Environmental stakeholders are demanding for a definite deadline for gas flaring by oil companies in order to end pollution in the Niger Delta.
The stakeholders at the second Niger Delta Alternatives convergence (NDAC) charged the Federal Government to immediately produce a framework and guide for how oil companies disengage from areas where they have operated.
The second Niger Delta Alternatives Convergence was held in Port Harcourt on 26th April, with a host of environmentalists, civil society organisations, host communities and government agencies present at the meeting.
In their different presentations, they observed that major multinational oil companies that have operated in the Niger Delta region for the last 6 decades are driving a divestment programme that has seen the companies clandestinely sell off their onshore and shallow water assets in the region, while claiming that they are doing so due to the ‘hostile operational environment and associated huge operational cost” they are exposed to in the Niger Delta region.
The Convergence observed that this position is not only misleading, but is also false.
A communique by Niger Delta Manifesto for Socio Ecological Justice, signed on behalf of all delegates which are Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Oilwatch Africa, We The People, noted that current divestment process is shrouded in secrecy and is being conducted without the knowledge or participation of the so-called ‘host communities’ whose traditional territories these companies have occupied for more than six decades.
In one of their observations, NDAC also observed that while Nigeria has intensified the exploration and export of liquefied natural gas, the hazardous and poisonous practice of gas flaring continues unabated and without any clear position on when it will end.
The NDAC notes with sadness that the target for ending gas flaring has consistently been moved at least 8 times in the past. At the moment, all deadlines to end the practice have been abandoned, while oil companies continue to impact the health and livelihoods of the Niger Delta people through flaring.
Furthermore, the NDAC observed the disturbing trend of abandoned projects in the region by national and sub national entities. While this trend has been fuelled by corruption and brazen mismanagement, NDAC nonetheless notes an escalating development where the craze for massive (and mostly white elephant) legacy projects by political officials has led to an unprecedented spate of abandoned projects in the Niger Delta.
“The NDDC alone has over 13,000 abandoned project in the region. Not only do abandoned projects deny the people much needed infrastructural benefits, it also represents an unproductive ‘lockdown’ of the people’s commonwealth,” the communiqué noted.
The stakeholders after the meeting, also recommended that:
- That the Niger Delta must move beyond talks and immediately take action, including nonviolent direct action, as well as utilizing all available legal instruments to demand justice.
- An immediate and comprehensive audit of the entire Niger Delta region.
- The government must compel divesting IOCs to fulfill all outstanding Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) and Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoUs) obligations to communities and their environment before handing over assets to DOCs.
- An immediate review of the PIA by the National Assembly to provide a definite deadline for gas flaring by oil companies and eliminate powers to permit, review gas flare fines to reflect the same amount as commercial value of natural gas in the international market, while transferring flare fines to host communities and eliminate the section of the PIA that places the responsibility to protect oil installations on host communities.