Bayelsa State government has drawn global attention to activities of international oil companies operating in the state by launching a major investigation into their impact on the people and the environment.
Launching the investigation in Yenagoa on Wednesday under the aegis of Bayelsa State Environmental Degradation Commission of Enquiry, Governor Henry Seriake Dickson said oil companies operate with impunity in the state.
Dickson pointed out, “I established the Bayelsa State Environmental Degradation Commission of Enquiry to hold oil companies to account, to shift the mindset of multinationals operating in Bayelsa and to inspire a sustainable change.”
The governor also set up a high powered commission of enquiry comprising mostly international figures led by Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, former Under-Secretary General of Humanitarian Assistance at the United Nations, Valerie Amos, and former Ghana President, John Kuffor.
However, Kuffor was not present at the ceremony held inside the Bayelsa State Executive Council Chambers inside Government House, Yenagoa.
The commission is expected to investigate “the environmental and human damage caused by operations of oil companies as a result of oil spills, and will analyse legislation governing the operation of multinational oil companies in Bayelsa State and in Nigeria more broadly.”
It will also make recommendations for a new legal framework for more accountability and more specifically, an agreed global standard of behaviour by the oil companies comparable with their operations in “Norway, Scotland or the USA.”
The governor gave the commission nine months to conclude its investigations and submit its report.
Chairman of the commission and Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, in his response, said the issues raised were crucial to a prosperous future for the people of Bayelsa State, their environment, Nigeria and other oil producing nations.
His words: “This Commission will investigate the human and environmental impact of multinational oil company activity and is crucial to the prosperous future of the people of Bayelsa and their environment, Nigeria and hopefully to other oil producing nations”.
Other members of the commission are Engobo Emeseh, head, School of Law, University of Bradford, Roland Hodler, professor of Public Economics, University of St. Gallen, Michael J. Watts, professor of Geography, University of California, Berkeley, Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou, former head of secretariat at OECD, Daniel Onifade, a forensic scientist, and Anna Zalik.
It would be recalled that Dickson has been campaigning against the damage caused to the environment by the activities of oil companies and had once accused the world of looking on “for so long without taking the necessary collective action to put a stop to the damage being done by oil companies in Bayelsa.”
