It was nearly 4 am and an eerie silence hung over the sleepy, riverine community on the fringes of the Atlantic Ocean in Delta State, Southern Nigeria.
Light from a few lamp-posts cast wavy shadows on the water, penetrating the deep pre-dawn darkness that shrouded the community like an inky blanket. A cock crowed somewhere in the distance and soon the place began to come to life. Splashes of water could be heard from nearby watery ‘compounds’ as some of the residents prepared their canoes for the day’s work by clearing water from the canoes- this ritual was necessary as the canoes get filled with water after being left in the creek for hours.
Not long after, a few canoes could be seen gliding smoothly through the water as their occupants made their way for the day’s job of fishing, some kilometres away….
Elder Kilete Tiemo, a chief and indigene of Polobubou, (Tshekelewu), an ancient Ijaw fishing town in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State, has seen a lot of strange things in his life. But to him, one of the oddest (and heartbreaking) things he has witnessed so far was residents of Polobubou travelling many kilometres out of their community to others for fishing! Growing up in the community as a youngster, fish and other marine life was so much in abundance, one did not need to go far to get some.
“Back in those days, we did not need to travel far or struggle to catch fish. All you had to do was take your canoe to a canal- like creek, shake the boat and fish will be flying into your boat,” the 66 year old recalled. “It was now left for you to select the ones you want and throw the rest into the water. It was that easy. On this waterfront, fish was plentiful; you will be scared to defecate here because fish will be jumping out to get some of the waste,” he added.
Standing on a wooden landing in front of a fair sized bungalow built on stilts, there was a pained look on his face as he reminisced about the fishing days of his youth and the present situation in his community. “As a youth, my major occupation was fishing. I wasn’t strong enough to go for lumbering or canoe carving. I used to fish twice in a day when I didn’t go to school and both times, my boat used to be full of fish. On school days, I went once a day. People will come, sometimes up to ten and take out of the fish, yet we still had enough to send to Sapele for sale. Sometimes, when I returned from school and needed fish to eat, I’ll simply walk up to the waterfront, throw my hook with little ‘garri’ attached and I’ll get the type of fish I wanted,” he revealed.
Like most young people in the community, the retired teacher had left Polobubou for greener pastures as a young man but on his return some years later could not recognise his homeland. “I don’t know what’s going on. When I returned home in the 1990s from my stay in the city, I thought I was going to eat fresh fish, but I was disappointed. All the fish is gone. I wept at what I saw here.”
What caused Chief Tiemo’s anguish was the devastation oil exploitation activities of several oil companies had wrought on Polobubou over many decades beginning from the 1960s. Prior to that period, this mostly fishing Ijaw settlement, and a major oil producing hub in the Niger Delta region of the country, was a haven for marine and wildlife and other natural resources. The rivers, creeks, swamps and other water bodies teemed with fishes while the thick forests that surrounded the community was the habitat of different animal species and birds. Blessed with such abundant natural resources, Polobubou was a largely self sustaining place, where the inhabitants derived their livelihoods from their immediate environment.
All that changed in the 1970s. Back then, American oil giant Chevron (formerly Gulf Oil) constructed a canal along the Opuekeba creek to link the Atlantic Ocean. This was to enable the movement of large vessels carrying heavy equipment to their drilling facilities in the community. That single act was the genesis of Polobubou’s woes and the decline of the once resource blessed community. With the canal, salt water from the sea was introduced to the community’s fragile ecosystem which had devastating consequences. It destroyed the lush, verdant green forests, killed all the marine life and polluted the fresh water creeks the inhabitants relied on for drinking water and household use.
Pa Stanley Abulu, was a witness to that momentous event that changed Polobubou’s fortunes forever. He narrated how the residents of Polobubou, initially, perhaps due to naivety and an erroneous belief that the coming of Chevron to their community would bring some benefits did not foresee the negative impact it would have on their lives and environment. As the septuagenarian disclosed: “I was here when Chevron came to dredge the canal back then. They came with some gifts (small stuff), which we took, unaware of the implication of what we were doing; we didn’t know it would destroy our environment. By the time we realised our mistake, it was too late, the damage had been done and there was nothing we could do.”
