Scholars sue for environmental justice, remediation in oil-rich Niger Delta

University’s dons have sued for speedy environmental remediation and justice in the Niger Delta to avert looming mass deaths in the troubled oil-rich region, as the unsustainable activities of oil exploitation and the government’s neglect still pose a threat to human lives in the area and the environment that continue to be negatively impacted.

The scholars maintained that although sufficient media attention has been beamed on the pollution plight in the region, the oil companies and government were yet to take decisive action to address the issues, stating that the inaction of the government was because Nigeria’s centre of power, Abuja, was far removed from the impacted environment.

They, therefore, sued for more media spotlight on the ongoing environmental degradation to continuously draw the attention of the government and the oil companies for immediate action.

The three university scholars, drawn from the University of Port Harcourt and River State University, spoke on the theme ‘Despoliation, Power and Redress: Issues in Communicating the Environment,’ as part of programme activities of the West Africa Regional Hub, Port Harcourt, of the 72nd International Communication Association (ICA).

The global conference of communication scholars, teachers and practitioners was held in Paris, France from May 26 – 30, 2022, alongside 11 regional hubs of which Port Harcourt is West Africa’s Regional Hub headquarters. The regional hubs joined virtually.

The session was moderated by regional hub organiser and Doctoral Candidate of Communication Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Ekaete George, who led panel members through the discussion that had Associate Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Port Harcourt, Dr. Obari Gomba, Head of Department, Journalism and Media Studies, River State University, Dr. Barigbon Nsereka and Dr. Mina Ogbanga also of the University of Port Harcourt.

Ogbanga canvassed educating social workers and young people on preserving the environment, arguing that if people knew the effects of their actions on the environment early, they would be careful how they handled it.

She gave an instance of illegal refineries in the Niger Delta, locally referred to as ‘kpo-fire’, that spread soot to pollute the environment, saying if those people polluting the environment knew the harm they were inflicting, they would stop.

Nsereka argued that journalists were doing their best, but that they needed to do more in reporting environmental degradation issues until sufficient attention is paid to remedying it by the prime beneficiary, the government, which also holds levers of power to cause a turnaround.

He said journalists from the impacted environment would most likely report it better since they were directly impacted as against others.

He also stated that the Federal Government was lax about remedying the impact of oil activities in the region or regulating the oil companies because the centre of Nigeria’s political power is far removed from the impacted Niger Delta environment.

He canvassed that journalists should deploy an activism reporting style and not just a development communication approach to reporting issues about the environment.

Nsereka also noted that Nigeria is plagued by triplets of greed, corruption and general indiscipline, adding, “Those who ought to benefit from the oil resources are denied and there are those persons who want to gain from the wealth of the Niger Delta, but who don’t want to suffer what those who live in the Niger Delta suffer. Olusegun Obasanjo said oil in the Niger Delta belongs to Nigeria, but not every Nigerian suffers from the pollution (as a result of oil activities) in the Niger Delta. The things to consider in reporting the environment include being passionate and having a bias and sentiment about the environment.”

“Those reporting the environment and its degradation should be passionate and it should not be done by those who do not come from the environment. Media should not rest on its oars; it should talk about the environment with passion.”

Gomba, who just won a major Africa poetry prize for his poetry collection ‘The Lilt of the Rebel’, and whose poetry has focused heavily on the impacted environment of the Niger Delta, lamented that globally the environment has always been on the receiving end of man’s insatiable greed for wealth accumulation with scant regard for it, adding that what man does is to “profit from the environment. When you have accumulation and control, you abuse the environment.”

He canvassed that all art forms, ranging from literature, visual art (painting), film, and photography, “must be involved in communicating the environment to government and the global community which should pressurise government for action, adding, “with issues of environmental degradation, (Nigeria’s political) power appears to be deaf” (because it is not affected), saying that it is the only rational explanation why environmental justice and remediation action have not been undertaken all these years that environmental campaigners and impacted communities have been shouting themselves hoax.