper documentations of the compensation payments must be made. He added that ‘compensations can never pay for environmental harm’. In his explanation of the effects of oil spillages, it is not limited to humans, but also extended to the entire eco-system as well.

On the question of how effective the Nigerian government has been in prosecuting perpetrators of environmental injustice caused by oil spills, Mr. Bassey responded that he is yet to see any prosecution by the Federal Government, and he added that, ‘the government and the oil companies are joint venture partners’. He also said: “The Niger Delta is an occupied territory. Citizens raise their hands in the creeks each time they see the military.”

On his stance on the recent reduction of the fuel price to N87, as announced by the Federal Government, Mr. Bassey stated that the reduction should also be extended to other petroleum products, and should not be limited to only fuel.

The chat session ended with Mr. Bassey explaining that he, like other eco-activists, is actively clamouring to save the Niger Delta region from further degradation. He stated that part of their strategies include restrategising, exposing the spills and demanding cleanups of areas affected by oil spills.

•Photo shows Nnimmo Bassey.