Your Excellency, this will constitute an affront to sustainable development, peace, human security, and prosperity. As President, presiding over the affairs of the country and people, you and the entire Nigerians have a duty to make every constructive contribution towards truly attaining the development goals.

Nigeria is reliant on the proceeds from oil exploration and exploitation for its expenditures and its aspiration towards making development happen. From a modest production capacity of 5,100 barrels per day, Nigeria systematically grew its crude oil output to a peak of 2.6 million barrels per day drilled from about 900 active oil wells in over 800 communities hosting oil facilities, including pipelines conveying crude oil. Pipelines rupture due to corrosion and vandalism have resulted in oil spills that have polluted the farmlands and water bodies, leaving behind a devastated ecosystem, wildlife, aquatic life and the livelihood of the people.

Mr President, the ecosystem of the Niger Delta has for about seventy years been plagued by unprecedented perennial pollution from petroleum production activities, enabled or worsened by a highly dysfunctional, conflicted and compromised environmental regulatory system, since the country struck commercial oil in the Oloibiri Province in 1956. This festering devastation has projected and ranked Nigeria’s Niger Delta among the worst oil and gas-polluted regions in the world.

To state this clearly, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), conservatively reported 16,263 (sixteen thousand, two hundred and sixty-three) oil spills within the 17 years of 2006 to 2023 and accounted for about 823,483 barrels of oil spill, equivalent to 4,103 tanker trucks or 130,933,797 litres of crude oil. Between 2018-2019, there were 1,300 recorded oil spills, amounting to an average of 5 oil spills a day, according to data by the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency. Reliable estimates have it that an average of 240,000 barrels of crude oil are spilled in the Niger Delta each year. This is over 14 million litres of crude oil or the equivalent of 429 fully loaded oil tankers dumped into the rivers, lands and swamps of the Niger Delta. It takes only 3.7 litres of oil to contaminate approximately 3.7 million litres of water.

Hydrocarbon pollution resulting from oil extraction comes at a high cost of environmental pollution in every sense of it, destruction of livelihoods, farmlands, aquatic activities, and well-being (health) of the over 40million inhabitants of the Niger Delta, especially those living in Ogoni land. Gas flaring accounts for a high degree of air pollution, which in turn constitutes a hazard to the health of the people. More than 70% of associated gas is flared in Nigeria and valued at $1.9billion.   In 2023, Nigeria ranked 8th in the list of gas flaring nations. In the following year, Shell reported that 50% of its global gas flaring was done in Nigeria. Reputable studies have established that methane, carbon dioxide and other chemicals from flared gas result in poisoning as well as other severe illnesses, including cancer and respiratory conditions. Niger Delta communities are exposed to adverse health impacts and loss of livelihoods from flaring. When flared gases return from the atmosphere as rain, they become acidic, poisoning crops and water bodies, resulting in decreased agriculture and fishing yields, and causing health harms. The UNEP report in 2011 as well as and other recent reports in 2023, released by the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission (BSOEC) established in March 2019 titled An Environmental Genocide: The Human and Environmental Cost of Big Oil in Bayelsa, Nigeria, has detailed the impacts of hydrocarbon pollution on the Niger Delta state and suggested emergency measures towards reversing the challenges.

This recent report highlighted irrefutable evidence of alarming levels of hydrocarbon pollution in Bayelsa State, as well as astonishing impacts on lives and livelihoods. It provides evidence that toxins from oil pollution are present at often dangerous levels across the state and have infiltrated the food chain, ending up in the bloodstreams of those tested in affected communities.  According to the report, in some study locations, ‘highly toxic oil-related contaminants such as chromium are present in groundwater at over 1,000 times the WHO limit, while in others, concentrations of noxious chemicals, such as Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons, exceed safe levels by a factor of 1 million according to some of the samples taken’. While the assessment focused on Bayelsa state, it is generally known that pollution is similar or even worse in other parts of the Niger Delta. The relentless hydrocarbon pollution in the region is the key reason that life expectancy in the Niger Delta is 41 years, when it is 54 years in other parts of the country.

Overwhelming evidence from interactions with members of Niger Delta communities and scientific assessments of the natural environment and health of the people shows that the region has undergone ecocide on account of the exploitation of crude oil and gas. Ecocide refers to ‘unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.

The expression of concern over the environmental devastation is historical as the agitation led by MOSOP and the demands channelled through the Ogoni Bill of Rights, as well as Civil Society engagements at various levels, have arguably yielded marginal results despite the execution of the Ogoni leaders and citizens. Yet, the agitation and demand for control over their political and economic affairs, including the demand for the reversal of environmental degradation, have continued. HYPREP, with low funding, has been accused not only of corruption and lacking accountability, its mandate of remediating the environment is still to be realized. While there has been noticeable advancement in certain areas related to the clean-up initiative, the effectiveness of hydrocarbon removal from contaminated locations remains uncertain.

