The Niger Delta region of Nigeria has been faced with environmental decadence caused by oil and gas exploitations. It is to this end that the national president of Environmental Management Association of Nigeria (EMAN), Dr. Emmanuel Ating, has requested the Federal Government to make necessary funds available to help clean-up the mess caused by the utilization of oil and gas in the regions.
Mr. Ating said, “There should be a special fund set aside in the budget every year for the clean-up of the Niger Delta region.”
“The government should realize that the money used for the running of our economy is from oil which is taken from the region. Hence, a substantial amount of that money should be put aside to preserve the Niger Delta environment”.
He also stressed the need to improve the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) while suggesting an amendment of their laws. He stated that this was necessary in order to fully cover the oil and gas activities in the region where they are exploited to make for constant environmental management.
Speaking of NESREA, he said “the dangerous limitation placed on NESREA should be removed. The original intention of the agency was to enforce national standards; we need appropriate legislation concerning enforcement of standards,”
EMAN president advised that the people should be educated on the importance of environmental management relating his claims to the world’s environment day which was titled “Connecting People to Nature”.
He said, “Our industrial activities should be re-tooled to keep the environment safe and green.
“Most of our children in the cities do not know how the natural environment looks like, there is need to connect them to nature”.
