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By Kelechi Nwaucha
Against the backdrop of COP 29, currently going on in Baku, Azerbaijan, non-governmental organisation, Quest for Growth and Development Foundation, has led a community protest for climate justice, just energy transition and fair finance.
Elders, religious leaders, women and youths, including children, of the larger Ogbunabali Community in Rivers State, Nigeria, on Friday, took to the streets of the area to call for a better climate deal for their community and the Global South.
With inscriptions on placards, such as ‘Climate Action, Now!’, ‘G7, Pay Up! Climate Finance is Your Obligation’, ‘Cut the War Cash, Boost the Climate Funds Stash’ and more, the community elders blamed the inconsistencies in weather pattern, such as the “heavy rainfall in November, instead of the normal harmattan,” air pollution, among others on the oil exploration activities of Global North-backed entities.
Reeling out a list of diseases and health hazards arising from gas flares and other oil exploration activities, Coordinator of Quest for Growth and Development Foundation, Smith Nwokocha, lamented that life-expectancy in the Niger Delta had dropped to 40 years.
Nwokocha said “the essence of this walk is to create awareness that we are asking and demanding for climate justice for the Global South and Africa, especially more for the Niger Delta because of the impact of climate change in this region.”
While blaming the Global North for the climate crisis, Nwokocha pointed out that “Shell, TotalEnergy, Chevron, ExxonMobil and the likes, build industries, refineries and all are compromised by extracting our oil in our ground. The damages and all they create are coming back to us. But they (Global North) own these companies. They get profit from all.
“This is why we are blaming them, and also holding IMF and World Bank responsible alongside. If they stop funding and investing on fossil fuel projects, these Global North organizations and companies like IOCs will no longer have place to get funds.”
While sensitising students of Spectrum Academy in Ogbunabali during the rally, tagged ‘Global Day of Action for Climate Justice,’ Nwokocha explained that “we are not saying they should stop fossil fuel, but they should gradually phase out such projects. They can switch to renewable energy, which is environmentally friendly, and then invest more on that. So that both nature and man will be happy, and the environment will become better and healthier for the process.
“We are also asking for climate finance. Let them redeem those climate finance so that we can manage the issues around reparation in our community,” he said, while asking that the climate fund be raised.
“We are asking for $5 trillion. They have been able to project $100 billion, which they have not been able to fulfill. But right now we know that that will not even go anywhere to manage the Impact of climate change. So we are asking for $5 trillion as compensation for the damages, for loss and damage in our community. With that, we can be able to repair the damage. Even if we can’t go back to nature, but at least it should be manageable.
“Also, we are not asking for loans anymore, because they try to entrap Africa, entrap Global South to take loans from them to manage this climate crisis. At the end of the day, you begin to pay interest that you cannot even pay up. So we are asking for grants instead,” Nwokocha said.
He noted that the Rivers community people and youths were part of the march, “because they are also angry about the situation. They feel the impact. These are things we see and we can relate to. That’s why they came out in their number to support the march.”
Community elder in Ogbunabali, Pastor Emmanuel Chinwo, likened the global climate situation to “when Africans were taken as slaves,” adding “we are starting to see the truth. And the truth is that it is like when people were slaves. Now, black Africans are asking for reparations, for the injustice done to many people.”
He said that”In the course of taking them to Europe, some died and a lot of slavery was done to black race, especially in Africa. Now, people are dying also. Sometimes I have chest pain. We have all this deadly smoke that covers particularly the Niger Delta. God said in his word, John 8, we should know the truth. The truth will set us free. So we must fight for the generation of God and our own generation.
“There is need for all these carbonized, or what do I call it, this situation that has cost us a lot of debt. For them to pay off and also for justice to be done. So that we can be liberated and our children will be liberated in Jesus’ name,” Pastor Chinwo said.
Another community member, Felix Nyeche Chinwo, who is a seafarer, said the walk for a healthier earth was not “particularly for the present generation, but for generations yet unborn.
“What we are talking about is not something to joke about. We can remember back in the 90s, once it gets to October, it stops raining naturally and then we have what we call harmattan. It comes sometimes in September it stays till January, February till March if you check.
“Now, it rained this morning, 15th day of November. That is to say the climate is crying out seriously that things are no longer where they used to be.”
He urged the students and community members to be part of the campaign against global warming and other associated practices, such indiscriminate burning of plastics.
Mr. Oladejo Olufemi, Proprietor of Spectrum Academy, a primary/secondary school in the community, praised Quest for Growth and Development Foundation for the opportunity to sensitise the school “on the negative effect of emission of gases that has the capability of causing clotting in our blood system.
“You know, there are a lot of gases that are useful to us, like oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon. But when we talk of some emission that can damage our system, those are caused by man. You can imagine the emission of carbon dioxide from the exhaust of a car. Those things go to the air. And most of us, in Nigeria today, suffer from these.
“This program will help us. Not only we that are present today, even our generation to come,” Mr Olufemi said.
Two students of Spectrum Academy, Sampson Mercy and Success Chinwo, thanked the NGO for teaching them to “keep our environment clean and we should not trash dirt inside the gutter, we should trash it in a proper way and we should plant trees that will help our environment.”
While community woman, Evang. Juliet Igo, thanked God “so much for what I’m witnessing here. it’s going to help if every community or every clan will come up with an idea like this. I want to beg this organisation (Quest for Growth) to continue what you’re doing and also see how you can move into other communities so that everybody will benefit and also begin to carry out this assignment.”
