Category: Environment

By Sebastine Ebhuomhan   Saturday, 1st November, 2025. Abuja. The government of Edo State has adopted community-led solutions for environmental degradation. Disclosing the resolution, Chief Executive Officer of Edo State Flood, Erosion and Watershed Management (EdoFEWMA), who doubles as the Coordinator of Edo State’s Nigeria Climate Adaption—Erosion and Watershed (NEWMAP—EIB) Project, Honourable Mohammed Bawa Okoyomoh, said Localised Adaptation (LA) and Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EA) present the best community tools for forging environmental resilience against degradation just as they help to sustain achievable success in the management of the environment. The Edo State government under Senator Monday Okpebholo’s leadership has prioritised investment in flood and erosion control, demonstrated by its prompt commitment to counterpart funding obligations required for the execution of Edo State NEWMAP-EIB Project. The government has also embarked on a continuous desilting and maintenance of drainage systems across the three senatorial districts, accelerate construction works at key flood and erosion control sites, while rebuilding impassable roads with plans to expand interventions to further mitigate flooding risks in the state. Commending Governor Okpebholo for the political will that aimed at preventing erosion and flooding as a core mandate of the state’s SHINE Agenda that aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda’s sustainable management of the environment, Okoyomoh said, “The theme: From Vulnerability to Resilience: Empowering Communities to Combat Climate-driven Floods and Gully Erosion capture the urgent transformation we are driving through the NEWMAP-EIB Project, which is a shift from helplessness to empowerment and from disaster response to climate resilience.” Climate change continues to accelerate land degradation across Nigeria. In Edo State, the problem is characterised by fragile soil and high rainfall that manifests as severe flooding and gully erosion. Climate models predict frequent and intense rainfall, leading to concentrated runoff that overwhelms drainage systems, destroys infrastructure, and endangers lives. Poor land management practices like deforestation, improper waste disposal, and unsustainable farming further compound the problem. “The narrative is shifting from government-centric to community-led solutions. While government-engineered projects are crucial, the most sustainable line of defence lies with our communities. We must highlight the role of Localised Adaptation and Ecosystem-based Adaptation as tools for resilience. Community ownership is the foundation of resilience. Communities possess invaluable local knowledge of drainage paths, soil types, and vulnerable areas. Their active participation ensures sustainability and long-term project success,” Okoyomoh explained. The executive coordinator listed some community-led prevention strategies to be harnessed as: Tree Planting, Agroforestry, Contour Barriers and Vetiver Grassing, Drainage Maintenance, Sustainable Land Use, and Rainwater Harvesting and Runoff Diversion. ● Tree Planting: Planting especially deep-rooted indigenous species that stabilise soil and slopes. ● Agroforestry: Integrating trees with crops to reduce surface runoff. ● Contour Barriers and Vetiver Grassing: Creating natural terraces to slow water flow and prevent erosion. ● Drainage Maintenance: Clearing surrounding drainage channels and keeping them free from waste, so as to complement government desilting efforts. ● Sustainable Land Use: Encouraging cover cropping and avoiding cultivation on steep slopes. ● Rainwater Harvesting and Runoff Diversion: Turning floodwater from a threat into a valuable resource for dry-season use. “Climate resilience is built from the ground up. The most successful and sustainable defence mechanisms are those built upon local knowledge and executed through community ownership. “The link is undeniable: climate-driven intense rainfall is often exacerbated by poor land management, including deforestation, improper waste disposal and unsustainable farming. We must move beyond reactive disaster management to proactive and preventive measures, rooted in the communities,” Okoyomoh further explained. The government called for media support and partnership to make a success of the intervention shift. “The goal today is to shift the media narrative from reactive disaster reporting to proactive storytelling that empowers citizens. The media serves as a vital bridge that helps educate residents, provide motivation and amplify community-driven success stories. By championing these local efforts, the media can provide the blueprint and motivation to secure a safer, more sustainable future for our vulnerable communities,” he underlined. As a call to action, the government specifically wants the media to: Amplify Local Voices, Shift Focus from Disaster Reporting to Preventive and Solution-based Reporting, Simplify the Science by Translating the Complex Link, Promote Accountability, Educate on Policy, Spotlight Farmers, and Promote Civic Responsibility. · Amplify Local Voices: Seek and tell the stories of communities successfully preventing floods through simple, low-cost innovations. · Shift Focus from Disaster Reporting to Preventive, Solution-Based Reporting: Highlight what communities are doing right to educate others, not just the aftermath of destruction. Raise awareness among communities about everyday practices that worsen flooding and erosion risks. · Simplify the Science: Translate the complex link between climate change, flooding, and erosion into simple messages that the average resident can understand. · Promote Accountability: Track both government actions and community commitments to ensure the sustainability of flood and erosion interventions. · Educate on Policy: Help the public see how local actions align with national and global climate adaptation goals. · Spotlight Farmers: Showcase how local farmers are implementing climate-smart agricultural practices that promote environmental sustainability and secure livelihoods. · Promote Civic Responsibility: Educate residents on the direct link between improper waste disposal habits and major flooding disasters, highlighting the role they can play in the fight against floods and erosion. “Edo State stands at the forefront of climate adaptation and environmental resilience. But no government can achieve sustainability alone. It requires the active participation of the people, with the media as a key catalyst. Together with the state government, we can turn the story of Edo from vulnerability to that of resilience, from erosion to regeneration, and from fear to foundation.”

