By Edu Abade
A coalition of environmental activists and climate justice advocates have demanded an ecological audit of host communities in Enugu State where coal has been mined for decades to determine the level of degradation and the health hazards mining activities have caused in the locations over the years.
They made the demand at a Town Hall and media discussion on coal mining in Enugu at Oakland Hotel, Enugu on Thursday, August 22, 2024, insisting that coal mining, especially in Okpara, Ogbete, Onyeama and Iva Valley coal mines has been a major disinvestment and not an investment in Enugu State.
Executive Director of Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), Philip Jakpor, who established a background for the meeting, said coal exploration began proper in Enugu State in 1909, with production at the Onyeama, Ogbete, Iva Valley and Okpara mines increasing from 25, 511 tons in 1916 to over 583,422 tons before declining during the Nigeria Civil War of 1967-1970.
“At the end of the war most parts of the SouthEast region had been ravaged and several expatriate mining experts, mostly from Britain and Poland left Nigeria. The exit of experts and the discovery of a commercial quantity of crude oil made the Nigerian government abandon coal mining and the massive infrastructure at the mines then managed by the Nigerian Coal Corporation (NCC).
“The NCC tried to manage operations for another 30 years but failed. It finally folded up in 2002. The former miners were neither laid off nor their employment terminated. The only legacy the few miners still alive have is the Colliery Quarters near Iva Valley where those whose property were not sold by the government. These processes notwithstanding, illegal mining continues in Enugu,” he said.
Other members of the coalition including New Life Community Care Initiative (NELCCI), Neighborhood Environmental Watch (NEW) Foundation, Community Development Advocacy Foundation (CODAF) and Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN) participated in the meeting virtually, also raised concerns about the harms of continuing coal mining in Enugu.
In his intervention, Project Officer, NEW Foundation, Afulike Okezie, said: “As we gather here today, we confront a critical issue that affects not just the economic landscape, but also the health and well-being of our communities, as well as the sustainability of our environment. While historically significant, coal mining has left a complex legacy that includes opportunities and challenges.
Executive Director of EDEN, Barrister Chima Williams, said: “We must remind those in government that they are tasked with managing what sustains us hence they should concern themselves with the impacts that coal has on the lives and livelihoods of locals including veterans of coal mining. There is no alternative to decommissioning of the moribund coal mines. That is the only way to go.”
Director of Campaigns and Administration at CODAF, Ubrei Joe-Mariere urged the Enugu State government to forget about mining at this time when the global community is rapidly moving away from dirty energy sources to clean energy alternatives.
“Coal mining disrupts the socio-economic lives of local communities. It is a major cause of landslides, erosion and large scale mining favours only the multinationals. In mining communities the relationship between the mining firms and communities is always fractured,” he said.
The groups, therefore, demanded that the Federal Government should commence full and detailed audit of the post-coal mining in Enugu, decommissioning of the moribund mines to avoid further environment degradation and loss of human life, profiling of former miners and adequate and payment of compensation paid to them, while the families of deceased ones should be identified and compensated.
They also demanded adequate information and regular updates of Enugu people on what’s going on with regards to coal mining, making public the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) conducted by the selected firms and agreements the companies have with the coal mining communities, among others.
