Environmental pollution: Akwa Ibom oil community rues poor yield, dwindling fortunes
Residents of Okoro-Utip, an Akwa Ibom community have continued to agonize over the endless devastating effect of oil exploration in the area.
The people have over the years lamented the negative impact of oil exploration and spills due to the activities of the multinational oil company, Exxon Mobil, in their local government, Ibeno.
The incessant oil spills and gas flares had no doubt affected their terrestrial and aquatic agriculture, as well as their environment, as no meaningful yield is witnessed at every harvest season.
Pastor AbasiUbong John, a resident of Okoro-Utip, in an interview, complained that cassava stems planted over one year ago, were yet to bear tubers.
Another farmer and women leader in Upenekang community, Rhoda Peters, on her part said despite applying fertilisers to her crops, the yields were always heartbreaking “due to the texture of the soil which has been impacted by oil spills”.
She added that such had caused food scarcity and hunger in the community which made the prices of few available food stuffs to be jerked up.
Expressing her worries, Peters said, “Things are so difficult in our area.
“Imagine a cup of garri is sold at N300 and a bag of sachet water N500. We have no choice but to go back to our farms. I have five girls in my house and how much garri can I buy to feed them?
“The challenge is that despite the fact that I apply chemical fertiliser, the harvest is nothing to write home about. I cry each time I harvest my crops.”
Chief Philip Atanwa, Chairman, Okoro-Utip village council, who also spoke to DAILY POST, attributed the poor yield and persistent erosion in his community to the activities of oil companies in Ibeno.
The Octogenarian recalled that before the entrance of the oil companies, the farm produce and aquatic animals from the community were the cynosure of all eyes due to their natural heritage.
He expressed hope that things would change for better soon following the training our community received on Agroecology.
“We know we’ve been so cheated by the company producing oil in Ibeno.
“We have lost so much to oil exploration; our environment, our land have been taken away by erosion through the activities of this oil producing company.
“I believe that this is the time for us to start rebuilding our broken and degraded environment by putting what we are taught into practice,” he said.
He said his community would “set aside a large portion of land for this planting season where everyone will apply what they learnt.”
Pastor Abasiubong John, a farmer, explained that Mangrove protects against erosion and serves as a habitat for fish to lay eggs, noting that the community has become very porous.
“We’re experiencing erosion since the absence of this mangrove; even the periwinkle that always appears on this mangrove is no longer here.
“Our lands have been taken away due to erosion and we have hope of reclaiming it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the community may heave a sigh of relief in no distant time following the training it received from an ecological think tank organisation, Health Of Mother Earth Foundation, HOMEF, on Agroecology and Mangrove restoration.
The Programme Manager, Fossil Politics in HOMEF, Stephen Oduware, speaking with our correspondent, noted that the community had lost its mangrove ecosystem on account of pollution and felling of trees by the locals, adding that the organisation was working towards how to restore it.
He said to achieve that, HOMEF resolved to train the highly impacted community on agroecology and mangrove restoration by showing them how to produce organic fertiliser and pesticides using cow dung, cow urine, bananas, cowpeas, soil, water, garlic and other ingredients found around them.
“Here we are having a practical training session on how they can restore these mangrove using the pods and seeds of these mangrove and we have the issue of the evasive specie of Nipa palm that is foreign to us.
“Communities should start looking at ways of removing these evasive species that are not native and start replacing it with mangroves which support farming, support the community against dangerous storms from the sea and support fishery.”
He, however, expressed optimism that at the end of the training, the community would come up with a restoration plan to highlight how they would use the knowledge gained from the meeting to restore their environment, their farmlands and restore the depleted mangrove forest.
The resource person, Iwan-Aondover Barnabas explained that the mixture (organic manure) when applied in the soil would add value and rejuvenate all the poor lands that were no longer productive in the area.
He said, “what our farmers lack is knowledge for production, how to engage in practices that would increase their production, now they know they can produce their fertilisers and pesticides with things around them.
“This will save them the cost of buying chemical fertiliser and will add more value to the forest system they have.
“It will also rejuvenate all the poor lands that are no longer productive and this will add value to the land.”
Environmental pollution: Akwa Ibom oil community rues poor yield, dwindling fortunes
News Related
-
, Nov. 28 — One of the most anticipated Android releases for 2023 has been the Google Pixel 8 lineup. The Pixel series is often considered the best of what Android has to offer since it brings the true stock Android experience. The Pixel 8 Pro was globally released on ...
See Details:
Google Pixel 8 Pro Review: Is this the best Android phone of 2023?
-
A blank space or an (NR) indicates no readings received. An (e) indicates that the water level has been estimated. An (w) indicates that the conditions were very windy, resulting in an inaccurate reading. Omatjenne Dam does not have abstraction facilities. The dam contents are according to the latest dam ...
See Details:
Namwater Dam Bulletin on Monday 27 November 2023
-
Dhaka, Nov. 27 — Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus has been appointed chair of the international advisory board of Moscow’s Financial University (under the government of the Russian Federation). On November 23, he joined a high-level strategic meeting with Prof Stanislav Prokofiev, Rector of the Financial University, and his colleagues. ...
See Details:
Dr Yunus appointed chair of Moscow Financial University's international advisory board
-
In a pivotal encounter at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Twenty20 World Cup Africa Final Monday, the Cricket Cranes faced Nigeria, knowing that a win could significantly boost their chances of securing one of the coveted tickets to the 2024 T20 World Cup in West Indies and the USA.Nigeria won ...
