Environmental activists on Monday, June 19, 2023, in Abuja advocated environmental justice to tackle the dangers associated with environmental degradation arising from oil explorations.
They made the call during the 10th-anniversary conference of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) a non-governmental organisation (NGO), with the theme of the conference “Advancing Environmental Justice in Africa”.
Nnimmo Bassey, Director of HOMEF in the welcome address, condemned the lamentable condition of the Niger Delta region, saying the struggle for environmental justice in Africa is complex and broad. He called on President Tinubu to carry out an environmental audit of the entire region in order to set up a new cleanup exercise for the area.
He said the environmental and ecological damages done to the African region by the multinational oil companies must be compensated adding that it is crime to ignore the climate debt.
“We want people to respect traditional knowledge, respect indigenous knowledge and technology. We want a situation where Africa is reckoned with; where people pay for their ecological damages.
“We will emphasise and campaign for the amount of damage done to African region and must be compensated, they have to pay for it.
“It is the continuation of the fight for the liberation of the continent and for socio-ecological transformation.
“It is a fact that the environment is our life; the soil, rivers, and air are not inanimate or lifeless entities.
“We are rooted and anchored in our environment. Our roots are sunk into our environment and that is where our nourishment comes from, They said this during the 10th-anniversary conference of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) a non-governmental organisation (NGO), with the theme of the conference “Advancing Environmental Justice in Africa”. Bassey said.
