Hris Ochayi and Sharon Okereke
29 October 2008
Nigeria recorded 418 cases of oil spill in the first six months of this year, Environment, Housing and Urban Development Minister, Mrs. Halima Alao, said yesterday.
All the accidents were reported to the National Oil Spill Detection and Nigeria Agency (NOSDRA), she said at the opening of a national workshop on "Finalisation of Environmental Sensitivity Index Imaging (ESI) in Nigeria," in Abuja.
"This portends a great danger to us as a nation and particularly to the environment and the social and economic well-being of our people. It is on this note that the ESI initiative is a welcome development as a sensitive requirement to tackle precisely the challenges of protecting the sensitive ecosystem of the Niger-Delta area," she said.
She explained that this ESI initiative would be extended to cover the entire country in due course.
Mrs Alao said: "Since the emergence of the current democratic dispensation in Nigeria, the environment has become a growing of focus of national attention.
This is evident in the establishment of specialised agencies such as National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) which is the lead agency in oil spill management matters."
The agency is also designed, according to her, to focus on environmental issues in the oil and gas sector, adding: "NOSDRA is on course and I urge you all to cooperate fully with this all important agency to achieve its mandate.
"As part of its strategy to position itself for effective oil spill monitoring and control, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) as the agency of my ministry commenced action on the production of ESI map for Nigeria in 2007.
"The conduct of the project was timely and has now reached an advanced stage. We are gathered here today to finetune and review the draft report with a view to encircling the document and finalise it for adoption as the first comprehensive and seamlessw ESI map covering the entire Nigeria coastline stretching from Badagry to Calabar.
"This national workshop will indeed afford all the stakeholders the opportunity to contribute meaningfully and render the document acceptable to all, that will serve as a practicable guide to action," she said.
In his remarks, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Environment, Duro Faseyi, said the finalisation of the Environment Sensitisation Index (ESI) document would have a far-reaching effect on providing necessary environmental data on spill response priorities and suitable clean methods.
His words: "This is based on its ability to rapidly highlight sensitive areas that deserve safeguard and thus providing a veritable window to better tackle the menace of oil spill and other environmental problems in the country.
He expressed belief that "while generating data for the ESI map, all the sensitive primary components which include the physical or geomorphic, biological and more importantly socio-economic factors were accorded due and equivalent attention for enhanced result."
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