Eight Things The Nigerian Government Has Done To Manage The Soot Horror In Port Harcourt To No Avail

With the rising death toll of residents in Port Harcourt and increased attention on the city’s looming dark cloud, it begs the question of what actions those elected to power have taken to protect the people.

With three sitting senators Senator George Thompson Sekibo, Senator Betty Apiafi and Senator Barinada Barry Mpigi as well as an active Governor, Nyesom Wike, one would assume the city would have seen more progress than it has.

Since the commencement of the exploration and exploitation activities in the area, over 60 years ago, an environmental audit due to the degradation of the environment has never been executed.

This has led to rot and excessive land, water and air pollution with no hopes of alleviation.

As widespread panic envelopes residents as they calculate their life expectancy via crowdsource website Sootcity, here’s a list of things the Government has done that have yielded no positive results in Port Harcourt:

1. In January 2022, the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike joined a raid to seek out and destroy a number of illegal refineries in the State.
2. A 2019 investigation led by the state’s former Commissioner for Environment, Prof. Roseline Konya, reviewed over 22,077 cases of respiratory diseases related to the presence of soot in the city.
3. A motion entitled ‘Curbing Soot’s Particulates droppings, health Hazards concern and economic sabotage by illegal refining of crude products in Rivers State’, sponsored by Senator George Thompson Sekibo who represents, Rivers East Senatorial District and seven others which include: Senator James Manager, Senator Enyinaya, AbaribeSenator Betty Apiafi, Senator Barry Mpigi, Senator Bassey Gershom, Senator Bassey Albert, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi and Senator Sandy Onor was submitted to the Senate in 2022.
4. A national oil spill contingency plan was prepared in 2003 and officially endorsed in 2005.
5. In order to forestall hazardous pollution that occurs due to Oil and Gas exploitation activities, the Federal Government set up the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) in 2006 to ensure:

1. Safe, timely, effective and appropriate response to major or disastrous oil pollution;
2. Identify high-risk areas as well as priority areas for protection and clean up;
3. establish the mechanism to monitor and assist or where expedient direct the response, including the capability to mobilise the necessary resources to save lives, protect the threatened environment, and clean up to the best practical extent of the impacted site; etc.
4. NOSDRA is also responsible for carrying out surveillance, coordinating issues on oil spillage and associated pollution as well as implementing such Plans as may be issued by the Federal Government.

The Senate Committees on Environment, Petroleum Upstream and Primary Health were to visit Rivers State in 2022 and report back, but the report was never publicized.

In 2022, the senate called on the federal government to institute a pollution tax which can be scientifically measured and the proceeds are used to finance the clean-up of the environment and provide medical care to the affected communities.

In 2022, the Senate urged the President to audit security agencies that are saddled with the responsibility of ensuring these assets but are involved in this national sabotage and be sanctioned appropriately by the laws of the country;

Nigerians In Port Harcourt, are daily being diagnosed with and dying from soot-related illnesses like birth defects, cancerous growths, miscarriages, and irritations of the eye, nose, throat, and skin, as documented by medical researchers in academic journals.

It’s time for the Government to step up and do more than set up panels, committees and feign interventions for publicity.

But will they?