Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, has again taken his campaign against environmental degradation and the impact of climate change on communities in the Niger Delta to the international arena.
The governor, yesterday, advocated for the imposition of sanctions on polluters of the environment, as well as a fund to compensate communities negatively affected by climate change in the region.
Diri, who stated this while delivering a keynote address on the first day of a four-day maiden DeltasUnite Summit of the United Nations Convention on Conserving of River Deltas (UNCCRD) at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, Thailand, said that there is need for joint action by the international community to protect the world’s Deltas due to climate-induced environmental changes.
A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, quoted the governor as saying that coastal communities in Bayelsa State and elsewhere in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria are increasingly threatened by coastal erosion, oil pollution and environmental degradation.
Diri, who is also the Chairman of the UNCCRD Governance Committee, noted that the time to act is now to stem the devastating effects of climate change and the threats to the world’s Deltas.
He said: “Whereas there may be diverse factors affecting the wellbeing and sustainability of various Deltas across the world, the commonality of our predicament prescribes a joint action. There is no doubt that river Deltas worldwide are under threat. But for us in the Niger Delta and Bayelsa, in particular, this is a dire matter of life and death.
“Over a half-century of oil exploration has left a legacy of pollution that not only scars our environment, destroying our Deltas but also robs our people of their dignity and well-being.”
Lamenting that the extent of devastations was either grossly under-reported or ignored, the governor recalled a major oil spill incident on November 1, 2021, in Bayelsa State.
The Bayelsa helmsman noted that coastal communities in the state on the banks of the Atlantic Ocean were equally facing threats from coastal erosion, ocean surge and salt water encroachment from rising high-sea levels.
Diri commended the United Nations through its former Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr Matthias Schmale, which helped the state during the devastating 2022 floods, coming at a time when the Federal Government neglected the state.
He described the global body’s approval of the UNCCRD at COP28 in Dubai in 2023 as a watershed opportunity in the fight to halt the unrelenting assault on the Deltas. The danger is clear and present.
He said: “Today, I urge this assembly to forge a Global Deltas Action Plan (GDAP) based on three fundamental pillars, which include empowering local communities with decision-making initiatives over climate adaptation policies affecting their lives, investing in nature-based solutions – restoring mangroves, reinforcing riverbanks, and implementing regenerative agriculture.”
