Nigeria: Why Gas Flaring Must End
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Vanguard (Lagos)
29 August 2008
Posted to the web 29 August 2008
A RECENT statement credited to the Minister of State for Energy that gas flaring in Nigeria would continue indefinitely should disturb all Nigerians because of its dire implications.
The statement to say the least is unfortunate, indeed, some may deem it tragic.The government of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, like its predecessors, is on record for declaring a deadline to end gas flaring. Although cynics dismissed it as another promise unlikely to be fulfilled, many people were ready to give the President the benefit of doubt.
Gas flaring and the myriad of environmental problems it causes in the oil producing areas has been one of the causes of conflict in the area to which people expect government to provide speedy solutions. Announcements of previous terminal dates were regarded as steps in the right direction, even if belated, and unfulfilled. For those whose livelihood had been ruined for ever by gas flaring, any hope of a redemption is accepted.
The government is not only reneging on its promise, it implies it is abandoning any action. Government is giving the people no hope as to when they can expect remedial action to start. In conflict management parlance, that is almost a unilateral escalation of hostilities unless there are other measures to compensate the people who are hurting from increasing neglect.
This announcement is tantamount to a declaration that this nation has no respect for itself and will knuckle down at the slightest threat by the oil producers, who determine the terms of their operations in Nigeria .
Certainly, no oil producer will start operations in the USA, Britain, Brazil or even South Africa today and engage in gas flaring. Their governments will not allow it. Yet, Nigeria has endured this insult for over 50 years and government is asking us to wait much longer. How long should we wait?
Should we wait until oil loses relevance and the oil companies leave? Or should we wait until the environmental degradation, already well-advanced, becomes irreversible? Is government waiting until calamities environmentalists have repeatedly predicted overtake us?
Gas flaring cannot serve our national interest and its continuation for whatever reasons, more than a decade after the first deadlines were issued indicates government's scant interest in the welfare of the people.
It is undeniable that this measure serves the interest of the oil companies as well. We have always thought that the government of Nigeria should serve its people first. This announcement does not even come close to that expectation nor does it show any appreciation of a major factor in the crisis in the oil producing areas.
Gas flaring is consistently cited as one of the issues that incite the people. Government had promised to invest in technologies to generate electricity from the gas. Has this too been cancelled?Our government must have profound policies to protect the environment. Gas flaring scotches the environment, harms the people and make their surroundings uninhabitable.
Relevant Links
Government has a responsibility to fix a final deadline to stop gas flaring, as one of the moves to restore stability in the oil producing area, and stop the waste of a natural resource that can generate enough electricity for our national demands.
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