Recent notice by the Nigerian Space Research Development
Agency, NASRDA, of probable earthquake in five states among them Bayelsa, has
stepped up fears in the largely riverine Ijaw-speaking state.
File: Earthquake Earth tremor had been recorded at
different times in the last four years around the Biseni and Igbogene axis of
Yenagoa local government area of the state and border communities of Ahoada
West local government area in Rivers state, causing cracks to buildings and
traumatizing the helpless natives.
Concerned stakeholders under the aegis of Ijaw
Professionals Association, IPA, Homeland Chapter, Iniruo Wills, last weekend,
in Yenagoa called on Bayelsa and Federal Governments not to ignore the ongoing
ecological emergencies and humanitarian crises threatening the continued
existence of hundreds of communities in Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta state.
“The development is adding a new and troubling dimension
to the mortal cocktail of environmental hazards faced by the Ijaws and the
Niger Delta peoples.” “The authorities should direct and adequately fund the
Nigerian Geological Surveys Agency to commission or conduct in consultation
with concerned state governments a thorough study to monitor and predict
earthquake flash points and adequately prepare to avert or deal with any event
or risk of earthquakes and tremors, to avoid the national threat and shame of
being caught napping as with the recurrent flood disasters,” he said.
He described as disquieting successive governments’
inability to come up with an integrated ecological management plan to address
the myriad of environmental malaise and maladies bedeviling the Ijaws and the
Niger Delta region. Wills, a former commissioner for Information and
Environment lamented that ministries of environment in the three states lacked
robust data management platform needed to effectively plan and resolve
difficult environmental issues such as flooding and oil pollution and called
for increased funding to the ministry to enhance performance.
Also, speaking on NASRDA pronouncement and earth tremor
in the region, Project Officer/Head, ERA Niger Delta Resource Centre, Yenagoa,
Comrade Alagoa Morris, said: “The
warning needs to be taken seriously; especially if we juxtapose the example of
boreholes for water (as adduced by the NASRDA) and years of drilling for crude
oil and gas in the Niger Delta environment and the millions of barrels of crude
oil extracted daily from the environment of communities).
“As important as every part of Nigeria is, the
pronouncement is even more worrisome when one considers the fact that Igbogene,
a community in Yenagoa local government area of Bayelsa state is so listed
among likely locations that will experience the earthquake in the country,” he
added.
Vanguard
0 comments:
Kindly comment here!