NIGERIA - Cleaning up oilfields

By Toye Olori

LAGOS, Aug 22 (IPS) - Nigeria has embarked on a programme to clean up its oilfields from environmental degradation, which has dented its image internationally.

''Petroleum activities and processes have unleashed a litany of devastating human and environmental degradation on the Niger Delta region.

These woes include oil spillage, gas flaring with attendant acid rain, ground water pollution and pollution of farmlands and fishing waters,'' says Daniel Akaphiare from the Niger Delta region.

Legislator Fred Brume, representing one of the 27 senatorial districts of Niger Delta, agreed. At a lecture organised by the National

Association of Niger Delta Professionals recently, he said: ''When spilled product gets washed into the swamps, streams and rivers, marine life gets contaminated. When such marine life is consumed, it creates health problems.''

Agnes Afolabi, who runs a private clinic in Port Harcourt, a city in the Niger Delta region, says: ''The diseases that are common in these areas include liver ailment and cancer, irritation of the
eyes and glaucoma.''

She says gas flaring, which makes the night as bright as daytime, causes the skin to turn light, symptomatic of loss of vital vitamins provided by the sun. It is expected that by 2008, gas flaring would have been contained.

Last month, the government ordered oil companies to comply with the Environmental Guidelines and Standards for the Oil Industry, published by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the monitoring arm of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), or risk paying a fine.

Lukman Rilwan, Presidential Adviser on Petroleum and Energy, said 35,000 metric tonnes of drill cuttings were stockpiled in abandoned locations, and warned against plans to dump them in remote areas. He said more than 134 waste pits were posing health hazards in the Niger Delta region.

''We must warn that this is unacceptable to the government. The government expects that reasonable progress be made in this direction within the next six months,'' Rilwan told the oil companies.

He said: ''We are all aware of the global concerns with regard to environmental protection and control. We cannot afford to trail behind, especially given the international focus on Nigeria''.

''We must continue to employ, wisely, our natural resources without degrading the environment. We must continue to respond as much as practicable to the sensibilities in our polity even if we have to adopt more stringent standards than any one else in the international community,'' he added.

DPR Director, Mac Ofurhie, said the launch of the revised edition of the publication came at a time when ''the preservation of the eco-system of the operational areas of the oil and gas industry is considered a high priority on government's agenda''.

In the past one month, the production facilities of Chevron Nigeria, which has substantial U.S. interests, had been taken over by women from the Niger Delta region, protesting, among others, the pollution of their environment and neglect of their communities.

Constance Uwahomo, leader of the group, alleged that Chevron had marginalised Ekpan community in the Niger Delta region and refused to offer jobs to its sons.

''Chevron has been on our land for the past 19 years and yet we have not felt their impact either directly on individuals or indirectly in term of infrastructural development. They concentrate on other riverine areas at the expense of our community,'' she said.

The women demanded that their youths and husbands be employed as a way of giving them a sense of belonging. They also requested the provisions of social amenities such as road, water, health care facilities and electricity supply to enhance their standards of living.

The crisis erupted in June with the invasion of the Escravos Tanks Farm by more than 200 Itsekiri women, which lasted 10 days. Just as the invasion by the Itsekiri women was ending following some promises by Chevron to embark on development projects, Ijaw women, numbering more than 1,000 invaded four of the company's site at Gbaramatu in the Niger Delta region for 10 days.

Energy watchers say the joint NNPC/Chevron venture has lost 78 million U.S. dollars in revenue, as a result of the seizure. The seizure forced Chevron to briefly shut down its nearly 300,000 barrels per day, production. The Nigerian government holds 60 percent in the joint venture and Chevron 40 percent.

Gesiere Brisibe-Dorgu, a local politician, praised the women of Gbaramatu, who signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Chevron, for their brave and principled stand.

She noted that the MOU had set a landmark in oil company/host community relations that will reverberate throughout the Niger Delta and set the pace for a better future for all the people of the oil-bearing communities.

''The Gbaramatu women's action demonstrated their commitment to improve the quality of life for all the people of their community. They showed that they were not afraid to die for their cause if necessary and this spirit inspires all of us to work harder and emulate their courage and their conviction in the service of the people,'' Brisibe-Dorgu said.

The courage Brisibe-Dorgu spoke about stems from the experience and disasters recorded in the region during the past five years.

In 1998, more than 1,000 persons, including those scooping fuel from a burst pipe and farmers, lost their lives in an inferno in Jesse in the Niger Delta region. The disaster was followed two years later by another incident in which about 312 persons in 11 communities near Warri, Niger Delta region were consumed in fire that resulted from petrol that covered the entire creeks and waters from a burst pipeline.

While NNPC officials accuse the local people of sabotage, Peter Ebireri, chair of the local committee on Mereje oil spillage and fire outbreak, argued: ''The pipeline was broken through a
sophisticated process, a technology which is highly restricted to experts in the oil industry. Only the cartels and barons in the oil industry have access to the equipment''.

To assuage the feelings of the inhabitants, the oil firms say they have put in place community-related projects for implementation.

Dutch multinational, Shell Petroleum Development Company, for instance, says it plans to provide electricity for all communities within 15 kilometres radius from its operating sites. Twenty-one communities are expected to benefit before the end of the year, according to official documents made available to IPS.

All Shell facilities, which have power services, would also supply neighbouring community in line with the current inter-dependency programme, while host communities will also be provided proper erosion control system through dredging concrete embankment and sheet pilling installations, the documents stated.

Elf Petroleum Nigeria which recently merged with Total, said it spent more than 798.7 million Naira (about 8 million U.S. dollars) in 2000 alone on community projects including education, electricity, road networks, agriculture, health and sports.

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which was established 18 months ago, is executing 641 projects worth 9.4 billion Naira (about 94 million U.S. dollars) in the region. According to Adebayo Adefarati, Governor of Ondo State - one of the nine states that make up Niger Delta region - the projects were chosen after ''consultation'' with the local people.

Oil accounts for 90 percent of Nigeria's foreign exchange earnings, making the vast West African country the sixth largest exporter of crude oil in the world.

A member of the Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigeria produces 1.787 million barrels of crude oil per day, down from two million barrels a day recorded early this year.