Wife of the Rivers State Governor, Justice Suzzette Wike has asked the Federal Government to clean up the oil impacted Niger Delta in order to save the lives of the the women in the region.
She made the call during the celebration of this year’s National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) week.
Rivers first lady who was represented by the former Public Relations Officer of the International Federation of Women lawyers (FIDA), Adata Bio-Briggs noted that the consequences of environmental pollution in the Niger Delta cannot be over emphasized.
Regretting the impact of the pollution on the environment, she stated that women and children are the most vulnerable when it comes to pollution and called on the Federal Government to implement the UNEP report on the cleaning up of Niger Delta.
In her key note lecture, the former commissioner for Environment, Prof. Roseline Konya, observed that Niger Delta is very rich with diverse biodiversity, ecosystems of mangrove swarms, fresh water swarms, rain forests, and the sea.
She also described the region as the largest wetland in Africa and among the top wetland and marine ecosystems of the world which due to oil pollution, is now characterized by contaminated streams and rivers, forest destruction and biodiversity loss that has affected the livelihood of indigenous people, especially women who depend on the ecosystem services for survival, leading to increased unemployment, poverty and displacements.
Prof. Konya disclosed that UNEP 2011 report found that, people in Niger Delta especially Ogoniland mostly women and children have lived with chronic pollution all through their lives.
“The report found benzene, a known carcinogenic agent level 900 times higher than WHO limit and also found oil in the soil five meters below the surface, establishing soil and water pollution in the Niger delta”, she informed.
She expressed dismay that long years of oil exploration and substandard environmental exploitation have degraded the region’s ecosystem, giving it an unpleasant honour of being one of the most polluted places on earth.
She further disclosed that Rivers State Ministry of Environment’s report on the state of air pollution in Port Harcourt and its environs showed that inhabitants, especially vulnerable groups like women and children are breathing air contaminated with carcinogenic heavy metals and particulate matter 10x WHO acceptable limit, predisposing the residents to possible health risks like cancer, cardiopulmonary abnormalities and deaths.
Earlier, the State chairperson of Nawoj, Mrs Lilian Okonkwo-Ogabu in her welcome address, said that NAWOJ week which had its theme as ” Clean-up the Niger Delta; save our women” was organised to highlight the issue of pollution in Niger Delta which she noted affects women mostly.
On his part, the programme manager of Civil society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, Salaudeen Hashim said as an advocate of the cleanup of Ogoni land, it is pertinent to join force with the women to advocate that the clean-up be implemented as fast as possible.
He pointed out that the delay in the implementation has caused several deaths of women and children in the affected areas.
