…Gov. Diri: Bayelsa to Establish Recovery Agency, Recovery Fund
Global attention turned to the oil-polluted creeks of Bayelsa State as the Ford Foundation and an International Working Group (IWG) on Petroleum Pollution and Just Transition convened a high-level summit in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
At the event, themed “Make the Polluter Pay: Environmental Genocide and Just Energy Transition”, speakers demanded accountability from oil multinationals operating in the Niger Delta, calling for urgent remediation of what was described as one of the world’s worst oil pollution disasters.
The summit centred on the landmark report of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission (BSOEC) titled “An Environmental Genocide: Counting the Human and Environmental Cost of Oil in Bayelsa, Nigeria.”
Director of Natural Resources and Climate Change at Ford Foundation, Prof. Anthony Bebbington, warned that the global push for energy transition must not be used as an excuse for oil firms to abandon their responsibilities.
“These costs accumulate somewhere else, with huge environmental, human and social consequences and must not be allowed,” he stressed.
Dr. Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou of ODI Global, a BSOEC commissioner, said the IWG was created to ensure implementation of the report’s 10 recommendations through sustained local and international pressure.
Environmental activist Dr. Nnimmo Bassey of HOMEF described abandoned oil wells in Bayelsa as continuing hazards.
“Wells drilled in the 1950s and abandoned in the 1970s are still dripping oil. This is why hydrocarbons are found in the blood of community people,” he said.
Community voices, including Emem Okon of Kebekatche Women & Development Resource Centre, highlighted the devastating toll on women, farmlands, and food security. King Bubaraye Dakolo, Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom, accused Shell and other oil majors of attempting to “run away” from the Niger Delta through divestment without addressing their legacy of destruction.
READ ALSO: Bayelsa Strikes $3m Deal with Jampur Group for Solar, Smart Meter
Other contributors included Prof. Engobo Emeseh (University of Aberystwyth), Dr. Isaac Osuoka (Social Action International), Emmanuel Kuyole (Ford Foundation), Alex Doukas (Polluter Pays Project), and rights activist Olanrewaju Suraj.
Gov. Diri’s Pledge
In a special address, Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, pledged concrete action. He disclosed that he had presented the BSOEC report to President Bola Tinubu, who directed federal agencies to begin remedial action.
Diri further announced plans to establish a Bayelsa State Recovery Agency and Recovery Fund, backed by legislation currently before the state assembly.
“For decades, Bayelsa has powered Nigeria’s economy at incalculable cost — poisoned rivers, degraded farmlands, and ruined livelihoods. Our people have endured enough,” he said. “Through partnerships with Ford Foundation, ODI, and the Just Clean-Up IWG, Bayelsa will not carry this burden alone.”
The summit underscored growing international resolve to hold polluters accountable and to press for a just transition that places communities, not corporations, at the centre of energy reform.