At the end of last year, South Durban Community Environmental Alliance Director and Goldman Environmental Prize honoree Desmond D’Sa, traveled from South Africa to Nigeria to speak at a conference in the oil-producing Niger Delta. D’Sa’s organization focuses on environmental justice in the oil-refining and -shipping Durban.
The conference took place on the 20th Anniversary of the assassination of the Ogoni 8, including the courageous environmental activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, who opposed the Shell oil corporation’s human rights abuses against the Ogoni people.
Below is a message Desmond shared following his inspiring visit to Nigeria.
“Amandla!” Desmond D’Sa (left) demonstrating pan-African solidarity at the National Environmental Consultation on Extractives & Energy Transition in Port Harcourt, Nigeria last year.
Desmond D’Sa writes:
The visit to Nigeria was short, but very enlightening. I arrived in Lagos on Saturday slept over and left for Port Harcourt on Sunday morning. Arrived at the hotel where the conference was taking place, and there was an evening welcome by Environmental Rights Action Nigeria. The conference was well attended by civil society and government officials.The different sessions at the conference were excellent, with five international speakers including me. The deliberations were good and the march and rally in the evening was attended by over 5,000, predominately youth.
The most important thing that touched me was to see the small businesses, shops, and people controlling their own destiny, and wealth amongst people.
[This] made me realise that another world is possible, and is already in existence in Africa.
People-centred development is what most people yearn, and this was visible even at the gas station where influence by the major oil corporations was less visible.
The celebration and memorial of 20 years of the murder and assassination of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni 8 was so huge, that even as we left the event after midnight, young people who had walked for miles from the Niger Delta were still arriving to the celebration!
Photos courtesy Desmond D’Sa.
The words of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni 8 still resonate 20 years after his murder. This is seen in the youth and the people who refuse to accept Shell and other oil corporations to explore for oil and gas in the area.
Ken Saro-Wiwa dreamt of a clean and health society [and this] lives on in the struggle of the people of the Niger Delta and all Nigeria to keep the greed and corrupt multi-nationals out, and to challenge government to get the oil corporations to clean up their mess they bestowed on the Ogoni People.
Shell has not been able to set foot in the Niger – what a victory for the people! It inspired me and I hope one day to visit and see more of these wonderful people and areas, and learn from their resolve!