Since he came up with the idea of a superhighway that would connect the state capital and tourism city of Calabar with the resource-rich, food-growing but neglected northern flank, Ben Ayade, the debonair governor of Cross River State, has come under continued criticisms.
Ayade, a professor of Environmental Sciences, articulated that following the loss of oil wells consequent on the loss of Bakassi, the state was reduced to want, necessitating the reconstruction of a new means of production so as to open a horizon to get the teeming youth employed.
“The road will serve as an evacuation corridor for (our) new deep seaport. The seaport will have a draught of 14 metres, and a key wall of 680 metres that will allow for all sizes of vessels to berth. The road will be the first to have broadband Internet connectivity, speed cameras, ambulatory services and photology solar system. The road takes off from the proposed Bakassi Deep Seaport, will open a window of opportunity for the people of Cross River State and Nigeria as a whole, as well as reduce travel time,” he said.
The idea initially received grand applause from not just the people of the state but also from across the country. On October 20 last year, President Muhammadu Buhari threw away party politics to undertake the flag-off of the 260km modern highway.
At the groundbreaking, President Buhari said, “That I am here in person underscores the importance the Federal Government attaches to this [project]. It is indeed a significant milestone in the economic policy of the governor. This is the first groundbreaking under my presidency. I commend [Governor] Ayade and his team for their foresight in conceptualizing this project; and I want to assure of the commitment of the Federal Government to ensure the completion of the project. I promise I will come back to commission it. I urge the governor to ensure work is done on it quickly.”
Ayade also informed the president then that an Israeli and British firm, Spectrum, was already set to invest €500 million alongside an infrastructure bank under Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
Shortly after, however, deep controversy emerged as environmental rights experts reported that the proposed highway, which would run from the proposed Bakassi Deep Seaport through Calabar to Obudu/Obanliku, touching Katsina-Ala in neighbouring Benue State, would cut through and ultimately destroy the state’s fascinating tropical rainforest belt stretching from Akamkpa (down south) through Yakurr, Obubra, Ikom, up to Ogoja near Obudu/Obanliku axis (up north). This area houses some of the rarest plant and animal species, rich biodiversity, livelihood to over 100 forest communities, and perhaps a buffer zone to the mountain top Obudu Cattle Ranch resort, which is perhaps Nigeria’s topmost tourism outpost. This endangered rainforest is known to be Nigeria’s only remaining 4 percent forest cover, as the country had between 1980 and 2006 mowed down 96 percent of its forest.
Subsequently, a flurry of criticisms trailed the superhighway’s execution, from host communities in Yakurr to Ikom LGAs, as well as local and international NGOs, such as Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and British High Commission in Nigeria.
Nana Mede, permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment, in a statement dated April 15, 2016, said the Federal Ministry of Environment received complaints from several national and international stakeholders including the host communities, British High Commission, Non-Governmental Organizations such as Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), etc.
“Consequently, the ministry, in line with its mandate, advised the Cross River State government to conclude an EIA process before the project is executed,” he said, adding, however, that at the instance of Cross River State government, an interim EIA approval was granted by the ministry just to allow for the official ground-breaking ceremony by President Buhari.
“The EIA interim approval does not convey project execution of any sort. This was stated clearly in the letter to the state government. The purpose of EIA is to evaluate (through public involvement and participation) the environmental and related social implications, so that positive decisions are made. Such an evaluation can then be set alongside economic objective of the proposal in order to make balanced decisions. This means that an environmentally acceptable standard can be identified at an early stage and a project can then be designed to avoid or minimize negative environmental and social impacts,” said Mede in the statement.
“Cross River State is enclosed with biodiversity of flora and fauna, including various rare species of animals and plants that are endemic to the area. And if proper EIA is not carried out before the commencement of this project, a serious and irreparable damage may be done to the environment and its resources. The ministry is still awaiting the submission of the project’s draft EIA Report which shall be subjected to 21 working days public display for public review of the report and comments. Thereafter, there will be a final technical review of the report before the issuance of EIA, after which the execution of the project can commence.”
Thus, it was strident calls by environmentalists that forced the Ayade government to request for an EIA on the road project. The groundbreaking, initially billed for September 21, 2015, had to be moved to October 20.
