The National Assembly is putting up a legislation in the new year that will compel the oil companies operating in the Niger Delta to comply with the Environmental Impact Assessment, EIA obtainable all over the world.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, Dr. Grace Folashade Bent told Vanguard in an interview in Yola yesterday that the National Assembly was particularly disturbed by the way and manner the multi-national oil companies are operating in Nigeria.
�There is a standard rule on how the oil companies should operate in their areas of jurisdiction, but the senate is surprised that all the oil companies have taken Nigerians for granted,� she regretted.
�These oil companies spill oil in most parts of the Niger Delta. It is always a thing of war for them to mop up the areas. It is also thug of war for them to compensate the people or the communities�, the senator expressed disgust.
She added that all the fertile land have been rendered impotent, while the waters have been polluted making fishing which is the people’s main means of livelihood difficult.
Senator Bent remarked that even though researches at the disposal of the senate confirmed that the communities too have a lot to blame, but a situation “whereby the oil companies are not up right, what do we expect the communities to do?”
According to the Senator, the National Assembly will not this time around sit down and fold its arms and watch Nigerians die in their own land.
�The senators are going to take their over sight functions seriously to ensure the rules guiding their operations as much as possible,� Bent reassured.
She assured Nigerians, particularly communities in the Nigeria Delta that within the first quarter of this year, far reaching legislation on the oil companies and the Niger Delta communities would be fashioned out for the benefit of all.
Dr Grace Folashade Bent also announced that relevant outdated laws regarding the gully erosion in the south-East, coastal erosion in the South West, bush burning and gully erosion in the middle belt and the desertification and environmental degradation in the north will be updated.