Saving Our Marine Ecosystem

With a coastline of approximately 853km and an exclusive economic ocean zone that stretches 200 nautical miles from her shorelines deep into the Atlantic Ocean: and with a vast area of fresh water and mangrove forest resources, Nigeria has enormous marine resource potentials. These potentials hold much more when Nigeria finally succeeds in extending its reach to 350 nautical miles deeper into the Gulf of Guinea area dubbed as ‘the Golden Triangle’, which contains unquantifiable resources. This zone is the richest in terms of fishing and sub-sea mineral deposits. Nigeria is pursuing this advantage  through a window of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which, according to reports, “allows a coastal nation to make claims beyond 200 nautical miles of its coastlines up to 350 nautical miles, if the coastal nation is able to prove through scientific data and information that the seabed and the subsoil of the marine area of its territorial sea is a natural prolongation of its land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin.”
The magnitude of benefits of Nigeria’s marine sector notwithstanding, some harmful activities at home, which without concerted effort to curb the menace, may continue to frustrate the realisation of full benefits from these potentials..Notable among these harmful activities are the perennial problems of pollution on our waterways, especially of oil spills, industrial effluents, gas flares, and uncontrolled release of plastics into waterways, in combination with maritime insecurity. While pollution destroys water quality, the mangrove forests as well as the fishing industry that depends directly on them, insecurity on the other hand has become a threat to genuine waterway navigations occasioned by sea piracy, kidnap and illegal trafficks on the waterways. With oil thefts now rampant, there appears to be a free for all movements on the waterways to the extent that sub-standard oil tankers and berges, that leak crude oil and petroleum products directly into the water channels, now parade. Oil thefts, apart from denying governments of resources needed for developments, like illegal minings in Africa,  also breed arms traffic, impunity, injustice and insecurity.
It appears also that, as multinational oil and gas big weights divest from onshore assets in the face of raising oil thefts, oil and gas industry standards have ebbed to an all-time low, with illegal refining activities, sooth and pipeline failures becoming very common, a condition that has come at a huge cost to the environment. Unprecedented spills have damaged the formerly rich mangroves and waterways of the Niger Delta. The perennial gas flares, as old as the discovery of oil in Nigeria since 1957, continue to heat-up the Niger Delta atmosphere and create acid rains that impact negatively on nearby soils, the mangroves and rivers. This is despite the possibility of gathering these waste gases into gas processing plants to supply much-needed fuel to the gas-starved power sector of Nigeria. To stop all these menace and safegaurd our marine ecosystems, decisive goodwill backed by  effective action, is expected from the navigation authorities and politicians, away from previously failed promises of combating the menace.
Government should formulate and implement frameworks that discourage degradation to the marine systems, and environment as a whole. The navy and other agents of government should be made to up their games in this regard. The navy and other state actors should also not contribute to the assault on the environment by refraining from destroying impounded products on the open waters. Whereas the mangrove forest provides protection as well as breeding grounds for the various species of marine organisms that rely on it as habitat, and therefore is a rich source of supplies of oysters, clams, crabs, periwinkles and an assortment of fishes, it has unfortunately been degraded for too long that these natural supplies are in decline, in addition to the disappearance of so many other biodiverse species.
Apart from its nutrient resources, the arching prop roots, which anchor the mangrove forests into the soils trap inland sediments and soils from being washed off to the oceans by floods, and also stand as breaks against the repeated surge of ocean waves, thereby serving as  protection for the shorelines and for organisms that depend on the forest as home. However, in the face of oil spills and other pollutions, the mangrove forests, as well as aquatic larvae that breed under their protections, are destroyed when waves push oil spills deep into the creaks, with oil spills settling in tidal pools at low tides. On the other hand, unchecked industrial wastes from companies operating within the region aid these processes. For instance, unregulated waste water and other components discharged into nearby rivers alter the balance of water temperatures, salinity, pH and composition of vital dissolved gases, in ways that are harmful to the mangroves and aquatic life, with negative effects on the fishing industry, and other fresh water resources. When these effluents flow downstream from the rivers into the estuaries and down into the wider oceans, they kill in their trail, vital algae and planktons that form the base of aquatic life food web. The resultant effect is the continuous decline in the number and numerous species of sea food that formerly flourished in these water bodies.
This fact might not be far from the mystery behind floating, dead fishes, witnessed sometime, at Bonny River and in some other places.There is also a need for us to reflect on the final destinations of every piece of package wraps we discard on daily basis. Apart from the poorly regulated toxic chemicals being used in the manufacture of these plastic materials, from various thicknesses of cellophanes, satchet water wraps, to pet bottles and plastic vessels of various kinds, majority end up at dumpsites that leach toxic chemicals into aquifers, while the remaining undegradable plastics filt the soil or are eventually washed into nearby rivers by floods. It has become familiar to hear reports of the challenges faced by boat operators whose propellers daily get entangled with plastics, to the extent it no longer draws attention. Marine vessel operators that feed their process water from the rivers and oceans while operating in our waters daily combat with process pipes being clogged with plastic debris. Disposed nets and other plastics most times entangle and kill some species of marine organisms. It has become such a challenge to operate in our waterways.
There is therefore need to assess the impacts of these factors on the environment and on the livelihoods of local communities and the national economy, especially in the face of the current economic challenges in the nation, and implement solutions. The protection of the maritime ecosystem is one major area that is sure to contribute to the revitalisation of the economy, if taken seriously. Given that pollution remediation activities are costly, slow to yield results, and often times ineffective, the best option to solving environmental damage is prevention. There is need for governments at all levels to strengthen laws that regulate activities of all actors that impact on the environment. Companies and citizens should be made to be more responsible in their actions. Waste disposal should be controlled and sorted in ways that enable recycling.
Government should discourage the production and use of one-time usage, disposable plastics while encouraging the production of multiple-usage plastics. Firms should also be encouraged to find alternatives to plastic packaging by employing biodegradable materials in the production of disposable wraps. Those who clear mangroves for fire woods or other purposes should be made to understand the inter-dependence of their livelihoods and wellness with these natural ecosystems, and should be made to desist from destroying our common environment.

By; Joseph Nwankwo