Daily Triumph 30-04-2007
While the states in the Niger Delta region are happy and proud to bear the crude oil that is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, we call on the federal government, oil and gas companies and indeed the entire nation to go beyond the legalistic realm in addressing the mirage of problems which oil bearing communities are daily subjected.
The restive situation in the Niger Delta can be blamed on heinous environmental crimes and breach of good environmental management by multinational oil companies.
Over the past decades, the Niger Delta terrain has been overrun through deliberate over-exploitation carried out in total disregard of the basic principles of sustainable environmental management. On the extent of damage caused by the oil firms, from available information, close to 4,000 oil wells have so far been drilled in the Niger Delta and offshore areas since 1957.
