Yemie Adeoye &
Johnbosco Agbakwuru
27 September 2012, Sweetcrude, LAGOS – AT a period when oil spill has become a common feature in the business of oil exploration and production, leaving a trail of massive destruction of aquatic life and livelihood, International Oil Companies operating in Nigeria have stayed away from the 2012 International Oil Spill Conference organised by Kaku Professional Engineers Limited in collaboration with the United States National Spill Control School, Texas.
The conference was aimed at creating awareness on the dangers of oil spill in Nigeria especially, the Niger Delta region.
Only the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation and AMNI International Petroleum Company attended the conference.
International oil companies doing oil exploration in the Niger Delta region that did not honor their invitation include Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Agip, Total, Pan Ocean, Oando, Addax petroleum, Mart Energy, Seplat and Shell.
Speaking at the conference, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Kaku Professional Engineers Limited, Sylvester Egwu said the conference was organised for the participants to holistically deliberate on the problems created by incessant oil spills in the environment.
He said the conference was also aimed at enhancing technology and technology transfer and also to promote the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals, MDGs for environmental sustainability in Nigeria.
According to him, Nigeria experiences about 600 oil spill every year which he said normally leave the environment devastated and also put the lives of the people in impacted areas at high risks.
“A lot of oil spills have occurred in recent times since 1976 to 2008, about eighty per cent of the spill has been recorded. Today, the rate of spill is about 600 incidence annually and this is never seen in anywhere in the world except in Nigeria,” Egwu said.
He said that this development had brought untold suffering on the people of the Niger Delta region where the business of oil explorations take place on daily basis, adding that the oil spill normally go with outbreak of diseases such as cancer in various forms and other respiratory diseases.