The Federal Government has announced plans to institute stiffer punishments against companies involved in oil spillage in the country.

Minister of State for Environment, Mrs. Sharon Ikeazor, who disclosed this at the weekly ministerial press briefing Thursday organised by the Presidential Media Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja said the level of devastation in the Niger Delta was massive, adding that her office was planning to meet stakeholders in Ogoniland on the ongoing clean-up exercise to get their own assessment on how far government had gone.

She described the situation as terrible, hinting that the Federal Government is working on strengthening legal regulations guiding responses to oil spills and similar accidents.

Nigeria has recorded no fewer than 4,919 oil spills in the last six years.

Fielding question on the recent oil spillage on an OML 29 wellhead in Nembe area of Bayelsa State, which has reportedly devastated the environment,  Mrs. Ikeazor said her ministry was working on effecting a legislative review of some of the laws guiding  functions within the sector.

According to her, a bill  is being worked out to amend the law establishing the National Oil Spillage Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, to build its capacity and give it “the needed teeth to bite.”

She said:  “What you’ve just described I got the briefing from the DG of NOSDRA and what I saw in terms of the pollution, either through oil refining, through illegal oil refining, and otherwise, the devastation of the Niger Delta is massive.

“As we are cleaning up, what we are cleaning up is minute compared to the devastation going on. So, it’s something that government has to tackle head on. I wish we had put the picture, there was a picture I saw, it was like Hiroshima sight. You remember Hiroshima in Japan? It was terrible. So, this is something we have to tackle head on. We are beyond talking and having workshops.

“Then on the issue of penalties, that’s why I mentioned earlier, the review of NOSDRA Act, if you know, most of our Acts were passed years ago, so you’ll find maybe they’ll give N100,000 fine. Anyone can pay that and go back and re-pollute. So, we need to put stiffer penalties in place, build the capacity of NOSDRA, which is the regulatory agency in the oil sector, to have the teeth to be able to bite.

“Without enhancing their capacity and reaffirming the legal framework, getting it stronger, they can’t do much. These are areas we’re looking into, it has to stop.

On the Santa Barbara Aiteo oil spills, you remember the Ministry of Environment issued a statement stating what happened and the action being taken. It is a collective action between the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Ministry of Environment and the oil company involved.

“It goes beyond the oil companies giving out palliatives, they must put measures in place to prevent such accidents from happening.

“They are also claiming that the spill was due to sabotage by the local communities. We are going to have a targeted approach to illegal bunkering, tampering with oil installations and artisanal mining in the Niger Delta to get alternative means of livelihood for the young people of the Niger Delta, so that they would desist from this because it is further polluting the environment.

“The situation has been brought under control. I got a brief from DG of NOSDRA, who was out on the field. So, now, work has to start on the proper clean up.

“Government is working on alternative mean of livelihood for the communities, so that we can move them away from illegal activities and further polluting of the environment,.’’

On improving the livelihoods of youths of the Niger-Delta region, she said:  “Government is working on creating alternative mean of livelihood for them so we can move them away from illegal refining and further polluting the environment.

“For now, we have been able to train about 400 women in agri-business and entrepreneurial skills and also we have got them to form themselves into 20 cooperatives, through which they can be gainfully employed into project sites.

“We have created about 735 direct jobs and as the clean-up project continues at the complex sites, we will be able to employ a lot more of the youths.’’

The minister decried the rate of deaths from smoke-induced illnesses, especially among women in the country, saying it was the highest in the world.

She said government planned to reintroduce clean cook stove and the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cook stove initiative to ameliorate the problem and protect the nation’s biodiversity.

On the achievements of the ministry, Ikeazor observed that Nigeria has sent a strong message to the world with the signing of the climate change bill into an act by President Muhammadu Buhari.

On measures taken so far, she affirmed the country’s commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

She said:  “I will like to state that Nigeria has delivered the loudest statement after COP26. By the President signing the climate change bill into an Act, we have shown a very strong commitment.

“So, the next step now under the Ministry of Environment is the implementation of all these commitments and strategies as well as the national plans we have in place.”