But Governor Ayade has made curious moves on the project since then. In January, he published in the state newspaper through the state Ministry of Lands that “all rights of occupancy existing or deemed to exist on all that piece of land or parcel of land lying and situate along the superhighway from Esighi, Bakassi Local Government Area to Bekwarra Local Government Area of the Cross River State of Nigeria covering a distance of 260km approximately, and having an offset of 200 metres on either side of the centre line of the road, and further 10km after the span of the superhighway, excluding Government Forest Reserves and public institutions are hereby revoked for overriding public purpose absolutely”.
Few months later, he announced that preliminary work had started on the 260km superhighway and deep seaport, adding that work so far done on the project include “soil studies completed, detailed survey completed, route survey completed, EIA ongoing and speed cameras and WiFi connectivity”.
Today, the reality of the superhighway project has left so many unanswered questions. While many are wondering who is funding the estimated $3.5 billion digital superhighway and the Bakassi Deep Seaport projected at about $800 million, several other questions agitate the minds of people. For instance, who are the contractors? Why did the president do the groundbreaking when proper EIA was not done? What was the community involvement? Why must the project tear through the rainforest that constitutes 60 percent of the country’s remaining virgin rainforest, threatening over 250,000 trees and their biodiversity (This number excludes thousands of different species of younger trees that abound at the Oban, Old and New Ekuri, Okokori, Edondon, Etara, and other communities in the 180 communities that will be impacted by the highway)? What happens to the fallen trees at Etara and other communities? What is the interest of international organizations (WWF, IUCN, British High Commission), and why are they and others trying to stop the state from getting an alternative source of revenue?
Specifically, environmental experts wonder why there has been no EIA or public consultation on the superhighway, whereas the EIA Act of 1992 specifies that any construction project that is likely to have a significant impact on the environment or on people must have an EIA carried out and must receive an environmental permit from the Ministry of Environment before forest clearance works of any sort take place. Such an EIA, they say, must involve documented consultation meetings with a wide range of affected stakeholders before the final project design is concluded and approved.
But while these and many more questions remain unanswered, timbers and other economic trees are reportedly being bulldozed indiscriminately under the supervision of security agents to repel any reaction from affected communities. Unconfirmed reports from the villages say the superhighway construction has been awarded to several local contractors who are able to hire bulldozers. The local contractors have been apportioned 10km each to bulldoze.
Protests from impacted communities
The people of Ekuri, Okokori and others have sent protest letters to the presidency, Governor Ayade and various international organizations to stop the superhighway project. They protest against the state government’s revocation of their land for the superhighway. Carrying placards, banners and fresh palm fronds, over 500 people from Ekuri, comprising men and women, boys and girls, last week took to the dusty streets of Ekuri in Akamkpa Local Government Area chanting that they would not allow their ancestral forests to be destroyed in the name of a superhighway.
“Even chimpanzees cry out”, “Ayade don’t take our forests”, “Our forest is our Garden of Eden, Governor Ayade don’t destroy it”, “Governor Ayade, superhighway is a land-grab in disguise”, “We are the indigenous people of Ekuri, and we say no”, “The revocation of our forest is an abuse of social and economic right”, some of the placards read.
Addressing the protesting community members, the village heads of Old and New Ekuri, Steven Oji and Abel Egbe, said the construction of the superhighway was a welcome development, adding, however, that if it would bring destruction to the people and the environment, “we don’t need it”.
They said they needed roads to evacuate their farm produce, schools, water, electricity and others, and not “the kind of road that will come and take our forests away”.
“This superhighway will obliterate the entire 33,600 hectares of Ekuri forests, probably the largest community-owned forest in all of West Africa, destroying the way of life of these forest communities forever, and leaving them homeless,” said Martins Egot, chairman, The Ekuri Initiative, an environmental rights group.
In a letter to Governor Ayade, which was copied to President Buhari and the Minister of Environment, the Ekuri people demanded that the construction of the superhighway be stopped until a new route could be found. They made it clear they would protect their forests through determined non-violent protests. The Ekuri people called on the Federal Government to suspend immediately all forest logging and clearance already going on at the superhighway without an EIA permit from the Ministry of Environment, asking the state government to rescind the revocation of community lands along the superhighway’s right of way (RoW), examine all alternative routes for the superhighway that avoid destruction of Ekuri community forests and other forested parts of Cross River State, and carry out a thoroughly participatory and transparent review of the ecological, socio-cultural, economic, financial and reputational impacts of the superhighway before it precipitates into a man-made disaster for Cross River State and Nigeria.
