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Environmental Degradation is a thorn in the flesh of economies worldwide even where hydrocarbon wealth hardly exist given the fact climate change is a major topics that dominates academic ,media ,political and scholarly debates worldwide .The recently concluded climate change conference in Paris is a pointer to the immense need to cater for the environment currently abused worldwide still at loggerheads to reach consensus concrete resolution even though it was agreed as major ecological threat.Nigeria is not an exception given the fact that Niger Delta is the single largest industrial complex worldwide in terms of contribution to greenhouse gases .In this incendiary treatise ,the blogger explores the challenges facing the country in the last 60 years like the rest of the world if not far worse in a country in which social safety net hardly exist for the hapless people of oil rich region.Enjoy the reading.
Niger Delta as an open book that can be read by nearly everyone including a
toddler without any evidence of special
skills is an open sore in the international community .Inspite of monumental endowment and quintessential natural asset wealth deposit ,the first 50 years
of oil exploration has brought nothing but untold hardship to its hapless
citizens.Niger Deltans today unarguarbly
are the poorest Nigerians living perennially being repressed in that geographical and demo graphical contraption that is called "Nigeria"
that we so much loved and cherished to be
called a nation .Truly speaking , the discovery of blackgold by
hydrocarbon vultures can not be exonerated from the perpetual plunder of human
right abuse , heartless genocide and
monumental ecological devastation of the region who are bent on milking
it dry to the shame of the posterity and generation yet unborn .We review here in a jiffy the challenges facing the region,insensitivity
of the laws and oil industry in particular proffering the enduring solution as the most ideal strategic resource
to confront the tireless
intimidating hurdles facing the region and the Nigerian economy at large.
Niger Delta as an extensive marshland covering wide expanse fused together
by Deltas and a host of other natural endownments comprising its topography
.These includes major tributaries such as Num ,Forcados , Sunbriomo and
St,Bartholomew emptied into the Atlantic Ocean and feeding its users mainly fishermen and
farmers as local inhabitants and inheritors of nature's gifts .
THE REGION'S DEMO GRAPHICAL AND ECOLOGICAL PROFILES
With the benefit of checkered antecedence ,the Niger Delta still remains a
scar in the conscience of western civilization .Besides Congo Basin which
controls 40 percent of World total strategic minerals, Niger Delta and Niger
Delta industrial complex is unarguably the richest part of Africa .70 percent
of World 's total fauna and flora are located here in Africa but amazingly some
60 percent of these mineral resources can be found in Niger Delta.
The word 'Delta ' in the 5th century B.C. was coined by
Herodotus -a Greek Historian to describe Nile Delta .A discrete shoreline
protuberances which clustered where rivers ,lakes ,lagoon and Oceans
inter-mingled with semi -enclosed areas and distributing sediments faster than
it can be re channeled by its basinal
process.River Deltas are often influenced
the convergence of water bodies ,civilisation settlements ,economic activities , cultural exchange and free flow of rivers .Naturally ,landlocked
economies are usually much more deprived of this magnitude in terms of
ecological assets and the size of economic activities in a seagoing region
extremely differs from landlocked region .This alone can make desert societies
a lot more greener with envy and avarice all in the crave of heartless raiding
and capitalist aggression, usurping oil wealth in the region and carted away
illegally to beautify western metropolis
.
River Niger to put it succinctly has the 9th largest drainage area of World
rivers .This drains into the Niger Delta which is also regarded as one of the
largest wetlands in the world with over 20,000sq.km .The compositional four
ecological areas includes Mangroves freshwater,Swamp forests,Coastal barrier
Islands and low land rainforests.The
demographical challenges facing the territory started with this somewhat
imprecated oil wealth .
Generally ,the Mangrove forest in the country is the 3rd largest in the world and the largest
in Africa .It is the most extensive freshwater swamp forest in the west and central Africa.Over 60percent
of the nation 's mangrove rainforest is found in Niger Delta in a vast area
accessible only by boat .Over 80percent of the region is excessively flood
prone and unfortunately delta wide flood and erosion management plan hardly
exist .With large oil and gas deposit controling 90 percent of the nation's
production outputs ,extensive forest ,and vast agricultural resources built on
a vast flood plain the last 50 years have been shortchanged not only by chronic underdevelopment and the prowling
of the vultures but more or less by lethargy of political class .70 percent
poverty rate is not only disturbing but the level of youth restiveness,rising
vendata and socially disruptive
behaviour had escalated during the
period and still not yet abated.
The Niger Delta states have extensive fish resources estimated at between
270,000-366,000m.t produced annually .It has no comprehensive fishery
managemnet approach .Coastal areas
reserved for artisanal fishing and larger estuaries are taken over by
fishing trawlers pillaging the natural benthic environment that is exploited
as piscatory ground for breeding and nursery purposes .The areas that
fishery and nursery thrive have been
taken over by invasion of Nypa palm
hindering the mangrove seedlings regeneration in these areas coupled with the
destruction of mangrove forests .The rivers and lagoon channels dredging and
alteration has recorded increased flooding ,diverted flow and hindered fishing
and breeding.Entrophication of water bodies resulting in depleted oxygen water layers ..The
surface of water bodies , ground water ,drinking water have been badly polluted
including oil polluted soils and untilised agricultural lands .
This ecological profile by itself cannot only be intimidating as it were
but had been a source of public envy to desert but advanced economies of the
world lacking such quintessence .The massive brigandage and incessant looting of
the last half century can be linked to the prevalence of this unbridled capitalist avarice and the degenerative
quagmire of western aggression .Nevertheless let us explore a
little deeper the word' Niger Delta' as enthused by local tongues.
In the OMPADEC Dream,A.K HORSFALL
noted there is no consensus definition for Niger Delta as found among the
citizens based on the survey of spokesmen of the region .They see Delta based
on political definition '' geographically
as a triangle with its apex between
Ndoni and Aboh descending eastwards to the Qua Iboe River at Eket and westwards to the Benin River with its base along the
Atlantic coast between the bights of Benin and the Biafra'' It also consists of
politically clustered six states of the federation comprising the South
Southern region namely-Akwa Ibom
,Bayelsa,Delta,Rivers,Cross Rivers ,Edo.The core Niger Delta includes
Rivers,;Delta and Bayelsa and to some extent Akwa Ibom in aditttion to the
periphery states such as Ondo,Anambra ,Edo ,Cross River and Imo States .In
contrast the elastic school contends that both these groupings core and
periphery constitute the Niger Delta comprehensive formation.
