...Activists seek environmental audit, accelerated cleanup, and end to Ogoni marginalization

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has renewed calls for accountability, equity, and environmental justice in the Niger Delta, declaring that the people of the oil-rich region “have no business with poverty.”

Falana made the call in Port Harcourt on Friday while delivering the keynote address at the Ken Saro-Wiwa 30th Anniversary Memorial Lecture, themed “Ken Saro-Wiwa: The Man, His Legacies, Struggles, and Challenges.”

He said that if the late environmental activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, were alive today, he would be at the forefront of demanding justice for the oppressed and accountability for the nation’s oil wealth. 

Falana stressed that the vast resources from oil exploration must translate into prosperity and improved living conditions for the host communities.

“The people of the Niger Delta have no business with poverty. They should live in prosperity derived from their natural wealth. This exploitation and neglect must end,” Falana said.

He urged the Rivers State Government to legislate a framework mandating special allocations from the state’s 13 percent derivation fund to oil-producing communities, noting that such policy would align with Saro-Wiwa’s ideals of fair distribution and environmental justice.

Citing the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), Falana referenced Section 257, which provides for 3% of oil company operations to be channeled into host community development. He disclosed that according to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), about ₦97 billion and $150 million have been allocated to host communities as of May this year. He, however, insisted that these funds must be open to public scrutiny.

“All of us must ensure transparency and accountability regarding these figures being announced by the government,” he said.

Falana also applauded the proposal to establish a university in Ogoniland, describing it as a deserving development initiative. 

He urged the government to give the project legal backing to ensure continuity beyond the current administration and called for prioritization of local employment and management participation.

Speaking on the controversial pardon granted to the “Ogoni Nine,” Falana clarified that the Nigerian Constitution empowers the President under Section 175 to issue pardons. He emphasized that the gesture was not an admission of guilt but a moral acknowledgment of injustice.

“You do not award national honours to criminals but to people who contributed to national development. These men were unjustly condemned,” Falana added.

He recalled that testimonies during the Oputa Panel hearings revealed that the so-called “Ogoni Four” were not murdered by their compatriots but by agents of the military government. The panel, he said, therefore recommended that they be referred to as the “Ogoni 13” to promote reconciliation and unity within Ogoniland.

On the ongoing Ogoni cleanup, Falana criticized its sluggish implementation, revealing that nearly 11 years after its launch, only Shell had contributed $1 billion to the process, while the Federal Government through NNPC Limited had yet to fulfill its financial obligations.

He urged a national consensus to pressure the government into fulfilling its commitments, saying,

“The best way to honour Ken Saro-Wiwa is to unite the oppressed people of the Niger Delta and challenge both government and oil companies to deliver justice.”

Environmental activist and Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Nnimmo Bassey, also spoke at the event, describing oil as a “curse rather than a blessing.” He questioned the federal government’s narrative of development, stating that no single community in the Niger Delta could boast of meaningful progress due to oil exploration.

“Show me one village that has benefited from oil. I can show you thousands that have been destroyed because of it,” he said.

Bassey demanded a comprehensive environmental audit across the Niger Delta and full implementation of the UNEP cleanup recommendations. He condemned renewed oil exploration activities in Ogoniland, calling them “an insult to the memory of Ken Saro-Wiwa.”

Similarly, Akpobari Celestine, Team Lead of the Midekor Environmental Foundation, lamented that three decades after Saro-Wiwa’s death, the Ogoni people continue to suffer political exclusion. He decried that no Ogoni person has ever served as governor, deputy governor, speaker, or chief judge in Rivers State, despite their population and intellectual strength.

“You cannot hate the Ogoni people and love their oil. There is a deliberate conspiracy against Ogoniland, and the government must address it head-on,” Celestine said, demanding justice for over 2,000 Ogonis reportedly killed during the 1990s crisis — an act he described as genocide.

In his remarks, Akinbode Oluwafemi, Executive Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), described any move to reopen oil wells in Ogoniland as “environmental genocide.”

“Life expectancy in the Niger Delta is about 41 years - among the lowest in the world. Pollution must stop, gas flares must be extinguished, and new oil wells must not be opened,” he stated.

The Ken Saro-Wiwa Memorial Lecture, held annually to honour the late environmental martyr executed in 1995, brought together activists, scholars, and community leaders who reaffirmed their commitment to sustaining his legacy of justice, equity, and environmental restoration in the Niger Delta.