Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri has said that the state requires about $12bn to clean-up millions of barrels of crude oil spilled into the environment as result of crude oil exploration activities by oil companies operating in the area.
Diri, stated this on Tuesday during the presentation of 211-page report titled: “An Environmental Genocide: Counting the Human Cost of Oil in Bayelsa, Nigeria”, a detailed documentation of the over 60 years of oil exploration and pollution by the state’s Oil and Environmental Commission (BSOEC) at the House of Lords in London.
Governor Diri said that the BSOEC in its report, recommended that $12billion is needed for over 12 years to “repair, remediate and restore the environmental and public health damage caused by oil and gas exploration activities and that his administration is willing to act on the recommendations and seek partners to ensure that the report was implemented.”
She called on the international community to take action against polluters of the environment, noting that “the research and the evidence contained in the report tell the stories that are so important. The community impact of the pollution comes through so clearly and it is devastating.”
“This has been on for so long. It is an absolute scandal and we should all be ashamed that we have got to this point. Those responsible, including our international oil companies, should be ashamed of the roles they have played in their refusal to take responsibility. Talking about this being the fault of the local communities, who can see the result of this long-standing neglect and not be moved? And yet, that is what exactly happened. There has been no accountability on the part of the oil multinationals. I understand that there are a lot of people who might not even have heard about Bayelsa. But I hope what people would be able to connect to and see as a result of this report is the scale of the human impact.” The MP stressed the need to take collective action now, saying the international community had to rally to save Bayelsa from the impact of what could be described as an environment genocide.
While presenting the report, chair of the commission’s Expert Working Group, Dr Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou, said the document was the product of four years of tireless work put in by researchers, scientists and professionals in different fields, who went round Bayelsa communities gathering samples. “This helped us to bring to light what the commission describes as environment genocide that plagues Bayelsa today. The Commission’s findings shine light on the pollution catastrophe engulfing the state and its underlying causes. Chief among them are the systemic failings of international oil company operators with the complicity of Nigeria’s political class and a dysfunctional Nigerian regulatory state.
The report sets out a proposal to end decades-long cycles of contamination and neglect by the oil and gas industry.” Nwajiaku-Dahou said among others, the Commission recommended concerted international action to generate and invest at $12billion over 12 years to “repair, remediate and restore the environmental and public health damage caused by oil and gas.”
The Commission’s chair, Rt. Rev. Sentamu, presented the report to the Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri. Diri, in his response, commended the commissioners, researchers, non-governmental organisations and the Commission’s secretariat that painstakingly put the report together as well as the people of Bayelsa for “coming forward to make their voices heard.” He also lauded his predecessor, Senator Seriake Dickson, for his foresight and vision in empaneling the commission. The governor pledged that his administration would act on the recommendations and seek partners to ensure that the report was implemented. “I, on behalf of the government and people of Bayelsa State, pledge our commitment to act decisively and speedily on the recommendations of this report. In doing this, we remain open to robust and genuine engagements with all stakeholders.”