While others saw it as a rainbow region 'where diverse ethnic nationalities
have found a home ,some argued it comprises of three aboriginal groups namely
-the Ijaw of Edonoid groups and the
Ibibio and the rest were formed by protestants and the refugees who fled the
harsh Benin rule .
THE HORRENDOUS ECOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES AND CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICAL CHALLENGES
It can be contended for the umpteenth time the discovery of blackgold
unmasked the renaissance of rampant looting ,unbridled kleptocracy ,economic colonization
and remorseless brigandage of the natural resources endowment of the indigenous
minorities in Niger Delta .Writing in the ''Oil And Gas Exploration In The
Niger Delta;The Social And Demographical Challenges'' , published in the
defunct Post Express more than dozen
years ago -April 26 ,2001 pg. 24],Nnimo Bassey Nigeria 's foremost
Environmental Rights Activism-ERA consultant and quintessential ecological
expert once noted :that ''the first succesful
of oil well in west Africa was
drilled in Oloibiri in 1956 .When this feat was attained ,it was an achievement of great joy for the oil
giant-Shell and for the people of Ogbia it gave them reason to hope .The oil
wells brought in bright lights and fast
life ,both largely restricted to the facilities of the oil company .Today ,
Oloibiri site is a forlorn sight .The lights
have since been extinguished and the dushes hold sway .Accessing the oil
well today takes the determination of an explorer ‘’ .The road to Oloibiri now
is a road serfdom and a reminder of the holocaust years
Then he concluded ";If the Oloibiri well truly becomes a millennium
monument as the minister for environment announced ,it may take the faint
hearted a millennium to make it there''.Today Oloibiri has not only become a national embarrassment
by all ramification but also an international shame of monumental proportion
.The discovery of oil has brought nothing but mass deprivation and total penury
to the people of Niger Delta .
From all indication of socioeconomic indices ,the most horrible standard of
living,the lowest life expectancy and
the poorest region of the country can be found there .The subsidiary factors
responsible for the prevalence of poverty in the region include-environmental degradation ,oil
extraction activities both related ,which by nature is intrinsically hostile to
the people and unrelated but indirectly influenced by potential wealth not
tapped .The crossing of creeks and farmlands with pipelines ,oil flow stations
and oil installations and the inherent intermittent massive spills not properly
cleaned up better testified to the callous aggressors in connivance with
heartless politicians in the country .
This economic terrorism begins at the exploratory stage .The brutal opening
of rainforest, mangrove swamps and a host of voluminous seismic activities .They
undermined the existing biodiversity pillaged watercourses ,wild life and fauna
and flora .The illegal loggers plundering the local ecological resources which
were meant to sustain the social life of local people ;the importation of
strange cultures, extensive pauperization and dislocation of its people has
been the punitive reward for the first 50 years of independence. This stage put
the region on the world map as the most
unfriendly ecological habitat in the world .
NIGERIA LAWS ARE BLIND
:INDIGENOUS IMPERIALISM
So many waters have since passed under the bridge and diverse and
misleading reports wielded through the media were bandied aboard and
disseminated to unwary public. For instance one calls quickly to mind a piece
written by Doifie Ola entitled A Voice Against Shell'' published in ThisDay on
September 16 , 2001 ,page 35 that specifically lamented the alarming proportion
of false publication and false propaganda by Shell and its proxies claiming Shell
as a socially responsible corporate citizen ''immensely concerned about the
welfare of communities where it operates''
.The statistical abuse and gross
intellectual terrorism had been massively adopted over the last first 59 years of her operation relentlessly reeled
out to deceive unsuspecting ,ignorant public
and gullible Nigerians . During the period under survey series of book
and articles were published but the most important book during the period -a
well research masterpiece entitled
:Where The Vultures Feast :Forty Years of Shell In The Niger Delta '' published
in the United States by Sierra Books and Random House written by two authors
Ike Okonta and late Oronto Douglass hits the newstand It is an explosive
encounter of the imperial activities of Shell
and fellow vultures-the multinationals
in the Niger Delta .This account
of environmental degradation still stood out more than a dozen years after and hardly miss the road contrary to those who absolve shell and the multinationals
of any acts of atrocities in the region.
We cannot also be forced to ignore the fact that local laws were specially
crafted in a way to repress the minorities in the land especially in the
region.Infact the Nigerian constitution made no provision for them .Media sources put it succinctly that there
are over 40 laws so much crafted in this way to repress the gullible minorities
.Federal laws such as petroleum decree 51 of 1969 and the infamous land use act
decree of 1978 are completely inhuman
and so bad that ''they give a legal teeth to the stealing of the land and
resources of the people''.
Dofie interestingly captures the gravity of the situation ,hear him:
''Characteristically ,Shell and other western multinationals oil
corporations have profited from these legal but illegitimate instruments .They
have used these obnoxious laws to secure
mining licenses from central government.They have used these unjust laws to appropriate farm lands ,forests and waters
from local communities .They have used these undemocratic laws as a cover to
disregard the rightful complaints of their host communities.But then ,it is a fundamental truth that Shell and its ilks have run foul of even
these bad laws .For instance , the petroleum decree makes it clear that oil installations should not be
built on sacred land-a provision
which Shell has deliberately neglected across the N.Delta
.This is the case at Yorla and Ebubu in Ogoniland where Shell has oil
wells in sacred lands.''
In the cemetery that had been existing as far back as 1812-the sacred
burial place of Ohali-Elu in Ogba
-Egbema local government areas of Rivers State ,graves were
unearthed ,bones and skulls excavated
and ''crushed ''to pave way for pipelines construction .This happened in April 1998
when Shell was contractors took
on the liquefied natural gas
project.They have also incessantly contravened the numerous legislation such
as the oil and navigable waters act of
1968 ;Oil pipelines act of 1956,the petroleum -drilling and production
regulations -1967 and the petroleum act of 1969 ,the Associated gas
-reinjection act of 1979,the environmental
impact assessment-ERA of 1992 ,the oil and gas pipelines act of 1993
,mineral oil safety act of 1997 .In addition to voluminous guidelines being
reeled out annually from the ministry
and the department of petroleum ,these environmental standards and robust guidelines laid the platform on oil
pollution for the performance of the industry -its quality services for optimal delivery .
