A Decade of Silence, Now Life Returns: Fishes, Periwinkles, Crabs Back in Ogoni Creeks

PORT HARCOURT, Rivers State — For decades, the creeks of Ogoniland were silent. The fish were gone. The periwinkles had vanished. The crabs had disappeared.

What remained was the sheen of crude oil on the water and the smell of a poisoned land.

Now, the Federal Government says the ecosystem has largely recovered. Fishes, periwinkles, crabs and shrimps are back.

The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, made the declaration in Bodo City, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, during the 10th anniversary of the Ogoni cleanup project and the unveiling of the Ogoni Cleanup Monument.

“One of the most important developments is the evidence of ecosystem recovery. The fish, periwinkles, crabs and shrimps are back. This is vital for the local economy and community livelihoods,” Lawal said.

The Damage That Was Done

The Ogoni cleanup is the world’s largest oil remediation project.

The mangrove restoration programme is the largest restoration of oil-degraded mangroves globally.

According to the Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof. Nenibari Zabbey, more than 8,500 direct jobs have been created for Ogoni youths and women under the project.

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But the return of aquatic life does not erase what happened.

For decades, oil spills and illegal refining poisoned the creeks, destroyed farmland, and robbed communities of their livelihoods.

The United Nations Environment Programme’s 2011 report on Ogoniland documented widespread contamination of soil, groundwater and surface water, and recommended the most extensive cleanup in history.

A Fragile Recovery

The recovery is real. But it is also fragile. Zabbey appealed to shoreline communities to protect the returning aquatic life from overharvesting and to desist from indiscriminate cutting of mangroves.

He warned that controlled harvesting was necessary to sustain the ecological gains recorded so far.

The project has faced challenges, including community disputes, access issues and misinformation. But cooperation among stakeholders has helped overcome many of the obstacles.