Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — In a bold move to raise awareness and build capacity of rural women, the Lokiaka Community Development Centre has empowered women from oil bearing communities in Ogoniland on demanding justice from climate change, oil companies’ divestment, environmental pollution and food security challenges.
The women, 200 in number, who came from the four Ogoni Local Government Areas in Rivers State during Ogoni Women Environment Assembly organized by Lokiaka Community Development Centre in Bori, were enlightened on the impact of divestment, climate change and oil pollution on food production and insecurity.
The training which had breakout sessions for group discussions and presentation, saw the women narrating the challenges facing them in their communities, ranging from incessant oil spills, herdsmen attack, marginalisation, insecurity, etc.
Speaking, the Executive Director of Lokiaka Community Development Centre, Mrs. Martha Agbani, lamented that crude oil pollution and the attendant environmental degradation in Ogoniland had severely affected food production.
Agbani said the training was imperative to build the women’s negotiation, leadership and communication skills, in order to enable them to articulate their challenges and make demands from relevant authorities on issues affecting them, particularly on divestments and climate change.
Assuring that more advocacy capacity building will be carried out for the women, she said, “We are meeting with women from oil bearing communities whose lands have been destroyed due to some environmental conditions beyond their own immediate strength. We are discussing issues about climate change, insecurity, food security, issues of herdsmen attacks, oil companies’ divestment.
“Ogoni communities are already core degraded areas with legacy spills. Women can no longer talk about food security or even what they can eat. Women can no longer pick periwinkles, mollusks and clamps in the river. Now those who caused these damages are leaving the environment without any compensation or a recourse to the people. So it is imperative to conscientize them to know their rights and how to go about it.
“We are not setting a pace for them, but they should be able to push their challenges forward and put themselves in the picture of what’s happening around them and how they can come out of it. We at Lokiaka believes no one should be left behind.
“Environmental challenges are not just for men, the impact is more on the women. Women are the core farmers who interacted with the environment and should be brought into the negotiation table regarding divestments. Women also deserved a free prior consent on the issue of divestments,” Agbani said.
Participants at the training said they have no prior knowledge on issues of divestments, climate change and impact on food security, noted that they will carry out a step down of the lessons to their communities.
Mrs. Nlobu Beatrice Waakae, from Bori territory, said “this training is important to us women, we have learnt about climate change, divestments, environmental degradation and their impact on food security. We will carry these lessons to our various communities and for them to know what climate change is and how to handle it.”
Also, another participant Mrs. Keenam Erebura from Luusue Sogho in Khana LGA, said, “the things I have learnt today has enlightened me, made me to know some of the things I have not known before and it’s very good. We’ve learnt about oil companies’ divestments, climate change and food security.”
For her part, Mrs Glory Basi, from Sogho in Khana LGA raised the alarm over continuous herdsmen attack inside their farms, calling on the Rivers State Government to intervene.
Basi explained that the menace was now affecting food production, as they were now scared of going to their farms, lamenting that herdsmen rape women in their farms, and also kill some farmers who resisted cows from entering their farms.
She said they have carried out a protest to Bori Divisional Police Station on the matter, but the Police was not helpful as the herdsmen were asked to pay only N30,000 after their cows had destroyed more than two hectares of cassava farm.
“The issue of herdsmen in our community is so serious that we don’t know where to place our hands, we don’t know who to run to and where to start the matter from. They rape our women, even our men have been killed by these Fulani herdsmen, but funny thing is that it’s our community people that are collecting money from these herdsmen to stay in our community.
“The herdsmen in Luusue Sogho in Khana LGA are so terrible that our women are not safe in the farm. When we go to farm, the moment they destroy our cassava, and you make noise or you just open your mouth and tell them that they destroyed your cassava they will want to kill you inside the farm.
“We want government to help us and send these Fulani herdsmen away from our community. We cannot go to the farm again, our children are becoming sick, our children cannot continue their education again because we don’t have money to pay for their school fees and food, because we’re not farming anymore for fear of herdsmen attack.”