Nigeria is also a signatory to several international agreements on environment
.The international convention on oil pollution preparedness Response and
Coordination -OPRC .
OPRC specifically addresses oil activity and pollution. Its objectives
include :marine oil pollution prevention in accordance to adequate
precautionary measures on response to the
event of occurrence of oil
pollution and mutual cooperation between states in order to fulfill these
objectives .There are other international environmental consensus or agreements such as Vienna convention for the protection
of Ozone layer ,The Montreal protocol
and the London Amendment ,Convention on biological diversity and the
international convention on pollution as earlier noted are some of the legal
instruments on parade in the international community to lubricate trade and
transport.
Respect for human rights and the minority question especially this hapless
region is vital ingredient for promotion
of national cohesion.The United Nations framework is there for all nations to
follow and Nigeria should not be an exception. She is signatory to the U.N.
Declaration of Human rights of 1948 which clearly stipulates what constitutes
human rights .The African Charter on Human and People's rights in accordance to
the article 63-sub-3, of the OAU or AU provides another legal framework. These
are vital legal instruments upon which the above environmental laws were
enacted for the protection of the integrity of human persons .
The word human right itself may not have generally accepted meaning but
surely in its simplest appeal can be explained graphically as those form of
rights that allow an individual to recognize the true essence of his existence
,his worth as human person irrespective of his educational
background,colour,race,religion,tribe,nationality ,naturality ,creed
,philosophy and diverse cultural barriers etc .The concern for human rights in
the country dates back to the colonial epoch, when the then erstwhile overlords
regarded it as their duty to civilize
the so called'' savages '' and to transform such brutes as they ignorantly called them into civilized European tradition
.The colonial era was fraught with extensive abuse of human right up till its
dying days and prospects of independence still regarded the savages as no
worthy of been freed -an epoch that was saved by people's agitation for
independence .
Unfortunately ,the minorities felt and sensed a feeling of betrayal by the
majority tribes even before independence, protested to colonial authority and expressed their dissatisfaction ,that
they desired their own independence nations as worthy citizens in their own
rights in their own lands without threat of aggression from dominant
tribes.This minority ethnic ,religious ,political and economic groups made
known their grievances to stand alone and were apprehensive of discrimination
,abuse of political power and indigenous imperialism from the dominant tribes
which they believed would get worse
after independence .Even in the Northern region ,the minority there
expressed similar opinions especially local native police and traditional chiefs using their
power to intimidate and arrest subjects and opposition. The western region 's
minorities also did not fail to complain of allegation of discrimination and marginalization
in the civil service appointments including sharing of resources . The eastern region's minority groups made similar complaints about deliberate
public service neglects and equitable distribution of resources.
It was this feeling and fear of indigenous imperialism by majority
tribes that led to the minority
groups's agitation which fought for separation and detachment from the North of
a middle belt State,in the East for the Calabar -Ogoja-Rivers State and the
West with the breaking away of midwestern region-Edo and Delta in 1964..Infact
the setting up of the Willinck commission -1957-58 by the British Colonial government
was principally motivated by this divisive tendencies .Shortly after the probe
in the complaints of the minority groups the commission made recommendation
which inserted fundamental right clauses into the constitution basically to protect the minority groups and
avert their grief and despair .Shortly after independence ,the 1960 constitution
specifically made provision for them..For instance , in the sections 17 to
32 provide for protection of
fundamental human rights of the citizens
as follows against'' .....deprivation of life , inhuman treatment ,slavery and
forced labour ,deprivation of personal liberty , private and family life
,freedom of conscience,expression,freedom of peaceful assembly ,association and
movement ,freedom from discrimination and compulsory acquisition of property .
Inspite of the lofty provisions ,it did stop flagrant abuse of power and infringement on the fundamental human
right of the minority groups for close to 60 years of independence .Even before
the advent of the military rule ,the 1962 and 1964 Tiv crisis brutally handled by the Northern
People's congress -NPC dominant
government of the period brings to memory the callous briddle of this ordeal
.There are so many ethnic nationality conflicts such as Ugep-Ndomi war of
1992;the Urhobo-Itsekiri crisis of 1992;the Ijaw-Itsekiris crisis of
1997-98;the Zangon-Kataf crisis in Southern Zaria ;the TIV-Junkum conflicts in
Wukari LGA in Taraba State ;the Mangu-Bokko conflicts on the Jos ,Plataeu;the Ijaw-Ilaje crisis of
1998 ;the Okrika-Ogoni war of 2000;the Ijaw- Urhobo battle with the Gbarigolo
area in 1996 ;the Hausa -Ibo in Kano;the Sharia riots in Kaduna,2000 and
reprisals in certain parts of Iboland; the Yoruba-Hausa conflicts like the one
in Shagamu in 1998 including the Kano reprisals and then again
the Yoruba-Hausa pitched ,Lagos,2000 etc .
There are other intra-ehtnic clashes such as the Ife-modakeke wars,the
Isoko internal wars; the Degema-kalabari affray;the Igbo -Ora-Yoruba conflicts
.The public relation management practice of ethnic nationality crisis for this
form of challenge has not often too good in this part of the world .The causes
of ethnic crisis is too historical and has been noted above that minority
groupings were skeptical before
independence of being assured of dignified in the polity of new nation and
indeed were repressed by majority tribes and superior ethnic groupings.Loosing
their sovereignty and the political space that they call homeland in which they
enjoyed autonomy prior to amalgamation of 1914 now sacrificed against all
intents and purpose for the new nation cannot be detached as the rootstock of
these intermittent crisis.And since the creation of more States ,Nigerians now
guard their States more jealously ,emotionally ,politically and demographically
.Since pre-independence era ,when Umoru Altine -a Hausa-Fulani was a mayor of
Enugu ,another Ernest Ikolie a Rivers Ijaw dominated Lagos politics ; Chief
Ekuyasi -Igbo of Ebusa won election in Benin city ; and another one Ebubedike
,an igbo won election into Ajegunle in the old western house in Ibadan .Very
few Nigerians stiil win election outside their ethnic nationalities and
homeland .