In 1995, I took a ‘dangerous’ trip to the vicinity of Anegbette and Ifeku communities – where I unintendedly encountered the presence of the ‘Hippos’. The two communities are situated in Etsako North East Local Government Area (LGA) of Edo State, in the meandering stage of the famous River Niger, descending from the Guinea highlands. The massive mammal, with a twisted pronunciation that tends to dry up the mouth’s saliva, was killed by the pellets of some local hunters. The killing of the ‘bulldozer of the swamp and submarine of the under-water’, that has a long-alphabethical name as with its enormous body, had drawn the angst of the state’s Forestry Commission, shepherded by Dr. Valentine Owamagbe Asuen, the youthful and energetic business man, more known as DVD. Asuen had condemned the poaching of the Hippo through a widespread media statement that canvassed for the stakeholders and public’s support for nature conservation. In my over four decades traverse in the wilderness and romance with its biodiversity, the wetland of Lau and Karim Lamido LGAs, respectively of Taraba State, strikes a semblance with the Edo habitat and its killed Hippo. In the scenic state, Hippos were usually reported to be sighted, but killed around Lau, Karim Lamido, Ibi, Tella, Donga and Ngeyanki on the temperate Mambilla plateau. Taraba, Nigeria’s north eastern fringe state, aptly prided the ‘Nature’s Gift to the Nation’, has River Benue at Lau separating Karim Lamido, within its aforesaid wetland. In 1997, Hippos were usually sighted in sizeable detached populations, by an ornithological (bird) study group that I joined on a field trip about the River Benue valley. It wasn’t for when the news media was unabated with the killings of the mammals by hunters, like the Edo’s case. The Hippopotamus or Hippo is a large mammal, but of a specie that is a native to sub-Saharan Africa. Hippo is mainly herbivorous (lives on plants and its derivatives). And because of its love for water, it derived its name from an ancient Greek word, ‘river horse’. It is third largest land mammal, following the elephant and rhinoceros. The Hippopotamus is semi-aquatic (amphibious), staying on land and more in water. Male Hippos are known as ‘bulls‘, while females are called ‘cows‘, and the babies, ‘calves’. At the time of my visit to the Edo wetland site in 1995, adventurism and risk-taking were a twin hobby that was second to one’s nature. Then, there was a protracted bloody skirmish between both communities, over the ownership of a vast arable land on the River Niger trough, with its very rich alluvial deposits, which encouraged bountiful fishery and all-year-round crop farming. I had reported the crisis for a national magazine and a staple of the Nigerian Observer, while David Izegaegbe, now a filmmaker in Benin City, penned the news for the Speaker, a tabloid then owned by the flamboyant Edo business man, Chief Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion, the Esama of Benin. From Anegbette to Ifeku, the river was filled to the brim. Whilst the dusk was fast approaching, still, there was no one who to paddle us to Ifeku, about an hour canoe distance from Anegbette. The voyage had raised security fears, not only because the river tides was tense and highly ‘temperament’ in that drenched month of September, but that there was also a premonition or likelihood of being caught amidst a gun fight on the way. “Never mind, today is for a ceasefire”. One of the youths had assured us. About midway, the wooden canoe was thrown off-balance and round-tripping at the centre of the river, due to the high tides. The canoeist sadly shook his head, confirming to us that he hadn’t paddled a canoe for months, an expression that he was helpless and we were all doomed. He regretted that there was no person to back him up, in the steering of the canoe, which was expected to be manned by two persons. Next, he asked us a cold-blooded question. “Can you swim?” Out of confusion, I almost yelled at him because I was hydrophobic heavier than the lead in water “No, we can’t swim”, was all I could whimper. Then, Davidson sorrowful uttered that we were finished. I retorted that my end hadn’t come yet, and we were going to make a safe voyage. Then I broke into the songs of Bob Marley’s, with a repetition of his timeless lyrics of ‘don’t worry about a thing everything gonna be alright…’ from the ‘Three Little Birds’ title.The canoeist was now self-possessed and we