Kozo community, a
coastal habitation in Bodo, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, once hosted over four thousand persons that earned their livelihood, predominantly from the natural treasures of the area.
The teeming inhabitants of the community were mostly fishermen and women who eased out their daily existence on the natural ambience of the area which satisfied their craving for game and stalking for survival.
This was indeed their most cherished possession and inheritance.
Today, the once thriving rural economy and communal living are almost extinct. The barest shred of human existence in the coastal settlement  is gone. The inhabitants have been rendered homeless and have migrated out of their abode in search of alternative means of livelihood.
No thanks to reckless oil exploration and exportation in the area which have brought colossal damage to the natural environment and left the displaced inhabitants in a state of misery.
A visit to Kozo community recently revealed the extent of devastation of the natural environment. There was visibly no sign of life but desolation. The sprawling cracks where the fishermen launched their daily expedition was laden with thick layers of crude oil. The mangrove reserve that harboured the sea shell food was completely burnt off.
A former inhabitant of  Kozo community, Peter  Ledisi, who now lives in Bodo Town, in Gokana Local Government Area, of Rivers State told The Tide correspondent that he was born in Kozo community and grew up in the area until the sad experience of oil polution displaced his family.
Ledisi, who is 35 years old said his parents took care of him and his siblings through the proceeds of fishing but today life has become so difficult for the family as their means of livelihood is destroyed.
“That place you see (Kozo community) used to be our home for the past decades, we grew up there and pursued life with happiness, we were contented with what nature provided for us through fishing, every growing child enjoyed fishing there because it provided fun for us and filled our desire and passion for game and we also made money from it. Today, we have been displaced out of our home by oil pollution. Life is so difficult for us”, he lamented.
Another displaced inhabitant of  Kozo community, Miss Tornubari Sakpugi disclosed that life has become very unbearable for her as a result of the environmental pollution of their natural home.
Sakpugi, a fish seller, said her business has collapsed as her customers can no longer go on their fishing expedition due to the pollution of the rivers.
“I used to buy fish in higher quality from fishermen and sell. The business helped me a lot and I was able to provide for my needs, but today, things are very  hard for me. It is a terrible experience for you to move out of a place where you earn a living without any alternative means of livelihood, we want the polluted area to be cleaned so that we can return home. They are talking about UNEP report, but we are not seeing a development, the damage is too much, we are suffering”, she declared.
The story of  Kozo community is similar to that of other oil bearing communities in the Niger Delta. These communities suffer wanton depletion of their natural resources through oil spillages and gas flaring. The land, plants, animals and marine life are badly impacted through the resultant pollution, making life meaningless for the inhabitants of the affected areas.
Fishermen at some major water fronts in Port Harcourt also have similar story to tell.
Iyalla, a fisherman who resides at Ibadan water front in Port Harcourt told The Tide correspondent during a visit to the area that fishing business is no longer lucrative compared to the past.
Asked the reason for the decline in the business, he said the rivers have been contaminated with spilled crude oil from bunkering.
According to Mr Iyalla, years back, fishermen did not have to go to the deep sea before they were rewarded with good catch.
But today, he said they have to paddle through hard and wander up sea amidst wreckages of boats and badges and sometimes return home with little or no catch. He explained that illegal refining of crude oil and bunkering activities smear the rivers with wasted crude, making bloated dead fishes to float on top of  the rivers. He added that; “ the fishes that we catch these days are tasteless because of  the polution of the rivers”.
Experts have however identified this ugly trend as an indication of the total cost of aquatic life which is the hallmark of coastal habitation.
A  Chemical Engineer, Dr Ujile Uwajiogak  said the burning of our natural reserves, especially through the “cooking of crude oil” put the life of the present generation and that of posterity at risk.
Speaking in an interview with The Tide, the Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Rivers State University disclosed that it takes over 50 years for a polluted site to regain its lost reserves. Using the experience of the Civil war as an example, the university teacher said, the bombing  of oil facilities in the Niger Delta during the war left in its wake devastating effects on the creeks and coastal channels of the region.
He said after 50 years of the war, nothing  has grown in the impacted sites and the flourishing mangrove forest is replaced by palm that has no economic value.
“The indulgence of criminal elements in the cooking of crude oil is very destructive to our ecosystem and also has health implications. Research has shown that illegal bunkering will increase cancer in the region. What is the sense in taking a few components of the product and wasting the rest on aquatic life? Our environment was preserved and bequeathed to us by our forebears, but today we are destroying it, uninitiated to the wonders and possibilities of western technology, they lived longer and happier than the present generation, the average life span of a Niger Delta person today is 50 years, this is indeed pathetic”.
In the views of an Environmental Sociologist, Dr Steve Wodu, human insensitivity to the protection of his natural environment has worsened problems of environmental degradation. To him, some of man’s actions towards his environment are tampered insanely on ignorance or deliberate obstinacy billed to ruin existence. “Otherwise what will be the rationale behind indiscriminate burning of natural energy reserves or bad sanitation habits such as littering of wastes and lack of care of the natural surrounding,” he asked rhetorically.
Dr Wodu, postulated that a new era of prosperity can only blossom when we begin to treat our environment with the same sanctity with which we treat our very life.
In his view, the Director of the Institute of Conflict and Gender Studies, University of Port Harcourt , Prof  Fidelis.
Allen, said a blighted environment portrays the nakedness of our civilisation and turns man’s dream into despair. Prof Allen, who is an environmental crusader, called for a more holistic approach towards the restoration and preservation of the natural environment.
According to him, only through such holistic approach and sound environmental awareness campaign can the ethical violation of environmental rights be curtailed and sustainable environmental growth attained.
To achieve a better objective in environmental management, he said, “the exploitation of resources, the direction of  investment, the orientation of technological development and institutional change should be in harmony to enhance both present and future potentials to meet human needs and aspiration”.
He called on multinational companies operating in the Niger Delta region to carry out their activities with a sense of social responsibility by adopting international best practices and save the Niger Delta environment from destruction.
He described the Ogoni clean-up exercise as critical to the eventual remediation of other impacted sites in Niger Delta communitees  and called on all affected stakeholders to expedite action to make the clean up exercise a success.
Also,  a group known as the Ogoni Youth Federation frowned against what it considers the deliberate delay in the implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Report in Ogoni land. National Coordinator of the group, Comrade Legborsi Yaamabana, who spoke with The Tide in an interview blamed Shell, for the non implementation of the UNEP report, stating that the company was rather concerned about resumption of oil exploration activities in Ogoni  than the restoration of the despoiled Ogoni environment.
Comrade Yaamabana called on Shell to provide potable drinking water in Ogoni land and carry out medical programme in the area to save the people from various strange ailments associated with environmental pollution.
Comrade Yaamabana also called for a national environmental policy that would specifically address the environmental problems in the Niger Delta and other parts of the country.
He said such policy must take into consideration that solid waste management is an important aspect of environmental planning, which must be prioritised rid our society of indiscriminate dumping of industrial waste.
Realising the importance of the natural environment, the American novelist, Henry Beston warned: do not do dishonour to the earth lest you dishonor the spirit of man. The implication of Beston’s warning is that by destroying his natural environment, man sets to consume himself in an escapable catastrophe, the possibilities of which are too obvious to be ignored.
However, the production and consumption of energy is today a major indicator of modernisation process. Our modern civilisation is fuelled by the energy sector, particularly  oil and gas and this involves exploratory activities with attendant pollution problems and significant local and global implication.
It is therefore suicidal to see that the very natural ingredients that nourish our lives are washed away in the name of technology or industrialisation. It is left for us therefore to heed to Beston’s warning or perish.

Taneh Beemene