Junk journalism had also come to be a bottleneck and its manner of managing
ethnic crisis speaks volume of its inadequacy and unfortunate limitation .For
instance even long after the Ijaw and Itsekiri
crisis ,the use of the word of relocation by the media still rings disharmony
and hollow propensity of our media pundits .While the Ijaw had argued that a
Warri South Local government with its headquarters at Ogbe -Ijoh was created in 1996 for them
through decree No.36 0f 1996 and 7 of 1997 Warri-South West Local
Government and why would the Itsekiri influenced the relocation
of what belong to them to Ogidigben -an
Itsekiri community? So,Willinck commission was right after all and how effective
were the strategic implementation of its
provision in the constitutions?
This antecedence of minority groups' repression became pronounced during
the military era within the political,economic ,social and cultural landscape
that is Nigeria in which Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo once called ''a mere
geographical expression''.Due to this tendency for being subsumed into the
majority group blocs , they invariably nursed this feeling of marginalization
and the worst form of minority groups' general abuse can be found in the Niger
Delta ;beginning with the struggle of Isaac Adaka Boro and his colleagues ' attempt to break away
from the country .Boro's agitation for self determination and separation of the
Niger Delta was frustrated by the federal authorities. The attempt by the
defunct Bafra nation was only a reminder
of the long truncated struggle that Adaka Boro started several years before the
civil war.
When Adaka Boro exploded in the early 60s and launched a major revolution
to seized oil installations in the region using armed gangs to possibly that
later precipitated indirectly the civil war of 1967 ,he became an instant hero
and later absorbed into the NIGERIAN
ARMY and subsequently ,died fighting the cause of one Nigeria at last.Ever
since ,the fight against human right abuse has taken the front burner with
human right activism taken the onus to protect the integrity of human persons
not just minority nationwide.Credit must go to the patriots for sacrificing
their lives for close 60 years strengthening of nation building at the cost of
their lives .
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT ASSESMENT-EIA
How effective have been in the implementation and enforcement of this
internationally acclaimed conventions ?The government formally recognized
statutory institution-the federal environmental protection agency saddled with the mandate to manage oil pollution and other environmental hazards being under control
of the federal ministry of environment
and various state ministries empowered by appropriate legislation to safeguard the environment have been found wanton .The modes of granting
licenses as well as modalities for oil prospecting , oil lifting ,by appropriate institution leaving
out oil prospecting states smacks of
inequity .
INTERNATIONAL LAW ,DOMESTIC
LAND LAWS AND RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
International law is applicable only to boundary and border disputes among
nations which seems to curb potential damaging effect.Only , the injured neighbor
has grounds to seek legal redress and
diplomatic consoles. The State shares similar passion and issues such as
coastal states shoreline altercation in which resolution is beyond a single
nation's competence to handle and requires multinational competence and
expertise to restore legal sanity .
The United Nations convention on the laws of the sea -UNCLOS specifically
addresses this burden and a consensus that reflects international relationship management
as may be construed from time to time .''Article 21 provides legal framework to
protect the right of coastal states
which may adopt regulation and appropriate laws
that conforms with the conventions and a host of international laws.This
prevents marine originality depletion , environmental crisis ,and control
pollution and degradation.Public observance and international consensus
compliance is vital for its success.
To exploit ,conserve and manage both
living and inanimate natural resources including those of seabed
'' subsoil super adjacent waters ''.Article 56 provides and gives the exclusive
rights and preserves jurisdiction for coastal states for this purpose ..This covers the entire zone's
exploration,exploitation or basically the riparian rights of the region.This
also includes energy production from water currents and winds .While they use
these rights the act campaign against right abuse or abuse of the rights of
other states
There are articles that confer rights and duties and also some articles of
the convention deal with enforcement of these rights and duties .In the
developing nations the challenge of observance and effective supervision and
monitoring to prove that activities in one coastal states not unleash damaging
effects on the coastal states........-Fagbohun-2008]
On April 30,1982 the long awaited law of the sea governing the use of the seas and the exploitation of
seabed resources inspite of its disappointments
was adopted by the United States laws
of the sea -UNCLOSconference at the conclusion of its eleventh
session after a grueling eight years of
negotiation by a vote of 130-4 oriented
for the governance and exploitation of the oceans.The treaty 's 320 articles and
nine annexes provide guidelines for the drawing of marine boundaries ,legal
duties' assignment, and responsibilities laying out mechanism for claims
settlement .This broadbased treaty regulates virtually every aspects of human
use of the seas ranging from aircraft passage
to ships navigation and maritime natural and mineral resources .It gives each coastal nation exclusive rights to
the fish and other marine life in a zone called exclusive economic zone
stretching 200 nautical miles from its shores.''Countries separated by a body
of water below 400 nautical miles wide must establish a dividing line for their respective zones through negotiation''.The treaty also
provides that each nation has the exclusive rights to the oil , natural gas and
other continental shelf oil resources that stretch not more than 350 miles beyond the coast .The
treaty calls for establishment of
international seabed authority affiliated to the United Nations to regulate
international waters mining . Disputes involving nations including individual
companies according to the treaty are to be settled in almost all cases by the
international tribunal for the law of
the sea or by international court of Justice at Hague .-1983 Year Book -Encyclopedia.
Besides the UNCLOS as an international environmental law ,we know that every nation has its own
domestic laws especially in relation to praedal asset such as real estate laws ,land laws and environmental laws as relevant
in this context.Like the real estate laws such as the received English
statutes-section 45 of the Interpretation act -1964.This gives legality to this alien statutes from England adopted in operation in the country beginning
from January 1st ,1900 adopted by Nigerian legal system until the eve of
independence or there about .The statutes of frauds-1677,Conveyance act--1881
both still applicable in the country .The most dominant being the land use act
decree of 1978 marked the turning point in the history of land administration
in which all lands belong to government .Every state has its state land
registry where searches can be made and back up by its land instrument
registration laws upon which the registries were thus created for
regulation of land instrument registration
,ascertaining of land titles and land location and other searches work
perfectly to organise the industry.
