Stakeholders in the Niger Delta region are urging for a firm commitment by the government to end gas flaring and other forms of pollution in the region.
The stakeholders said this at a forum organised by the institute of strategic management Nigeria, Rivers State Chapter in Port Harcourt.
In his lecture entitled: “Critical Environmental Challenges in Rivers State, Exploring Strategic Solutions,” Dr Sofin Peterside said that billions of dollars have been flared inform of gas since the discovery of oil in the country.
“Every year, millions of dollars are literally going up in smoke in the Niger Delta as companies burn off unwanted gas released during oil production.
“The Government at a time fixed December 2012 as the new deadline to end all forms of gas flaring in Nigeria.
“This was not to be feasible as the country is still rated the second worst flaring nation in the world.”
According to him, an estimated $2.5 billion was reportedly lost yearly due to lack of infrastructures to harness gas.
Dr Peterside, who is the Director of the Centre for Advanced Social Science (CASS) listed the health implications of gas flare to include climate change which leads to increase in temperature which affects the human skin.
“The sea level rise, precipitation, direct solar radiation and its resultant depletion of the ozone layer.
The university don also decried the incident of the black soot in the state.
“It is now common knowledge that since late November 2017, strange black soot has been present in the atmosphere, scaring residents of Port Harcourt City and other neigbouring Local Government Areas such as Eleme, Oyigbo, Ikwerre, Obio/Akpor, Khana, Gokana and Tai.
“The clouds became hazy and grey, if you hang your cloths before you know it, they have become black,” he said.
The university don also decried the non cleanup of Ogoniland, stressing that oil contamination in Ogoniland is widespread and severely impacting many components of the environment.
“Although the oil industry is no longer alive in the area, oil spills continue to occur with alarming regularity,” he said.
Also speaking on Human and Economic Cost of Environmental Challenges in Rivers State, Mr Eugene Abels, described the pollution of the Niger Delta as alarming.
Mr Abels said that the advent of illegal oil bunkering in the region has set the region back educationally, stressing that presently, the region is witnessing a high school dropout.
According to him, “instead of being in school, young men, women and children take to the creeks to make quick money from illegal refining.
“Even children who are not able to go to the creeks move about with jerry cans hawking bunkered fuel,” he said.