Pollution in Nigeria

04 Jun 2006

Diane Abbott MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington last week called on the British government to do more to hold oil companies responsible for the destruction of Nigeria’s  natural environment. Addressing MPs and Ministers in the Commons she said: “Oil has been both a blessing and a curse for Nigeria. A blessing because it has the potential to make Nigeria a prosperous country, a curse because it has resulted in terrible pollution.”

Diane said: “Nigeria is a special country to me. I have one of the largest Nigerian communities in London and I have been privileged to visit it twice within the past 12 months. A horrible disaster took place in Nigeria in the past few days that was not been as well reported as it might have been.” She explained: “A pipeline explosion killed more than 200 people on the outskirts of Lagos. Those people died not as a result of a natural disaster, but because they were tapping into a pipeline that runs close to Lagos to take away petroleum in jerry cans to sell. No more dangerous activity can be imagined, but the idea that there are people who are desperate enough to make money from such an activity points to some of the social and economic dislocation in Nigeria.”

Diane added: “Oil has been both a blessing and a curse. It has been a blessing because it could make Nigeria a prosperous country, but it has been a curse because, as is the case in so many oil-producing countries, it has brought with it corruption and an undue reliance on the oil production sector. It is not just that people die from tapping into pipelines. One of the other tragedies of oil production in Nigeria is that, although the Niger delta produces some of the highest quality oil in the world and makes billions, the Nigerians who live there exist not only in the most abject poverty, but in an area that has terrible oil pollution. The water is polluted. They cannot fish or farm, and they do not have access to fresh water. The situation has been going on for years. The huge profits made in Nigeria have not helped the people of the delta.”

Diane went on to call for  greater transparency in the payments made by extraction companies to developing countries stressing that most of the money does not go to benefit the general population, but enriches a small elite. She said: “The natural gas from oil extraction is flared night and day, which means that villages are illuminated night and day. That shows the crudeness of the oil industry. It does not bother to use the natural gas as a resource in itself because the profits to be made from oil are so vast. Who benefits from that?”

Diane added: “We have worked with Nigeria on debt relief and governance and we all welcome the return to democratic elections. However, we need to work with Shell and other oil extraction companies to tell them that it is not enough for them to wash their hands and to say, in effect, "We have paid off federal and local officials. What more do you expect us to do?" Shell bears a big responsibility for the plight of ordinary people in the delta. It is time it faced up to that responsibility.”

Diane went on to stress the Government’s proud record on raising concerns about Africa and trying to work with it on debt reduction, most notably with Nigeria itself, but said we need to go further. She said: “The Chancellor recently made a speech on corruption, but we need to go further still. We need to impress on a country such as Nigeria, which has the potential to be very wealthy, that there are still outstanding problems with governance, transparency, and the fact that the people of the Niger delta and across the country live in such poverty when the region is Shell's most profitable area for oil production.”

Diane concluded: “Africa has so much potential. To visit Africa and see its raw materials and the potential of its people being wasted because of governance problems is tragic. I will continue to raise these issues with MPs and ministers whenever possible.”



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