Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has lamented the crippling effects of oil spills on Ijaw communities, emphasizing the urgent need for collective action to mitigate environmental degradation.
At the Pre-Summit Conference of the First Pan-Ijaw Economic Summit 2024, Governor Fubara painted a grim picture of the oil spills’ consequences, stressing that sustainable economic progress cannot be achieved in a degraded environment.
The governor said it has become imperative to adopt approaches that emphasize both environmental regeneration and economic sustainability in the face of escalating environmental challenges confronting Ijaw land, and urged stakeholders to collaborate on environmental regeneration and economic sustainability initiatives.
He said the theme, ‘Environmental Regeneration and Economic Sustainability,’ resonates with the collective aspirations of Ijaw ethnic nationality’s desire for economic progress and right to live in a clean and healthy environment.
Governor Fubara, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Tammy Danagogo, emphasized that the challenges posed by environmental degradation synonymous with the Ijaw nation is also deeply linked to the agitations and conscientious demands for economic and environmental justice.
He said, “We have often felt the harmful effects of oil production. Oil spills from pipelines are destroying farmlands and crops as well as damaging marine life. Gas flaring is filling the atmosphere with substances that cause soot, a phenomenon that has manifested in many parts of the region. Acid rain is not uncommon. Both the land and water are contaminated, the air is polluted, that is the environment in which we live.
“We all acknowledge the importance of sustainable economic progress for a people or society. We all need human security, including access to quality education, food, shelter, healthcare and social security. We need the things that facilitate our well-being. We need the institutions to educate, train and prepare our young people for the challenges of the global marketplace.
“We need roads and common infrastructure to enhance commercial interaction, We need electricity, which has become an essential and indispensable feature of modern life. We need everything that makes way for the good life. But the progress and well-being that we seek cannot be achieved in the face of a degraded and spoiled environment.”
The Governor therefore enjoined stakeholders to collaborate and rebirth ideas and measures to achieve environmental renewal and economic prosperity.
According to him, “We need to work towards the goal. But it is a job that no person can do alone. Our society, our governments, and the oil producing companies have to evolve appropriate environmental standards and uphold those standards. Everyone has to take responsibility for the environment. While we see the environment as our heritage, we should keep in mind that it is also the heritage for our children and many generations to come.
“It is a little over one year since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu created a Federal Ministry to pursue the riches in the Marine and Blue Economy. This is a fresh opportunity for Ijaws to return to their roots and rediscover and launch themselves into a new economic era with almost limitless opportunities, because just as the oceans are vast, so is the immense wealth and prosperity to be gained there from.
“We also need targeted investments in infrastructure, human capital development. facilities, and lots to grow our economies and create wealth and prosperity across Ijaw land. In this wise, I very much appreciate and applaud the massive infrastructural achievements of Governor Douye Diri in Bayelsa State as this is the way to the pan-Ijaw promise of a better future for all Ijaws.”
Governor Fubara further maintained that peace is paramount to attain the lofty socio-economic development of the region, saying “I wish to emphasize that not much can be achieved without peace and security. Ijaw land must, therefore, cease to be a hotbed of violence and insecurity. We must ramp up protection of existing infrastructure and facilities and not give excuses to those who have sunk in their capital to divest. We must uproot from among us the criminal elements who are vandalizing crude oil pipelines and contributing directly to the death of our environment.”
He narrated that his administration has ensured a multi-strategy approach to curb environmental degradation and enhance economic boost through environmentally friendly policies, infrastructural development and revival of the local economy.
“In Rivers State, our government has shown understanding of the environmental challenges we face and we have adopted policies to tackle the problem. We are working on establishing a waste-to-energy plant to address the challenges of solid waste management, clean energy, carbon emissions, and climate change.
“Additionally, we have signed a memorandum of understanding with two foreign firms on the preservation of our vast mangrove forests. We are also supporting the security agencies, including the joint task force on oil theft and the Nigerian Civil Defense Corps to fight illegal oil bunkering and pipeline vandalization as part of efforts to protect the nation’s economic assets as well as prevent the continuous degradation of our environment.
“While we work towards environmental renewal, we are also frontally addressing the challenges of infrastructural development and the building of institutions to improve human capital among our people. We are presently constructing the 50 km dual carriage Port Harcourt Ring Road with six flyovers, traversing six local government areas of the State. When completed, this 200-billion-naira project will accelerate the economic transformation of the State.
“Also worthy of mention are the dualization of Elele-Omoku road, which interconnects three local government areas, and the long awaited Trans-Kalabari road, with a combined contract value of over N300 billion. Conceived, awarded and abandoned decades ago, the Trans-Kalabari road is aimed at linking most of the riverine communities in the Kalabari kingdom to the state capital to accelerate their socio-economic integration and development,” he stressed.
The Chief Special Guest of Honour and former President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, represented by Ambassador Godknows Igali, said the future of Nigeria depends on every region exploring the resources available to them to create better opportunity for the citizens.
“Whatever economic strategies, whatever plans to make life easier for our people must be such that looks at the next generation. Our efforts must be that planning is not just for ourselves but for the next generation. We should look beyond oil. Gas is energy of the future, and we must appreciate that.”
The President of Ijaw National Congress, INC, and Co-Convener of the Pre-Summit, Professor Benjamin Okaba, stressed that the era of lamentation for the Ijaw nation was over, as now is the time to look inwards, ventilate ideas and move the nation forward.
Okaba urged all to take the summit seriously to incubate ideas to rescue the Ijaw nation as he thanked the Principal Convener, Professor Steve Azaiki for sustaining the dream of the summit.
