House of Representatives
The House of Representatives (Reps) has commenced investigations to uncover factors preventing clean-up of oil spills in the Niger Delta region in the last five years.
The investigation which started on Tuesday in Abuja is being conducted by an ad hoc committee of the house chaired by Rep. Aminu Turkur (APC-Katsina)
Gbajabiamila said that the Niger Delta region had long fed the nation’s coffers and paid the price in environmental devastation at a scale rarely seen anywhere in the world.
He said years of fossil fuel exploration coupled with acts of organised sabotage against oil and gas installations, have left large swathes of the Delta unsuitable to most economic pursuits.
According to him, farming and fishing activities that have long provided sustenance to the communities in the region have disappeared for the most part.
In addition, Gbajabiamila said that there is evidence that environmental degradation had continued to have a devastating effect on the health of citizens in the Niger Delta.
“No plan to fix the problems of the Niger Delta can succeed until we have first addressed the damage done by years of oil spills in the region”.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria has committed to solving this problem; however, we have not begun to see action equal to the resources allocated or the high expectations we rightly hold”.
“This is not acceptable as long as millions of our people continue to live in an environment that threatens their well being, that takes away their ability to live full lives and deprives them of their God-given right to reap of the land and the waters,” he said.
The speaker said that the house will do whatever is required in the shortest possible time to ensure that restoration is achieved in the Niger Delta.
He encouraged all the stakeholders to support the committee’s efforts to find a solution that works and right the wrongs that has lingered too long.
Gbajabiamila thanked the chairman of the committee and members for answering the call of duty. (NAN)
