ERA flays extension of gas flaring deadline
By Roseline Okere
ENVIRONMENTAL Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has condemned the capitulation of the Federal Government to pressure by oil companies to extend the deadline on zero flaring of gas in the Niger Delta.
This, the Executive Director of the association, Mr. Nnimmo Bassey, said has cast a shadow of doubt on the current administration's sincerity in tackling the Niger Delta crisis.
The group, in a swift reaction to the recent announcement of the extension of the deadline from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008, said the move would further worsen pollution in the Niger Delta, escalate poverty and make a mockery of the country's judicial system.
Bassey stated that the latest development has also shown that the Nigerian government lacked the political will and commitment to ending gas flaring and its attendant health and environmental costs.
Recently, there have been conflicting media reports about whether government has accented or not to oil corporations' request for another shift in the deadline.
Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr. Odien Ajumogobia, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was quoted as saying government had agreed to extend the deadline to 2010 after a meeting with the oil companies.
But the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) had insisted there would be no further extension of dates from January 1, 2007.
Bassey insisted: "We are shocked by this sudden volte-face by the Nigerian government. This has confirmed that government prefers to pitch its tent with corporations that seek nothing but illegitimate profit at the expense of our national economy, the health of the people and the environment.
"Nigeria flares about 2.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas yearly which translates to over $2.5 billion revenue loss. Capitulating to the dictates of the oil corporations that have never kept faith with dates they themselves proposed in the past is a recipe for further losses and costs on the environment and further escalation of the Niger Delta problem."
The ERA/FoEN, he insisted, believed that there was no middle-of-the-road approach to putting an end to the practice as it is not only a monumental waste of the nation's resources but also a testimony to the belief of the oil corporations that petro-dollars far out-weight the wellbeing of oil-bearing communities.
Bassey noted that the Federal High Court sitting in Benin before Judge V. C Nwokorie, had on November 14, 2005 ordered Shell to stop gas flaring in Iwherekan community, Delta State by April 2007, saying it violates the fundamental right to life and dignity.
In the suit brought by the Iweherekan community of Delta State, Judge Nwokorie ruled that gas flaring was a gross violation of their (plaintiffs') fundamental right to life, including healthy environment and dignity of the human person.
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