‘FG should bring environmental management into military component’

The Federal Government has flagged off the UNEP recommended Ogoniland cleanup, what more would you need to be done? We need to commend the federal government for the will to flag off the implementation of the UNEP report. The cleanup is not supposed to be done secretly, it is supposed to be an open process […]

The Federal Government has flagged off the UNEP recommended Ogoniland cleanup, what more would you need to be done?
We need to commend the federal government for the will to flag off the implementation of the UNEP report. The cleanup is not supposed to be done secretly, it is supposed to be an open process because the land pollution level is up to five meters deep, so there is a major danger, there is need to come up with an environmental management regulation that is strong and binding and it should be managed holistically.
Also, certain professional groups are supposed to be part of it to see and advise as the process is going on.
Stakeholders observe that oil companies operation in Nigeria behave differently elsewhere. What is your take on this?
It should not work that way, they are in Nigeria and it is the Federal Ministry of Environment that should come up with regulations that will guide the operations of these oil companies just like other developed countries do but here they operate at will.

Are you saying there are no laws regulating them now?
The regulations on ground are not firm enough because the attention of the FME is shifted and they don’t even involve the professionals. So we are now appealing to them to refocus and redirect and restructure the FME to perform its duty. If this is not done, then, there is a major danger where the budget that is approved for environmental management is now used for sanitation.

How will you advise the federal government to address the issue of the environment in the North-east?
Planting so many trees in the North will not solve the problems because when the soil in the Niger Delta is bad, there is a process of sedimentation, the soil moves under the lithosphere and once this place is bad it moves there in cluster, so those trees will not function the way they are supposed to.
The federal government should bring in environmental management component into military component. The FG has tried to reduce the menace there, but the military should now act like a shield to the developmental agencies in those areas.
The master planners should come out with a physical master plan while the environmental managers comes out with an environmental management plan for the area, This is the aspect we call environmental management strategy, because what they need to do is to start construction of estates and roads in the areas liberated.
The government should not wait for any international community because if any part of the country suffers, the rest suffer too, so the government must take it as a matter of urgency to start developing these areas

 On climate change, do you think Nigeria is doing enough to control the situation?
There is nothing Nigeria can do with the FME not functioning well. The establishment of the FME was to take action on matters related to Section 20 of the 1999 Constitution but the structure from what we have observed now is that it is concentrating in implementing items listed in the fourth schedule of the 1999 Constitution which is meant for the local governments, which is sanitation.
Recently, we listened to the minister say she has signed repletion on matters of sanitation. In our opinion we feel it is wrong, because matters of sanitation are supposed to come under byelaws enacted by the local governments, the ministry is supposed to sign things that have to do with environmental management.
We strongly believed that part of this problem is because of non-engagement of environmental managers, environmental management officers; they are to FME what lawyers are to the Federal Ministry of Justice.

You were part of the groups that called for the cancellation of the Climate Change Commission bill, why?
We stand by the fact that climate change commission should not be established in Nigeria; climate change issues are all environmental problems which we could solve through environmental management strategy. So what are we establishing the commission for?
It is for the federal government to strengthen the capacity of environmental institutions but the commission will stand out to be a distraction and a conduit pipe for corruption.
We stand by it and say the National Assembly should leave it and concentrate on FME work, since we have a minister who is prepared to work but those not giving her appropriate information are not doing good to Nigeria, they should allow her to listen to other opinions so she can run the ministry very well.