– Chides N/Delta Lawmakers
Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Environmental Defenders Network, EDEN, has applauded the Anti-Gas Flaring (Prohibition and Enforcement) Bill currently before the House of Representatives, while criticizing lawmakers from the Niger Delta for their silence on the persistent pollution ravaging their communities.
The Bill, sponsored by Hon. Babajimi Benson, a non-Niger Deltan, seeks to prohibit gas flaring and venting, except under strictly regulated circumstances, in order to mitigate the environmental, health, and economic impacts of gas flaring, aligning Nigeria’s oil and gas operations with international climate commitments.
The Bill seeks to also encourage the utilisation of gas resources to foster economic growth and energy generation.
Speaking at its inaugural Board and Staff Retreat in Benin, Edo State, EDEN’s Board Chairman, Barr. Chima Williams, described the silence of Niger Delta lawmakers as “curious” and questioned their commitment to protecting the interests of their people.
Williams reiterated EDEN’s long-standing call for a comprehensive environmental audit of the Niger Delta and urged lawmakers to “wake from their stupor” to champion policies and laws that would safeguard their communities.
“For us at EDEN, this Bill represents the true yearnings of Niger Delta communities that have been experiencing gas flares along with its implications such as unmitigated release of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change, acid rain, and soot pollution, among others, for decades.
“While we applaud the efforts of Hon. Babajimi Benson in pushing through this Bill, we find it very curious that the call for ending gas flaring is coming from a non-Niger Deltan while the supposed representatives of the Niger Delta communities who are in the hallowed chambers still prevaricate on matters of pollution that their people suffer every day.
“Of importance is our desire that they work to remove the administrative bureaucracies that have made the clean-up of Ogoniland in Rivers State as recommended by the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, seamless so that it can be the model for replication of the clean-up of other sites of pollution in the region,” Williams added.
Highlighting the dire health impacts of gas flaring, EDEN noted that life expectancy in the Niger Delta region—where most oil facilities are located—stands at just 41 years, 10 years lower than the national average.
“Gas flaring in the Niger Delta region has equally led to public health issues as natives of host communities where the gas flare stacks are sited suffer respiratory illnesses, severe itching, and other ailments that have evolved over time and contribute to the declining life expectancy in the region,” the group stressed.
EDEN also drew attention to the ongoing environmental devastation caused by oil spills, lamenting the practice of setting spill-impacted areas ablaze instead of conducting proper clean-ups and remediation.
The environmental advocacy group cited a recent incident at Oando’s site in Ogboinbiri, Bayelsa State, where a supposedly remediated spill site went up in flames in the early hours of Monday, December 9, 2024.
“We have equally noticed a trend attributable to the oil industry, which is the setting ablaze of oil spill-impacted environments instead of proper clean-up and remediation as is the standard practice globally,” EDEN said.
The Anti-Gas Flaring Bill, which has passed its second reading in the House of Representatives, is seen as a critical step toward mitigating the environmental, health, and economic impacts of gas flaring, while promoting the utilization of Nigeria’s gas resources for economic growth and energy generation.
