President Bola Tinubu‘s government has committed to maintaining its partnership with the Bayelsa State Government to tackle the issues of oil spills and gas flaring in the Niger Delta region.
Naija News reports that this commitment was expressed on Wednesday in Abuja during the International Conference on Petroleum Pollution and Just Transition in the Niger Delta.
The conference, titled ‘Advancing the Recommendations of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission (BSOEC),’ was organized by the Ford Foundation, Social Action, and the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF).
Tinubu, represented at the event by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, who was in turn represented by Busari Kamoru, the Director of Upstream in the ministry, emphasized the Federal Government’s resolve to mitigate pollution and foster sustainable environmental practices, particularly in light of the Niger Delta’s abundant resources and potential. 
In his remark, Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri stated that the unregulated activities of international oil companies have severely harmed the state’s rivers and soil.
“We have a report from the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission, ‘An Environmental Genocide’, which revealed alarming statistics,” he said.
Governor Diri said 40 percent of Bayelsa’s mangroves have been destroyed, and toxic spills have contaminated soil and water.
“Oil pollution and gas flaring have caused over 16,000 neonatal deaths in 2012 alone,” he said.
The governor urged global stakeholders to support the implementation of the report’s recommendations.
Also, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change and the immediate past governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Seriake Dickson, called for collective action to address environmental pollution.
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