For Unique Ekuri people and the precious Cross River Rainforests, they said they live deep in the heart of one of Nigeria’s last surviving rainforests; that their forest is sandwiched by the Ukpon Forest Reserve to the north and Cross River National Park to the east, south and west by the Iko Esai Community Forest; that their rainforests are spectacular and home to a number of rare and endangered wildlife species, including the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee, some of the last forest elephants in West Africa and forest buffalo, all of which, they lamented, were about to disappear forever due to the superhighway construction.
The letter, dated February 7, 2016, was also copied to the United Nations, British Government, Norwegian Government, and many national and international NGOs.
On their part, the Okokori community in Orchon council ward of Obubra LGA said the superhighway would clear away 20.4km width of the revoked lands, including their farms, community forest and settlement. They said the rich biodiversity of their community forest is contiguous with the Ekuri community forest and the Cross River State National Park (CRNP), contributing to the forests in Cross River that have been named one of the 25 biological hotspots in the world.
“All this will be lost forever and this legacy about to be buried. The acclaimed recognition of the state as harbouring 50 percent of the remaining forests in Nigeria will crash awfully. The REDD+ programme in the state is already a failure, as all the forests in Ekuri/Iko pilot site will be lost because of the superhighway. We will be forced to face eviction, food insecurity, poverty, lose our culture and sustainable wellbeing,” the community said, voicing their strong rejection of the state government’s land revocation order for the superhighway.
Already the impacted communities have dragged the state government to court over the superhighway construction.
Others opposed to the superhighway running through pristine forest belts have suggested that the existing Calabar-Ikom-Ogoja-Obudu federal highway, built many years ago, already serves all the purposes that the Ayade government wants the superhighway to serve, adding that the former links Calabar with Benue State and provides route for trade. Moreover, they add, expanding the existing Calabar-Ikom-Ogoja-Obudu highway would be much less costly and would do far less damage to the Cross River’s forests and communities than the new superhighway, which would necessitate new feeder roads that would cut more into the rainforest.
International interest
In early 1990s, the Ekuri community asked the WWF and UK’s Department for International Development (DfID)) to help them set up a forest management organization, called the Ekuri Initiative. This community-run body has been instrumental in managing the Ekuri forests and also successfully brought development benefits to their villages, including the construction of a 30-km road to the villages and the establishment of a health centre. This was so successful that in 2004, the Ekuri community received the highly prestigious Equator Initiative Award from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for their outstanding contribution to biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction.
Cross River forests are globally recognized for their international importance as one of the richest sites for biodiversity in Africa. The WWF and other NGOs have documented the fact that these forests harbour an enormous diversity of plant and animal species almost unmatched anywhere else in the world.
In recognition of this, the UK government invested millions of pounds into the Cross River State Forestry Department in the 1990s. WWF also invested millions of pounds into the establishment of Cross River National Park over a period of seven years.
More recently, the UN established the United Nations Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD) programme in Nigeria, with Cross River State as the first pilot state in which to establish structures to channel carbon credit funds from the world to reward the state for actions to protect its globally important forests. It hopes to expand the programme across Nigeria. Sadly, the forests are now threatened with destruction via the superhighway project.
Due to public outcry, the road was said to have been diverted around the Cross River National Park (CRNP), arguably the nation’s most vibrant park, which received millions of pounds funding from the UK-DFID and WWF between 1991 and 1998. While the route around the National Park was a better outcome than the initial route, it was clear that the road still passed too close to its boundary and right through the Ekuri forests and protected forest reserves.
Conservationists say that any major road can open up a trail of destruction in the form of logging, hunting and farming, and soon the forest within at least 5km of any road is totally destroyed. So, it was clear that the road, even with the new route, would still cause huge damage and destruction to the National Park and the forest communities it passed through, including the 33,600-hectare Ekuri forest.
