NOSDRA, SDN commits to environmental stewardship in Nigeria’s oil & gas sector

Oritsegbubemi Omatseyin

Lagos — The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, and Stakeholder Democracy Network, SDN, a non-governmental organisation with its headquarters in the United Kingdom have expressed their firm commitment to consolidate on the gains of their ongoing partnership in the interest of clean and sustainable environmental management in Nigeria’s petroleum industry.

This assurance was given when the Executive Director of SDN, Adam Heal, and his team paid a courtesy visit to the Director-General/Chief Executive of NOSDRA, Engr. Chukwuemeka Woke, in the Agency’s Headquarters in Abuja.

The DG/CE, who appreciated the congratulatory message from the Executive Director of SDN on his appointment, went down memory lane to recollect the long-standing working relationship with the NGO since 2013, which, he said, led to the support of the organisation in the formulation of the state-of-the-art and innovative tools for tackling pollution in the petroleum industry, including Nigerian Oil Spill Monitor, National Gas Flare Tracker and the inchoate Methane Tracker.

Woke acknowledged that the tools have helped in improving transparency and accountability in the oil and gas pollutions industry.

He assured that his appointment would add value to NOSDRA and he would not be found wanting in this regard, adding that the Agency was irrevocably committed to sustaining the partnership with SDN in order to improve environmental management in the country’s petroleum industry.

Woke hoped that the prototype Methane Tracker, designed by SDN, will vastly contribute to tracking methane emissions in the oil and gas sector.

He stressed that NOSDRA had a clear mandate to ensure a clean and secure environment in the nation’s petroleum industry with the support of the NGO.

While felicitating with SDN on the 20th anniversary of its operation in Nigeria, the DG/CE assured the NGO of NOSDRA’s willingness to support and enhance its works in the country.

Earlier in his address, the Executive Director of SDN disclosed that the organisation had been operating in Nigeria for the past 20 years, providing monitoring and policy advisory work in Nigeria and economic diversification in the oil-bearing Niger Delta region.

He stated that NOSDRA had been a reliable partner with SDN for over a decade and with such collaborations, his NGO had collaboration with the Agency to develop valuable and innovative geospatial tools viz: Nigerian Oil Spill Monitor and National Gas Flare Tracker, which are being deployed for oil and gas pollution tracking and reporting respectively.

He mentioned other areas of support to the Agency to include involvement in the Ogoni clean-up being handled by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, HYPREP, in the area of testing soil and water samples.

Mr. Heal, while commending the DG/CE for his new vision for NOSDRA aimed at catapulting the growth and development of the Agency to new heights, said he was looking forward to more years of fruitful partnership between the two organisations.