Environmental stakeholders on Tuesday in the Niger Delta region pleaded with the Federal Government to conduct an emergency assessment of the situation in the area to protect locals’ means of subsistence.
In Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, the group made the appeal during the Stakeholder’s 2nd Niger Delta Alternative Convergence conference.
The meeting’s goal, according to Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), is to go over potential alternatives to cleaning up the Niger Delta’s contaminated environment and its problems.
Bassey stated that 90 percent of the population in the Gulf of Guinea emanated from the crime of the industries operating in the Niger Delta, as well as pollution from the neighboring countries very close to the national borders.
He said that the meeting is to set an agenda so that those who are representing the region in government must be held accountable for their promises on what the Constitution requires and what they are expected to do for the Niger Delta communities in terms of socio-ecological problems of the nation, when they are sworn into office by May 29.
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Bassey stated that something needs to be done urgently to save the livelihood of the Niger Delta people in the poisoned and hazardous environment.
The environmentalist also stressed the need for government to draw clear policies on divestment to enable the people to know their expectations from the community and investors.
He urged the government to draw a comprehensive resolution of the artisanal refinery by addressing the issues that led to it, and providing a workable solution, insisting that all oil theft must stop.
Bassey also called on legislators to review the Petroleum Industrial Act (PIA), to remove all the clues against the communities, and immediate public release of the forensic audit report of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the review of the law-binding agency.
In his address, Chief Suanu Baridam, the Chairman of the occasion, blamed the representatives of the Niger Delta people in government positions for non-active performance on the environmental challenges facing the region.
Baridam also faulted the government for insincerity in the clean-up of Ogoniland and other parts of the Niger Delta region, saying that government should assess the sincerity of the agencies handling the project before certifying their work.
Similarly, Mr Ken Robinson, the spokesperson of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), expressed displeasure over the alleged non-inclusion of flooding in the 2023 budget of states and federal government.
Story adapted from EnviroNews