Local, international NGOs protests
Scores of petitions have also been sent across by John Robinson, Wildlife Conservation Society, New York, USA; Hazell Thompson, Birdlife International, Cambridge, UK; Tasso Leventis, Leventis Foundation, London, UK; John Oates, a professor emeritus of Hunter College, University of New York, USA; Jonathan Bailie, Zoological Society of London, London, UK; Adeniyi Karunwi, executive director, Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF); Godwin Ojo, executive director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN); Ako Amadi, executive director, Community Conservation and Development Initiatives (CCDI); Christine K, director, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Nigeria; Marie Kvarnström, senior programme officer, Swedish Biodiversity Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and board member, FoEN/ERA; Tunde Morakinyo, founder and director, Iroko Foundation; Liza Gadsby, director, Pandrillus Foundation, and Zoe Parr, consultant and executive director of Development in Nigeria (DIN).
According these national and international NGOs, “Cross River National Park is a proposed UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve and a tentative World Heritage Site, the richest site in Nigeria for biodiversity and indeed one of the richest sites in Africa. It is recognized as a Centre of Plant Diversity by the WWF and IUCN; and as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by Birdlife International.”
Indeed, the biological importance of the Oban Hills was recognized as early as 1912, when a large part of the area was declared a forest reserve. In 1991, the Oban Forest Reserve was upgraded to create the Oban Division of Cross River National Park, through which the superhighway is now expected to pass. The Oban Division covers an area of around 3,000km² of lowland rainforest. It is the largest area of closed-canopy rainforest in Nigeria and contiguous with the Korup National Park in Republic of Cameroon, the NGOs informed.
“The Oban Hills are an extremely important watershed, with peaks of between 500m and 1,000m, giving rise to numerous rivers that guarantee a perennial supply of freshwater to hundreds of downstream communities in Cross River State. The Oban Hills formed part of one of the lowland rainforest refugia in Africa during the last glacial period. As a result, the area is now a centre of species richness and endemism, particularly for primates, amphibians, butterflies, fish and small mammals. Oban is an internationally recognized biodiversity hotspot and contains a number of rare and endangered species such as the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti), the drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus), Preuss’s red colobus monkey (Procolobus preussi), leopard (Panthera pardus), forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) and the grey-necked Picathartes (Picathartes oreas), as well as 75 plant species endemic to Nigeria,” said the NGOs.
“Cross River National Park is part of our national and international heritage and of immense value for present and future generations of Nigerians and humanity at large. At the same time, it is facing severe threats due to widespread hunting, illegal logging and farming. We admire Governor Ben Ayade’s bold vision for the development of Cross River State, but feel strongly that economic growth must be reconciled with the protection of the region’s immense biological heritage which, if properly managed, can generate sustainable revenues for Nigeria, the state and its forest communities for generations to come,” they said.
They requested that the route of the new superhighway be re-drawn so that it goes around Cross River National Park and its Support Zone.
“Protection of the Support Zone is vitally important for the long-term integrity of the National Park. Without wishing to pre-empt the findings of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), our suggested route is shown in a map. The current proposed route is too close to the park boundary and slices through the middle of the Ekuri community forests, which are the largest community-owned forests in Nigeria and a proposed REDD+ pilot site. Deforestation that would be caused by a superhighway situated too close to the Park boundary would soon affect the park itself,” they said.
Nnimmo Bassey, foremost environmentalist and director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), said the forest is not just a tree but a complex ecosystem that supports culture, life, and gives oxygen, adding that “by cutting it down, we will suffocate ourselves”.
After a three-day community dialogue and EIA training programme organized by HOMEF for Okokori and Edondon in Obubra LGA, Old Ekuri and New Ekuri from Akamkpa LGA, Bassey noted that the state government gazette forcefully revoking occupancy rights of communities and citizens to the extent of 10km on either side of the proposed superhighway over the entire 260km stretch was wrong, saying they were absolutely opposed to it.
What government people say
In spite of all the protests, Christian Ita, chief press secretary and senior special assistant (media and publicity) to Governor Ayade, said the superhighway project was still on course, adding that the state government had concluded bush-clearing of the 260km superhighway before the Ministry of Environment asked it to stop work on the project and the Bakassi Deep Seaport pending the outcome of the EIA.
“More progress has been made, and work is ongoing,” Ita told BDSUNDAY.
Mike Eraye, commissioner for environment, while dismissing all issues raised by the communities and the NGOs, said, “On issues of environment, I have taken a look at it. A lot of care was taken, deploying sophisticated technology to avoid impact on the environment. There was an EIA. This shows that the Federal Ministry of Environment is involved. You will recall that before the groundbreaking ceremony there was a delay to take care of all of those, which was technically done with the Federal Ministry of Environment, careful look at the width of the superhighway, the best decision was taken to avoid impact on the environment.”
