Of Oil and Water - 35 years of oil exploration in Biseni

Nice plaque. Unfortunately this surface water scheme in Biseni was never finished

>> View our slideshow of life in Biseni

The Biseni clan consists of about ten small villages and is located in the Yenegoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The main sources of income are peasant farming, fishing and small scale logging of the timber in the surrounding forests.

Biseni is one of the many communities in Bayelsa that has been blessed with abundant natural resources. It has eight clusters of oil wells operated jointly by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and Shell's Petroleum Development Company (SPDC). The wells have been in operation in the area since 1972.

Biseni is a typical example of the thousands of communities in the oil producing Niger Delta. After more than 35 years of oil exploitation on their doorstep the people of Biseni live without potable drinking water, which often makes them sick. And when they get sick they have no proper health care facilities.

"We scoop water from the river for drinking. During the rainy season it is greenish in colour while in the dry season it becomes brown, yet we will scoop and take it home for drinking. In the rainy season we also drink rain water. We have been infected a lot from the water we drink, the rain and river water. [The] death rate in the community is high because of diseases from contaminated water and we do not have a workable hospital where we can go when we are sick. The government and the oil companies are not doing anything to improve our situation" says Mrs. Blessing Owefah, a resident of Biseni.

This paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty is considered the root cause of conflict in the Niger Delta region. For the people of Biseni the natural resources on their traditional lands are more of a curse than a blessing.

The thing about Biseni is that it is not a forgotten village. The Bayelsa State Governor with the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC - a government agency entrusted with using the proceeds of the oil wealth to develop local communities) supposedly completed a much trumped surface water scheme at the end of 2008. It was never finished, and the people of Biseni feel tricked.

"The issue of water is of great concern to every Biseni son and daughter. When the NDDC came to our community they said that they wanted to embark on a surface water project. The community welcomed the development but we never realised that it was a deceit of the highest order. The project was done half way and commissioned by the Bayelsa state governor in the presence the NDDC Managing Director. Here we are today without water and it is recorded in the government gazette that Biseni water project is duly completed and commissioned for use," Said a local resident, echoing the feelings of the community.

When people get sick in Biseni they can go to the local health centre. But with no equipment the nurses, if there are any, can do little for their patients.

"My 18 years old son was sick, I took him to the hospital in the community and there was no body to attend to him. I have to look for Okada (commercial motor cycle) that took us to Joinkrama community where we were able to see a doctor at the Joinkrama community hospital. Anyone that falls sick in our community will go to seek for medication in the neighbouring communities and most of the people who cannot afford the cost of going out of the community on time end up losing their lives," explained Owugah Tamonupreye.

It is not hard to see how the resentment and hopelessness felt by these people can leave them with very little to loose. After years of neglect affecting generations of communities, conflict seems like a legitimate force for change in the Niger Delta.

SDN is working in Biseni and many other oil producing communities helping them to work together to identify who can help make the changes they need.

After a training in November 2008, local leaders, supported by SDN partner CEHRD, mobilised community members to discuss their problems and organise strategies. The people of Biseni are now working together to contact the appropriate authorities to press their case.

They are hopeful that by putting pressure on the Oil Companies, the Local Council, the Health Commissioner and the NDDC that they can finally start to see the benefits of the oil that has flowed from their ancestral lands for over 35 years.