Bayelsa State boasts a remarkable achievement as it was the first Nigerian state where commercial quantities of crude oil were discovered at the renowned Shell’s Oloibiri oilfield in 1956. Subsequently, International Oil Companies embarked on drilling oil wells in numerous communities across the Niger Delta to engage in full-scale oil production operations.
Over time, the oil and gas sector emerged as the backbone of the Nigerian economy, contributing to over 85 percent of the country’s export earnings.
However, spanning six decades, the extractive activities of both International Oil Companies and more recently, indigenous oil companies, have resulted in severe environmental pollution and degradation. This has profoundly affected extensive wetlands, farmlands, rivers, rivulets, and ponds, leading to devastating consequences for the region.Being an oil-rich state, Bayelsa has frequently made headlines due to both minor and significant oil and gas pollution incidents. These incidents have caused severe destruction to livelihoods, ecosystems, and health challenges for its people. Unfortunately, affected residents often receive inadequate compensation, and the essential remediation of impacted sites tends to be neglected.
In an effort to pursue environmental justice, the former governor, Seriake Dickson, took a significant step by establishing the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Pollution Commission in March 2019. The primary purpose of this commission was to investigate the long-term impact of oil spillage and environmental pollution in the state, which had persisted for many years.
After four years of diligent work, the commission presented its final report titled ‘An environmental genocide: Counting the human cost of oil in Bayelsa, Nigeria’ at the House of Lords in London on May 16, 2023. This comprehensive report documents the devastating effects of over six decades of oil exploration and pollution in Bayelsa State.
The commission was chaired by a former Anglican Archbishop of York and member of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, John Sentamu. Other members were a former President of Ghana, John Kufour; another member of the House of Lords, Valerie Amos; a professor of law at the University of Bradford, UK, Emeseh Engobo; and faculty member, Global Geography, Environmental and Urban Change at York University, Prof Anna Zalik.
Others were the Coordinator of Social Action International, Dr Isaac Osuoka; Emeritus Prof Michael Watts, University of California, Berkeley; Prof. Roland Hodler, University of St. Gallen; and the Director of Politics and Governance programme at Overseas Development Institute, UK, Dr Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou, who served as the secretary and chair of the commission’s expert working group, while the state’s former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Kemasuode Wodu, was the legal adviser.
The panel was expected to establish the facts, quantify the impact of the oil spill, determine responsibilities and where possible identify those responsible and make recommendations, including a suitable accountability framework.
The former governor had while inaugurating the commission in Yenagoa, said, “Oil and gas exploration and extraction has had an incalculable impact on the people and environment of Bayelsa State. It has threatened local livelihoods and economies, impeded agricultural development, fuelled health disorders and caused tensions in the social fabric of our communities.
“The people of Bayelsa State have paid too high a price for the growth of Nigeria’s oil sector without reaping any significant benefit.”
According to the 211-page report, the panel members visited several communities and interviewed over 500 people, noting that from Ayama-Ogbia (Agbara-Otuokpoti), to Koluama, Nembe, Aghoro in Ekeremor, Oporoma, Zarama and Okordia, among other communities, the lamentation was the same.
According to the report, apart from oil spill, other sources of environmental pollution in the state were effluent waste disposal in the Brass Canal, dumping of drilling mud, artisanal refining and gas flaring. It noted that the state experienced a spill every 12 hours for 14 years.The report said, “Bayelsa recorded 25 per cent of all oil spill in Nigeria between 2006 and 2020; 3,508 oil spill out of 13,251 oil spill; 234 oil spill in Bayelsa per year with most in Southern Ijaw, Yenagoa and Nembe Local Government Areas; 109,940 barrels of oil spilled in Bayelsa and 88 per cent from five IOCs’.
It blamed the problem on a failed regulatory regime by the government, noting that environmental standards were not ensured and that relevant agencies were burdened by overlapping roles.
The panel also indicted the oil firms over “failure of strategy, prevention, response and remediation of oil spill incidents in their areas of operations”.
In particular, the report pointed out that the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources, now called Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency of the Federal Government lacked powers to discipline oil companies after finding them culpable.
The report further noted that gas flaring in Nigeria was among top 10 globally, adding that no country flares as much gas as a percentage of its total gas as Nigeria. It noted further that three Local Government Areas accessed by water were the most affected by gas flaring. The LGAs were Nembe, Ekeremor and Southern Ijaw, all of which have a high number of flow stations and oil operations.
The panel observed that fines imposed by the Federal Government on the oil companies had been grossly insufficient to deter bad environmental practices.
“In 2018, the Federal Government increased the penalty for gas flaring from N10 per 1,000 standard cubic feet (scf) to $2 per 1,000 scf of gas flared. Furthermore, various legislative measures to curb gas flaring in Nigeria have been in place since 1969. Currently, companies producing more than 10,000 barrels per day pay a fine of $2 per 1,000 scf of gas flared, while those producing less than 10, 000bpd pay $0.5 per 1,000 scf of gas fared,” the report stated.
The report indicated that several health studies have documented the connection between gas flaring and a range of chronic diseases including bronchial, rheumatic and eye conditions alongside hypertension. It stated further that constant inhalation of sulphur dioxide causes nose and throat irritation and shortness of breath, adding that prolonged exposure to flared gas has been associated with cancer and neurological, reproductive and developmental effects.
The report added, “The flares harm and disperse local wildlife and are associated with numerous ecological problems. In Ogboinbiri, Tebidaba, Southern Ijaw, Agip operates 24-hour gas flaring cycles. In Nembe Creek I, II and III, Oporoma and Gbarain, the SPDC continually flare gas. The Gbarain-Ubie gas processing plant (belonging to the SPDC) is a major concern.”
The panel also expressed concern that there were too many regulatory agencies in the oil and gas sector but no action was taken to safeguard the environment and communities.
It therefore recommended a comprehensive clean-up of Bayelsa with a recovery plan to deal with health challenges arising from pollution. It also stressed the need for health screening of chronic and acute conditions and facilitation of urgent access to safe water and food supplies.
It called for the establishment of a recovery agency for the state, a new compensation scheme for the affected people, fundamental reform of the regulatory agencies, introduction of a new legal framework and new dispute resolution procedures, and enhanced role for the state.
The panel further recommended deeper scrutiny of the IOCs, overhaul of their approach to community engagement to ensure transparency, accountability and community input, and the establishment of a legally-binding and decommissioning regime.
It further said, “This Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission report is a life saver. It calls for action and will be a catalyst for Bayelsa. An enduring post-oil future will leave the people better and not in eternal regrets.
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