The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has reaffirmed its commitment to collaborate with the Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN), an international non-governmental organisation, in tackling oil spillage and ensuring a cleaner environment in Nigeria.
During a courtesy visit by SDN to NOSDRA headquarters in Abuja, the Director-General of the agency, Chukwuemeka Woke, emphasised the importance of the agency’s mandate to maintain a clean and sustainable environment.
“We have a mandate, and our mandate is to ensure a clean environment in our country,” he said, adding that the ongoing partnership with SDN has enhanced NOSDRA’s efforts in achieving this goal.
Congratulating SDN on its 20th anniversary, the Director General expressed gratitude for the organisation’s collaboration over the years.
SDN, which has been actively involved in addressing environmental challenges in oil-producing regions, received assurances from NOSDRA that their requests for further engagement with other health and environmental departments would be granted.
The Director-General also highlighted NOSDRA’s openness to continued discussions and collaboration with SDN on future projects aimed at mitigating the impact of oil spills.
“Our ultimate goal is to see a clean and sustainable environment for our country, Nigeria, and indeed for the world,” he added.
Earlier, the SDN Team Lead, Adams Heals, said the organisation in partnership with NOSDRA, has developed a satellite-based methane tracker to tackle oil spillage in Nigeria.
He said the satellite-based technology is an emerging initiative used to identify hot spots where methane is emerging.
He said this will enable regulators like NOSDRA and other agencies to cooperate with oil and gas companies to respond to emissions, fix the problem, and reduce the adverse impact on the environment.
Heal explained that methane is an important gas in terms of climate change, adding that its impact on the climate is several times worse than carbon dioxide but if tackled, there are better chances of reaching long-term climate goals.
“Very notable tools have been produced till date, these are the oil spill monitor and the gas flare tracker, which we were delighted to play a part in co-developing with NOSDRA.
“And then most recently, we’ve been very happy to partner with NOSDRA to develop a prototype methane tracker for the oil and gas sector in Nigeria. This was supported by a project with funding from the government of the Netherlands”, he said.
Both organisations expressed optimism about their future cooperation in protecting Nigeria’s environment.
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