The Niger Delta is where Africa’s largest oil producer pumps out its most lucrative natural resource.But while companies like Shell and ExxonMobile operate there and extract billions of dollars worth of crude oil, most of the people in the region are extremely poor. Their traditional livelihoods as farmers and fishermen have been badly affected by more than 6,000 oil spills that have damaged the environment over the past 50 years.People ride a boat past an oil discharge facility in Lagos, Nigeria, Nov. 10, 2016.A 33-year-old local activist and petroleum engineer, Legborsi Yamaabana, has come out to denounce a $1 billion environmental remediation project that was launched in the community of Ogoni in 2016.The project, recommended by the Members of the joint task force, part of the Bodo oil spill clean-up operation, inspect the site of an illegal refinery near the village of Bodo in the Niger Delta, Aug.2, 2018. Yamaabana is the president of the Ogoni Youth Federation, which claims to have 11,000 members. The federation has filed a lawsuit against HYPREP, the government agency in charge of coordinating the cleanup. The Federation wants to know exactly how the money is being spent. It also claims HYPREP is not following the recommendations of the U.N. Environment Program contained in In this photo taken May 18, 2013, an abandoned illegal refinery is seen at the creeks of Bayelsa, Nigeria.HYPREP rejects these criticisms. The agency’s head of communications and community engagement, Isa Wasa, told VOA that the contracted companies do meet the criteria for doing the work.”All the contractors are qualified because there are certain documents that they had to present, which they did,” Wasa said.Responding to claims that local communities are not benefiting from the cleanup project, Wasa added that at least 400 local residents have been given jobs to work at the sites. HYPREP says more than 20,000 people have received free health care during a medical outreach mission that the agency organized and that they’re working on getting clean water to communities.But deep skepticism over the effort remains. HYPREP signposts are being destroyed. Earlier this year, local youth burned a HYPREP bus that was carrying government staff and journalists.Celestine AkpoBari, a veteran environmental activist, says people in the region have expected too much, too soon from the cleanup. But he acknowledged it’s understandable they are disillusioned.”The people have been pushed to the wall. They’ve been told lies over a million times,” Celestine saidEnvironmentalists say it could take 30 years to sanitize and restore the region’s environment. Activists warn that if the government fails to deliver, people may resort to violence.
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