CSOs, Community Leaders Ask President Tinubu To Halt IOCs Divestments From Niger Delta
...Commend FG, NUPRC For Rejecting Shell’s Request To Sell SPDC’s Remaining Shares
By Edu Abade
No fewer than 24 community groups and civil society organizations and concerned citizens from across Nigeria have urged President Bola Tinubu to urgently stop the divestments of International Oil Companies (IOCs) from the Niger Delta region, insisting that they must not be allowed to leave behind the ecological disaster their oil exploration activities have caused over the years.
The groups also asked President Tinubu and the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) to sustain their rejection of Shell’s request to sell its remaining shares in the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to the Renaissance Consortium.
They stated that other international oil corporations, such as TotalEnergies, are also attempting to sell their stakes in SPDC and other Nigerian onshore oil assets, adding: “We state categorically that any approval of Shell’s and Total’s requests would weaken regulatory independence, ignore the interests of the Niger Delta communities, jeopardize the environmental and social well-being of the region for generations to come and undermine Nigeria’s sovereignty.
“We are, again, compelled to ask for a comprehensive halt to all divestment requests from oil corporations in the Niger Delta, including Shell, Total and other IOCs with similar plans, until all the issues around crude oil and gas exploration have been fully addressed.”
The groups and their representatives who signed the communiqué are Nnimmo Bassey (Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF); Dr. Isaac ‘Asume’ Osuoka (Social Action Nigeria); Olanrewaju Suraju (HEDA Resource Centre); Emem Okon (Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre); Akinbode Oluwafemi (Corporate Accountability and Public Participation
Africa (CAPPA); Idoreyin Bassey (League of Queens International Empowerment); Tijah Bolton-Akpan (Policy Alert); Ken Henshaw (We the People); Rita Uwaka (Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria); David Ugolor (Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) and Mfon Utin (Healthy Life Development Initiative).
Others are Comrade Cynthia Buluebiere Bright (Gbolekekro Women Empowerment and Development Organization (GWEDO); Auwal Musa Rafsanjani (Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC); Cookey Tammy (Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD); Umo Isua-Ikoh (Peace Point Development Foundation); Friday Nbani (Lekeh Development Foundation); Amanie Stella (Society for Women and Youths Affairs (SWAYA); Martha Agbani (Lokiaka Community Development Centre); Akpobari Celestine (People’s Advancement Centre); Ogoni Solidarity Forum; Chido Onumah (Africa Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL); Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi (Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED); Odey Friday (Accountability Lab International Peace and Civic Responsibility Centre (IPCRC); Arochukwu Ogbonna (Civil Rights Council)
and Josephine Alabi (Keen and Care Initiative).
In a resolution document made available to journalists by Media and Communication Lead of HOMEF, “Kome Odhomor, the groups pointed out that it was critical to emphasize that the Nigerian Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and NUPRC’s responsibility to uphold the law were clearly outlined when Shell’s divestment request was initially rejected.
“NUPRC’s refusal was based on legitimate concerns, including Shell’s failure to adequately address the significant environmental and social liabilities associated with its operations in the Niger Delta, as was independently assessed and recommended by international assessors
contracted by the country.
“Among the reasons for rejecting the sale, NUPRC cited inability of the Renaissance Consortium, a shady company with links to past Shell executives and Nigerian political actors, to demonstrate its financial and technical capacities to manage the assets and the pressing need for proper environmental remediation.
“NUPRC’s rejection was in line with the responsibilities outlined under Nigerian law and global best practices for corporate accountability. It is a decision rooted in national interest-protecting the health, safety and environment of the Niger Delta communities.
“Any attempt to approve Shell’s sale despite these valid concerns would risk undermining regulatory independence and signaling that Nigerian law can be bypassed to serve the interests of multinational corporations,” they stated.
Citing the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) report on Ogoniland, they said the environmental and health crises caused by Shell and other oil corporations operating in the Niger Delta are well documented, stressing that the document described an ecological disaster of immense proportions.
UNEP’s findings revealed that drinking water sources are contaminated with dangerous levels of hydrocarbons, making them unsafe for human consumption, while oil spills have destroyed entire ecosystems, killing marine life and damaging the biodiversity that is crucial for the livelihood of local communities, among other infractions.
They also lamented that the Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission’s (BSOEC) report
provides a detailed analysis of the severe pollution caused by Shell’s and other multinational companies’ operations, including health impacts.
“The report revealed high levels of toxins from oil pollution, such as total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) and heavy metals (HMs), have infiltrated the air, water, and soil across the region, contributing to a public health emergency.
“Communities are suffering from respiratory issues, skin diseases, and cancers linked to oil pollution, and these problems are worsening by the year. The economic cost of these health impacts and the degradation of natural resources is incalculable, leaving most of the people in poverty and unable to sustain themselves through traditional means like farming
and fishing, among others,” they stated.
They also pointed out that the BSOEC report also estimates that the cost of remediating the damage in Bayelsa State alone would exceed $12b in 12 years, adding that based on the UNEP and BSOEC reports, it would require about $100b to address the environmental damage in the entire Niger Delta comprehensively.
“Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the United States, BP, the company responsible, paid over $60 billion to address the impacts of one oil spill incident alone. The environmental damage of the Niger Delta is much worse and has spanned decades.
“Therefore, to allow Shell, TotalEnergies or any other company to evade their responsibilities would mean transferring these liabilities to the Nigerian state, the Niger Delta states and the Nigerian people. This is an unjust and unsustainable burden that would further exacerbate the challenges faced by communities already suffering from the effects of pollution and environmental neglect.
The groups, therefore urged President Tinubu to immediately halt all divestment processes until a transparent, comprehensive, and inclusive review is undertaken that addresses Shell’s
and TotalEnergies’ historical environmental and social liabilities.
They also demanded that the Federal Government should ensure inclusive and transparent consultation with state governments and the people of the sites of oil and gas extraction in the Niger Delta before any further divestment of IOC assets, among others.
