The bill is for Nigerians — Sekibo
JANUARY 14, 2013
Senator Sekibo
In this interview with JOHN ALECHENU, Senator George Thomson Sekibo (PDP, Rivers) speaks on the need for all members of the National Assembly to support the passage of the PIB, which he says is necessary to address environmental degradation in oil-producing communities
The PIB suffered still birth in the last National Assembly and now it appears it is already attracting opposition from the North. What is your take on this issue?
The PIB that we have now is better than what was given to us before. As for whether the 10 per cent being proposed for oil producing communities is too much, that to me is not the right sense of judgment. The right sense of judgement is how much damage has been done to the environment for the past 50 years. In the next 50 years, we may not have a habitable environment in these places. As we speak, gas flaring is still going on with all the evils associated with it. Pollution is still going on, and we should look at the passage of the bill as a way of being our brother’s keeper. Let us look at it as a way of giving some form of reparation to a people and communities who have suffered from the direct effects of oil exploration and exploitation.
Some of them have argued that there are already too many bodies such as the NDDC and the Niger Delta ministry taking care of such issues to the extent that the South-South is having more than its fair share of the resources. Do you agree?
For those who argue that the NDDC and the Niger Delta ministry are already too much, I will say the NDDC was set up to assist with the infrastructural development of these areas and what has the Niger Delta Ministry done since apart from trying to fix the East-West Road which is an initiative of the Federal Government.
Two clauses appear to be in contention- the 10 per cent for oil-producing communities and the powers of the minister of petroleum resources…
I don’t see why these should be an issue. There is nothing that cannot be discussed or negotiated, it may even be that by the time we sit down and show our colleagues the challenges, they will see reason to even increase what should go to these areas because our people are really suffering from the effects of oil exploration activities.
The 10 per cent is to assist the people who suffer directly from the degradation of their environment. I urge my colleagues to see this bill as a bill for Nigeria. Thank God we are hearing that oil exploration will soon start in the Chad Basin communities so these areas will also benefit when it is passed. I will also remind us that we have passed the Hydro-Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission bill to take care of the environmental damage done to hydroelectric power generating communities. I know this National Assembly, particularly the Senate is interested in making laws that will stand the test of time for the benefit of all Nigerians. The powers of the minister too can be discussed and an agreeable position reached.
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