Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Health of Mother Earth Foundation, HOMEF, has called for an urgent environmental audit and accelerated remediation of degraded areas in Nembe, Bayelsa State, warning that environmental pressures linked to oil exploitation are threatening livelihoods, food security and public health.
The call followed a community capacity-sharing dialogue organised under HOMEF’s Justice Through Communities-Centred Policy Advocacy project, which brought together traditional leaders, women, youths, farmers, fishers, local government representatives and other stakeholders.
Residents reported declining fish stocks, disappearance and reduction of aquatic species, concerns over water quality and changes in traditional resource use, which they linked to oil exploitation, pollution and other extractive activities.
HOMEF Executive Director, Rev Nnimmo Bassey, said the environmental concerns had become an economic and social burden for communities dependent on natural resources.
“Communities cannot continue to bear the environmental and economic costs of extraction while being treated as spectators in decisions about their own environment,” Bassey said.
HOMEF called for a comprehensive and transparent environmental audit of Nembe covering water, soil and air quality, fish and other aquatic organisms, heavy metals and other contaminants.
It also demanded regular food-safety and environmental health monitoring over concerns that pollutants could move through the food chain.
The foundation said the environmental concerns were particularly serious for a community whose economy depends heavily on fishing, farming and other natural resources.
At the dialogue, Director of Primary Health Care, Nembe Local Government Area, Chief Jude Pulemote, said oil exploration activities had contributed to health challenges among rural residents.
Pulemote specifically raised concerns about anaemia among pregnant women and the disruption of livelihoods by oil activities.
HOMEF said environmental monitoring should therefore be integrated with public health interventions, particularly for vulnerable groups including women, children and newborns.
A major issue raised at the dialogue was the limited involvement of communities in environmental assessments and Joint Investigation Visits, JIVs.
Participants demanded active community participation in environmental assessments, evidence gathering, JIVs, decision-making, remediation monitoring and evaluation of cleanup activities.
“Consultation is not participation,” HOMEF said.
“Meaningful participation means that communities have a voice throughout the process; from determining what is investigated to monitoring whether remediation has actually restored their environment.”
Participants also called for traditional and indigenous knowledge to be recognised alongside scientific evidence in environmental governance, arguing that traditional systems historically helped regulate forests, rivers, fishing grounds and other natural resources.
HOMEF said the concerns from Nembe should be considered alongside existing evidence of environmental degradation across the Niger Delta, including the UNEP Report on Ogoniland, the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission Report and the Niger Delta women’s health audit report by the Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre.
The reports are documented in HOMEF’s Disasters Foretold and Retold publication. The foundation warned against another cycle of environmental assessments without concrete remediation and restoration.
“Existing evidence must translate into remediation, restoration, accountability and protection of livelihoods,” HOMEF said.
It consequently called on the Bayelsa and Federal Governments, regulatory agencies and oil companies operating in the region to conduct independent environmental and health assessments in Nembe and ensure meaningful community participation in JIVs, remediation and monitoring.
HOMEF also demanded stronger enforcement of environmental laws and accountability for polluters, implementation of relevant BSOEC recommendations, including the proposed environmental recovery fund and agency, and the decommissioning of abandoned oil wells posing environmental risks.
It further called for accelerated remediation and ecological restoration, protection of fishing and farming livelihoods, appropriate compensation and livelihood-recovery mechanisms, stronger environmental health monitoring and public health interventions.
“The people of Nembe and Niger Delta at large, are not asking to be heard after decisions have been made,” HOMEF said.
“They are demanding the right to participate in decisions that determine the health of their environment, their livelihoods and the future of generations to come.”
