The Limestone Brouhaha of Ewekoro Community

Limestone deposits exist throughout the world. In Nigeria, Ewekoro community is the ancestral home of this component of cement. These alkaline, sedimentary rocks were laid down mostly as deposits on the beds of ancient seas. A valuable natural resource, limestone has many uses in construction, agriculture and industry. Limestone quarries can be above ground or underground, and can cover large areas. Environmental hazards from mining operations depend in part on the location, characteristics and extent of the mining operations.

Few years after Nigeria’s Independence; the major economic policy emanating from the new government was that of import substitution. The policy emphasized local production of hitherto imported consumers’ goods by importing semi and unfinished goods that are fully processed into the country. Consequently, several large scale industries were built by the various levels of governments and individual that was desirous of quick industrialization. One of such industries is the Ewekoro Cement Plant in Ogun State. However, industrialization like every phenomenon just like it has benefits it also has negative consequences. In an attempt to maximize the benefits and cost in term of environmental crisis, governments all over the world came up with standards which industrial plants especially pollution intensive ones must comply with before such industries are approved and established. The requirement of Environmental Impact Statement before development under the Federal Environmental Protection Act of 1987 is a bold attempt at controlling such noxious effects of pollution intensive firms like Cement Plants.

However, several years after the promulgation of this law, many communities hosting large cement plants like Ewekoro in Ogun State has had to live with serious environmental problems following the operation of such industries. The results of this anomaly are many: they include continuous depletion of environmental resources, pollution of surface and underground water, and visual ugliness among others. There are even instances where clothes spread outside after a major laundry is carried out become dirtier than they were before laundry from limestone dust emission in Ewekoro community. All these have considerable implication on well-being and health of communities where such industries are located.

It is on the basis of the afore-mentioned that Lafarge Africa(WAPCO Operations) commenced relocation of no fewer than 1000 people and deities in two communities in Oke-Oko Sekoni community in Ewekoro Local Government area of Ogun State over environmental hazards faced during blasting of limestone. Fifty five years after it first set up business in Ewekoro, Ogun State extracting and blasting limestone to make cement, West African Portland Cement (WAPCO), now Lafarge Cement and its host communities seem to have reached a common ground.

Limestone mining in Ewekoro has resulted in conversion of farmlands into quarry sites. The house types on the site are mainly the make shift ones built for use on no permanent basis. The houses are mainly used as shops and stores for the products of the factory. These houses were built without recourse to planning regulations and so could pose health hazards to occupants. One very important impact of the quarry is deforestation. This simply means the loss of vegetation cover that is necessitated by the need to move equipments to the site, removal of the topsoil or (overburden) stemming of explosives and removal of blasted limestone. These effects are normally reduced by appropriate mitigating actions such as massive reclamation of the mined areas using new overburden materials and aforestation programme that involve planting of varieties of trees that have ornamental values, can hold the soil structure well and could cover the exposed land well.

Several years ago when WAPCO started its operations in Ewekoro, the villagers had not only thought it was merely a factory with small quarry occupying a negligible piece of land for their operation, but were also ignorant of the likely impacts the company’s activities would have on their environment among others. And few years after commencement of operation, the chicken came home to roost – the deafening noise from blast at the quarry, the effect of the accompanying vibration as well as the routine plume of dust being emitted into space, soon became major sources of worries to the Ewekoro community.

Moreso, 44 years ago when West African Portland Cement Industry wanted members of the Ewekoro community to move to another location, the people refused because they would not leave their ancestral land due to the passionate ties they have with their departed loved ones, especially their ancestors, and thus, compelling WAPCO PLC (now Lafarge Cement) to not only suspend quarry work in Ewekoro village, but also moved some kilometres away into remote locations to resume quarry/limestone extraction for its cement.

Today, Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc, has not only morphed from a small factory, to become a leading cement manufacturing company in the country, but has also built an additional 2.5 million metric tons capacity cement plant. However unlike the devastation experienced from oil spillage in the Niger-delta, Lafarge has left no stone unturned in its bid to make life worth-while for its host communities with the proposed relocation of 1,000 people and even deities in Oke-oko, Sekoni in Ewekoro community of Ogun State who are more prone to the effects of blasting at the quarry.

Neglect and sheer insensitivity of multinational industries has become a mainstay in Nigeria with government doing little or virtually nothing to alleviate the plights of the host communities. We witnessed the slow poisoning of the waters of this country and the destruction of vegetation and agricultural land by oil spills which occur during petroleum operations.

Oil spills are a common event in Nigeria. Half of all spills occur due to pipeline and tanker accidents (50%), other causes include sabotage (28%) and oil production operations (21%), with 1% of the spills being accounted for by inadequate or non-functional production equipment. Sabotage is performed primarily through what is known as “bunkering”, whereby the saboteur attempts to tap the pipeline. In the process of extraction sometimes the pipeline is damaged or destroyed. Oil extracted in this manner can often be sold. Sabotage and theft through oil siphoning has become a major issue in the Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states as well, contributing to further environmental degradation. Damaged lines may go unnoticed for days, and repair of the damaged pipes takes even longer. Oil siphoning has become a big business, with the stolen oil quickly making its way onto the black market.

While the popularity of selling stolen oil increases, the number of death is increasing too. In late December 2006 more than 200 people were killed in the Lagos region of Nigeria in an oil line explosion. Nigerian regulations of the oil industry are weak and rarely enforced allowing, in essence, the industry to self-regulate.

Oil spills and Limestone blasting/mining may be low in the hierarchy of notable environmental hazards as compared to flood, earthquakes, hurricane and other natural disasters, its effects on the living and health conditions of people who reside in its vicinity can lead to migration or relocation.

Mining and mineral processing have the potential to generate income and promote economic development, but effects of operations on the host communities must be monitored to ensure environment integrity.