The effort at resuming crude oil extraction in OML 11, located in Ogoniland, which was halted in 1993, cannot be realised in the context of the inability of the government to prosecute reverse the environmental problems in the Niger Delta. A recent report also suggests that the resumption of exploitation of crude oil on OML 25 was being challenged on the backdrop of the pollution left behind by SPDC, as well as the absence of the closure of events of the 1990s, and while the cleaning of contaminated sites is ongoing. Moreso the recent approach of the Presidency to environmental issues was purely from an economic perspective without differing to the socio-historical realities around oil extraction in Ogoni land, was purely economic. This move is not only capable of threatening the fragile peace in the area but also undermining the broader efforts at environmental remediation.

Considering the apparent failure of a long line of Presidents, Petroleum and Environment Ministers, and Chief Regulators, to recognize the indescribable gravity of this ravage, its severe socioeconomic and security repercussions for Nigeria, and to comprehensively resolve it, we invite you to pay a spot visit, along with the relevant Ministers and Regulators, and possibly the National Security Adviser, to some of the following locations, which are too few as examples of devastation, to see for yourself: Polobubo and Ogulagha in Delta State; Ibeno, Mbo and Ikot Ada Udo in Akwa Ibom State; Awoye in Ondo State; Bille, Obagi and Rumuekpe in Rivers State; and Gbarain/Ekpetiama, Nembe,Aghoro and Otuabagi (where Nigeria’s pioneer oil wells are located) in Bayelsa State.

Amidst the global dynamics of the 21st Century, and particularly in the context of climate change/action, Nigeria cannot continue to act as if ignorant of the importance of its biodiversity endowments and ecological imperatives. There are many countries we can benchmark, which produce more oil, gain far higher revenues from it, but still jealously and profitably protect their environment and ecosystems. Norway, which has a trillion-dollar Sovereign Wealth Fund from petrodollars (and a population of 5.5 million, against Nigeria’s 228 million) is a prime example, but ensures its waters stay pristine, enabling its robust fishing and marine industries. Scotland and the UAE are other examples

We trust that Mr. President is mindful of Nigeria’s numerous commitments to international treaties and conventions, including those on universal rights, environmental and indigenous people’s rights, and climate change. Your genuine action to clean up the Niger Delta will be an excellent progress report for Nigeria in the international arena.

The protracted social injustice of funding national development at such extreme ecocidal expense of communities in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, or communities wherever else in Nigeria, needs to be urgently redressed, without any pretences as witnessed under previous Administrations. With the ongoing divestment of their remaining onshore holdings in Nigeria by the major international oil companies (IOCs), and their huge outstanding environmental liabilities thrown into legal uncertainty, thereby portending further risks and escalation of social tensions for communities, the time for Your Excellency to act as the Protector-in-Chief of Nigerian communities is now.

Funding Nigeria and the states of the federation with proceeds from crude oil and gas sales has bequeathed an extensive history of social injustice, deprivation, poverty and ecological destruction. It has transformed a once vibrant area into an ecological wasteland and made its people insecure, impoverished and poisoned. Fixing the Niger Delta must be deliberate. It must be done with the consciousness that accounting for the mess of oil extraction goes beyond just removing hydrocarbons from lands, rivers and the air. It is a first step to attaining full social, economic and ecological restoration.  Accountability in this regard includes holding entities responsible for ecocide in the Niger Delta to account. With multinational oil companies frantically divesting from the region, the prospect of doing so is increasingly remote.

A failure of the clean-up efforts, or the resumption of oil extraction, or even a relapse to insecurity, will portend dangers for the larger Niger Delta’s quest for accountability. We therefore demand the following as a way towards providing a lasting solution to the problems of the Niger Delta.

