OIL SPILL AND OUR ENVIRONMENT

TONY ITA ETIM

Oil spill has become a daily occurrence in the Niger Delta Region in the past few years. This has been one of the curses of the of petroleum resources in the region. An oil spill may be as a result of a failure of equipment or facility of an oil company as well as aged facility. It may also be an act of sabotage due to pipeline vandalisation. Industry sources said about 10 per cent of oil spills recorded in the Niger Delta are as a result of equipment failure. The development should be of concern to every indigene of the Niger Delta, especially with the prediction that in the next 50 years our oil may dry up. Besides the economic cost, the continued oil spill is inimical to the Niger Delta environment as well to our traditional occupations such as farming and fishing.

This column is worried about the environmental impact of pipeline vandalisation and sabotage of oil facilities and installation. A prominent son of the Niger Delta involved in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry told this writer that vandalisation is one of the major reasons for the poor state of roads in the region. According to him, the roads were not constructed to carry the volume of traffic it is carrying now but the vandalisation of petroleum pipelines going to Aba, Enugu, Markurdi, Kaduna and other parts of the country have forced petroleum marketers to come direct to the depot in Port Harcourt to bridge, that is, to lift petroleum products. The result of this, he insisted, is the deplorable condition of roads as well high cost of products in the region and other parts of the country.

This writer would limit itself to deliberate act of sabotage and vandalisation. I would also want the oil companies operating in the Delta to replace their aged equipment as well as carry out routine maintenance and checks on their facilities. And in event of a spill, which cannot be rule out in the industry, these companies should act immediately by stopping the spill, informing the regulatory agencies and authorities as well as other relevant agencies. The spill site should be cleaned up, mediation work done while compensation and relief materials should be given to the affected communities, where applicable.

If 10 per cent of the spills are as a result of system failure or should be blame on the oil companies, therefore it means that 90 per cent of the spills are man-made: sabotage and outright vandalisations. Industry sources said the Niger Delta stand a risk of a great danger now and in the future, that is, generation yet unborn, given the volume of spills that occurred in the area due to sabotage. During a press conference few years back, this writer has asked one of the leader of the agitation for Resource Control about his alleged involvement in illegal oil bunkering. His answer was that he cannot steal what rightly belong to him. He argued that since the Nigeria government has refused to issue licenses to indigenes of the region to be key players in lifting of petroleum products, indigenes of the area must be involved in the lucrative business either through fair or foul means.

This activist, if you call him so, is entitle to his opinion and has the freedom to set his standard. But what about the result of his activities because he is not a petroleum engineer and may not be proficient with the technical know how of the oil industry. In the name of resource control or agitating for a better deal for the Niger Delta people he would go to a pipeline or an oil facility and in the process of trying to get some barrel of oil he would cause a spill. Though I support resource control and the current agitation in the region, I do not subscribe to violence and sabotage of oil installations because at the end of the day we are the losers and suffer from the negative effects of these.

According to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) officials, the multinational loses 30,000 barrel per day due to spills. Most of these spills they insisted are due to economic sabotage that borders on pecuniary interest and theft of petroleum products. Besides those who stole crude oil and other products for sale, it is a known fact that in some oil producing communities, individuals deliberately vandalized oil facilities and let large volume of crude into their waterways just in a bid to collect compensation. When such spills occurred, the communities blocked the oil companies from stopping the spill and cleaning up the affected sites. These are all delay tactics for the spill to spread far and wide so that the compensation can be large and substantial.

I may be wrong but I hold the opinion that no oil company would go into oil exploration just to spill it. I believe that people willfully cause spill just to claim compensation and this is not good for our environment and future generations. The short term reward of compensation no matter how much is paid can not be compared to the everlasting effect these spills have on our environment, climate, vegetation, aquatic life and our traditional occupations. These spills are really damaging our environment. I am afraid many of the people who caused spills do not realize that they are hurting their environment. Simply, they are environmental illiterates who are in dire need of environmental education. This attitude is not good for our environment, economy and future generations. What manner of environment are we leaving behind for our children? Are we mortgaging their future for our today? Daily we see refugee from Sudan and Niger flooding our region, do we want our future generation to be economic and environmental refugees (God forbid) as our region may become inhabitable to human beings if we continue with these act of sabotage and vandalisation of oil installations?

If it is not original it is not original. Whatever cleaning up, remediation or rehabilitation exercises carried out by the hapless oil companies after these spills, these exercises cannot restore our land to the original state it was before the spills. Who are the losers but you and I; the oil companies are sheer strangers and whenever the oil dries up they will park their bags and bag gages, as they say, and we will be the real losers because we are the “sons of the soil.” We have no way to run to, a few of us may “check out” but majority of the people may have no option but to stay in the region. The Efiks have a saying that the owner of the land handles his community with care but it is the stranger element that abuses it but the contrary seems to be the case in the Niger Delta. We must handle our environment with care. For no reason should we cut our nose to spite our face, it is our land and we should not be partakers in its degradation.

Enemies of the Niger Delta are not just those who make unjust laws to deprive us of our God-given resources; they are not just those who betray the cause of the people; they are not just the political office holders who embezzled funds meant for the provision of facilities and infrastructures of the region; the enemy of the region includes those who intentionally caused oil spills to pollute our lands and destroy our environment. These are our real enemies.