Carbon Offsetting: Dakolo Calls On NUPRC To Call IOCs To Order

 

His Royal Majesty, King Bubaraye Dakolo, Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, has called on the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission to as a matter of urgency call on the International Oil Companies operating in the Niger Delta Region to clean up the poluted environment even as they have moved to divested.

Speaking on Wednesday in Yenagoa  during a multi-stakeholder dialogue on carbon offset organized by Search for Common Ground in partnership with Stakeholder Democracy Network and Foundation for Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta with support from European Union, King Dakolo also advocated for the review of the Educational Curriculum suggesting that Environment Matters should be imbedded in the curriculum from Primary to the University levels.

He spoke against  the indiscriminate  felling of trees maintaining that trees as a matter of fact helps to emit oxygen that we breath and takes back carbon dioxide adding that there should be long term measures of championing the course instead of the current short term.

"The Government of Nigeria should hold Oil Companies to come and remediate the poluted environment if they are willing just that the government has been unwilling. 

"The NUPRC is the regulator of oil and gas sector. It is it's business to ensure that the environment is remediated and  it is not pushing that and it is not able to push that because even when there is a spillage somewhere, because NUPRC doesn't have a boat, they don't have a chopper. Like, if you want to go to Santa  Barbara for inspection, it is the oil company that will give them food, send their children abroad and so when they come back,  they  will call it sabotage. 

"A report championed by the Bayelsa State Government said that the international oil companies should use 1 Billion Dollars yearly for twelve years  to clean up the Niger Delta. A company like Shell didn't talk about it at all. They want to escape to offshore without talking about it Agip has also not talked about it. 

"More so, the Federal  Government is a major shareholder in all of these arrangements so the Federal Government is the biggest culprit. If Oil kills Ten people in the region, it means that the Federal Government killed six people because they are having the major share. That is the reality so the Federal Government is not interested in this Carbon Offsetting of a thing.

"We should not be felling trees indiscriminately. When you fell one, you should be able to plant one.

 In my community, I try as much as possible to make people understand the importance of trees, plants generally. As a matter of fact, having to hold an event like this to enlighten people means that there is a big hollow I'm supposed to have learnt this  thirty years ago in my primary school but I was not  taught. Now you want to have a short term seminar that will teach me to teach others.

"Instead,  can't we advocate for a serious intensive  environmental  corruculum at the primary and secondary school levels and perhaps at the universities? and then, we may not need to be doing this anymore because everybody will know. People are felling trees because of ignorance. 

"I think that the government of Nigeria should look at how to improve the curriculum to serve us better.They should also put pressure on the oil and gas industry to ensure that they rehabilitate the environment that they destroyed so that some of these things can grow on their own." He stated.

Also speaking, Ebi Ben Ololo, the Commissioner for Environment,  Bayelsa State, commended the organizers of the programme maintaining that Bayelsa State Government doesn't joke with the things of the environment.

He said that if the environment is poluted "we are also poluted while if it is cleaner we will also be cleaner and greener adding that "issues of the environment are very sensitive issues. 

Olololo said  that  there are  several levels of pollution within  the environment adding  "even now pollution  is going on due to the exploration of oil and gas and when that occurs, there is exploitation, extraction and there will be spill.

 "The issue of Carbon Offsetting is a  very sensitive matter and for us, the importance of trees cannot be over emphasized and  that was why we shut down the forest. Of course, the role that trees play in our lives can't be underrated because they give out clean energy.

"We will keep on enlightening the public to be aware of the wonderful reasons why we should not cut down trees and we want to ensure that even with the level of pollution in oil and gas sector, people in Bayelsa will have enough clean energy to breath in.

At the end of the  dialogue, participants agreed that there was need for  the removal of environment issues from the exclusive  list to the concurrent list. Also, that  there should be adequate sensitization concerning all the policies of the government as regards environmental matters adding that it will help the populace understand what is on ground.

The participants also agreed that the people should own the environment by doing their own part like not dropping used plastic cans and other things that are harmful to the environment into canals among other things.

The participants also acknowledged that climate change and other related environmental issues can  also  cause conflict in the Niger Delta.

Speaking earlier, Chorbe Joshua, Consortium/Programme Manager of Search for Common Ground, said the project  which is rounding up   in few months, has has made tremendous progress in the area of conflict resolution, early warning activity, establishment of peace architecture in various areas among other achievements.

Joshua stated that there has been peace in most of the communities covered  and reduction of crimes and criminality in the Niger Delta Region.

 He stated that  the overall goal of Search for Common Ground in the Niger Delta Region is to foster inclusive community security approaches to addressing the systemic drivers of violence and criminality in Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States.

During the panel discussion, Morris Alagoa, an Environmental Rights Activist, Dr. Charles Oyibo  a lecturer with NDU and Tare Maureen Amanana an advocate for women all agreed that  there was   need to stop the  indiscriminate felling of trees  adding that it will  reduce  carbon emission.

They stressed that  there is urgent need to take care of  the already poluted environment adding that  climate change  and oil exploration have  affected the livelihood of rural dwellers, especially the womenfolk.

They also agreed that there was  need to enlighten community folks about carbon offset.

Recall that  Search for Common Ground which has been in the Niger Delta Region with support  from European Union for twenty months now is mopping up it's activities in the region.