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Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri
Bayelsa State governor, Senator Douye Diri, has called on other governors in the Niger Delta to support efforts in addressing the environmental challenges of the region.
Diri made the appeal at the international conference on petroleum pollution in the Niger Delta held in Abuja on Wednesday.
A report on environmental challenges by the Bayelsa State oil and Environment Commission was unveiled at the conference, which was organised by the Home of Mother Earth Foundation and the Social Development Integrated Centre with support from the Ford Foundation.
Diri said conversations and actions to improve the environment of the Niger Delta had become imperative as the people continue to suffer the effects of environmental degradation caused by the activities of the oil companies operating in the region.
He described the report as a catalogue of the tragic situation faced by the people of the state and called for urgent action to preserve lives.
According to him, the report not only captured the plight of inhabitants of Bayelsa but that it also amplified their cry for decades, stressing that the future of children of the state and the region, born and unborn, hung in the balance.
Diri also stated that environmental pollution was no longer just an ecological disaster but a human rights challenge and humanitarian crisis, expressing worry that despite the magnitude of the issues, the international oil companies always deflected blame for environmental disasters claiming sabotage rather than acknowledging their faults.
He said the fight for Niger Delta’s environmental survival cannot be reduced to mere shadow-boxing and insisted that it demanded concrete action, unwavering commitment and collective responsibility.
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