Contractors’ Meetings The Contractors’ meeting is used to review progress and challenges of the Contractors undertaking the Bodo remediation project. The meeting is used to discuss technical challenges, re-oiling and other sundry issues affecting the effectiveness of the remediation exercise. The Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) has hosted 8 virtual contractors’ meetings in the quarter under review. 

The bi-monthly contractors’ meetings review the weekly challenges of the contractors, the shoreline Clean-up Assessment Technique (SCAT) Team, and community concerns. To review the technical challenges and community concerns that could affect the clean-up process and advance recommendations for addressing identified problems. SPDC, CEHRD, BMI Directorate, Contractors and BCC. 13 males and 2 females The oil rich Niger Delta in Nigeria suffers from severe environmental degradation. The region is lacking socially inclusive development and has experienced perennial conflicts. In 2009, the Federal Government of Nigeria granted amnesty to armed militants in the Niger Delta with ancillary livelihood package (the Amnesty Programme) to appease the militants, but this is not a sustainable solution. Some youths, including ex-militants, engaged in oil theft and artisanal oil refining, which aggravates oil pollution in the Niger Delta. Artisanal oil refining causes re-pollution of remediated lands and black soot that compromise air quality.  Environmental management, particularly clean-up and remediation of oil pollution has been grossly ineffective due to weak regulation and use of contextually inefficient technologies (UNEP, 2011) .  Meanwhile, deeply held generational frustrations continue to brew in Niger Delta communities. The loss of traditional livelihoods, agitation for resource control, contract corruption, piecemeal regulation and poorly enforced regulations, and a profound failure of service delivery continue to fuel decades of accumulated tensions. 

The oil rich Niger Delta in Nigeria suffers from severe environmental degradation. The region is lacking socially inclusive development and has experienced perennial conflicts. In 2009, the Federal Government of Nigeria granted amnesty to armed militants in the Niger Delta with ancillary livelihood package (the Amnesty Programme) to appease the militants, but this is not a sustainable solution. Some youths, including ex-militants, engaged in oil theft and artisanal oil refining, which aggravates oil pollution in the Niger Delta. Artisanal oil refining causes re-pollution of remediated lands and black soot that compromise air quality.  Environmental management, particularly clean-up and remediation of oil pollution has been grossly ineffective due to weak regulation and use of contextually inefficient technologies (UNEP, 2011) .  Meanwhile, deeply held generational frustrations continue to brew in Niger Delta communities. The loss of traditional livelihoods, agitation for resource control, contract corruption, piecemeal regulation and poorly enforced regulations, and a profound failure of service delivery continue to fuel decades of accumulated tensions. 
In 2008 and 2009, the Bodo Creek was polluted by operational oil spills from Trans Niger pipelines traversing the creek. The impacts of both spills have been exacerbated by numerous spill incidents caused by oil theft and artisanal refining. Both operational spills were litigated in the UK Court in London which lasted four years (2011 – 2014). The litigation initially stalemated clean-up of the heavily polluted creek. Mid way into the litigation (that is, 2013), the Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria with the support of a local CSO coalition, NACGOND, initiated the Bodo Mediation Initiative (BMI) to mediate between the parties (the Bodo community and SPDC) and facilitate the clean-up, remediation and restoration of the Bodo Creek.  The BMI is a multi-stakeholder platform involving Bodo community, SPDC, regulatory agencies, CSO and the BMI Directorate. The BMI facilitated clean-up has progressed from the initial free-phase cleaning to the current final phase of remediation and restoration. Being a participatory, multi-stakeholder led platform, it is anticipated that the BMI would deliver robust, inclusive and sustainable restoration outcomes that will offer direction for the wider Ogoni clean-up.  Bodo people are the primary beneficiaries of the Bodo clean-up process. There is need to mainstream and optimize decision making and benefits of the clean-up in Bodo in such a way that vulnerable groups (e.g., women) would actively participate in and benefit directly from the clean-up process.