 You're welcome back to the breakfast on Plus TV Africa. We're being joined here by an environmental rights activist and an indigent of Oguni land to discuss a topic we raised earlier. This was a judgment that a court delivered in Lagos in June 2010, and that's for the payment of compensation to Oguni communities that have been ravaged by oil spillage. Many years later in June 2020, August 2021, and we've heard from the lawyers of the Royal Dutch sale shell confirming that they're willing to go ahead and pay that compensation of 45.9 billion nara to those communities that are involved. Let's now say hello to our guests, Mr. Celestine Akoberi and Oguni land environmental activists. Good morning, thank you for joining us. Mr. Akoberi, can you hear me? Good morning, thank you and thanks for having me. Good morning. I can hear you. Good morning, thank you and thanks for having me. Okay, let's get your initial response to this judgment on the news when you heard it yesterday. How do you and in fact the people of Oguni land feel about it? Well, we all feel electric, we're happy, but no matter how much it takes, it cannot take away the pace from the heart of the Oguni people because quite a lot are lost. The entire livelihood of our people have been lost. Lies have been lost. Maybe you've not gone through UNAB report on Oguni. That is a death sentence. And as far as I'm concerned, this is a part-time job. It is a slap on the wrist or shell. And I think at the most appropriate time, the Oguni people will be filing a shoot against you based on the recommendation of UNAB because Oguni people will take nothing less than a 10 billion U.S. dollars for the oil spills in the land. So this is one way forward, but like I said, we are happy and we can say that Ken Sarawa was being very prophetic at the point of his death because he said that the day of sharing the dock was coming and that we pay for all the atrocities. And we are beginning to see them. A few years back, they paid 57 million pounds to the Odo community. Now they are paying this very soon. The Oguni community base will come up. Okay, Mr. Akabari, you said something earlier I wanted to follow up on. You mentioned that lives have been lost. So for people who may not understand the scale of the damage, I want you to help us break it down. How exactly have these oil spills affected the livelihoods of people in Oguni land? And in fact, the Niger Delta, and how has it lost lives and just destroyed people like you claim? Okay, right. If you go through, that's the only scientific document now that we can, but even if that report did not meet our expectations, but it is the only report available now that validates what we're talking about, that report says that the water we take in Oguni land in 900 times worse than the level recommended by wild organization. And that there is hydrocarbon in the air that we breathe. And there is a cancer-causing carcinogen called benzene in every water taken in Oguni. And that in every water taken in Oguni is coated with crude oil about 8CM, that must surely be a decente. So it means that every person that is alive in Oguni have been breathing in poison and eating poison. And that five feet of the land were dead. So everything in that environment smells dead. And that some people were born and are nipode alive in this same environment. And there are no alternative drinking water for anybody. The same dead things above we are eating. And that's why life has become so short in Oguni. If you go to Oguni weekends, the only thing that is happening is festival of barrier. Every where is barrier. So when somebody dies at the age of 30, you see people putting up their posters and say that the tanking go for a life vestment. For 30, the traditional rulers are young boys. If I wanted to be a chief, I would be a chief now. You know? All right, Mr. Apobari. All right, Mr. Apobari, what would you describe as, what would you say would make sense as justice for Oguni people? A size of 45 billionaire payment to the people, what else would you expect that should be done? That you would say, okay, this looks more like justice for the degradation of their land for the last couple of decades? Yeah, one thing that should happen is that the government should come out to declare a state of emergency in Oguni. Total emergency in all areas. Health, education, security, everything in Oguni. If you don't declare a special status, don't, like you said, Abuja, federal capital territory. Just declare emergency there. Then as our rate case are over, all those who were murdered innocently because from what we are seeing now, it shows that the conspiracy, the initial and the government of Oguni people were just to silence them. So the declaration of state of emergency, can you imagine that you may release such a terrible report and government is yet to react in any way apart from commencing the implementation of that report or what they call the cleanup now. Apart from that, nothing has been done. I mean, don't the government think, don't they think or do they believe that human beings don't live there? This is the best sentence that I've been presented to you. That audio report were commissioned by the federal government themselves. I'm not Oguni. So we are yet to see justice. Money cannot bring back one head of cancer over. Not to talk about the over 2,000 persons that were put to more moderate in Oguni innocently. Okay, you made a statement earlier saying that there's a conspiracy between Shell and the government. Could you explain? Shell and the federal government, they are two sides of the same coin. They all go to bed together every night because why the government is, this is all the money that government makes come from the oil exploration activity that Shell is funding. Shell has, have arrested quite a number of times by Shell officials. They just called the military. I can't forget one time myself, Rebrenin Mubasi, Chebe Gura, and several of us, we went to Eureka gas plant, just to observe the Popo Garay drying things. And before we knew it, two full truckload of soldiers has appeared. Who called the soldiers, the security