There is also the registration of land titles laws especially relevant in
places called registration districts as noted in some parts of Lagos.The
property and conveyancing act of 1959 dominant in old western and middle
western region of Nigeria excluding Lagos ,Stamp duties act specifies
procedures for stamping documents with main purpose for generating revenues for
government.Evidence act is another sample relevant to real estate development
and is strictly proven rules of evidence and dispute settlement in land matters
.Case laws and Common laws provide credible sources with the former often
popularly known as judge made laws emanated from the interpretations of the
Nigerian court rulings correcting legal errors and omissions of the latter .Other
laws such as the town and country planning law in Lagos State,Capital gains tax
,Survey act/laws, The rent control and recovery of residual premises act/law in
Lagos State ,Estate law administration etc.These laws are quite operational
despite their structural bottlenecks ,ensure smooth running and greasing of
land administration in the country .In the same way one expects environmental
laws in the country to be effectively applied using land as asset to the people
-the original owner rather than as a curse
.Given the legal principle-Quic
Quid Plantato Solo Solo
Cedit -which says the legal owner of a land automatically owns what is also on it
.See-Gaji Vs Paye /2003/8NWLR/PT.823/583] ,there can be no denying the fact
that ownership belonging to community held in trust by federal authorities must
be made to work for its people at the grassroot
to whom the latter owes its
allegiance and not for repression or brutalisation of the hapless in the
land .
The multinational buccaneers of justice are the reason why those laws
hardly worked in the country .And they have their laws in their own
countries perfectly working for them and
they comply with them only to impugn and abuse similar laws in alien lands .What
are these laws that we refer to ?These are environmental laws basically the
body of laws regulating and prevention of environmental pollution in communities .So ,mordern problems such
as fumes,toxic wastes,noise from
industrial plants ,automobiles , planes, trains .Debris such as cans,plastics,bottles
pollute the habitats and also oil spillages,and a host of others recognised the
evils of modern life .Until the mordern era ,America held laisez faire belief
uncompromisingly ,ever expanding westward ,encouraging mass production without
considering the implication on the environments
.This built impetus to the evolution of its own domestic environmental laws
.Why the need? It was necessary giving
the quatum growth of modern era and environmentally destructive pace of
industrial revolution and the inadequacies of prior laws of the twentieth
century to contain pollution also
necessitated the new order.
Today the American society has accepted that there must be limitation to freedom of action and' no man is an island
unto himself ' as noted by John Dunne several centuries ago .Consequently
, a number of federal research on environmental
precautions came onboard to look at the
or into the effect of the environment upon economy and mankind.Several laws
came into being as adopted by the Congress such as the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 ,Water and Environmental Quality Improvement Act Of 1970,the
Federal Air Quality Act amended supplemented by Air Quality Act of 1967,the
Clean Air Amendment Act of 1970 and the National Motor Vehicles Emission
Standards Act which established standards for reducing pollution from planes
,autos and fuel consumption with the requirement to produce pollution free
auto-mobile engine by 1975.
The United States department of health ,Education and welfare was responsible
for implementation of clean air act and divided the country into atmosphere
areas .A strategy that was used to apply
controls ,while the federal air pollution control administration regulates
automobile exhausts .The federal aviation makes similar policies and
regulations for airplanes and safeguarding airworthiness. Diverse forms of
regulations came onboard ranging from primary and secondary ambient setting air
quality standards ,performance standard ,federal prevention , control and air pollution
abatement measuration techniques ,smoke etc.Inspection guides also includes :autos,
air pollution standards ,carbon monoxides,hydrocarbons,nitrogen
oxides,particulates, sulphur dioxides and photochemical oxidants criteria;mobile sources driven '
control techniques for carbon monoxide,nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons ;
Stationary sources 'driven hydrocarbons and organic nutrients ;control
techniques for particulates ; control techniques for sulphur dioxides .
Even from the ordinary emission of
the asbestos standards was set and to a larger extent , mercury and berylium
dust .Federal regulations were adopted and well implemented and by early 70s
was proposed for extension to Cadmium dust and the adoption of standard to
restrain emission of odors was considered by the Environmental Protection Administration-EPA.Noise pollution
,popularly refers to as extensive imposition of noise upon the air was also
adequately attended to.Unlike the prior law ,that had made provision for scanty
protection for land owner 's protection from noise damage ,the emerging law
went a little bit further .For instance ,the use of sound truck or loud speaker
for advertising purposes can be curtailed when it interferes with the nearby
land owner's safety or neighboring lands.The flight of planes ,making excessive
noise to discomfort local residents can be censured and sanctioned .It can be
blocked by an injunction to stop use of the erring airport or divert its
particular flight pattern.These offerings are closely related to taking a
property and compensation for damages can be considered .
The need for protection against noise
pollution did not appreciate nor
was fully recognised until the expansion of commercial jet aircraft in the 60s
.However ,the main object of the federal noise pollution and abatement act of
1970 was to study the effect of noise and noise pollution as a potential threat
to life and property .It is an extension of an earlier law and the concept of
public nuisance was so intended because prior laws did not cover ample ground
to provide suitable guide for solution to this modern problem which requires a
modern solution to modern problem . The federal aviation act of 1958 deals with reduction of noise by regulation
to ensure such goal of reduction was attained .The regulation also includes
states 'laws and ancillary rules adopted by federal authorities operating airports .Except for few exceptions
,States were empowered to regulate noise from autos, motor cycles and other
vehicles and the activities between States ' authorities regulating local
landing of supersonic aircraft are well streamlined to perfectly fits and not
interfere with Federal control
authorities ,for instance engaged in interstate commerce .Infact in the
preamble to American constitution ,it ensures safeguarding of human and
corporate privacy ,with the principal word ,''to assure domestic
tranquility ''.
