A beautiful environment 
Mr. Nwafo
BY CHIMA NWAFO
Current media reports show increasing concern for environmental issues, from activists, public officials, industry stakeholders and the academia. This is indeed a welcome development in a nation where valuable natural endowments and even human life face a bleak future, physically threatened by diverse forms of ecological complications that affect both city and rural dwellers alike. Notwithstanding the series of campaigns by international agencies and Western governments, as well as protests by youths and activists, yet both the enlightened public and the student generation go about their businesses unperturbed.
In an earlier piece sometime in February, I had reasoned: “Most Nigerians feel unperturbed when issues of devastation of the environment, militancy, oil-bunkering and other unflattering symptoms of youth restiveness in the oil-rich Niger Delta come up for discussion. Southerners believe desert encroachment is a northern problem just as most northerners are less bothered about the thorny and deathly issue of oil pollution and environmental degradation in the oil-producing areas.
The dictionary says the word environment is derived from the French word environ, which means ‘surrounding’. And it adds that our surrounding includes biotic factors like human beings, plants, animals, microbes, etc., and abiotic factors such as light, air, water, soil, etc. Except in a society driven by ignorance, such as ours, this simple definition makes it compelling for everyone to be interested in his or her environment. It is compelling because our daily existence, health and survival on Planet Earth draw immensely from our immediate environment. So, we have every reason to be concerned.
Against the foregoing backdrop, it was quite consoling to read from Environment Nigeria, where the Minister of Environment, Alhaji Suleiman Hassan Zarma, was reported to have stated reasons “why we should all be environmentalists.” It was quite edifying to read him saying:
“I have been asked why I am passionate about the environment, when Nigeria has a myriad of issues we are battling with: From bad leadership, corrupt institutions and lack of welfare systems to cater for the less-privileged members of the society. The list goes on and on. I get comments like: ‘This environment thing is an oyinbo mentality.’
“But, with deep introspection, one would realise that environmental issues form a big chunk of the problems of our nation. Environmental issues are vital to our survival, now and in the future. And we owe generations unborn the duty to make the planet safe and sustainable for life.”
The minister was not just making a political statement, for which Nigerian politicians are known for. No, he was speaking as an environmentally-informed and knowledgeable technocrat. He was explicit in his articulation, as to why we should be equally disturbed about ecological issues.
He queried: *“Why should we be silent when there is wanton destruction of the beauty and resources of the earth driven mainly by greed and the craze to satisfy man’s insatiable wants?
*Why should we be silent when lead pollution in some states in Northern Nigeria is killing innocent young children?
*Why should we be silent, when pollution in Niger Delta is depriving people of basic human rights such as health, access to food, clean water, and the ability to work?
*Why should we be silent when pollution is destroying the aesthetics of our communities and harbouring disease-causing agents, such as rats causing Lassa fever; noise pollution from religious institutions, cars, etc., is eroding our quality of life, sleep and productivity?
*Why should we be silent when climate change, especially in Northern Nigeria, is causing desertification and drought, consequently leading to low yield in crop production and high mortality rate of farm animals: this results in loss of livelihood and hence poverty?
*Why should we be silent when water pollution has turned our waterways to a toxic cocktail of chemicals; some factories in the metropolis dispose their waste-water into Lagos water bodies without any form of treatment?”
To the foregoing, one would also add: Why should we be silent when gas flaring in Niger Delta is causing significant loss of revenue and energy that can be used to produce electricity that we so desperately need.
To buttress this point, a 2004 World Bank report revealed that: “Between $500 million and $2.5 billion is lost annually through gas-flaring, while the natural gas currently flared in Nigeria can serve the cooking needs of 320 million people.”
That is, the gas which is being flared – releasing deadly fumes into the atmosphere which threatens life of the people as well as plants and animals in the locale – could alternatively have been conserved for the production of cooking gas. But that option is not being explored by the oil multinationals and their senior partner: The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); not because they cannot afford the technology, but because no one cares.
The environment newsletter also captured another exciting news item about the launch of “Environmental risk management goals for oil and gas sector.”
According to the report, a high-level policy dialogue held in Lagos on May 21, at the instance of the Oil, Gas, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development (OGEESD) Institute, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti.
“The workshop also provided an interactive platform for stakeholders to examine how to practically implement various aspects of the Environmental Guidelines and Standards for the Petroleum Industry in Nigeria (EGASPIN) released by the Department of Petroleum Resources in 2018.”
The Director of the institute, Prof Damilola S Olawuyi, noted: “There is no regulatory perfection anywhere in the world. This is why oil and gas regulators worldwide continue to look for new ways to achieve an efficient, safe, orderly and environmentally responsible development of oil and gas resources over their entire life cycle.”
Interestingly, the workshop adopted a six-point action-plan that focused on five-year goals (2019-2024) to: Accelerate environmental restoration and services in the Niger Delta through a dedicated financial mechanism; minimise flaring through intensive flare points shutdown, without compromising operations and practices with regard to safety; and accelerate community engagement through specialised training for local environmental champions, including women and youths.
This gesture is enough to challenge other institutions to equally show their concern for other aspects of the nation’s ecology. And there so many of them!
However, a higher level of awareness and public appreciation of the seriousness of the issue is required to weaken the intransigence of multinational oil corporations and the NNPC on one hand, and on the other provoke environmental consciousness among the populace on both sides of the political divide.
*Nwafo, Veteran Copy Editor and Environmental Analyst, can be reached on: [email protected]; +2348029334754.
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