officer, common security officer of Shell? They have the right to summon people. In 1990, thousands of people die in Humbos, including the king. People run into his parlance for safety. They enter their bomb deal, bomb the house, kill the king, kill his children and everything. So they have the power to call the military or the riot police. And that power can only be excised by the commander in chief. So if Shell could do that, then it means that they have a parlance in crime with the government of Nigeria. And government in Nigeria can not remove themselves from all the crimes that Shell has committed in this country, because the government is supposed to regulate the activities of Shell. Shell is just like a guest here. They do the amount of crime that they commit here because they are permitted to do so. So I'm actually... I want us to, you know, let's look for that government, like you've mentioned, you know, and bring it down to the state level and also maybe also the local government level. Yes, you know, the Shell is meant to be under the regulations of the federal government. They, whatever they are doing or whatever crimes they are allegedly committing, should not be, should not go unnoticed without the federal government. But, you know, I want us, you know, I want you to share your thoughts on how the state government and the local governments around Ogoni land and the whole Niger Delta may have also failed to make life better for the Ogoni people. Yeah, definitely if you look around, there is a total absence of government at all levels, whether they are local, whether they are state, especially what you call a 10% derivation that is supposed to go directly to community people. So the state governments, the agencies of government like the NGDC, they are not absorbed from this. They are all part of it. But when we say government, all of them are part of the government. But the yogurt part of them, they are the people that sign agreement with the oil companies. They are the people, the oil is under their executive order. So they get their work from a butcher and they come to your community. So even if it is the much respected great side of your father, they brush it away, even if it is on their right of way, whether it is school, whether it is a church, whether it is newly cultivated crops, whether right crops were harvest and you are yet to harvest and they are on their way, they brush it aside and take it because they are escorted by soldiers and they can do anything and get away with it. So government idea under the line, youth act or whatever, has taken everything that the people own from them and that's it. So they are all partners in crime. So Mr. Akibori, when we look at the wealth generated from the Niger Delta, what exactly should that place look like now in contrast to what it is? Well, that place should look better than Dubai because it's a very small place and the amount of money that has come out from there should make the Niger Delta better than today's Dubai. So it is unfortunate that corruption and lack of vision has made our people to be the way they are. But like they say, whenever a man wakes up and starts his day, the people can still wake up, take their destiny in their hands and ask that their life be better and they can still be done. Mr. Akibori, I want you to give me specifics. Like what are the states, what's the state of infrastructure in that area? Look at the schools, the roads. Just be specific in how you feel that that Oguni land should look like when you say Dubai. Like I want you to give me the specifics of the future of what Oguni land should be. Mr. Akibori, can you hear me? Okay. It's unfortunate that we seem to be losing Mr. Akibori. He is an Oguni land environmental activist speaking here on the breakfast about the recent court judgment. This was obviously issued about 10 years ago, 2010 June, asking Shell to go ahead and give compensation to communities in Oguni land. The sum of 45.9 billion Naira for all the oil spill and the damage to their communities, to their lives and to their health. And talking about that UN document I mentioned, I am looking at it. It really details just exactly what people in those Oguni communities are facing. You can imagine how someone can't even drink water and what water is laced with crude oil. You can imagine just the level of health damage. And what he said really struck me regarding how there are burials, funerals every weekend in a region that people say should be better than Dubai. It's just unfortunate that years and years after the cleanup was said to have started. You see how, I mean there's a report by Amnesty International that puts the level of implementation of that cleanup at a mere 11 percent. Well 11 percent, I don't want to doubt Amnesty International's figures, but I think the 11 percent might even be pushing it. It's really very dependent on what they mean by cleanup and what the requirements from government are for the Oguni people. After cleaning up their waters and cleaning up their farmlands, which to be honest, I don't think it's even possible to really completely clean up those areas, but at least you can do it to some extent where it now becomes more habitable. But aside that, it doesn't stop there. There's still demands for better governance for those communities. They still need hospitals. They need schools. They need better roads. They need infrastructure generally. They need factories. They need, there's so much that they should be able to afford. And there's tourism potential. I mean in other places where there's like, what's our bodies? Absolutely. You find that those places attract a lot of tourists in the thousands. So why can the Niger Delta be like that? These things don't exist in the Niger Delta. I always would like to remind you guys, I know that we're aware, but it should never be left out of the conversation that Shell, no doubt, may have had the allegations against Shell and the crimes that they have been mentioned to have committed with regards to environmental pollution and degradation in Oguni land and the whole of the Niger Delta. But the conversation concerning