Daily Trust (Abuja)
24 December 2008
The climate change phenomenon occasioned by incessant gas flaring which emits dangerous toxins and threatens existence continues in Nigeria because of the insensitivity of the oil companies and lack of political will on the part of the government to put a stop to it, an environmentalist has said.
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Right. Environmental degradation is a problem, largely caused by the extraction of oil and gas from the ground and sea. So, the entities profiting from the extraction should be held responsible. And, since those entities are all 65%-owned by the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the NNPC, the Federal Government of Nigeria should be held responsible. Otherwise, sell off the majority stakes in those extracting companies to foreigners, obtaining guarantees from them that environmental damage will be minimised, with oversight by the United Nations or World Bank.