Nigeria Content Online

It is sad that the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that ought to be an arbiter
in cases of environmental and human rights abuses has become a partisan
at a price tag of $10 million at the behest of Shell. Just imagine what
that amount of money could have done if it had been deployed towards a
serious environmental audit and remediation.

UNEP is preparing a
report claiming that 90 percent of the oil spills in Ogoni are caused
by the locals in the process of stealing crude from the pipes and that
Shell’s aged pipelines and ill maintained installations account for a
mere 10 percent of the spills.

What period was
covered by this study? Does it include the spills over which the
Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) complained and
resisted further degradation? Does it include the degradation that
pitched Ken Saro-Wiwa and MOSOP against oppressive dictators and Shell?

This attempt to
rewrite the history of environmental violence visited on the Niger
Delta by transnational oil corporations sounds like a story from outer
space. UNEP has simply lent itself to become Shell’s pet parrot. What
they are saying is in line with what Shell used to claim in the 1980s
and at any given opportunity.

Then, they claimed
that about 80 percent of the oil spills were caused by vandalism or
sabotage. The claim of sabotage is particularly attractive to oil
corporations because they are exempted from payment of compensations.
In order to maximise profits, it makes sense for oil to spill into the
creeks, swamps, and farmlands, destroy the means of livelihood of the
locals; and then turn around and blame the victims.

Anyone who wishes
to gain more insight into the story of Shell in Nigeria, the book,
‘Where Vultures Feast – Forty Years of Shell in Nigeria’ written by
Oronto Douglas and Ike Okonta is worth reading. It clearly shows that
the story of Shell and its records of oil spills are not new.

Expert assessment

Another specialist
who has done significant work on the Ogoni and the Niger Delta
environment is Richard Steiner. An international expert on oil spills,
Steiner, a professor, participated in two studies on oil damage in the
Niger Delta, and was contracted to write the manual on oil damage
assessment and restoration by UNEP in 2004.

When Shell hired
UNEP to carry out the present study, Steiner offered to provide
scientific advice and guidance to the UNEP Ogoni study, but his offer
was declined. When asked what he thought of the UNEP report, Steiner
said,

“The conclusions
from the Shell-financed UNEP study on oil damage in Ogoniland are
simply incorrect. Our earlier results suggest that much of the oil
spilled there was due to poor practice by Shell, rather than bunkering
and sabotage. I will need to review their methodology and expertise,
but it is entirely implausible that 90 percent of the oil spilled was
due to bunkering.

I suspect this was
not peer reviewed. This is not an independent, credible assessment, and
is a real disservice to the environment, the people of the Niger Delta,
and environmental justice globally. I suggest that the study be
recalled by UNEP, a credible independent peer review process be
implemented, and then reissued, if there is anything left to report.”

Environmental field
monitors have compiled a catalogue of spills by oil companies operating
in Nigeria. The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency
(NOSDRA) reports a total of 3,203 oil spills in the Niger Delta region
in the last four years, while the records of the Directorate of
Petroleum Resources’ show that 4,835 incidents resulted in the spillage
of at least 2,446,322 barrels of crude oil between 1976 and 1996.
Seventy seven percent of that quantity was not recovered and was lost
to the environment. The list continues to lengthen everyday.

Some notable past
spills include the Escravos spill of 1978 in which 300,000 barrels of
crude oil was spilled into the coastal waters and another 1978 spill
caused by tank failure at Forcados Terminal in which 580,000 barrels
were spewed into the environment. Their spill in 2008 at Ikot Ada Udoh
went unattended to for months before it was stopped.

The matter of their 2004 spill at Goi, Ogoni, is in the courts in The Netherlands.

A victim testimony

On June 6, 2001,
Shell oil pipeline, which passes through the Baraale community,
ruptured and started spilling crude oil into nearby forests, farmlands,
and houses. Aseme Mbani, chief of the community, was in his farm when
the pipeline ruptured, he told environmental field monitors.

Mr. Mbani said he took steps to ensure that Shell repaired the ruptured pipeline.

“I reported the
matter to the Shell contractors in charge of the pipeline and also to
the police that the pipeline is leaking. After that, we wrote Shell a
‘Save Our Soul’ letter. When there was no response, I went to Shell to
report at a section they call ‘Ogoni Re-entry.’ They told me they have
seen the letter I wrote. They said we should suffer the spillage
because we caused it. They said we have been cutting pipelines and we
should reap what we sow. Disaster struck on October 1, 2001, when the
leaking oil caught fire.”

Detection of causes
of oil spills does not require rocket science. One of the first steps
is the conduct of the Joint Inspection Visits (JIVs) by teams having
oil company representatives, relevant government agencies such as the
DPR and community representatives. There are allegations that these
visits have been used to bribe and divide communities. It will be
interesting for UNEP to produce the JIV reports, with identifiable
signatures of community representatives to back up the claims of a
clean bill of health for Shell in the matter of oil spills.

Bassey is Chair, Friends of the Earth International