Going down memory lane, the father of seven who was born in Epe, Lagos State in 1947 but grew up in Polobubou, narrated how the canal destroyed the town’s natural resources, especially the freshwater, fish and other aquatic life, woodlands among others. “Our community was good back then – we had fresh water for drinking, different types of animals, plenty of fish- you could see them swimming in the water,” he said. With a look of distress on his face, and sadness in his eyes, he compared the old Polobubou with the present situation of the town, concluding that it would take a miracle for the community to regain its former glory. “So many things have been destroyed in the community- the water has gone bad- you can see how black it is,” he said, pointing a forefinger at the murky, blackish water that did not look fit for anything. “We can’t drink it anymore, no more fish here, the wildlife is gone as well. Things are so bad now, I don’t know if the situation can be salvaged but something urgent needs to be done to save our town,” he posited.
Looking elegant and resplendent in her cream- coloured gele (headgear) worn over her outfit of white blouse and multi-coloured wrapper and accessories with coral beads, Madam Ojonbo Yoroki presented the image of a typical Niger Delta matriarch out on a day of merriment at a traditional ceremony or some other event. That afternoon, this reporter met her sitting calmly, taking in the sights and sounds at the reception for the newly crowned monarch of Egbema kingdom, HRM Amb. Meshack E.A. Ubabiri, Bini Pere 1V, Agadagba of Egbema kingdom held at the church premises in the community.
Her cool demeanour however, quickly gave way to a distraught expression when she was asked a question about the situation in her hometown. In an agitated tone tinged with anger, she told this reporter how the coming of the oil companies had brought no benefits but grief and misfortune to her people. “Since Shell came here in the 1960’s, I’ve never benefitted anything. Nobody here has. The water we were drinking before, the oil polluted it, turned it to salt water! Now we don’t have water to drink,” she said. Her biggest grouse was that after the oil companies had destroyed everything- livelihoods, environment, way of life etc, they still continued drilling for oil daily and making money. “We’ve pleaded with them to do something about our situation but they refuse to do anything but keep on drilling for oil while we are suffering,” stated the 80 year old grandmother.
From aquatic haven to undesirable wasteland
That Polobubou is a shadow of its former self is putting it mildly. Stories told by some of the older residents of the community who witnessed its pre- oil exploration days, paint a picture of a vibrant, resource rich place that provided nearly everything its inhabitants needed to sustain life. It was mostly a self sustaining community with thick, green forests that provided economic trees such as abura, azonia, cotton woods and afara for lumbering for canoe carving, boat building, firewood and palm wine tapping. Besides, the water bodies provided different varieties of marine life such as crayfish, periwinkles, different species of fish- ebah (governor fish), odia (mud fish) and others. “Life was sweet in those days. Everything we needed to live well was here,” Abulu affirmed.
On a canoe ride round the community, it was difficult to see any sweetness in present day Polobubou. The Oloduwa creek that veers off the Benin River and meanders through the town like a long, thick black rope is completely polluted. Its blackish water is devoid of any form of marine life and it’s undrinkable to both humans and animals. Worse, silting caused by the salt water from the Ocean, has drastically reduced its depth.
“This water used to be about nine feet deep; big canoes, barges and tugboats could pass it easily. Now, it’s less than three feet,” said Tiemo. “During the dry season, small speedboats and canoes can get stuck in the silt for hours. This affects easy movement of the people from place to place.” To demonstrate, he placed a paddle in the water to prove how shallow the water had become.
The salinisation of the water bodies caused by the canal besides destroying the environment, also introduced strange plants hitherto unknown to the community. For instance, grasses often found in upland areas and savannah grasslands grow profusely in Polobubou. “We don’t know this grass in our community, its alien to us,” Tiemo admitted.
