Nigeria Content Online

The struggle over
the location of a refinery in Kogi State has caught the attention of
many Nigerians. The governor is accused of taking the refinery away
from Lokoja to his hometown.

The submission of
this article is that the governor, and all those who made the deal with
the Chinese to build three refineries, should actually be forced to
locate these refineries in not just their villages, but on their own
private land as well.

Why?

Refineries are not
industrial installations that people should wish to be located even in
their enemy’s community. They are extremely toxic and poison everything
and everyone around them. This is well known in the communities close
to refineries in Warri, Kaduna, and Port Harcourt.

Apart from the
release of toxic gaseous emissions into the atmosphere, the liquid
effluents from these refineries are scarcely treated, and are dumped
into water bodies on which local communities depend. The case of Ubeji
community, behind the Warri Refinery, is particularly pathetic.

The community river
and their mangrove swamps were severely polluted and engulfed in flames
in July 2007. Till date, no remediation exercise has been carried out.
You may hear that some compensation has been paid, but what is that
pittance compared to the danger to which the community is permanently
exposed to? What would such minor compensations do when the livelihoods
of most of the citizens have been more or less permanently curtailed?

Other countries examples

The toxic impacts
of refineries are just as bad in other parts of the world. In South
Durban, South Africa, the refineries (owned by Shell/BP joint venture)
were located according to the dictates of the apartheid political
system.

A visit to these
communities today reveals a high incidence of cancers, blood disorders,
and respiratory diseases such as asthma. Indeed, the prevalence of
cancers and asthma is so high that you would hardly find a family
without members that have died from these diseases, or who are
suffering from them. One of the things kids pack as they head to school
is the pumps to use in suppressing asthmatic attacks.

The difference
between the refineries of South Africa and the ones in Nigeria is that
the communities there are organised against pollution and work to
produce evidence through the use of means such as the Bucket Brigades
(who use bucket-like equipment to collect air samples for measurements).

There have been
charges of environmental racism with regard to the location of toxic
factories in the USA. However, one of the most spectacular incidents
involving a refinery in the USA was the huge explosion that occurred at
the Shell refinery at Norco, Louisiana, in May 1988. The fire from that
explosion lasted for eight hours before it was contained. The blame was
placed on rusty pipelines and inadequate preventive maintenance
procedures.

There are several
examples around the world of the negative consequences of siting
refineries in neighbouring communities. One peculiar case is an aged
Shell refinery in Curacao (near Venezuela) now being run by the
Venezuelan state oil company, after Shell sold the refinery to the
Curacao government in the 1980s for less than one dollar. They sold the
refinery because they were faced with the need to clean up toxic dumps
they had created at a cost of about 400 million dollars.

Back to Nigeria, it
is mindboggling to find people fighting to have these installations in
their localities. Those from whose localities they are moved away from
should actually be engaged in thanksgiving and celebrations, rather
than blocking highways in protests! The Chinese have found a business
opportunity because the NNPC has been inept at managing the four
refineries in Nigeria. Must the need to meet increasing demand for
petroleum products force us to open ourselves to be ripped off?

The Chinese are to
build and run the refineries until they recover their investments.
Without terminal dates of when CSCEC would hand over the facilities to
the NNPC, there is a wide room for corrupt practices and unmitigated
exploitation.

Moreover, placing
the refineries on the banks of the River Niger in Kogi State, as well
as on the shores of the Atlantic at Lekki may be ways of democratising
pollution, but these are moves we can ill afford at this time.

Besides, we need
public debates and examination of environmental impact assessments for
these projects before they proceed further.

Nnimmo Bassey is
Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth
Nigeria. He is also chair of Friends of the Earth International.