From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa

Director Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) Dr Nnimmo Bassey has attributed the poor state of the environment to operations of International Oil Companies (IOCs).

Bassey, a renowned environmentalist who holds a national honour of Member of the Order of Federal Republic (MFR) described the Niger Delta region as a privatised and sacrifice zone.

The environmental activist stated this on Friday at the Niger Delta University, during a two day discussion with the theme: “School of Ecology Recovering Oil Sacrifice Zone.

According to him, the current focus is the sacrifice zones in the world, how to stop and eliminate the pollution.

“My take or initial conclusion of what we are going to do today and tomorrow is that the Niger Delta is a privatised and sacrifice zone. The entire region has been privatised.

“The gold mines of South Africa, the gas fields, the phosphate fields of Togo and Western Sahara. These are all sacrifices.

“The lands are sacrificed, the people are sacrificed and all the revenue goes to fill the corrupt politicians.

“These become clearer to us when we realise that for a fact rather than being owners of the land, we are the land,” he said.

He noted that every action one takes today towards the sacrifice of the territories is an investment towards reinventing an involvement that does eat them up.

Bassey said his expectation is that, at the end of the probe they will all resolve to halt the spread, the expansion of sacrifice zones in the Niger Delta, in Nigeria, in Africa and in the World.

“This is exactly what has happened. Our creeks, our rivers, our streams, our coastal areas, our swamps have all been privatised by oil companies and the Nigerian government agencies.

“How has this been done? 66, 68 years of oil extraction in commercial quantities in the Niger Delta has seen the complete pollution of our water bodies both by oil spills.

“Evidence that the Niger Delta has been privatised and sacrificed stare us in the face.

“The first evidence that no one can dispute is the report of the United Nations Environment Programmes Assessment of a good environment which was released in August, 2011.

“The second documented evidence is the Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission Report, which was published in May, 2023,” he said.

The environmentalist noted that the report on a good environment showed that all the water bodies in that environment have been contaminated with hydrocarbons with high concentrations of benzene in drinking water.

He explained the reports indicate that the spilled crude had gone five metres deep, and currently more than 10 metres deep as the reckless extractive activities continue unabated.

He noted that whether there is a new oil spill or not, the sacrifice continues,

According to him, the Bayelsa State report was appropriately titled, “An Environmental Genocide”.

“How many of you have seen that report? How many have heard about the report? Can I see your hands up? My goodness! Look at that, just a few people?

“The Federal Government has not even acknowledged the existence of that report and the Bayelsa government has not said anything about that report.

“That report showed that if you are in Bayelsa, you have been contaminated by toxins and heavy metals more than 1,000 times beyond acceptable limits.

“I mean it’s scandalous that nowhere in the world has this ever happened but it has happened here as an example,” he said.

On his part Head of Department Environmental Management, Dr Charles Oyibo, said that the lecture will help the students to be better informed and to push them in the nearest future.

He said collaboration with HOMEF was an eye opener to them, in grappling with the issues of the environment.