“The deep seaport is projected to cost between $500 million and $800 million. In line with the governor’s earlier pronouncement about these projects, he promised the people that these projects are not going to take any money from the state account. They would be 100 percent PPP project. There would be no financial exposure for the state. The state will only be exposed to the level of providing land for the seaport, corridor for the superhighway,” said Eric Akpo, special adviser (technical matters) to Governor Ayade, after a meeting with the Federal Government Steering Committee on the Bakassi Deep Seaport, which also visited the site.
“The provision of land for the seaport and the corridor for the superhighway is our equity contribution, but beyond that, the projects is proposed by the state and owned, operated on the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. For now, we are at the level of expression of interest (EoI) from about 10 companies for the seaport and 12 companies for the superhighway. Because of procurement law, we are still selecting one of the companies that have expressed interest. The process is on and I cannot mention a particular company,” he said.
Compensation
Akpo said compensation would surely be paid to people who reside within the corridor of the superhighway or within the proposed site of the deep seaport, adding that economic trees and farms would also be put into consideration.
“As I speak, the State Ministry of Lands has done about 70 percent enumeration. They are still in the field to finish up the enumeration. After the enumeration according to the Land Use Act, they can now go into negotiation and then compensation,” he said.
On the alleged impact on 250,000 trees by the superhighway, he said the number of trees that will be affected in the course of the superhighway project is not 250,000 but less than 25,000.
“Of course, logging is not the intention of the project, so what happens to the trees is not cardinal here. If you check where clearing has been done before now, most of the stumps are still there. So the state government is not interested in the logs but the state government is only clearing a corridor,” he said.
“As an environmentalist, in his wisdom, the governor has decided that if he is going to take out 25,000 trees from the ecosystem, then he should be able to build in 5 million trees into the ecosystem. That is an environmental management plan to checkmate the negative effect of felling of trees. The 5 million trees are to be planted to extend the rainforest from the Central Senatorial District where it terminates, further into the Northern Senatorial District. So, you will see plenty of these trees planted within local government areas of Obubra, Ikom, Boki down to Ogoja, Bekwara and Obudu,” he added.
Draft EIA and standard test
Meanwhile, the draft EIA report for the construction of the 260km superhighway submitted to the Federal Ministry of Environment failed to meet international standard.
Amina Mohammed, minister of environment, told the 13-man panel EIA report review committee on June 2 that what was presented could not meet international standard but only for local consumption.
She said the issue of EIA was not the business of sentiments, but that of transparency, quality and honesty, so as to attract international participation, adding that the panel as constituted would take decision on whether to approve the EIA or not.
She said the Ministry [of Environment] was not partnering with the Cross River State government to do what they like and that any infrastructure project had to ensure environmental sustainability.
Mohammed expressed concern on the issue of funding and the Public Private Partnership (PPP) which would trigger safeguard issues.
“Are the resources available? Can this document (draft EIA) attract financial assistance from participating financial institutions? There is nowhere that the state government can go without the international institutions. The critical ecosystem, like the National Park and endemic issues, are important and should be looked at. For me, what you have done is just for the local level; you must present something (an EIA) that will meet international standard because the state government will source for funds from the international community,” she said.
Ayade, conservation and survival
But apparently not pleased with the position of the Federal Government and other organizations, Governor Ayade told a team of UN-REDD consultants in Calabar that Cross River State, as a sub-national which took an institutional policy to preserve and conserve the forests, cannot turn around to destroy the same forests.
“By the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, environment falls under concurrent legislation. Therefore, we have exclusive right to manage our environment the way we choose to. As a government, we made a policy to preserve all our forests and therefore dislocated our people from their dependence on our forests,” Ayade said.
“Essentially, REDD+ is intended to preserve the forest for the good of mankind. But that man that you are preserving the forest for does not have to die of hunger. So, I ask myself, for all the reserves that we have stored, the carbon stock that we have held in those trees that we have stopped everybody from cutting down, therefore creating those emissions into the atmosphere, what have we got in return? For me as a governor, as a professor of Environmental Science, as a lawyer, a combination of all of these tells me clearly that the communities are not having a fair deal. The communities are in pain,” he said.
BEN EGUZOZIE & MIKE ABANG