Very little economic activity takes place in the community since the natural resources that provided their livelihoods had been destroyed by the oil pollution. Fishing is virtually non-existent due to the dearth of all marine life in the water, causing a decline in an ancient occupation of this riverine community. The situation is so bad that as Tiemo stated sadly: “Some of our youths here don’t even know how to fish, something unheard of among our people who are famous for our fishing skills.”
The consequence of the lack of economic activity, is the pauperisation and poor living conditions of the inhabitants. Many live in fragile looking, ramshackle dwellings made with bamboo poles and raffia and built on stilts which hang precariously over the water. In more prosperous times, such structures were often rebuilt after some years according to Tiemo but due to the tough times, that was no longer possible.
To earn a little income and stave off hunger, a few residents, resort to the sale of firewood cut from forests some distance away. “We now sell firewood to eat,” Yoroki stated with some bitterness.
Others, determined to keep going despite the odds, get by with petty trading. A few of these including young boys, girls and women could be seen, hawking their goods on canoes which they paddled from one part of the community to the other to reach their customers.
For the majority of its residents, though joblessness is the norm. “The men don’t have work, the youths are idle,” posited a resident who spoke anonymously.
Due to the high unemployment rate in the town, rural-urban migration is very high according to findings. Many of the able-bodied people move out to towns and cities like Sapele, Warri and other places to seek better opportunities.
For those left behind, life is a continuous struggle for survival…
Battle to save Polobubou from extinction
The destruction unleashed on Polobubou in the past five decades or so, has expectedly, drawn the ire of its inhabitants who have over the years, fought a long battle to save their community. Beginning from the 1970s, efforts have been made by the people to draw the attention of the oil companies as well as the different arms of government to the plight of Polobubou and the need for the restoration of their environment.
For instance, there was resistance to the canalisation project embarked upon by Chevron back then which resulted in intimidation and violence being inflicted on the people of Polobubou. “When we protested, they came with security personnel- army, police- and we can’t fight them! They arrested and detained some of our people and went on with the construction despite our objections,”Pa Abulu recollected.
Corroborating his words, Chief Tiemo narrated how the elders in the community back then protested against the canalisation project. “Our forefathers resisted it, but not with force. They wrote letters to the government that the project would cause problems to the community. And what happened? They were invited to Akure, Ondo State, locked up, beaten up, humiliated for several days. My father was a victim of the incident. It took a lot of effort for our fathers to be released,” he stated.
Since that initial protest, the people of Polobubou have not relented in their efforts to find redress and justice for the atrocities inflicted on their homeland by the oil companies operating in their land. The companies include Chevron, Shell Nigeria, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC/El Crest), Conoil and Sahara Energy.
“Each year, we commemorate the World Environment Day by holding a press conference in Polobubou,” said Tiemo. ”We invite the oil giants to come but they don’t come. We’ve also written many letters to them, the Federal government and some government agencies like DESOPADEC intimating them of our plight but they never listen to us. All they do is promise they will engage us but meaningful engagement has not come to pass,” he lamented.
For the long suffering people of Polobubou, all they want is environmental justice from the oil companies as well as the Federal Government so their ancestral home can be habitable once more.
During this year’s World Environment Day celebration, the people of Polobubou, used the occasion to call on the various oil companies operating in their community to urgently tackle the environmental degradation, their activities have caused their ancestral land.
In a speech read by Tiemo, who is also the Chairman Health and Environment Committee, Polobubou Development Association, the community enjoined the various oil companies such as Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Nigeria Petroleum Development Company/ElCrest Nigeria Ltd JV, Conoil Producing Nigeria Ltd, Sahara Energy Services Ltd, the Federal and Delta State Governments and other interventionist agencies to immediately embark on a cleaning, remediation and reparation of the destroyed environment to save the community from extinction.
This he added, would involve land reclamation, shoreline protection, canalization and dredging of Opuama-Tsekelewu creeks, afforestation programs, flora and fauna regeneration policies among others.
