Calls for ‘Ogonization’ and ‘Yasunization’ of Territories

By Israel Adebiyi

As the world marks 2025 Earth Day, the Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Dr Nnimmo Bassey, has issued a clarion call for global communities to reclaim power from exploitative systems threatening the planet and its people. 

In a powerful declaration titled "Yasunize and Ogonize: Peoples’ Power for Our Planet Now!", Bassey warned against the commodification of Earth Day by corporations and emphasized the urgent need for grassroots-driven resistance against extractive and oppressive forces.

Speaking on behalf of environmental justice advocates and frontline communities, Dr Bassey denounced transnational corporations for turning lands into "sacrificial zones," rivers into "waste bins," and lives into "collateral damage." 

He insisted that Earth Day must not be hijacked by greenwashing but should remain a day of resistance, justice, and ecological solidarity.

“This is not just an environmental crisis; it is a crisis of power,” Bassey declared. “Capitalism, particularly in its neoliberal and expansionist form, has waged relentless war on the Earth — from oil wars to land grabs. But our people are not defeated. We are rising.”

He praised the long-standing resistance of the Ogoni people in Nigeria, who halted crude oil extraction in their region in 1993 and have since remained resolute. “We call on all to stand with the Ogoni people, to Ogonize and reject any attempt to reopen the oil wells of Ogoniland,” he said. In the same vein, he hailed the people of Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park, where 59% of citizens voted in a 2023 referendum to keep nearly a billion barrels of oil underground, a move he says should inspire the world to “Yasunize” their territories.

The HOMEF Director urged immediate halting of oil company divestment schemes, describing them as fraudulent acts that allow polluters to escape liability. He called for accountability, cleanup, and reparations in the Niger Delta and a just transition to community-controlled renewable energy.

Echoing Bassey's advocacy, other voices from civil society and government also spoke out during Earth Day commemorations.

The Executive Director of Lekeh Development Foundation, Friday Nbani, emphasized the importance of community-led environmental monitoring and documentation. “Communities must begin to gather evidence of atrocities committed by international oil companies to strengthen legal actions,” he said. However, he lamented the challenges of seeking justice in Nigeria’s judicial system and advocated for urgent reforms to make courts more accessible to affected communities.

On his part, Leftist Omobude Enabulele, a leading voice in the Edo Civil Society Organizations (EDOCSO), called for intensified and sustained civil society actions. “Collective resistance against state and corporate actors is critical to protect vulnerable communities and preserve our environment,” he insisted.

Elizabeth Jombo, representing the Ministry of Agriculture’s Agricultural Development Program, warned that the ongoing environmental crisis, including rising sea levels, is directly threatening food security in agrarian communities. “Without food security, there will be no security at all,” she said, advocating for swift policy and environmental interventions.

With the theme “Our Power, Our Planet,” this year’s Earth Day brought to the fore urgent demands for ecological justice, a total transition from fossil fuels, and the dismantling of oppressive systems that prioritize profit over people and the planet.

“This day belongs to those who fight,” Bassey declared, “and our struggle is for justice, for Mother Earth, and for the future.”