Water pollution are controlled by both States and federal statutes
including the dumping of industrial wastes and consequently , spreading of
diseases .Liabilities are imposed by
statutes for damage and clean up expenditures emanating from every drop of oil
spillages in the navigable waters ,rivers and ocean.The following statutes as
invariably applied includes:the Refuse Act of 1899-that barred
dumping of wastes in navigable waters
;Water Quality Improvement Act of
1970;Water Resources Research ACT ;Water Research and Planning act;Water
Research and Development act ;Federal
administrative regulations over the years have implemented and supplemented
these statutes and also created standards
and guidelines for water quality , including design ,administration
,operation and alimony of water treatment facilities .
Waste disposal as subject or an aspect
of water pollution was equally undiluted attention to wastes dumped into
rivers and lakes .This pollution aspect
deals also with burning of wastes in open dumping such as overtly or
covertly on federal roads or inter state
commerce or neighborhood .A couple of legislations guide this-Solid Waste
Disposal act ; Resource Recovery Act of 1970;and materials policy act of
1970.The latter act by encouraging ,recycling of wastes and reprocessing them
for re-use either for same purpose or for different purpose .The problems of
solid waste reduction and disposal with this act took another dimension
-entirely now a global practice even in Nigeria .
The effective regulation by these administrative agencies has taken the
management of modern ecology beyond the rational perspectives of preindustrial
peoples cultures .Given the inter-relationship between the pollution and non-pollution
problems and the magnitude of the threat it poses , to the posterity of modern
age especially ,the challenges of managing environment in view of the
consequences on human existence ,there can be no better time than at any other time in mortal history
to further rationalize the impeccable incentives that the merit of optimal
safeguard of environmental laws can give to a nation .As economy grows, the
threat of environmental degradation looms larger from decades to decades as it
were until now .
Anderson Kumpf in the Business Law '' writing in the 70s notes that ''it is estimated that 360 million
tons of solid wastes are generated annually in the United States and this amount will
double by 1980 ''and '' the cost of disposal is $4.5billion annually''.In the
book of essays -Impact Assessment Today ,vol.2,pg.76,collated by Hank A
Becker and Alan Porter .One of the
essays ''Psychosocial Impact Of Toxic Waste :An Overview '' written by
Michael R. Edelstein -PHD, he cited
Toh-1981,Office OF Technology-1983 and Hewitt-1981 and noted the following: That ''70,000 chemicals'' are
used regularly in the United States with another thousand added annually in addition
, to a billion pounds of pesticides ,fungicides and herbicides used ''every
day'' .But the waste use ends cycle of
the problems worsened this challenge
.The United States generates between 255m to 275 millions of metric tons of hazadous
wastes per annum and 90 percent of these toxins were not properly disposed .
During the period under survey by Edelstein as noted by the general
accounting office over 375,000 total hazardous sites were estimated to exist
and about 10,000 of these required urgent attention. Why would such hazardous
sites not properly considered and well disposed in the first place given its
potential threat to mankind and especially groundwater ?Not left behind ,about
400,000municipal landfills , liquid wastes impoundments and septic tanks
littering endangered ecology -Robertson-1983 . Indeed , it could be a child's
play when compared to the 21st century monumental challenge, given Anderson
estimated growth forecast and similar studies .The surface waste impoundments’
population estimates range between
80,263 and 175,000.Moreover, 70,000 underground storage tanks estimated
to be leaking according to Drayton-1984,was also expected to grow fivefold in
the immediate future .Massive contamination was found in drinking water across
954 cities in national study on groundwater -some 29 percent of the total
supplies ,in addition to studies at the
States 'level showing significant contamination.
The famous toxic exposure in the Love Canal
and lawsuit brought by victims of groundwater contamination in
Jackson,New Jeysey provided diverse researchers including Edelstein case
studies to launch their researches into this mind boggling civilization
inducing and civilization threatening incidents .In particular ,Rachel Carson
's classic book ''Silent Spring ''first published in 1962 with expository
analysis on the use and abuse of DDT and
pesticide was a landmark event in this
field.An unfortunate family near Toone ,Tennessee was bugged by sickness which
they felt was caused by pesticide waste dumped next to their land and took the
matter to court .Of course they were right ,though unlike love canal,New York ,
which became synonymous with problem of hazardous waste disposal, Toone didn't but nevertheless remarkably got one of the biggest judgments
''ever handed down in a lawsuit over damages from toxic wastes ''.This degradation was caused by a
company seventy five miles to the west ,all the way from Memphis dumped millions of gallons of
hazardous wastes according to Al Gore
''into trenches that leaked into the well water for miles around .''Backed with congressional
actions in 1978 riding on these petitions ,Gore spearheaded a new dawn in
American politics giving it a human face in this context excluding previous
shenanigans ,as movement against
strip-mined top-soils and hazardous chemical wastes took another dimension
entirely .
The former U.S.Vice President writing in that phenomenal book ''Earth In
The Balance '' published in the 90s noted :that the chemical revolution has burst
upon the world with awesome speed ''.Annual production of chemicals ballooned
from 1million tons in 1930 to 7 million
tons in 1950 ,63 million metric tons in 1970,half a billion in 1990 and is
projected to double in volume every 8 years .Chemical waste products were
ferociously dumped into landfills ,lakes,rivers and oceans -a maddening trend
that has reached a staggering proportion
with the estimated 650,000 sources of chemical and industrial wastes in the United States alone ;99 percent of which according to Environmental
Protection Agency -EPA come from only two percent of sources and estimated 64
percent of these wastes were managed at only 10 regulated facilities .Chemical
production generates two-thirds of these hazardous wastes and close to a quarter
comes from metals and machines production .
With the jawdropping and breath taking pace of modern civilization ,more
than 7million chemicals were reported to have been discovered by man-UNEP.The
U.S. Federal law purportedly ban ocean dumping of municipal sewage and
industrial wastes by the early 90s.But the magnitude of these wastes to be
frank can make modern life unaffordable in the nearest future and even extinct
in the unforeseeable posterity .Our
coastal waters ,the earthly and human treasures receive 2.3trillions of
municipal effluents and 4.9billion metric tones of industrial and waste waters
annually . Everywhere , rivers ,streams and ocean are polluted .From Europe
such as Germany and the North Sea for instance
down to Asia from Japan at Minimita in
the 1950s where the first chemical waste
incident in Japan first took place to the Mediterranean-the world most polluted
river ,then coming down to Africa , Latin America ,the minacious trends share similar attributes and
regional ocean pollution problem has become another trademark of western civilization
.
