A declaration has been jointly issued by the women of Ibeno and Esit Eket local government areas in Akwa Ibom State, demanding the immediate cessation of oil and gas extraction operations, along with the consequential gas flaring, within their localities.
They signed the decree yesterday during a Town hall meeting on ‘Strategies to end Gas flaring in Akwa Ibom State’ organised by a Civil Society Organization, Policy Alert and supported by Global Green Grant fund.
They expressed concern that flaring Gas has come at a huge cost to their communities, stressing: ‘Our air is fouled, our water poisoned, very little catch is left for cur fisher folk, and our farmlands are yielding less and less of their productive capacity.’
‘Equally distressing for us is that the situation is adversely impacting our sexual and reproductive health, with cases of impotency, infertility and birth complications becoming more and more rampant.’
Most concerning for us is the threat to our existence.
‘Rising sea level has meant that many of our communities that are low lying have been washed off. What has been washed off goes beyond land. It includes our identity, our cultural heritage, our educational systems, traditions and practices, and our spirituality.’
‘Considering the aforementioned, we women of the communities making up Esit Eket and lbeno, in concert with our traditional rulers and other community stakeholders, demand an immediate end to any Oil and Gas extraction activity that is accompanied by gas flaring.’
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‘A review of the PIA 2021 to re-assert the environmental regulation roles of the National Oil Spill Detection and Regulatory Agency (NOSDRA), Federal Ministry of Environment and all other environmental regulators whose roles have been diminished by the Act, and to ensure all historic and current gas flare fines are invested in environmental remediation of the affected communities fare.’
Furthermore, the women implored the Nigerian government to outline distinct milestones that will lead to the realization of the 2030 flares-out goal, emphasizing the importance of demonstrating unwavering dedication to this deadline.
In her message of goodwill, Emem Imo Ibokette, Director of Mineral Resources at the State Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources (Petroleum/Solid Minerals), reassured of the government’s readiness to provide support for the cause aimed at ending gas flaring within the state.
‘You have to collaborate with the Ministry to make things work. I have been to Ibeno LGA and I observed that gas flaring is still going on there, morning, afternoon and at night. It is not good for us. We came here as a Ministry to tell you that we need to work together. This is not time to collect money from the IOCs.’
‘This is not time to be bribed, because when they are done, they are gone. This is a new government, we’ll collaborate with you; we’ll fight for our rights together. We must speak with one voice, we must reject what is not good. It is time for us to rise up against gas flaring’, She said.
Welcoming the attendees at the outset, Mr. Tijah-Bolton Akpan, the Executive Director of Policy Alert, stressed the economic wastage caused by gas flaring and expressed bewilderment at the Nigerian government’s handling of the matter.
Akpan, noted that they initiated ‘Wetinwomengain’ project, few years ago, adding ‘And the idea is to mobilize women across Oil and gas communities to become advocacy force against gas flaring. So from the last quarter of 2022 we’ve been training women in these communities to help them understand why gas flaring must be stopped.’