Nigeria seeks to impose stringent measures on oil companies that pollute environment

Environmental Damage caused by past oil spill in Nigeria. PHOTO/File

Nigeria’s oil spill detection and response agency (NOSDRA) has presented a bill to the federal legislature that proposes to criminalize oil spillage and damage to the environment. This was revealed by the country’s federal Minister of the Environment, Ms. Hadiza Mailafia, in the capital, Abuja early this week.

The bill, according to the minister, calls for more stringent measures on oil companies that pollute the environment.

Mailafia noted that the federal government has supervised the clean-up of over 497 oil spill sites, remediated 430 lead poisoned homes and 4 hectares of lead poisoned industrial sites in the north western state of Zamfara.

“Climate change as well as its impacts are real and therefore building Nigeria’s resilience to its impacts becomes imperative. Increasing the vegetation cover in the country is a must. For the nation to achieve its development, it is imperative to enforce all the environmental laws, regulations, guidelines and standards,” Mailafia said.