Bayelsa the most polluted state in Nigeria—Environmentalist

Bayelsa the most polluted state in Nigeria—Environmentalist Dr Nnimmo Bassey, Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), on Thursday, asserted that Bayelsa is the most polluted State in Nigeria, as regarding hydrocarbon extraction.Bassey, a renowned environmentalist stated this during a one day capacity sharing with Nembe people, at the Nembe City Hall, King Koko Square, Nembe Local Government, of Bayelsa.According to him, Bayelsa state is one of the polluted state in Nigeria, even might be one of the most polluted places in the world, because there is a per capita oil pollution of 1.5 barrel of crude oil, as recorded by the Bayelsa State Oil And Environment Commission Reports that was published in May 2023.”Another one is the evidence conducted by report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Ogoni land those are routinely treated by oil companies, they never really cleaned up anything, sometimes they turn the soil or burn off the crude to cover the soil or they do flimsy job, because they don’t care about the environment and the people.”The environmental assessment of Ogoni land was commissioned by the federal government of Nigeria in 2006 and carried out by the UNEP, to determine the scale, impact and long-term consequences of oil pollution in Ogoni land, in Rivers State, Niger Delta.”The assessment, conducted between 2009 and 2011, represents one of the most comprehensive environmental studies ever undertaken in the oil-producing region.”The investigation involved extensive scientific fieldwork across the Ogoni four local government areas namely Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme, combined with laboratory analysis and community consultations,” he said.He urged oil firms to stop the deliberate systematic destruction of the Niger Delta region, noting that the region had been treated as a sacrificial zone since the early 1950s up until now.Bassey, who holds a national honour of Member of the Order of Federal Republic for environmental activism lamented the extreme negative impacts of oil and gas extraction as well as the massive deforestation and various kinds of erosion of both the land and coastlines.He noted that while the use of environmental genocide as the title of the report was unarguably weighty, the matter should not be treated with levity.On his part, the Head of Administration, Nembe LGA, Mr Godson Jim-Dorgu, said historically, Nembe has been negatively affected by oil spills and other atrocities caused by oil exploration and production.He said that most of their fish and farm produce has been affected badly, bringing about more hardship to the people of Nembe, who are one of the worst hit by oil spills.Jim-Dorgu, called on the federal government and the oil firms to start remediation of the environment that has been destroyed by the activities oil companies operating in the area.He stated that since the oil spill in Santa Barbara, that lasted for about six weeks in May 2023 there has not been clean up of the affected area, which has affected aquatic lives.On his part, Chief Jude Pulemote, Director Primary Health Care, Nembe LGA, said that the oil exploration in Nembe has brought a lot of health challenges to the rural people.He said most of the pregnant women in Nembe are having shortage of blood, because their livelihood has been negatively impacted on the host communities, and nothing to show for it rather than a divide and rule system.Pulemote, called on the federal government and state to ensure that the right thing is done in Nembe, because they are one of the most affected by oil exploration exploitation, in the Niger Delta region.