how much the Nigerian government itself, who saw responsibilities for the lives and security of the Nigerian people. And the welfare. And the welfare of the Nigerian people has also completely failed the Oguni people. I mean, he described it like them going to bed together. Yeah. So it's not just Shell. Shell, yes, should work with the laws that the Nigerian government sets for them. They should operate with the regulations set for them by the Nigerian government. And when they fail, they should be cautioned by the Nigerian government, which we've not really seen happen. But besides that, the Niger Delta people themselves, and it's something that I wish they would do a little bit more of. And that is to question their government at the state and the local government level. Yes, I know that these oil companies have a lot of questions to answer, but how many questions have been sent or been put to the state government, to the NDDC, to the local government? There's local governments across the whole of the Niger Delta state that receive hundreds of millions of Naira every month. I'm not saying annually. Every local government receives 100 to 150 to 200 million Naira every month. That is their location. I want to believe that they do that to some extent. I mean, that's the reason why they were able to take this matter to court. I mean, these are Oguni communities who put heads together to take this matter to court back in 2010, that led to these judgments we're talking about today. Protests that are being held. I mean, we invited somebody in the Niger Delta, one of these journalists, who talked about the level of, you know, environmental damage that people are facing. So I want to believe that the people are doing something. We're seeing this in the news. It's now left to the government. Really, it's all in the government hands now because you heard him mention that these, you know, oil companies, they have the military in their pockets and they carry the military along with them to terrorize the people. Should the military not be protecting the people of Oguni land? Should they not be protecting us? Why should they be bought? Why should they be paid for to terrorize the people that they should be protected? Questions that we need to ask. Also important questions. Long-term regarding. You're going to be out of the barrens in the first place. Exactly, regarding. Okay, Mr. Apopari. Mr. Apopari. Yes. Yes, you were showing your thoughts there about how, what exactly Oguni land should look like with the level of wealth that, you know, currently is in that place. Yeah, I was just telling you that last week, I led a protest, you know, to occupy the East-West route. That route leads to two refaminaries, two sepals, another colleague, a pedochromical plant. It leads to the oil and gas prison. It leads to a five home state, Frost River, Andoni Oboko Kika. That was unregistered. For us community people to shop in place that have all their economic presence. That road above and above is the most economically viable in Nigeria. So that choose how the government and the oil companies treat Oguni people. A journey that will take the Oguni people at 24 minutes. We stay on that road for two days. I am not exaggerating. Two days to get to Oguni. A journey of 24 hours. So, going forward, like I said, the declared state of emergency, all the schools in Oguni are dilapidated. They are not air care. I am not saying something that is not right. I have gone to general hospital in Oguni. Where I come from? If you want to want the doctors to conduct operation surgery on your on your family people that you bring, you are a generator. In the case of... You would hire a generator. In a quiet producing territory. It shouldn't happen. Wow. All right. Mr. Pobari... So I'm not talking about electricity. Electricity is luxury. That's why it's luxury. You wouldn't even say it. But the livelihoods of the people. The people are presuming that fish and may have farmers. That have been destroyed. The livelihoods of the people have been completely eroded. So I mean... Mr. Pobari... In a place where people are working corpses. Yeah. I want you to finally speak on now that there is this judgment that there's going to be four to five billion Naira given to the people. What do you expect to play out? And how many families, communities will get to receive these funds? Do you think that they will at least celebrate these funds being given to them? How do you expect this to play out? Well, we have gotten money more than this in Bodo. But in Bodo is a small community. So why do you say four to five point nine billion? To you it looks so big. But if you look at the number of people involved it's not that too big. I'm telling you that we are going to put up a suit of ten billion U.S. dollars against chef based on what we now know from the U.N.A report. So that what you saw there yesterday is like you take my shirt from me and cut one small button from the shirt and give to me. That's what has happened. So yeah, we are happy that for the first time a Nigerian court will stand their ground to say something that is reasonable. Because what we've seen from the past has always been chef bribing the court and they continue to adjoin the case system to all the litigants who died. That's what we have been seeing. But I'm happy that maybe they've heard that the overseas courts at the head, the U.S. and London have started giving favorable judgment against chef. So they are not letting that. If there's any joy, any excitement I have is that a Nigerian court will stand their ground. That's the only joy I have. Otherwise, that's some expatriate. But compared to the damages and the atrocities the court has committed in Organiland. All right. So let's say Nakobari, Organiland Environmental Activist. Thank you very much for your time this morning. Thank you. We will reconnect with you again as quickly as possible. You're welcome. All right, brilliant. Stay with us. Now we're talking to you. Yes, International Youth Day. We'll give you more details about that regarding how Nigeria has fared in a recent ranking of countries around the world.