An environmental activist, Nnimmo Bassey, has said only a halt in the extraction of fossil fuel by oil multinationals can guarantee healthy living by people of oil producing states.
Bassey, who is also the director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, made the call during an oil watch global event in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, yesterday.
He blamed the high level of flooding and pollution in Niger Delta region on oil exploration.
The activist also lamented over the destruction of biodiversity, adding that the oil sector has only created employment for one per cent of the entire population in Africa.
While calling on the government to ensure the cleaning of the “polluted environment across the region” also called for adequate “compensation” for communities affected by oil exploration that have refused the oil in their environment to be extracted.
In his words, “If you pay attention to the climate debate and negotiation governments and corporations are talking about achieving net zero.
“Net zero does not mean zero, it means you keep emitting the carbon but find a way of either capturing or burying it somewhere or you plant some trees or designate some forest at places where carbon is being absorbed.
“We have been saying this for many years now; leave the oil in the ground if we are going to continue to survive as human beings”.
The environmental activist also said the Paris agreement cannot solve the climate problems in the world.
On his part, representative of Cradese, an environmental group from Senegal, Fatima Diallo, called for sensitization of communities against oil exploration in the Niger Delta region.
“We believe that the negative impact of exploration of oil in African communities is as horrible as what we have witnessed sometimes in the Niger Delta,” Diallo said.