See Details:
Victory over Nigeria puts Uganda on the brink
-
Capture 1 The Bank Ghana (BoG) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has maintained the key policy rate at 30 percent, while introducing additional liquidity management measures to address excess liquidity and reinforce the disinflation process. Announcing the committee’s decision on Monday following its 115th meeting, BoG Governor Dr. Ernest Addison said ...
See Details:
BoG holds policy rate at 30%, tightens liquidity measures
-
Renita Holmes has been displaced four times in the past three years by rising rents With sea levels rising around the globe, Miami, in the US state of Florida, is facing an urgent need to adapt. As property investors turn their gaze inland, away from the exclusive low-lying beach area, ...
See Details:
When sea levels rise, so does your rent
-
Picture2 In a groundbreaking moment, Mrs. Adelaide Siaw Agyepong, CEO-American International School, has achieved yet another milestone by being crowned ‘Icon of Inspiration and Impact for the Year 2023’. The crowning achievement took place in Accra, where Mrs. Siaw Agyepong surpassed contemporaries to clinch this prestigious title at the 5th ...
See Details:
American International School CEO honoured as ‘Icon of Inspiration and Impact’
-
Freetown’s streets were almost empty on Sunday after a curfew was imposed Gunmen in Sierra Leone attacked a military barracks and freed hundreds of prisoners in a “co-ordinated and properly planned” attack, the country’s information minister has said. Sierra Leoneans spent Sunday under a nationwide curfew amid disarray in capital ...
See Details:
Sierra Leone prison breaks co-ordinated - minister
-
Freetown’s streets were almost empty on Sunday after a curfew was imposed Gunmen in Sierra Leone attacked a military barracks and freed hundreds of prisoners in a “co-ordinated and properly planned” attack, the country’s information minister has said. Sierra Leoneans spent Sunday under a nationwide curfew amid disarray in capital ...
See Details:
Address the rise of single parenthood
-
Freetown’s streets were almost empty on Sunday after a curfew was imposed Gunmen in Sierra Leone attacked a military barracks and freed hundreds of prisoners in a “co-ordinated and properly planned” attack, the country’s information minister has said. Sierra Leoneans spent Sunday under a nationwide curfew amid disarray in capital ...
See Details:
Hyundai Chief Picked as Auto Industry Leader of the Year
-
Freetown’s streets were almost empty on Sunday after a curfew was imposed Gunmen in Sierra Leone attacked a military barracks and freed hundreds of prisoners in a “co-ordinated and properly planned” attack, the country’s information minister has said. Sierra Leoneans spent Sunday under a nationwide curfew amid disarray in capital ...
See Details:
Unmarried People Under 35 Outnumber Married Ones
-
Freetown’s streets were almost empty on Sunday after a curfew was imposed Gunmen in Sierra Leone attacked a military barracks and freed hundreds of prisoners in a “co-ordinated and properly planned” attack, the country’s information minister has said. Sierra Leoneans spent Sunday under a nationwide curfew amid disarray in capital ...
See Details:
European interior ministers in Hungary to discuss migration
-
Freetown’s streets were almost empty on Sunday after a curfew was imposed Gunmen in Sierra Leone attacked a military barracks and freed hundreds of prisoners in a “co-ordinated and properly planned” attack, the country’s information minister has said. Sierra Leoneans spent Sunday under a nationwide curfew amid disarray in capital ...
See Details:
Japan on the watch for unlicensed taxis around Narita airport amid foreign tourism spike
-
Freetown’s streets were almost empty on Sunday after a curfew was imposed Gunmen in Sierra Leone attacked a military barracks and freed hundreds of prisoners in a “co-ordinated and properly planned” attack, the country’s information minister has said. Sierra Leoneans spent Sunday under a nationwide curfew amid disarray in capital ...
See Details:
ECOWAS to send high-powered delegation on solidarity visit to Sierra Leone
OTHER NEWS
Despite doing education at the university, Mellon Kenyangi, also known as Mama Bear, did not think of going to class, and teaching students was her dream job.“Since it was not ...
Read more »
213 Sri Lanka Cricket’s Chairman of Selectors, Pramodya Wickramasinghe reported to the Sports Ministry’s Special Investigation Unit( SMSIU) for the Prevention of Sports Offences yesterday for the second day. He ...
Read more »
137 Malindu Dairy (Pvt) Ltd., a leading food production company in Sri Lanka, won the Silver Award in the medium-scale dairy and associated products category at the Industrial Excellence Awards ...
Read more »
Africans Urged to Invest Among themselves, Explore Investment Opportunities in Continent Addis Ababa, November 27/2023(ENA)-The Embassy of Angola in Ethiopia has organized lecture on the “Foreign Investment Opportunities in Angola ...
Read more »
144 The dynamic front row player Mohan Wimalaratne will lead the Police Sports Club Rugby team at the upcoming Nippon Paint Sri Lanka Rugby Major League XV-a-side Rugby Tournament scheduled ...
Read more »
Dozens of people living with disabilities from New Hope Inclusive in Entumbane, Bulawayo on Saturday last week received an early Christmas gift in the form of groceries. The groceries were ...
Read more »
The East African Community (EAC) Summit of Heads of State has admitted the Federal Republic of Somalia to the regional bloc, making it its 8th member country. The decision was ...
Read more »