Mkpoikana Udoma
21 January 2019, Sweetcrude, Port Harcourt — An environmentalist has raised the alarm over persisting environmental pollution in the Niger Delta, especially Rivers State as a result of oil exploration and exploitation activities.
A former President of the Nigerian Environmental Society, Engr. Olu Wai-Ogosu, said pollution in the state and the entire Niger Delta region, has reached a crisis point while blaming the disappearance of freshwater resources in the state on oil pollution.
Wai-Ogosu speaking at an event in Port Harcourt, lamented that ecosystem of the state, her flora, and fauna, which he described as fragile, have been devastated by oil exploration and exploitation.
He stressed the need for measures to preserve the environment to be put in place, for the sake of future generations.
According to him, “Rainwater is now coloured, while the underground water is contaminated especially in Eleme and Ogoni axis of the state.
“It is our collective responsibility to protect and preserve the environment. The economy must be managed in a way to preserve the environment.
“Rivers State has a sensitive and fragile ecosystem. What happens to one sector affects the entire environment.
On the hydrocarbon soot plaguing the state in the last three years, the environmentalist listed poverty as the main contributor to the soot, which according to him, led to the proliferation of illegal refineries.
He also listed industrial activities and the continuous emission of smoke into the atmosphere by heavy-duty vehicles.
