Environmental Governance: Double Standards In Oil Sector Management In Nigeria

By Dr Godwin Uyi Ojo

Introduction

We use this opportunity to draw attention to the persistent environmental degradation in the Niger Delta by the Multinational Oil Companies and their failure to conduct clean up and remediation for livelihoods and environmental protection. We urge the federal government to declare Niger Delta as ecological disaster zone, declare environmental emergency and put in place a Contingency Plan of Action (CPA) to bring the oil companies to account by ensuring the cleanup of decades of pollution of the environment within the next two years. This policy brief looks at oil companies’ double standards in the management of environmental problems arising from oil operations in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. Despite on-going petroleum sector reforms, the oil sector has lacked transparency and remains mainly characterized by massive environmental degradation and human rights violations: Shell, Chevron, Total, ENI/Agip, as well as several other multinational and local oil companies have been implicated. Together, they have contributed immensely to the destruction of the environment in the region and caused severe impact on livelihoods and violent conflicts that have further impoverished community people.
Lax Environmental laws and lack of compliance
Nigeria has several environmental regulations and agencies of government but are incapable of checking oil spills, gas flaring and dangerous waste disposal practices by oil companies in the Niger Delta.
Since April 2019, Shell continues to lay gas pipelines through the Jionkrama4 community (JK4), Edagberi, in Ahoada West Local Government Area, Rivers state, without consultation with the local communities. The mandatory environmental impact assessment has not been conducted and some of the gas route is located between one to five meters in proximity to residential houses and shops. The gas lines are dangerous in neighborhoods and business areas as some of the areas are market places for frying and cooking local delicacies. It is highly dangerous and we call on Shell to halt immediately the gas pipelines project in Joinkrama.
NOSDRA lacks capacity to act and bring oil companies to account. In terms of detection of spills and holding the oil companies responsible, agencies such as the National Oil Spill Detection Response Agency established by law to respond to all oil spills cases in Nigeria are ill-equipped for the task. Although its main objective is to coordinate the implementation of Nigeria’s oil spill ‘contingency plan’ and responsibility of ensuring timely and effective response to oil spills, monitoring or surveillance and all activities vital to prevention, yet, it neither has the capacity to detect oil spills nor respond to them. As a result, oil companies conduct and bankroll the mandatory Joint Investigation Visits and determine the scope and intensity of spills and extent of mitigation that is open to manipulation to reduce costs and damages.
New Gas Flaring law open to manipulation through cash for flares. Although the new gas flaring law recently passed by the National assembly prohibits gas flaring in any new petroleum project on commissioning, yet it allows gas flaring for cash. We call on the government to put in place adequate disincentive such as payment for fines for gas flaring in addition to payment in monetary terms of the value of the actual volume of gas flared. .The opportunity to pay fines for gas flared remains an incentive for the oil industry to continue to indulge in the illegal act as fines are merely imputed as operational costs and not payment from profits to the oil companies. Gas flaring was outlawed in Nigeria decades ago (1984), but the Federal Government wields so much power through the office of Minister of Petroleum, such that
Putting a complete stop to it has continued to shift.
Environmental Racism: Shell, double standards and violation of OECD guidelines
SPDC’s double standards are visible. They are noticed from its approach to business and differential outcomes in different settings. The integrity of its facilities-pipelines, wellheads, flow stations, come easily under comparative scrutiny with the Nigeria case acknowledged to have been far below best practice. One aspect of this is the questionable process the company uses for generating oil spill data. The company fails to employ technologies it cannot avoid in many OECD countries, as a matter of best practice. The Joint Investigative Visit (JIV), which is the company’s key approach to detecting the cause and volume of oil spilled in oil spill occurrences, is not reliable. This approach does not give full-length situation report. The procedure is not free of unnecessary influence by the company. The company funds the visits and by so doing exercises much control of the entire process to minimize damages and costs. It means independence is lacking, and the integrity and transparency of the entire process are equally questionable. The misleading data from this process, on the basis of which causes of oil spill can be determined, have been challenged in many quarters and seen as a breach of OECD Guidelines for protecting the environment by multinational enterprises. Double standards equally relate to the absence of necessary technologies in compliance to environmental regulations in Nigeria. Meanwhile this cannot be avoided in many OECD countries.