1. Accelerate the Ogoni Clean-up: Currently, the clean-up of Ogoniland as recommended by UNEP, has left gaps that could derail the process and lead to its ultimate failure. It is critical that stricter oversight structures be placed on all aspects of the exercise. This includes the prequalification of contractors, quality control of the actual remediation, value for money and appropriate oversight.   
2. Address Historical Abuses: Several concerns around ecological and social justice in Ogoniland have been neglected. The world recognises that the people of Ogoni have suffered unprecedented pain and losses on account of oil extraction.  No apology has been rendered for the destruction of their environment, the killing of their people, the loss of their livelihoods, the destruction of their villages, the forced exile of their people and the murder of their leaders. To assume that the extraction of oil can commence whilst these issues remain on the front burner is to be naïve at best and cruel at worst. It is recommended that the government immediately put structures in place to bring justice and closure to the countless victims of the oil-induced conflict that devastated the community in the 1990s.
3. Halt Resumption of Oil Extraction in Ogoniland: It is recommended that the government puts a stop to any planned attempt to resume oil activities in Ogoniland and rather concentrate on redeeming the ecological disaster in the area, decommissioning aged oil infrastructure, replacing the lost livelihood of the people and securing justice for the countless Ogonis waiting for closure.
4. Addressing Pollution in the Wider Niger Delta: It is recommended that the Presidency issue an Executive Order creating a Niger Delta Environmental Remediation Programme and Trust Fund. This can be either independent of or domiciled in the extant Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) currently overseeing the cleanup of Ogoni Land, but with a separate Trust Fund from the Ogoni Trust Fund, an expanded Governing Council and an unimpeachable Management system designed to avoid the contradictions that have historically bedeviled HYPREP and the debatable progress of the Ogoni Cleanup. The tasks of the Programme would include a definitive health audit, besides the standard environmental audit of impacted areas.
5. Adoption of the National Principles on Divestment and Decommissioning in the Nigerian Oil Industry: The document lays out strategies and guidelines adopted and compiled by a wide coalition of community, civil society and international organisations, for divestment and decommissioning, following extensive field missions and engagements in the Niger Delta. Divestment and decommissioning in Nigeria’s oil sector must be guided by core principles that emphasise accountability, transparency, and community rights. These include the Polluter Pays Principle, public disclosure of liabilities, Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), and a commitment to environmental and social justice. The regulatory framework—anchored by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, NUPRC guidelines, and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act—requires companies to contribute to a Decommissioning Fund, submit approved decommissioning plans, and conduct thorough environmental and social impact assessments. Key strategies for effective implementation include pre-divestment due diligence, financial provisioning, inclusive community engagement through Host Community Development Trusts (HCDTs), detailed infrastructure decommissioning plans, and strict compliance monitoring with enforceable penalties. It is recommended that this document be domesticated as a procedural guide to access all divestment moves and decommissioning by exiting oil companies in the Niger Delta.

We strongly believe that these demands are achievable with your determination, goodwill and active support of all well-meaning Nigerians and relevant international institutions to this cause.  Thank you. God bless Nigeria.

Yours respectfully,

Signed:

1.     Nnimmo Bassey, MFR — Executive Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) 

2.     Otive Igbuzor — Founding Executive Director, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD)

3.     Iniruo Wills — Govenant Consulting 

4.     Ken Henshaw — Executive Director, We The People

5.     AnnKio Briggs — Executive Director, Agape is a Birthright 

6.     Akinbode Oluwafemi— Executive Director, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) 

7.     Chima Williams — Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria 

8.     Sofiri Peterside — Centre for Advanced Social Sciences (CASS) 

9.     David Ugolor — Executive Director, Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) 

10.  Tijah Bolton Akpan — Executive Director, Policy Alert 

11.  Alagoa Morris — Niger Delta Resource Centre 

12.  Nkoyo Toyo — Executive Director, Academic Associates PeaceWorks (AAPW) 

13.  Rosemary John Oduone —Ijaw Women Connect IWC 

14.  Rafsanjani Auwal Musa — Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) 

15.  Prince Henry Efe Duku - Gold Foundation 

16.  Fanty Goodness Owotorufa — Ijaw Mothers of Warri 

17.  Ibiba DonPedro — Publisher, National Point 

18.  Ene Obi — Social Justice activist 

19.  Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri — Executive Director, Spaces 4 Change 

20.  Dr. Onwusameka S. Ogbowuokara — Omoku (Ohna Omoku) Communities Development Association 

21.  Dr. Chikobi-Ejike James Alali — ONELGA Oil and Gas Landlords Families Organization 

22.  Pastor Efiye Bribena — Ijaw Elders Forum 

23.  Pattison Boleigha — Ijaw Professionals Association 

24.  High Chief Demzil Amagbe Kentebe — Embasara Foundation 

25.  Ben Okoro — Coalition of Ijaw Interest Groups 

26.  Y. Z. Yau — Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) 

27.  Faith Nwadishi — Women in Extractives 

28.  Monday Itoghor — Executive Director, Environmental and Rural Mediation Centre (ENVIRUMEDIC) 

29.  Edewor Egedegbe — Executive Director, Value Rebirth and Empowerment Initiative 

30.  Priscilla Achakpa — Women Environmental Programme 

31.  Betram Emeka Ubaka – Executive Director, PEDANET

32.  Emem Okon – Kabetkache Women Resource Centre

33.  Botti Isaac – Social Action

34.  Saro Pyagbara Legborsi – Executive Director, Indigenous Centre for Energy and Sustainable Development, ICE-SD.ICE-SD

35.  Dauda Garuba – Executive Director, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD)

36.  Tunde Salman – Executive Director, Good Governance Team

37.  Monday Osasah – Executive Director, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD)

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