Bayelsa commission seeks $12bn to remedy drawbacks of oil exploration

jurisdictions; overhaul IOC approaches to community engagement to ensure transparency, accountability and voice; and establishing a legally binding, effective legacy and decommissioning regime.

It said: “The Commission recommends concerted international action to generate and invest at least US$12 billion over the course of 12 years to repair, remediate and restore the environmental and public health damage caused by oil and gas and to lay the foundations for Bayelsa’s just transition towards renewable energy and opportunities for alternative livelihoods.”

The commission, chaired by The Rt Revd and the Rt Hon Lord John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu, added that the historic and continued activities of the oil industry have fuelled an environmental emergency, a silent health crisis, and deep economic hardship in the Niger Delta and in Bayelsa state in particular.

Specifically, it noted that the exploration activities have driven large-scale environmental degradation and contributed to climate change; led to silent health crisis; destroyed countless livelihoods and left many struggling to survive; and has destabilised local communities and stoked conflicts.

It said: “This Commission’s findings shine light on the pollution catastrophe engulfing the state and its underlying causes. Chief among them are the systemic failings of international oil company operators with the complicity of Nigeria’s political classes and a dysfunctional Nigerian regulatory state.

“While the state accounts for only slightly over one percent of Nigeria’s total population, it is estimated to have suffered over a quarter of total recorded instances of oil pollution. The environmental, ecological and health consequences on the Niger Delta as a whole and on the people of Bayelsa have been catastrophic. They have suffered in silence for too long.”