The landfills and dumps in America
alone stood at some 20,ooo landfills in
1979 of which 15,000 were saturated and permanently closed and also prevalent
in older cities like the North East for instance.It is the worst threat in
American history as she struggles to find new landfills .Mountains of garbage reached an all time
high persistently breaking previous record and stampeded previous monstrous proportion
.Statem island in a sampling study with its fresh kills landfills gulping as at
90s 44million pounds of garbage per annum .Of course by this fact , it is more
than the highest mount or point south of Maine on the Eastern board and
potential threat to aircrafts .A renowned garbologist as cited by Al Gore
painting a frightening outlook lamented
this monumental sordid mess and inescapable route that modern civilization has found itself
when he testified aboutui9 the monstrous pile up of nebulous landfills which
blanketed America like a chilling fog .He noted when he was a graduate student
,he was told that the Temple Of The Sun constructed in Mexico at the time of
Christ was reported to be the tallest monument ever built by new world civilization
and occupied 30million cubic feets of space
.But Durham road landfill ''near San Francisco
is two mounds compiled since 1977solely out of cover dirt and the
municipal solid waste from three California cities .I can still remember my
shock when my students calculated that each mound stood at 70million cubic
feets in volumes -a total of nearly five Sun Temples .Landfills are clearly
the largest riddens-i.e.refuse heaps and environmental threats in the history
of mankind.
More than 12 million tons of municipal solid waste in 1989 were shipped across
the States .By and large, there seem to be no way of disposing this voluminous
waste and threat starring humanity in the face .While 90 percent of the waste
is disposable and reducible by incineration, the remnant ten percent are far
more poisonous than the larger volume of disposable 90 percent or before the
incineration , making the environment
much more perilous as they build pace over
.
THE LEGAL
MISCHIEF:POOR REPRESENTATION
There is no gainsaying quest for extraction and oil mining activities has
contributed immensely to the brazen growth of
environmental degradation of Niger Delta .Unlike different part of the
world as noted above facing similar challenges
which has social safety nets , refined institutional practices and
sensitive government ,the region therefore faces greater challenges with its
inhabitants as highly endangered
species .It is interesting to remember
that this quest for territorial terrorism was begun from the colonial era and even after independence ,has failed to redress
itself adding comic dimension to it with imposition of the 1999 constitution on
the people of Nigeria.For instance section one of the Mineral Ordnance Act 1945
promulgated by the British Colonial Office vested all mineral resources in the
Crown.The ordnance as stipulated,that ''the entire property and control of all mineral and mineral oil
in,under ,or,upon any land in Nigeria ,and ,of all rivers ,streams ,and
watercourse throughout Nigeria ,is and shall be vested in the crown ''By the
Crown ,''we refer to British Colonial government headed by the queen.After
independence ,the leaders of the three regions Ahmadu Bello,Awolowo and Azikiwe
in the Northern, Western and Eastern regions agreed collectively in a manner
that legalized the derivation control of 50 percent revenues of mineral and
natural resources from the regions .
However ,this was to change in the 70s when two significant economical
and political developments occurred in
the Gowon period -1966-1975.The three regions were divided into 12 states as
oil became the mainstay of the nation .While Cross River and Akwa Ibom States
came out from South Eastern region and Rivers now Rivers and Bayelsa States ,the midwestern region was
formed mainly Edo and Delta from old Western region .It may not be true to
think otherwise that the indigenous colonizers -the major tribes might have
used their strong positions to exploit the minorities and control their
resources for national growth ,given the fact
in an attempt to spite the Ndigbos who attempted to break the nation and
to unite and safeguard the nation from crash ,the Gowon regime scraped the 50
percent derivation in the 70s and led to the so called villainous Gowon Decree
of 1971 which vested all natural
resources in the federal government .
According to the Decree ,that''the rights of the regions ''south south''
and the minerals in their continental shelves are abrogated and ownership title
to the territorial waters ,continental shelf
as well as royalties ,rents and other revenues derived from or relating
to the operations ,prospecting or searching for or wining or working of petroleum from seaward appurtenances of the states are vested in the federal
government'' under control of the ruling tribes during the period. That was the
first decree that copied the colonial ordnance of 1945 heralding the era
of indigenous colonization .One quite agree
with such sentiments as expressed in some quarters but it provided the
resources to develop the nation and safeguard the nation from total disintegration
especially effectively controlled the
outbreak of the civil war and the nation
was able to borrow no money in fighting the war-still a record across the
world.To be candid ,but the point is :How many south southerners were consulted
,before the Decree 9 of 1971 or the land use act decree of 1978?Did they make
inputs in the Territorial Waters Acts,Exclusive Economic zone Act and similar laws?
Were the fully represented ?Was it because it was feared that the minority
south south control 90 percent of the
hydrocarbon wealth in the country ? There were no referendums whatsoever that
took place to protect their interests when these obnoxious laws and policies were
smuggled into the 1979 and 1999 constitutions .
That is where the problem is and everywhere around the world ,people have
the ability and right to protest and if this happens ,the redress can be made
at the law courts as noted around the world
.Nowhere else is that possible in Nigeria and any attempt tends to
worsen the plight of the poor and underprivileged .And the main vultures in the
region are the multinationals going by their antecedence .We x.ray or highlight
some of the challenges below and most horrible instances cited in the region,
making it truly a scar in the conscience of both the foreign and local
colonizers .
THE MULTINATIONALS
AS THE VULTURES IN THE NIGER DELTA
History cannot be forgotten about their plight and the evils of the
vultures in the subversion of the course of justice in Delta.The 1983 genocide
perpetrated by Shell against four Ijaw communities in Delta State :Ojogbene
,Obotobo ,Ekereme Zion and Sokebolo sued Shell for oil spillage perpetrated
around Chanoni creeks in 1982 .This decimated creeks,ponds,rivers, lands and
streams as a result of the spill.
