Shell, Government Have Failed Ogoni – MOSOP President

Fri, Apr 19, 2013

By publisher

8 MIN READ

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Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, president Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, in an answer to a questionnaire Realnews sent to him, speaks on the government’s inability to implement the report of the United Nations Environment Programme, report, the move by Shell to return to Ogoniland and the recent US Supreme Court ruling on the Kiobel Vs Shell case. Excerpts:

Realnews: How do you react to the recent US Supreme Court judgement dismissing the case some Ogoni people and human rights group brought against Shell?
Pyagbara: I think it was unfortunate to get that sort of judgment coming from the US. I think the US has lost its eminent position as the standard bearer of human rights in the world with this sort of judgement that seeks to restrict/constrict the frontiers of justice and reduces the space for human rights protection. The increasing dominance of corporations/corporate power in the third world and the prevalence of human rights-related abuses in their activities really need some restraining force for good and that was what the Kiobel Vs Shell Case sought to do. Nevertheless, the fact that this case took them to this point is a warning signal to businesses that they are under our continuing scrutiny and it can no longer be business as usual.

Realnews: How do you see Shell’s plan to return to Ogoniland?
Pyagbara: It appears two issues are being mixed up here. The issue of Shell’s plan to return to Ogoniland to resume oil exploitation and the return to the area to decommission its facilities. Let me state it clearly that Shell cannot return to Ogoni to resume oil exploitation at the moment. Besides, we cannot be talking about oil exploitation now in the face of the large-scale pollution which had been identified and which has not yet been cleaned up. I think our preoccupation now is to see how our degraded environment would be first cleaned-up and then restored. On the latter issue of decommissioning, which is what I am hearing, we do not have a problem so long as it is done within a coordinated framework which ensures the effective involvement of our people to see that what is being done is actually decommissioning of facilities and also along the lines of prevailing international best practice in the industry. As you know, the UNEP report had actually recommended the decommissioning of facilities. As I said, we want to see a coordinated framework in which what the respective stakeholders are supposed to do in respect of implementation of the report, the timeframe and others are clearly outlined. In that way, we do away with the one-man approach being undertaken by different groups like Shell.

Realnews: It’s been more than a year since UNEP indicted Shell in its report and the federal government appears incapable of doing anything to hold Shell accountable. Why?
Pyagbara: The approach of the government so far in dealing with the issue of  implementation of the UNEP report is manifestly discriminatory. We feel strongly that the government has not taken the implementation of the UNEP report seriously, partly because the report dealt with the situation of an indigenous minority like the Ogoni people in Nigeria. In sane environments where government cares about its citizens, such damning report would have roused the conscience of the government and its operators. Today, a state of emergency would have been declared on the water situation in Ogoni considering the level of underground water pollution in the area as noted by the UNEP report. There would have been the mobilisation of resources both human and financial into addressing the matter of pollution in Ogoniland just as we saw in the US in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010. At the same time, we do not rule out the issue of corporate power at work in the matter.

Realnews:  What has become of the technical committee the federal government set up to review the UNEP report?
Pyagbara: We did not know if the interministerial committtee that was set up then ever met not to talk of undertaking a review of the UNEP report. There has not been any public presentation of their review.

Realnews: Do you think Shell is using its deep pocket and influence to derail the UNEP report?
Pyagbara: We cannot speculate about this but we are deeply concerned about the reported attempt by Shell to go solo in the implementation of the aspects of the report that concern it. This piecemeal approach is condemnable.

Realnews: What is MOSOP doing to get government to implement the UNEP report?
Pyagbara: We are continuing our advocacy particularly amongst the groups and institutions that we think have a responsibility to ensure the implementation of the report to save the lives of our people and stop further degradation of our environment.

Realnews: What do you think is the most vital aspects of the UNEP report?
Pyagbara: For us, the recognition that our environment had been heavily degraded as a result of unsustainable oil exploration and exploitation and the call for the clean up of the area are the most vital aspects of the UNEP report.

Realnews: What have you been doing since you became the leader of MOSOP to attract attention to the plight of Ogoni people and stop environmental degradation of Ogoniland?
Pyagbara: As you know, leadership is a continuum. We have been carrying out grassroots mobilisation and awareness raising activities aimed at strengthening the confidence and trust of our people in our common resolve to make Ogoni a better place than we met it. We are reaching out and making the presentation of our case of continuing marginalisation even under the present democratic experiment to government institutions. We are also reinvigorating our engagement in the international arena where we are making presentations and making people know that the issues we had raised over time remain largely unresolved by the Nigerian government.

Realnews: There have been several court cases within and outside Nigeria against Shell. It appears that Shell is getting off lightly.
Pyagbara: I do not think that Shell is getting off lightly. I think the noose is tightening seriously on Shell. The fact that Shell stood trial in these cases have helped to demystify the company and damaged its reputation and image. When the Ogoni hero, Ken Saro Wiwa predicted before the tribunal in 1995 that Shell will face trial one day for its atrocities in Ogoni and the Niger Delta, most people took him lightly. But today, it is happening right before our own eyes. In the Ken Saro Wiwa et al versus Shell’s case, the company was forced to settle out of court and make the necessary payments, so they did not get off lightly. In the Bodo community Versus Shell case, the company is still finding its way around. In the recent case in the Netherlands, the company is in discussion with the family of the litigant that got a positive relief. As you can see, I do not think the company is getting off lightly with the court cases.

Realnews: Shell left Ogoniland in 1993. Has the SPDC or government taken any action to remediate the damaged environment there?
Pyagbara: We are yet to see anything definite.

Realnews: How do you react to the Bonga Oil spillage?
Pyagbara: It was unfortunate. It goes to buttress our point about systemic collapse in the country; that we cannot respond to issues as they emerge rather than allowing them to fester.

Realnews: Shell alleges that it is the Ogoni people that are responsible for the  pollution through pipeline vandalism. Is that the true situation?
Pyagbara: This is largely untrue.

Realnews: Shell also said that it should not be responsible for the implementation of the whole UNEP report and that other stakeholders must play their part.  What is your comment on that?
Pyagbara: I know the joint-venture agreement with the NNPC means that both Shell and the government should drive this process but as the main polluter, I expect Shell to do more instead of the resorting to rhetoric.

Realnews: The Ogoni community was opposed to a plantation planned by the Rivers State government. What is the situation now?  Has any agreement been reached with the government?
Pyagbara: From the outset, let me reiterate here that the Ogoni people are not anti-development as is being bandied in certain quarters. The point is that you cannot promote development by imposing a development process that forecloses other development options on a people , a people that have a basic right to development which includes the right to effective participation in the development process. The right to effective participation means that you can critically evaluate and interrogate the development process, its logic and make informed decisions. The process and logic of the development of the banana plantain have serious faults.

— Apr. 29, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT