|
FALSE START IN THE BITUMEN BELT
By
Environmental Rights Action
INTRODUCTION
The Environmental Rights Action /Friends of the Earth, Nigeria
(ERA/FoEN)organized a two-day National Consultation on Bitumen Exploitation in
Nigeria
under the theme "Livelihoods and Bitumen Exploitation in Nigeria". The
meeting which took place in Lagos from November 6-7 was attended by
representatives of the Bitumen-bearing communities; delegates from the
Niger
Delta; NGO and social movement activists; an officer of one of the
licensed
firms BEECON ; a member of the National Assembly; experts in the
extractive
sector, academics and the media. An official of the regulatory body,
Bitumen Implementation Project Committee (BIPC) was present as an
observer.
Discussions were robust, open and frank.
OBSERVATIONS
Participants observed as follows:
1) that if adequate steps are not
taken to address the concerns
of
bitumen-bearing communities and fears raised by ERA and other
environmental
groups, the prevailing condition of environmental pollution, economic
disempowerment and social dislocation being witnessed in
the Niger
Delta
may be replicated - and even worsened;
2) that although the Nigerian
government has signed contractual
agreements with two bitumen firms to start exploration in the southern
areas
of Ondo State, the contents of these agreements are still shrouded in
secrecy;
3) that government and other
promoters of the bitumen project
have
been telling the whole world of the expected financial benefits of the
project while the public has remained largely uninformed about the
environmental and social costs of bitumen exploitation and how to
mitigate
them;
4) that there is no Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA) study
of
the bitumen project;
5) that the activities of the
extractive sector in Nigeria has
resulted in serious environmental pollution which is the principal
cause of
poverty, malnutrition and disease;
6) that the extraction of bitumen
may have worse environmental
and
social impacts than oil extraction;
7) that in order to overcome the
divide-and-rule tactics of
mining
corporations, bitumen-bearing communities should present a united
front;
8) that there is the need for
government agencies, communities
and
civil society organizations to take geo-informatics data seriously;
9) that relevant government
agencies were invited to the
programme
but characteristically they failed to participate.
RESOLUTIONS
Based on the foregoing observations, the meeting resolved as follows:
1) that the Federal Government and the bitumen
firms should
encourage
the involvement and participation of the local communities in
the
project
in the spirit of environmental justice, economic empowerment and social
harmony;
2) that a just, equitable and democratic
revenue-sharing
arrangement
based on the resource sovereignty principle of local control over local
resources should be pursued in the bitumen belt;
3) that the Federal Government should employ
dialogue and the
bottom-up
development approach rather than the top-down approach;
4) that all agreements signed between
government and the bitumen
firms
should be made public without further delay;
5) that a comprehensive Environmental Impact
Assessment as well as a
social impact study be put in place without any further delay;
6) that bitumen communities, civil society organisations and
government
should monitor the bitumen firms closely to ensure strict adherence to
local
and international environmental, health and safety standards to avert
another Niger Delta-type situation;
7) that all unjust mining laws should be
abrogated from the statue
books;
8) that a people-driven Bitumen Development
Agency, fully
representative of all the stakeholders be set up to cater for the
development needs of the local communities in the bitumen belt.
COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE NATIONAL CONSULTATION ON BITUMEN
EXPLOITATION LAGOS NOVEMBER 5-7, 2003
NNIMMO BASSEY
Executive Director
The Nigerian government has given two companies - Bitumen Exploration
and
Exploitation Company (Nigeria) Limited (BEECON) and NISSANDS (Nigeria)
Limited - till the end of July to commence exploration of the country's
vast
bitumen deposit. The two companies, BEECON and NISSANDS were granted
rights
to begin exploration in blocks 307B and 307c located in the coastal
areas of
Ondo state.
The Nigerian bitumen deposit put at 42.74 billion metric tones is the
second
largest in the world. It covers 120 kilometres costal belts of Lagos,
Ogun,
Ondo and Edo States. The operations of the two firms are expected to
affect
close to a hundred communities inhabited predominantly by farmers and
fisher-folks; people whose sources of livelihood are closely tied to
the
environment.
Already the Nigerian government has signed several agreements with the
two
firms. The content of those agreements are shrouded in secrecy. The
host
communities made no inputs. They were not consulted. Besides, there is
nothing to indicate that government has in place the necessary
framework for
an Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) before the commencement of
exploration.
In a brazen demonstration of government's insensitivity to the concerns
of
the host communities, President Olusegun Obasanjo on March 17, 2003,
travelled to Ode-Irele, one of the bitumen-bearing communities to
perform
the "ground-breaking" ceremony. That event officially signalled the
commencement of bitumen exploration in Nigeria. A news item aired on a
local
radio station in Ondo State recently said government has even
threatened to
revoke the licenses of the companies should they fail to commence
operation
this July.
Projected revenue from Nigeria's bitumen deposit is put at about $10
billon
annually and this and no other reason explains the haste at which
government
is packaging the Bitumen project.
Recently, an ERA team visited the bitumen-bearing communities to assess
the
situation on the ground. The team spoke with farmers, traditional
rulers and
youths in Ode-Irele, Agbabu, Ode-Aye, Faba, Epodudu, Faba, and
Ilubirin
and a host of other communities in Ondo State. The local people are
angry
that neither the government nor the companies granted exploration
rights
have consulted them. They are fearful that government is determined to
short-change them. This is sad.
More worryingly, some of the bitumen communities have been pencilled
down
for
relocation to allow for uninterrupted drilling of bitumen. Their
ecosystem
will soon play host to unprecedented violence from earthmovers and
lethal
chemicals. Their sacred forests are in danger of desecration.
We are deeply concerned that nothing is being said about an
Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA). Nothing is being said about the remediation
measures for the environmental costs of the project. Nothing is been
done to
address the genuine fears of the host communities. This is
unacceptable.
Clearly, the government is starting the bitumen project on a false
step. We
are worried that government will want to replicate the style and
approach it
used in the Niger Delta, which has engendered war and terror. The
Nigerian
government must ensure that the implementation of the bitumen project
conforms with internationally acceptable standards.
ERA demands:
* public disclosure of agreements between government and the bitumen
exploration companies;
* a comprehensive EIA that on the bitumen project;
* a just, equitable and democratic revenue-sharing arrangement based on
the
local control over local resources, and
* close monitoring of the bitumen corporations by government and civil
society organisations to ensure that the companies keep to local and
global
environmental, health and safety standards.
November 2003
|