Fortunately , 4years after judgement was awarded in their favour with damages worth of 350,000 dollars .Rather
than pay damages Shell filed its appeal and thereafter trigger-happy and combatant
Nigerian soldiers without impunity razed down one of the communities
--Ekeremor -Zion .Moreover , instead of paying
damages and compensation worth of 40 million dollars awarded against it
by the victims of Ebubu oil spill ,it
decided to appeal at a higher court . 1n year 2000 the Ogoniland at last
defeated the vultures in a democratic
court of law over 1970s oil spills -a decade long struggle .
We shall not fail to remember the Umuenchem massacre of 1990-a community in
which Shell had operated since late 1950s .Streams and farmlands were destroyed
during the period as shell persistently averted the people's call for justice
and the need for compensation and provision of basic amenities. On October 30
and 31 st ,1990 ,the Umuenchem Etche youths peacefully protested against Shell
multinational 's offensive activities in their land which has been operating
since late 50s ,leading to pollution of
lands ,creeks , streams and farmlands .While she continually refused to pay
compensation and provide basic amenities and electricity. Then somebody
requested for mobile police protection of the corporation 's oil facilities
over alleged plans to attack the installations. That was on August ,29,1990
when Shell's Eastern Division manager wrote and demanded such request from the
Rivers State commissioner of police-a Udofia 's letter which was entitled''Threat of Disruption of
Our Operations at Umuenchem by members of Umuenchem community ''. This
hysterical and exuberant letter , fired the so called kill and go police to
unleashed terror later on the community in which verifiable numbers of people were certified dead as noted by
Vincent Obia and Ola Dofie reports and articles published in the local dailies
.
While Obia had slightly different figures in respect of razed houses ,Ola
noted about 500 houses were bulldozed in the article:'' A voice Against Shell'' published in ThisDay
-September 16,2001 .The Judicial commission of inquiry noted and reported
the incidents as seen below-''the commission accepts that the
demonstrators mounted road barricades to hold the company 's workers to ransom
on that October 30 ,1990 for the company's Executive to appear and discuss with
them ,but not that those demonstrators were violent and or armed''.So,even the
official reports agreed that they were peaceful protest contrary misinformation
been peddled around by gangsters in government .Even the commission dismissed
the allegation that the police were murdered as fake -a mere fabrication of blood
hungry and blood thirsty men to justify massacre and launching of genocide
against the people or their fellow Nigerians. This was not the first time that
Shell would be implicated by the horrendous acts of deploying local armed forces
and security forces to brutalize their
fellow Nigerians .Infact ,she was not ashamed to admit that in October ,1993
,it paid the Nigerian soldiers for the invasion of Korokoro, a community in
Ogoniland .
Besides the Okuntimo-led internal
security task force unprecedented mayhem saga,in August ,2000 ,The Nigerian
navy situated at Ekunlama 2 flowstation ,manned by Shell unleashed havoc and
shot down seven unarmed youths from the same Ekunlama ,Asari-Toru local
government council of Rivers State.It does not make sense to murder people
fighting for their right and assessing the effect of Shell oil spillages on
their farmlands and waters. Uncounted deaths had been recorded in places from
Uzere , Iko,Nembe, Odi and several other parts of the regtion.Now the issue of
Umuechem mayhem had traumatized thousands of natives like its ilk’s.
When touched and terrorized to the bone marrow ,a destitute on the edge of
the precipice and on the brink of death
several years ago once lamented ''am i cursed to come from an oil community
?''That was how Gabriel Nweke sadly narated his ordeal after over ten years of
suffering psychological trauma like the rest of the villagers when his village
-Umuechem was turned into the theatre of the absurd and ravaged by theater of recklessness from the hands of
insensitive Nigeria government .
Located about 20km.from Port Harcourt ,capital of Rivers State ,Umuechem is
a prominent oil producing village in the
Niger Delta ,under the administrative region of Etche local government area .In
October 31 ,1990 ,it captured international attention when the gangsters of the
Nigerian mobile force visited the village with horror ,mass maiming ,mass
raping ,mass killings and mass destruction ,shortly after the local inhabitants
protested against inhuman treatments from the multinational Shell and its
exploration facility in the community .At the end of that attack ,over 80
people according official reports were murdered and this included the paramount
chief of Agwuru-Asa Clan .Police grenades devastated everywhere with the
relentless ferocity of armored tanks and firing of automatic riffles which led
to destruction of 495 houses according
to official reports ,in which virtually
all standing structures were bulldozed .
Infact ,it was reported according to local sources and New York based NGO,
Human Right Watch that Umuechem massacre was episode of genocide in the Niger Delta ,to capture international
attention involving a multinational accused of
crime against humanity , perpetrated through nebulous oil company
activities haunted with serious loss of life in the region.
On that fateful day of 1990 ,Nweke could still recount the ordeal as
reported by Vincent Obia in Daily Independent several years ago,as he relished
the horror and psychological trauma of been a Niger Deltan.''I lost four of my
brothers to the police brutality of October 31,1990 as well as our house and
all other properties''They were neglected for years in such incidence and if
any compensation was made ,it was just a mere pittance when compared to the
staggering loss of life and properties .In the same year ,when the movement for
the survival of the Ogoni people was launched to protest against injustice of
the Nigerian nation and multinationals ,the Paul Okuntimo led -Ogon gangsters
retaliated and supervised the series of
repression launched against the community with extrajudicial killings ;just
because the people as Obia put it
decided '' to non-violently ''protest and ''voice the people's
agitations against environmental rights denials and press for reparation and
local autonomy within the Nigerian nation.
In 1991 , another genocide occurred in Gbaran,another comunity in the
region ravaged by the gangsters from the
same Nigerian mobile police force .At the end of the operation 30 people were
shot ,killed and several others injured and ''severely manhandled''.
The internal security task force led by Paul Okuntimo charged 9 key members
of Ogoni or MOSOP with civil disturbances before a magistrate court ..They were
accused of allegedly masterminding the murder of their own kinsmen before Ogoni
civil Disturbances tribunal and later accused members including ken Saro Wiwa
-a renowned poet were sentenced to death by hanging in November 10,1995 ,while
their lead counsel Gani Fawehinmi was threatened to drop or withdraw from the
trial following series of harassment and intimidation against his person by
state security agents .The case of Odi saga in Bayelsa ,1999 was also largely misconstrued .to be
continued
