By Obiabin Onukwugha
Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State has called on his counterparts in the Niger Delta to forge an alliance for environmental justice to check the grave impact of environmental pollution on the region.
Diri made the call while speaking at the International Oil Pollution and Just Transition Conference in Abuja on Wednesday, October 30.
This comes on the heels of his recent demand that international oil companies (IOCs) to sink US$12 billion over the course of 12 years for the repair, remediation and restoration of the Bayelsa State environment and public health damage caused by oil and gas exploration and to lay the foundations for Bayelsa’s just transition towards renewable energy and opportunities for alternative livelihoods.
The call comes barely three months after the Diri met with the Secretary-General of the Common Wealth, Barroness Patricia Scotland in London.
The governor called on the Common Wealth to intervene in prevailing on IOCs to take responsibility for the pollution caused on the environment in the over seven decades of oil exploration in the state, warning that the state government would employ legal action if all efforts failed.
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He lamented that the IOCs have failed to implement the recommendations of a report commissioned by the state government, which recommended the $12billion for the remediation you and restoration of degraded lands and livelihoods of the people in the state.
“The oil boom has brought doom,” Governor Duoye said, explaining, “Our lifeblood, our rivers now flow with toxic oil residue instead of vibrant life.”
He complained: “The unchecked activities of International Oil Companies (IOCs) have turned the prolific rivers and fertile soil of Bayelsa into a wasteland.”
Diri said: “This I believe is not limited to Bayelsa State alone,” stating, ” I call on my brother governors from the oil producing states to join hands with us in this battle for environmental justice.”
Earlier in his welcome address, the Executive Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, said the conference came at a pivotal moment in the socio-ecological history of Nigeria.
He posited that pollution has wreaked extensive damage in the physical, socioeconomic and cultural spheres of Nigeria’s national life.
