Nigeria Set To Announce Fresh Gas Flareout Date

By: Michael Simire on December 17th, 2009

By Michael Simire

Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister, Ojo Madueke, has said that a new date to end gas flaring in the country will be announced in the next few days.

Madueke, who spoke on Tuesday at the “Nigerian Climate Change Investment Forum” in Copenhagen , Denmark , promised that his government would no more change its position.

He promised, “we will make a fair commitment on ending gas flaring in the next few days before the international community, and we will deliver this time around.”

During a presentation to open the day-long event, he said that Nigeria would utilise the challenges posed by climate change to diversify the economy from an oil dependant one.

The minister, who is representing President Umar Yar’ Adua at the climate summit, noted that while making the most of the proceeds from fossil fuel (oil), Nigeria would vigorously pursue green technology that will ensure revenue from sources other than petroleum.

He described climate change and its accompanying effects as an apocalypse, and called for urgent actions to address the outcome of the phenomenon.

And speaking at the same occasion, Minister of Petroleum, Dr. Rilwan Lukman, said the world has responsibility to ensure a sustainable environment  for the survival of mankind including future generations.

“The environment is the common heritage of mankind,” he said, and urged both developed and developing countries to reach a compromise and come up with a viable agreement to save the earth from environmental destruction.

“We would like to see more positive commitment and cooperation from the United States of America . COP15 must succeed. G77, China and Africa Group must cooperate to reach a consensus,” he pleaded.

Another Nigerian official, Timpre Sylva, the Bayelsa State Governor, disclosed that the Nigerian state had begun to feel the impact of climate change such as frequent flooding.
“ Bayelsa State happens to be one of the states below sea level. We know that most of the problems of climate are due to the activities of the west, and so we have come to tell the polluters, who have caused these problems, to come to Nigeria and Bayelsa State to invest in cleaner energy,” he added.