again got the confidence to paddle on. Soon and from nowhere behind us, on the opposite river banks, there were staccatos of gunshots. For the supposed ‘cease-fire’ between the feuding communities might have failed. Our hearts jumped into our mouths. We had no choice than to be ‘calm and emboldened’. Either, the canoeist didn’t need to be reminded to double the paddle strikes, rather mechanically away from the danger, until we disembarked at Ifeku. Interestingly, bloats of the Hippos, obviously riled by the gunshots, had bolted into the water. That was how we accidentally sighted the presence of the “elephants of the water” in the area. This had partly formed our news reportage. Of course, the locals from Anegbette and Ifeku, later confirmed of Hippos’ long existence (in bloats or batches) in the area. But for the inattentiveness of the military era of the then newly-created Edo State, conservation experts and institution couldn’t honour the invitation to carry out the needed study and to develop it into a conservation enclave. Those invited included the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) and Pro-Natura International. Poor Hippo creatures! How was it to be know to the world that they were still alive or didn’t go extinct in that terrain, like the other species of the once biodiversity-rich habitats of Edo, it it wasn’t fell by the hunters? Most importantly, Edo State governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo and his nature-loving

  The ECOWAS Commission Abuja and the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Professor Charles Anosike, are seeking for the recognition of NiMet’s Training Centres as ECOWAS Centres of Excellence for capacity development in meteorology and climate science. At a meeting between the two organisations held at NiMet’s headquarters in Abuja, both parties  agreed on the need to formalise their collaboration through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which is expected to be signed soon to guide and expand their joint activities. Both parties agreed to close ranks in order to enhance disaster preparedness. The ECOWAS team Commission led by Dr. Sintiki Tarfa Ugbe, Director of Humanitarian and Social Affairs Dr. Ugbe commended NiMet’s leadership in advancing climate services across West Africa and recalled the Agency’s pivotal role during the Sierra Leone mudslide disaster, a demonstration of proactive and competent regional support. Ugbe underscored the importance of anticipatory action, early warning dissemination, and collaborative responses to humanitarian crises, describing NiMet as a key partner in driving regional coordination, co-development of services, and capacity-building. She stressed the need for deeper collaboration, identifying areas of mutual interest such as joint training programmes, technical exchanges, and broader access to climate knowledge products tailored to regional priorities. The meeting also stressed the need for mutual expressions of commitment to scale up regional resilience through science-driven, people-centred climate action. Professor Charles Anosike in his welcome address, reaffirmed NiMet’s commitment to fostering regional cooperation in climate and weather services.   Anosike emphasized the Agency’s strategic role in strengthening early warning systems and expressed readiness to support ECOWAS initiatives through technical expertise, training, and access to meteorological data. Anosike expressed appreciation for the recognition by ECOWAS and reiterated NiMet’s dedication to regional partnerships. He called for strengthened institutional frameworks and urged ECOWAS to support NiMet’s cost recovery initiatives to ensure the sustainability of climate services. He also reaffirmed NiMet’s alignment with global initiatives like the United Nations’ Early Warnings for All (EW4All) through the development of a National Framework for Early Warning Services that supports end-to-end coordination across the climate value chain. The establishment of the ECOWAS Disaster Operation Centre, which is being led by Professor Mansur Bako Matazu, the immediate past Director-General of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and a member of the visiting delegation was also brought to the front burner The Centre is designed to function as a regional hub for the coordination of multi-hazard early warning dissemination and for addressing climate-related vulnerabilities across Member States.

BY TONY ERHA A luxuriant and well-manichured greenish lawns, around the gateway to the pioneer ivory tower, beside the Ugbowo-Lagos expressway in Benin City, the Edo State capital, is a precursor, which entices passersby to the lush vegetation which they are bound to encounter in the bowel of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) campus. “Green UNIBEN”, a codenamed, which also served as a sub-theme for the year 2025’s marking of the World Environment Day (WED), was held on the campus, few days after the yearly event assigned by the United Nations (UN) for ‘June 5’. Although the ‘2025 WED’ had its global theme emanating from the mitigation of the environmental pollutions of plastic wastes, Edo State government and non-state environmental actors, instead, had laid more emphasis on tree planting. It is not, therefore, farfetched that Prof Edoba B. Omoregie SAN, UNBEN’s Vice Chancellor (VC) and his environment-friendly team and other supporters, had focused on tree planting, like other aforementioned conservation stakeholders. To think and act local on an aspect of environmental pollution, that is more dominant in a locality, is the same thing remediatory activities which may be globally recommended to checkmate a particular scourge, as long as all local actions pertains to its mitigation. “Acting locally in isolation against environmental problems is the same thing as a collective move to solve a particular one at the global realm” As one who had been involved in tree planting and other environmental remediation activities within the UNIBEN campus, since the late 1980s, it is like standing in the gap to assert that Prof Omoregie, Prof Osubor, his deputy, the Prof Gideon U. Emelue’s seven-man committee and the school authority etc., are poised at carrying on with the exercise, than in the past. Led by Prof Emelue of the school’s Forestry and Wildlife Department, the Committee has Prof Matthew Isikhuemen of the same department and Prof (Mrs) V. O. Aigbokhaevbo as members. Other members are Messrs F. O. Osayimwen, E. M. Ojo and Gabriel Akin Sanni, whilst Mr. Dennis O. Aigbe, is Member/Secretary. The work of the committee was said to be facilated by Dr. (Mrs) Benedicta Ehanire, the university’s Public Relations Officer, also already had a softspot for nature conservation. My last visit to the campus was about a year ago, when the new VC, Prof Omoregie, wasn’t yet appointed. While visting this time around, I encountered a contrast where the UNIBEN’s spaces were more adorned with well-kept lawns, which entices passersby to lie down and sleep off without mats! Indeed, this receptacle sprawls from the university’s entrance, on a walk to its administrative complex, that is tucked in the serenity of old-growth trees. Between this edifice and its main auditorium, a giant sculpture of Aruanran the Giant, the famed environmental sanitationist, who in the Edo folklore, loved cleaningness so much so that he swept with the palm tree, like using a broom. The imposing image of Aruanran, I suppose, bespeaks an ideal conservation mascot and UNIBEN’s fascination to tree planting, greenery and cleaningness. The official oppening ceremony was held at the ASSU Secretariat, drawing a large crowd of participants, consisting principal officers of the university, deans, directors, heads of departments, professors, staffs and students, in addition to external guests. In his address, Prof Omoregie, who was corroborated by Emelue and other speakers, emphasised the instantaneous planting of the first 5,000 trees out of the 10,000 he earlier told a visiting Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), that his school was going to plant. While reiterating the niceties of tree planting, which principally include mitigation on climate change, replenishment of the environment and to make the campus environment-friendly, he vowed to support the initiative and bring about a change, where trees would no longer be indiscriminately fell within the campus. The tree planting exercise, as propelled by Prof Emelue, but led by VC Omoregie, congregated multitude of planters, which include the university populace and outsiders, as earlier mentioned in the roll-call. Everybody was excitingly engrossed in the business of the day that brought them together – tree planting! Tree planting is thrilling as he who plants a tree plants a human life. Trees, like the humans, are made from seeds that are planted and nurtured to adulthood. Interestingly, getting the young to plant and appreciate the trees is a self-fulfilment venture that one would cherish. Although the students who joined in this very exercise, were limited in number than other inspiring experiences I had had on this campus, as I joined in planting trees, the excitement at which all carry it out, this time around, was worth the exercise. According to Prof Emelue, “most students are doing their examinations, otherwise, their multitudes would have come to partake in this planting, as usual”. That scores the need to engage youth in the drills of conservation and tree planting, as it is in consonance with the homily of the Chinese; “Where trees are planted, generations of people, young and old, should be thoroughly educated…”. It pleases me now to see that some of the past conservation-biased students are of positive influences to some forestry and environmental institutions, not only in the state, but also elsewhere in the country. Late in the 1980s, students members of the university’s Environmental Conservation Club, who should now be older persons that contribute to society, were positively indoctrinated into the school’s tree planting activities and environmental sanitation, which had become an engaging tradition on the campus. The UNIBEN Club was established alongside hundreds of secondary and higher educational institutions in the former Bendel State, under the guidiance of the defunct Environmental Education Unit, at College of Education, Ekiadolor, Benin City. It was an intervention project funded and coordinated by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) With Dr Lawrence Ezemonye (now a professor) and Vice Chancellor of the Igbinedion University, Okada, the first private university in the country, I had

By Diagi Lucky “Today, Ewu Agbede Old Road has been reduced to a foot path, now in an absolute deplorable condition and left to rot away. Edo State is blessed with a Catholic Monastery. That is to say correctly that one of the best missionary wonders in the world is cited in Ewu Edo State. This crucial access road: Ewu Agbede Old Road should be a top priority for Governor Monday Okpebholo now; it is an idea which time has come. It baseless to think about an alternative road: the Benin Auchi Express Road, which has become moribund. It is utterly disheartening to say that Ewu Agbede Old Road, which is less than five kilometres could not be fixed by successive governments in Edo State”   Ironically, the Ewu Agbede Old Road is less than five kilometres, and it borders Edo Central and Edo North. In the sixties the road was the only accessible road to the Northern part of Nigeria. It will interest you to know that the agro – economy of the old Bendel State was heavily depended on this very important old road. Ewu market used to be the main bus stop and hub of agro and cultural products from Okene in Kogi State, Edo North and beyond, while the Benin traders were the main people transporting goods to the cities. Today, Ewu Agbede Old Road has been reduced to a foot path, now in an absolute deplorable condition and left to rot away. Edo State is blessed with a Catholic Monastery. That is to say correctly that one of the best missionary wonders in the world is cited in Ewu Edo State. This crucial access road: Ewu Agbede Old Road should be a top priority for Governor Monday Okpebholo now; it is an idea which time has come. It baseless to think about an alternative road: the Benin Auchi Express Road, which has become moribund. It is utterly disheartening to say that Ewu Agbede Old Road, which is less than five kilometres could not be fixed by successive governments in Edo State, from governor Ambrose Ali of blessed memory; John Odigie – Oyegun; Lucky Igbinedion, Prof. Osariemen Osunbor; Adams Oshiomhole, and Godwin Obaseki. Talking about the importance of good network of roads in order to boost macro agricultural products, it is incontrovertible that agricultural roads like the Ewu Agbede old road in Edo State play a significant role in the economic development of a country, particularly in rural areas where agriculture is a major source of livelihood. Agricultural roads provide farmers with access to markets, enabling them to sell their produce and increase their income. Good roads facilitate the transportation of inputs, such as fertilizers and seeds, and outputs, such as crops, which can lead to increased productivity and efficiency. Agricultural roads can reduce transportation costs for farmers, making their products more competitive in the market. The construction and maintenance of agricultural roads can create jobs for local communities, contributing to economic growth and development. Agricultural roads can contribute to rural development by improving access to social services, such as healthcare and education, and facilitating economic activity in rural areas. By improving access to markets and reducing transportation costs, agricultural roads can help ensure food security by increasing the availability of food products. Agricultural roads can contribute to economic growth by increasing agricultural productivity, improving market access, and reducing transportation costs, which can lead to increased economic activity and growth. Overall, agricultural roads are essential for the economic development of rural areas and can play a critical role in promoting economic growth, food security, and poverty reduction in a democracy. History will ever be kind to the government of Senator Monday Okpebholo, if it proactively fix this very essential economic road. All said and done. This is calling on the pragmatic leader: Governor Monday Okpebholo to fix the Ewu Agbede Old Road, so that he would write his name in gold letters as a deserving idol. Diagi Lucky, a public affairs analyst, an indigene of Ewu, contributes this piece from Benin City.

The Executive Chairman of the Edo State Forestry Commission, Hon Valentine Owamagbe Asuen, yesterday, in his office in Benin City, the state capital, received the Forestry Stakeholders of Edo State (FOSES), during a courtesy visit, in which the coalition declared its desire to collaborate with the commission, in its statutory mandate to protect and conserve forests and its related resources and help carry out its activities in the state. FOSES was led in the visit by Mallam Alasa H. Ikhelowa, a notable environmentalist and development expert, as the group’s Chairman, and Comrade Tony Erha, a frontline environmental journalist and activist, secretary of the coalition. Other members of the group, who were present at the meeting, include Prof Gideon U. Emenlue, a professor of Forestry and Wildlife, from the University of Benin and Mr Frederick Okoloise, a retired forester from the state’s Department of Forestry. Mallam Ikhelowa, who was a longtine serving Permanent Secretary of the state’s Environment ministry, stated that FOSES was desirous of collaborating in the areas of giving the needed forestry and its related expertise, mobilisation of a wider range of stakeholders and to help in fundraising and entrenchnnent of local and international backings for the activities of the commission. Whilst further quoting from a text prepared for the visit, Ikhelowa suggested that the commission would need to revisit and expunge from the controversial Bill, which allegedly established the Commission, as a replacement for the 1968 Forestry Act, hinting further that there are portions of the Amended Bill that are anti-people and may hinder the smooth work of the commission The group, amongst other things, also called for the establishment of a Forestry Trust Fund, immediate evaluation of existing forest reserves, reafforestation of forest reserves, revocation of vast forest land areas that were unduly ceded by past state governments, to single-crop plantation companies etc; effective protection by the state government for Benin Ogba Zoo and Nature Park (BENZOPA), state government support for Okomu National Park and establishment of additional protected forest areas for the state. Responding to the statements by the group, Hon Asuen expressed the optimism of working hand in hand with the group, which he said is obviously made up of seasoned professionals and reliable men and women, who could help to achieve his commission’s laudable mandate, as being propelled by the state governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo. Whilst regarding the positions advanced by the group as worthwhile, and that his commission would look into them, as it also works with other stakeholders for the same effects, he urged FOSES to use its widespread membership and the public to fastrack the good work of his commission, adding that its bid at “reforestation of Edo forests and carrying out tree planting exercises, also entails the re-orientation of the people, who the forests are primarily meant for”. It could be said that FOSES is a coalition of nature conservation groupings, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), conservationists, professional bodies, farmers, loggers, land users, youth groups and genders, who have been against land grabbing, undue deforestation and livelihood destruction, which had pitted them against the immediate-past government of the state.

A passionate appeal has been been made by the Edo State headquarters of the Centre for Childcare and Youth Development (CCYD), to the state Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, to come to the immediate rescue of the centre, following a violent rainstorm that blew off the roofs of the buildings of its school and charitable centre, located in Uromi, the administrative headquarters of Esan North East local government area of the state. The strong appeal was made by Professor John Imonbhio Abhuere, Chairman and Founder of the centre, through a press statement made available to journalists in the state. Prof Abhuere, who is an important traditional title holder of the Ovenrofuare (the sun brings peace and joy) of Ebelle kingdom of the state, due to his notable development and philanthropic drives, also appealed to public-spirited organisations and individuals, to come to the aid of the educational, leadership and management centre. “We appeal to Governor Okpebholo, governments, organisations and individuals, to come to our rescue, urgently, so that the school children could resume their academic work and other activities of the centre, that are significant to the children, youth parents and the Edo society” Said Prof. Abhuere, an educationist, youth developer and social critic, who was the longest serving Director at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). CCYD, the educational and resource centre, registered as a trustee with the Corporate Affairs Commission, also have other edifices in its branch at Lugbe, Abuja, and was established by Chief Abhuere, in order to give back to the society.

