NAN-AE-2
Degradation
By Ebere Agozie
Abuja, Nov. 24, 2016 (NAN) The Minister of Environment, Hajia Amina Mohammed, says environment degradation must be checkmated to give a future to the people of the Niger Delta.
Mohammed made the declaration at the 10th Anniversary Symposium of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) on Thursday in Abuja.
She said that the anniversary with the theme: “Oil Spill Management in Nigeria: The Journey So Far’’ was part of the blueprint for oil spill response management through containment, recovery, remediation and restoration.
“NOSDRA is the Federal Government’s institutional framework for environmental regulation of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria to ensure safe environment at the oil producing communities.
“The devastating impacts of oil spills on environment, health and livelihoods of our rural and urban communities have led to land degradation in the Niger Delta.
“These things cause loss of lives, loss of biodiversity, and incidence of disease, poor sanitation as well as the depletion of national revenue base of the communities involved,’’ she said.
She said that there was a growing level of oil spill incidents in the country caused by the activities of illegal bunkering, artisanal refining, oil theft and armed militancy.
She therefore called for all to step up the level of preparedness to effectively respond to the challenges that might be presented by oil spills in the marine environment.
The Director General of NOSDRA, Mr Peter Idabor, said that the discovery of oil in 1956 that was envisaged as a catalyst for attaining economic breakthrough in Nigeria also had negative impact on the environment.
“Given the huge prospects of wealth and development supposedly associated with oil and gas exploration and production, this economic resource has also proven to be environmentally destabilising force.
“This is especially with regards to sustainable development in the Niger Delta Region,’’ he said.
Idabor called for the Oil and Gas Industry to integrate environmental protection alongside economic and social development in the course of exploration, production and distribution.
“We must bear in mind that in an attempt to meet global energy need at an affordable and accessibility ways, we must also be environmentally conscious, ’’ he said. (NAN)
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Edited by Grace Yussuf