Women in Nigeria's oil region are alarmed. They claim crude oil now flows through their veins instead of blood.
Seafood and plants in these communities are saturated with crude oil, the women say. This contamination reaches humans through food consumption.
Kebetkache Women Development Centre, an NGO focused on women's issues, backs up these claims. The organisation's leader is Emem Okon.
Okon visited several communities across the oil region for research purposes. She documented troubling health patterns in Ogoni communities.
Women there, mostly under 50 years old, have lost their mothers early. Many suffer from lung disease and breathing complications.
Their daily food is poisoned with cancer-causing substances, according to Okon's findings. One woman from Otuabagi made a stark comparison.
"If you cut my waist, you will not see blood, you will see crude oil," the woman told Okon. It was a haunting image of environmental devastation.
Okon called on media outlets to investigate Niger Delta pollution closely. She wants journalists to expose secret clauses in the Petroleum Industry Act.
She made these remarks at the Correspondents' Chapel dinner in Port Harcourt. The Nigeria Union of Journalists organised the event as part of their annual week.
Renaissance Africa Energy Company and Nigeria LNG provided support for the gathering. Kebetkache Women Development Centre also helped organise it.
This year's theme focuses on comprehensive Niger Delta cleanup and media responsibility. Environmental degradation demands urgent action, Okon stressed.
She challenged journalists to move beyond surface-level reporting. They must dig deeper into environmental policies and oil industry practices affecting communities.
Government actions in the Niger Delta need scrutiny, she added. "The media should take up the PIA and expose the hidden clauses," she declared.
Okon urged media organisations to push for expanding the Ogoni cleanup programme. Other polluted areas in the Niger Delta need attention too.
"We need to extend the Ogoni cleanup to the entire Niger Delta. We must begin now," she told the journalists.
The United Nations Environment Programme estimated full restoration of Ogoniland could take 30 years. Waiting that long would worsen damage elsewhere, Okon warned.
She criticised government priorities in the region as misguided. A planned museum in Oloibiri troubled her greatly.
"The federal government is now building a museum in Oloibiri, which to me is another level of deception," she said. Communities would expect benefits that never materialise, she feared.
Okon assigned journalists a crucial task. They must translate complex environmental reports into language ordinary citizens understand.
Many communities remain ignorant of policies directly affecting their lives. Journalists could help bridge that knowledge gap.
Her message was clear: environmental justice requires more than routine coverage. It demands committed, investigative reporting that holds power accountable.