By Igbotako Nowinta The Executive Director of Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Rev. David Ugolor, has described the much talked about Ogoni clean up exercise being carried out by the Federal Government of Nigeria as an unending drama. The renowned environmental rights activist, and Convener of the Peoples AGM, made this call on Monday May 20th, 2024, at the TM Palace Hotel, in Warri, Delta State, Nigeria, in his welcome address, during the 3rd People’s Annual General Meeting (a Pan-Nigeria Civil Society platform campaigning for the enforcement of Paris Climate Agreement: an alternative to the AGMs of multinational oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria) Rev. David Ugolor said that in May 2022, ANEEJ convened the 1st Peoples AGM in Lagos, Nigeria, which brought together the people of Niger Delta region and environmental activists from different parts of Nigeria, comprising heads and leaders of NGOs, CBOs, faith-based organisations, representatives of Host oil and gas communities, human rights groups, students, youths, artisans, and media practitioners, to aggregate the people’s views and positions on a number of issues including Shell’s energy transition strategy. According to Rev. Ugolor: “The Ogoni clean-up effort remains at a slow pace and stakeholders are worried about the unending drama. We are aware that many remediation contracts have not been executed despite the fact that the contractors have collected 30% of the contract sum. This is unacceptable and we should speak out against it and ensure that they commence work immediately or refund the money they collected.” He emphasised further thus: “It will interest you to know that a few days ago, the Peoples AGM expressed deep concern over the announcement by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), one of the largest shareholders in Shell that, it will vote for the re-election of all Shell directors at the 2024 AGM scheduled for May 21, 2024. Additionally, it will not join the 27 institutional investors which filed a resolution calling for Shell to align its climate targets with the Paris Agreement.” Rev. Ugolor lamented: ” The decision shows the Fund is putting profit above responsibility to our climate and to oil-affected communities. Shell’s climate plan is as full of holes as its promises to Niger Delta communities. The Norwegian Oil Fund is failing to challenge Shell’s directors at the AGM, this undermines our faith in Norway’s officials. Their claim to achieve justice as the company departs the Niger Delta is so far turning out to be an empty word. Shell cannot destroy the entire livelihoods of the Niger Delta region and run away from cleaning up its mess, it is unacceptable!” The  third  Peoples AGM which had in attendance 45 participants, drawn from the leadership of key civil society organizations from the Niger Delta including representatives of Women, youths’ groups and religious groups from host communities resolved that ,  shareholders to vote against the re-election of all the directors and reject Shell’s energy transition strategy at the 2024 AGM, because of its non-alignment with Paris Climate Agreement It also agreed that the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Environment should investigate the cleanup process and carry out environmental audit in all polluted sites across the Niger Delta region. The conference urge   government to  assess the performance by contractors handling the remediation sites and the contract of those found to have performed bellow expectation despite collecting 30% mobilisation fee, should be revoked and the monies paid to them should be recovered. It also resolved to launch a responsible divestment campaign and undertake a peaceful mass action to demand the proper assessment and clean-up of Ogoni land and the entire Niger Delta, as well as the restoration of the environment and the peoples livelihoods before divestment The AGM also resolved as follows : Nigeria government to contribute its share of fund to the clean-up of Ogoni land and effectively coordinate the clean up process to ensure that the desired result is achieved. To undertake independent audit of liabilities and expressed readiness to sustain the pressure on the regulator to stick to its own guidelines on divestment. This will achieve the prioritization of the interest of the people and their engagement. Investors in oil and gas companies should follow the example set by the Church of England Pension Board and the Dutch healthcare pension fund PFZW who have withdrawn their investment from some oil companies for lack of credible climate strategy. It Urged the federal government of Nigeria to reject calls by a section of Ogoni people to resume oil exploration in Ogoni land without concluding the clean up process and due consultation with all relevant stakeholders. The AGM re-stated its earlier call for the companies’ major investors to go to the Niger Delta for the fact-finding mission and resolved to undertake high-level advocacy to engage the investors and government currently supporting SHELL, Total Energies, Exxon Mobil and other oil companies in Nigeria. Agreed to sustain the engagement with the Norwegian Oil Fund and other investors in pursuance of justice for the Niger Delta People. It also Called on the Nigerian government to reject the divestment plan and sale of its onshore facility by Shell and other multinational IOCs until community concerns are addressed and the company addresses the environmental challenges and livelihood loss it created in the Niger Delta. Niger Delta communities and other stakeholders should organize themselves and engage the Nigerian government and oil companies to ensure a responsible divestment process that reflect the concerns of the people. It Urged the government to carry out a carrying capacity study to assess the absorptive capacity of Bonny LGA to host further expansion on NLNG with Trains 1-6 on ground and 7 under construction, SPDC Expert Terminal, Exxon Mobil Export Terminals, Belema Oil Facility, other beehives of high Technology Supporting Industry on ground. This is in view of the cumulative negative impact of the operation of these companies. That government must properly fund the regulatory agencies to carry out its functions to avoid regulatory capture