Those 546 million gallons of crude oil spilled in the Niger Delta
The figure is startling, in two regards. One, in terms of the foreign exchange the country could have made from them; and two, the damage they must have wreaked on the health of the people and the environment. A whole 546 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Niger Delta over the last 50 years. The quantity amounts to 11 million gallons a year. Waoh!
The revelation was made in a letter written by 13 local and five international Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) on the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) Bill before the Senate.
Among those who endorsed the letter were Thelma Diwari, representing CBNHRSD; Head of Centre for Environment Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), Zabbey Nenibarini; Nick Hildyard of Cornerhouse; and the Executive Director of Foundation For Environmental Rights, Advocacy and Development (FENRAD), Nelson Nnanna Nwafor.
The letter called for the passage of the NOSRDA Amendment Bill 2012 into law and remediation and protection of the environment in the Niger Delta.
“The reform of the NOSDRA Act 2006 will provide clearer regulations and a strong response mechanism to deal with oil spills which will save millions of lives and improve the livelihoods of all the communities living in the Niger Delta,” it said.
They also called for an end to the spilling and destruction of the environment and the unacceptable devastation on the lives of local communities in the areas of oil exploration.
“This can be achieved by strengthening the institutional and regulatory power of NOSDRA, and enshrining the ‘polluter pays’ principle in law, which the NOSDRA Amendment Bill 2012 will do,” it added.
The Niger Delta has been through a lot. It was the frustration with the system that led to the declaration of an Independent Niger Delta Republic by the late Isaac Adaka Boro during late Aguiyi Ironsi’s administration, just before the Civil War.
The quest for justice was later championed by the late Ken Saro-Wiwa. He was killed as a result of his agitation by the late Sani Abacha regime.
The alarm raised by the NGOs over the spillage is another phase of the quest for justice and it must be taken serious.
The bill must become law soonest to end the evil oil spills do to the people, the environment and the economy. No right thinking person should waste time in getting this bill to become law and when it becomes law, it must be implemented to the latter. And only then can we truly say never again to the burying of 546 million gallons of crude oil into the soils of the Niger Delta and only then can the people, the environment and the economy stop bleeding to death as a result of this negligence and sabotage.
The spillages have robbed children of playground; robbed farmers of farmland; robbed fishermen of fishes; robbed the economy of cash; robbed the people of their health; and on and on. The time to pass the bill is now.
The National Assembly must show that it cares by passing this bill and the president must follow through by assenting to it after it has been passed. Anything short of this will amount to compromise and at the end, all will suffer for it.