Group Asks Oil Majors to Replace Expired Pipelines

• Group Asks Oil Majors to Replace Expired Pipelines

The new Chairman of the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, Central Zone, Mr. Tari Porri, has called on multinational oil companies operating within the zone to replace all the expired pipelines.

The zone comprises Bayelsa State and some local government areas in Rivers State.

Porri made the call on Tuesday in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, during the swearing in of the executive committee members of the zone.

He lamented that the majority of the pipelines criss-crossing the zone had expired and that conscious efforts were not made by the relevant authorities and oil firms to replace them.

He also called on the international oil companies to relocate their headquarters to the zone if they were willing to operate within the vicinity of Ijaw land.

Porri said, “Most of the explosions, most of the things that happen in the environment are not caused by Ijaw youths. Ijaw youths are law abiding; Ijaw youths are not fighters; and we are hardworking.

“I want to say that all the multinational oil companies that are operating in our zone should please, as a matter of urgency, commence the process of replacing all the pipelines across the central zone that have expired as we will no longer tolerate corrosion, explosion and equipment failure.

“It is unfortunate that most of the pipelines criss-crossing the entire zone have expired. We therefore call on the oil companies to replace them in the interest of peace and security in the region.’’

He frowned on the situation whereby indigenes of Ijaw in the central zone were denied contracts by oil companies, saying the youth would no longer tolerate such development.

He added, ‘’These oil companies have a way of creating contracts for non-indigenes, for non-Bayelsans, for non-central zone businessmen and part of the enjoyment in the oil industry is through the pipeline arrangement; that is why they are deliberately causing explosion in our environment.

“So, we implore the oil companies to replace all the expired pipelines in our zone with immediate effect.’’

Meanwhile, stakeholders have lamented the spate of oil spillages and other environmental pollution in the Niger Delta.

They, therefore, called on the government to “stop gas flaring and clean up the Niger Delta as recommended by the United National Environmental Protection report”, and “enact good environmental laws” to protect the environment.

The stakeholders made the call in Yenagoa during a town hall meeting organised by Face Initiative and Mac-Jim Foundation.

They also urged the communities to engage in activities such as planting of trees to restore the environment and desist from harmful practices such as improper disposal of waste.

They called on the Federal Government to prevail on oil companies operating in the Niger Delta to evolve mechanisms to halt the continuous pollution in the region occasioned by extractive activities.

Two resource persons, Dr. Charles Oyibo, a Geography lecturer with the Niger Delta University and chairman, Nigerian Environmental Society, Bayelsa State chapter; and the Executive Director, Mac-Jim Foundation, Mr. Godson Jim-Dorgu, delivered papers on the ‘Role of Community in Environmental Protection and Management’ and ‘Negative Impact of Environmental Pollution’, respectively.

The participants, numbering about 100, comprised traditional rulers, community development committees, women and youth groups of host communities, representatives of security agencies and ministries of environment, education and agriculture, the Central Bank of Nigeria, civil society organisations and the media.

They were unanimous in their submissions that the people’s traditional means of livelihood, particularly fishing and farming, had been adversely affected by the environmental degradation caused by actions and inactions of the government and oil firms.

They also expressed concern that the youth of the region, instead of preaching against environmental pollution, had joined the fray by carrying out illegal oil bunkering and illegal refining in the creeks.