To reduce the hardships faced by the people due to the polluted environment, the community further urged the government and the IOCs operating in Polobubou to as a matter of urgency, embark on sustainable development projects such as internal road networks, housing units, provision of potable drinking water, electricity, medical facilities and services among others. “We want to draw the world’s attention to the human and environmental crisis facing our homeland, Polobubou. Our freshwater has been polluted and we don’t have water to drink anymore. We buy water from Sapele and other places to drink. Sometimes, our people get water from the oil companies’ platform and often their boats capsize and they lose their belongings. Why can’t these companies provide potable water for us?” he said.
On the health care needs of the people, he enjoined NPDC/ElCrest JV and Conoil, in the interim, to provide free routine medical outreach services to Polobubou communities. “Long term solution is the provision of a standard health facility, well equipped with staff for our community. There is something called a hospital here but if you see it, you will weep for this place. The medical staff, are hardly there, drugs for patients are not available too,” he noted.
Besides these, the community also wants the Federal Government to intervene and compel Chevron Nigeria to block the artificial canal they constructed, which is the major cause of the problems of Polobubou and the neighbouring communities.
Over the years, the residents have gone to great lengths through various means to seek redress and succour for their community but most of these efforts have met a brick wall. Many letters, for instance have been written to the oil majors, Federal and Delta State governments and their agencies for intervention in Polobubou’s plight.
One of these made available to National Point was a 2015 Save Our Souls protest letter to the former governor of Delta State Dr Ifeanyi Okowa by the Olodua Descendants Development And Humanitarian Rights Movement, an umbrella organisation of the communities that make up Egbema kingdom which Polobubou is a part of. In it, the organisation decried the dastardly, humiliating and inhuman manner in which they had been treated by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) since the oil company’s entrance to the area in 2013.
Some of their grievances against NPDC include the lack of consultation with the numerous concerned communities before NPDC started operations, absence of an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote bilateral relationship or tie with the concerned communities and the fact that NPDC forcefully occupied and acquired land without permission or provisions, negotiation, agreement and compensation to the communities. Others were the failure of the company to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in respect of development activities such as exploration, exploitation and exportation before any commencement of operations and the lack of developmental projects in the concerned communities as well as the employment of graduates, skilled and unskilled labour with job opportunities being given to non-indigenes.
Eight years after, the grievances of the people have not been addressed. The oil companies seem indifferent to the people’s plight, going on with their operations as if nothing was amiss. Besides, media enquiries for their side of the story, are often ignored.
This insensitive attitude of these companies has made the community pass a vote of no confidence on them. As part of the letter to Okowa, stated: “Without mincing words, due to NPDC’S failure of creating conducive platform and ground for peaceful and smooth operation, we hereby resolve that we do not have trust and reliability on NPDC for further operations in our communities or vicinity. Indeed, it is illegal, unconstitutional and hazardous to work without an existing MoU with the concerned communities being stakeholders.”
Desperate lives on the fringes of society
While awaiting restitution for their destroyed environment, the people of Polobubou carry on life in a somewhat desultory manner. At sunset, the generator that supplies light to the community goes on, bringing some life to the place. Music (local and reggae) can be heard blaring from a few homes, interspersed with conversations between neigbours gossiping about their day. Out on the creeks which wind between the homes on stilts, children can be seen paddling leisurely around on dug out canoes, probably running errands for their mothers. Amidst them are the ‘canoe street hawkers’, moving round, striving to make the last sales before nightfall.
It’s a hard knock, bitter life here in Polobubou and adjoining communities, brought on by oil companies who make billions of dollars in oil and gas revenues from the misery and pain of these hardworking people with the resilient, indomitable spirit of their founding fathers who ventured into this area over six hundred years ago.
“Everyone here is suffering- young and old. Only the unborn children are left out, that is until they are born and they will join us in the suffering. We struggle to feed or meet basic needs. What these people – the oil companies- are doing to us is man’s inhumanity to man, wickedness in high places. They make so much money from our soil, yet all we get in return is poverty,” Pa Abulu stated in an aggrieved tone.
Chevron has not responded to the allegations raised in this report. Several calls and text messages were sent and made to its communication officers including Mr. Victor Anyaegbudike, the Communications Manager, but the calls were not returned, neither were the text massages replied to.