There are several more proofs that standards used by Shell Europe are different from those in Nigeria.
Persisting oil spill, gas flaring, human suffering and economic hardship, points to environmental racism. These outcomes, in the case of the Niger Delta, are in disparity with the experience of majority European countries where Shell operates. .
UNEP Report and Ogoni Clean Up
Oil spill from SPDC facilities in Ogoniland was the main point in the reaction of community people to
pollution on that land. The report was released in 2011 with recommendations, which include provision of emergency relief measures. The assessment focused on damaged land, groundwater, surface air pollution, extractive industry practices and institutional issues. Provision of drinking water, medical registry and access to information on the medical status of those who have been drinking water contaminated by benzene in Nsisioken, Ogale, survey of all wells affected by hydrocarbon, warning signs of all contaminated areas, and public awareness on the problem of artisanal refining, are some of those measures.
Lack of Key Performance Indicators. Cleaning Ogoni of oil pollution is a key aspect of the report, with funding expected by parties in the joint venture operated by SPDC. Although 16 Contractors have been mobilized to site in December 2018, the Key Performance Indicators has not been made public by HYPREP indicating a lack of transparency and accountability of process. Meanwhile, US$1 billion is estimated to be the cost of the clean-up and restoration of the Ogoni environment over a period spanning
28 years upwards.
SPDC’s membership of the Governing Board of HYPREP has drawn a lot of criticisms from a section of the local environmental movement. The moral basis of the company being part of the key decision-making organ of HYPREP in the UNEP report implementation process has been questioned. Following from this, some have called on the company to voluntarily withdraw its membership of the Board as this will likely compromise the clean up process.
Lack of Access to Justice
In the face of massive environmental degradation and human rights violations and destruction of rural livelihoods rural folks have little or no access to justice and this leads to frequent violent responses. A remediation mechanism using the law courts often delay justice and the high costs of litigation is a huge huddle in the way of justice for the poor and impacted rural community members.
Recommendations
SPDC’s approach to management of oil spills in the Niger Delta raises several concerns.
• The federal government needs to rise to its responsibilities to hold multinational companies accountable in the oil sector management. This includes end to gas flaring, halt frequent oil spills and ensure real time surveillance of crude oil pipelines to detect spills and cases of vandalism.
• Government should immediately put in place a Contingency Plan of Action for the total clean up and restoration of the entire Niger Delta. This will require an initial take off grant of US$100 billion to be set aside for the exercise to compliment the Ogoni cleanup process.
• The federal government should urgently put in place a National Environmental Action Plan to set environmental sustainability targets and monitor the rate of progress in environmental protection.
• Shell has a responsibility to insist on standards obtainable in OECD countries in the management of oil spills and gas flaring in Nigeria. In particular, it should halt its gas pipelines it is laying in proximity to residential and business areas in Joinkrama Community and conduct the mandatory EIA for the gas project.
Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo is Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria
The federal government should divestment investment from fossils to put an end to oil prospecting and embrace renewable energy transition to eliminate the severe impacts of oil
Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo is Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria
Court Remands SS II Student, Others
Over Alleged Internet Fraud
Justice Garba Umar of the Federal High Court, Benin City on has ordered that Gabriel Akhigbe, an SS II student, be remanded in prison custody for alleged impersonation and internet fraud. Gabriel was remanded alongside Adesuwa Precious, OgheneteruPezu, Kenneth Owa, and Isaac Nkemdule until the next adjourned date.
They were accused of defrauding one Joy of N150, 000, which was allegedly transferred into the bank account of one of them. The action was allegedly committed contrary to Section 15; sub-Section 2 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act. Gabriel, a.k.a. Matt Chan, who is facing four counts, allegedly impersonated an American, Matthew Chan and sent male nude pictures to another American Candy Cerfi, contrary to section 22, 14 sub-Section 2 of the Cyber Crimes Act of 2015. The judge particularly berated Gabriel, who pleaded guilty to the charges.
He expressed worry that the accused would never hold any public office in future “after making himself a convict,” instead of focusing on his studies and completing his education.

Please follow and like us:

About Author

Kadiri Christopher

See author's posts