Worried by the inability of Nigeria to have access to global funds for cleaning polluted communities in the country, the Federal Government has initiated move aimed at ensuring that victims of oil spill and polluted communities in Nigeria will begin to access the International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) fund of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
Speaking in Lagos on Tuesday at a 3-day workshop jointly organised by the Nigerian Oil Spill Detention and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in partnership with the Global Initiative for West, Central and Southern Africa (GIWACAF), Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar, Minister of Environment, said the objective of the workshop was to draw Nigeria’s attention to the scope and implementation of the IOPC fund, focusing on the procedure that relates to liability and compensation in an event of an oil spill.
Abubakar, who was represented by the director general of NOSDRA, Idris Musa said consideration should also be given to the damaging effects oil spill has on the ecosystem.
“The devastating impacts of oil spills on the environment, health and livelihoods of our rural and urban communities have led to land degradation, loss of lives, destruction of habitats, loss of bio-diversity, incidence of diseases, poor sanitation, loss of livelihoods as well as the depletion of national revenue base,” he said.
According to him, the need to work out modalities on how to adequately and fairly compensate both victims of oil spill pollution and the environment is the reason we are here today.
“Our peculiar circumstances in Nigeria demand for a Convention that will give attention to liability and compensation regime for oil spills which occur from Floating Production Storage and Offtake (FPSO), which is also a loading point for crude oil tankers,” he disclosed.
Abubakar however said that consideration should not only be given to socio-economic losses suffered by individual or communities, but also to ecological damage by way of effective restoration of the damaged ecosystem.
Earlier in his welcome address, Dakuku Pererside, director general of NIMASA stated that the workshop will provide training for relevant national authorities on the scope and implementation of IMO conventions relating to liability and compensation in an oil spill case.
Peterside, who was represented by the agency’s executive director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, Ahmed Gambo said the workshop will provide training relating to cost evaluation and compensation procedure in the event of an oil spill.
“This will also provide essential knowledge and skill to develop strategy and policies for an effective shoreline response (clean-up assessment) within the respective countries of member states of GIWACAF.”
IOPC Funds provide financial compensation for oil pollution damage that occurs in Member States, resulting from spills of persistent oil from tankers.
It is financed by contributions paid by entities that receive certain types of oil cargo by sea transport. Since the establishment, the Fund has been involved in 150 incidents of varying sizes all over the world.
AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE
