The energy giant has agreed to compensate communities in the oil-producing Ogoniland part of
A Dutch court had ruled in January that
Lawyers for company and the affected communities on
The communities have been caught up in the court case against
Ogoni environmental activist Nnimmo Bassey told DW lauded the people affected by the oil spills for being "very persistent" in their case against
A ruling earlier this year by an appeals court in
The court delivered its judgment at the end of a long-running civil case. The farmers were seeking financial compensation and a cleanup by
'Finally justice'
"
"After years of litigation there is finally justice for many of my clients," said Channa Samkalden, the lawyer for Milieudefensie and the Nigerian farmers.
This is a sentiment also shared by
"Finally, there is some justice for the Nigerian people suffering the consequences of
For
It may well be that justice has indeed been served, based on the argument by Pols, who said it was "also a warning for all Dutch transnational corporations involved in injustice worldwide. Victims of environmental pollution, land grabbing or exploitation now have a better chance to win a legal battle against the companies involved."
The question that remains unanswered, however, is whether implementation of the court's ruling will be enough for the afflicted population.
Discontent over implementation
Since a
A popular sentiment remains that the Dutch court ruling would not translate into concrete action.
"The Ogonis are not satisfied with the level of environmental remediation so far," said environmentalist Fyneface Dumnamene.
While the Nigerian government has acknowledged that the cleanup exercise was not going according to plan, due to the COVID pandemic, it insisted that the process was going on smoothly. This position has been vehemently challenged by some of the Ogoni residents.
"I am not satisfied with the cleanup exercise," said Bemene Tanem, an Ogoniland resident who insisted that reports of a smooth cleanup were "fake news."
"President
This refers to an ongoing plan to clean up the heart of the country's oil industry, which came after Buhari asked the UN Environment Program to assess the level of oil contamination in 2016.
But some five years later, the UN reported shocking pollution levels.
Delay tactics?
Environmentalists and activists had questioned whether
These allegations are founded on the basis of an 2009 decision by
The 2009 settlement of
For some people, such as Bemene Tanem, even this year's court ruling ordering
"What the Ogoni people are demanding for basically is political emancipation, we have been deprived of our economic rights, despite the huge economic and natural resources God had endowed in our land, we have not benefited from it economically," said Tanem.
The importance of the people benefiting economically from any projects being carried out is further articulated by Legborsi Yaamabana, a journalist and Ogoni resident.
"What we just want to see in Ogoni is an improvement in the socioeconomic and environmental life of the Ogoni people ... that even the present attempt to clean the area have to march with a socioeconomic recovery," he told DW.
These sentiments are not shared by Sunny Zorva, a former MOSOP spokesman, who sees the current steps being taken as huge milestones in the right direction.
"Individuals will benefit, the community will benefit, the government will benefit, and, in fact, the companies that will later come to do some work in the area will also benefit ... after the cleanup, the water will be restored, the aquatic life will be restored, farmland will be restored for farmers to continue their fishing and farming," said Zorva.
Allegations of corruption
The optimism shared by some of the people is dampened by growing allegations that, while
"The project started without the implementation of the emergency measures recommended by the UN Environment Program. These measures include the provision of potable drinking water for the people and of course the provision of issues around livelihood, including the building of a contaminated soil management center," said environmentalist Fyneface Dumnamene.
Some feel that such allegations will not go down well with the people. For those who have been involved in the ongoing campaign for better living conditions, any actions by HYPREP that do not conform with people's expectations will be opposed.
"Any report of corruption in HYPREP will be seriously resisted," said Zorva. "The people are not happy about it, because it's about their life, it's about their environment."
Hope on the horizon
There is, however, a high degree of optimism among experts and Ogoni residents.
After Buhari's administration apologized for the delay in the cleanup, the work resumed in earnest and 17 sites were certified as having being cleaned.
There was a sense that keeping their promise would also work to the government's advantage, as it would also benefit from a clean Ogoniland environment.
"They said Ogoni people are volatile or violent -- it's because they do not have jobs, they do not have enough to eat," said Zorva. "But when these things are back, there will be security in the place, even the government will benefit."
The UN has estimated that the entire effort to reverse the shocking levels of pollution caused by oil spills could take as long as 30 years.
Such a long time frame is to be expected, given the extent of damage wrought by decades of
Copyright Deutsche Welle. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com)., source