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By Akpekwu Christopher Imbufe
The Rivers State Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Igbiks Tamuno, says the Niger Delta region may face extinction sooner than later due to the impact of oil spills and gas flares in the region
According to the commissioner, the impact of the degradation of the environment, particularly the eco-system of mangroves along the coastal areas of the Niger Delta, calls for a concerted action by not only state governments, but by all and sundry.
Mr. Tamuno, who was the guest of honor at the book launch and photo exhibition organized by the Niger Delta Snapshot, an event which held weekend at the Presidential Hotel, Port Harcourt, contended that having two constitutional provisions on environment – Federal Government (exclusive) and state governments (concurrent) – might not mitigate negative environmental matters like oil spills and gas flares in the country, but would further imperil the environment.
He asserted that the impact of oil spills and gas flares on the environment brought about by old and decaying pipelines, laid more than fifty years ago, particularly on the ecosystem of the mangrove forests along the coastal areas of the Niger Delta, calls for a concerted action on a national policy framework on environment that is applicable to both the federal and state governments.
On the book launch, which captures vivid images of environmental degradation and life on the Niger Delta ecosystem, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim, Rivers State commissioner for Orientation and Information, who was represented by Mr. Celestine Ogolo, a director in the ministry, said the book would create the necessary impact on the region as it touches the heart of issues agitating the minds of the people.
The commissioner however noted that the regret is that people don’t get to read what is put down in writing even as matters on the environment affects everyone.
A member of the panel of discussants, Barr Iniruo Wills, former Bayelsa State commissioner for Environment, agreed that for there to be a sustainable national policy on environment, Niger Delta governors must be bold enough to test the constitutional provisions on the environment in the courts.
Otherwise, he said, the fight against infractions by oil companies that pollute the environment from their operations may be short lived.
Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey of the University of Port Harcourt noted that the country has available data to facilitate a national policy framework for the protection of the mangroves in the coastal areas of the Niger Delta region. While Benjamin Azubuike Ekeke, a professor of Forestry at the Rivers State University, held that the way forward as the world marks the International Day of the Forest, is for the people of the Niger Delta region to live in harmony with the mangrove forests as a veritable platform for sustainable livelihood.
As part of the celebration of the International Day of the Forest, convener of the MangrovesXpo2021, Niger Delta Snapshot, Mr. Jerry Chidi, said the programme plans a five million tree planting flag-off on Monday, as it urges all who uses the forest to do so responsibly.
