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By Kelechi Nwaucha
Women in the Niger Delta have commended the House of Representatives over its decision on the controversial divestment of onshore holdings by oil multinationals.
The House of Representatives had passed a resolution against granting of consent, by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), to divesting International Oil Companies (IOCs) until there is full compliance with the guidelines for decommissioning and the regulations made under the Petroleum Industry Act.
In a statement on behalf of oil-impacted community women in Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta and others in the region on Thursday, executive director of Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, Dr. Emem Okon, said the Niger Delta commends the House of Representatives, especially the Committee on Environment, “for heeding to the voices of Niger Delta Women, by speaking up against the illegal divestment without proper consultation with the communities and full restoration of the eco-system in the region.”
For months, women in Abua/Odual, Egbema, Yenagoa, Ibeno, Eleme, Gokana, Sagbama and many other oil-bearing or impacted communities in the Niger Delta have mounted a non-violent campaign for the multinationals to “restore our land before leaving.”
Against this backdrop, Kebetkache’s executive director, Dr Okon, on behalf of “the entire community women in the Niger Delta region that took part in the campaign against divestment, irresponsible divestment by Shell and other oil majors,” commended the House of Representatives for stopping the granting of consent to the divestment plans of the multinationals.
She said “We stand by our earlier demand of ‘No divestment without Ecosystem Restoration.’ Shell and other oil majors that want to divest must clean up the mess and the damage that they have caused in the Niger Delta over the past six decades.
“We are still re-echoing our demands, that: The Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission make public all documents submitted to them by SPDC on divestment.
“Renaissance Africa Energy should make public all documents submitted for the acquisition of SPDC and all proofs of compliance with the so-called checklist and guidelines for divestment of oil assets.
“Also, the Federal Government should not approve the divestment of oil assets until all polluted farmlands, rivers, air, and forests in the Niger Delta have been cleaned and restored,” she said.
