Whereas Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, its
largest producer of oil and its second largest economy, is a major source of
United States oil imports and a key ally in the region;
Whereas despite its extensive hydrocarbon resources, which
account for 80 percent of government revenues, Nigeria faces serious social and
economic challenges, including extreme income inequality and high unemployment
rates;
Whereas Nigeria’s economic growth rate is among the
highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, but its human development indicators remain low,
with more than half the population living on less than $1 a day;
Whereas the International Monetary Fund reports that
progress on Nigerian efforts to meet Millennium Development Goals to reduce
poverty has been slow;
Whereas successive governments have pursued ambitious
reforms since the country’s return to civilian rule and through such efforts
Nigeria was deemed compliant with the Extractive Industries Transparency
Initiative (EITI) in 2011;
Whereas Nigeria’s southern Niger Delta region has been the
backbone of Nigeria’s economy in recent decades, with oil and gas extraction
there accounting for over 95 percent of Nigeria’s export earnings;
Whereas despite having the largest natural gas reserves in
Africa, an estimated one-third of Nigerian natural gas is burned during oil
drilling due to a lack of infrastructure, placing the country second in the
world, after Russia, in gas flaring, according to the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Association;
Whereas deadlines for oil companies to stop flaring gas at
oil wells, estimated at roughly one-third of annual production and
$2,500,000,000 in lost revenue, have repeatedly been postponed, most recently
to December 2012;
Whereas the Niger Delta is well-endowed with other natural
resources beyond hydrocarbons, including water, timber and other forest
resources, wildlife, and various species of aquatic organisms, and the Niger
Delta is one of the world’s largest wetlands;
Whereas oil production in the Delta has caused significant
harm to the area's fragile riverine ecosystem and to the livelihoods of the
region’s inhabitants, 30,000,000 inhabitants, including minority ethnic groups
like Ogoni, who have received international attention for their efforts to
highlight the extensive environmental damage;
Whereas by some estimates, over 500,000,000 gallons of
oil, nearly the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez spill every year for 50 years,
have been spilled in the Niger Delta since oil production began in Nigeria,
limiting locals’ access to clean water and largely destroying fishing stocks,
while gas flares from the oil wells contribute to acid rain and air
pollution;
Whereas oil contamination in Ogoniland is widespread,
according to a study conducted by the United Nations Environment Program, with
wells used for drinking water measuring high levels of carcinogens;
Whereas for example of most immediate concern, community
members at Nisisioken Ogale in Ogoni land are drinking water from wells that
are contaminated with benzene, a known carcinogen, at levels over 900 times
above the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline;
Whereas the study determined that it may take 25 to 30
years to restore the environment;
Whereas Nigeria's oil wealth has also contributed to
long-standing political tensions, protest, and criminality in the Delta,
feeding recruitment by various vigilante and armed groups and hindering both
oil production and regional development;
Whereas corruption and nonrespect for rule of law at
multiple levels of government, business, environmental oversight, and community
relations, is the number one cause that permeates the activities of the Niger
Delta that cause problems to remain unsolved, regardless of the verbal pledges
and recriminations that occur on an ongoing basis;
Whereas in 2009, Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua
extended an offer of amnesty to Delta militants, pledging pardons and
rehabilitation in exchange for disarmament and demobilization, and, by
Government of Nigeria estimates, almost 20,200 self-declared militants accepted
the offer and demobilized, bringing relative calm to the region and allowing
oil output to increase;
Whereas the Presidential Amnesty and rehabilitation
program, which includes job training and social reintegration for ex-militants,
offers a new opportunity for peace in the restive region, provided that the
Government of Nigeria delivers on promised infrastructure improvements and job
creation;
Whereas the United States has been supportive of the
Government of Nigeria’s reform initiatives, including not only the programs to
promote peace and development in the Niger Delta, but also anticorruption
efforts, economic and electoral reforms, and energy sector privatization;
and
Whereas in 2010, the United States and Nigeria established
the United States-Nigeria Binational Commission, a strategic dialogue to
address issues of mutual concern: Now, therefore, be it
That it is the sense of Congress
that—
(1)as one of the world’s important wetland and
coastal marine ecosystems, the Niger Delta should be protected and its recovery
and economic development a priority;
(2)all the stakeholders in the Niger Delta oil
and gas industry, the Nigerian federal, state, and local governments, oil and
gas companies, and other private sector actors, civil society, and the local
community, including youth, women, and faith-based leaders, with input from the
United States Government when requested, should work together to collectively
address the environmental impact of oil and gas production in the Niger Delta
by—
(A)urgently providing relief and assistance to
those affected by oil spills in the region;
(B)urgently ensuring that oil pollution is
cleaned up as a matter of urgency, in line with international good practice,
and subject to independent verification, and take all necessary steps to
prevent further oil spills by equipment failure, sabotage, oil bunkering, or
illegal refining;
(C)enforcing zero
tolerance policy on corruption;
(D)respecting and
adhering to the rule of law as a fundamental requirement of all players in
regards to operations, oversight and involvement in the activities, governance,
business, environmental protection, and citizens’ engagement and entitlements
with respect to the Niger Delta;
(E)ensuring robust,
independent, and coordinated monitoring of the petroleum industry;
(F)establishing a
committee to monitor the environmental and social impact of the oil industry,
hold regular sessions on the activities of multinational companies in the Niger
Delta, discuss any impact of their practices, and make recommendations on how
to address them;
(G)promoting
investments in the region that contribute to job creation for the Delta’s
underemployed youth and provide alternative livelihoods for those affected by
oil pollution;
(H)developing an effective and comprehensive
plan to prevent any further oil spills, in line with United Nations Environment
Program recommendations, that is fully consistent with Nigeria’s human rights’
obligations and in consultation with affected communities and be implemented
transparently with local communities’ full and active participation;
(I)developing an
action plan to address illegal oil trade, bunkering, and building a stronger
Gulf of Guinea Energy and Security Strategy (GGESS) to tackle the cause, crime,
and violence in the Niger Delta and the entire region; and
(J)conducting a
campaign to—
(i)end corruption and illegal oil related
activities by including an awareness component highlighting the
disproportionate environmental footprint of artisanal refining and design
training, employment, and livelihood incentives that will encourage people away
from participating in this illegal activity; and
(ii)educate the community on the public safety,
risk, and danger in drinking contaminated water;
(3)the international oil and gas companies
with operations in the Niger Delta region should—
(A)make a clear public commitment to
addressing pollution and its human rights’ impacts, promptly, transparently,
and in consultation with key stakeholders, particularly affected communities;
and
(B)improve the control, maintenance, and
decommissioning of oilfield infrastructure and apply industry best practices
and international standards for public safety;
(4)the United States
Government should—
(A)increase engagement with, and support of,
the Government of Nigeria to ensure independent oversight of the oil industry
and to increase access to effective remedy for people whose rights are affected
by oil operations in the Niger Delta;
(B)increase
engagement with, and support of, the Government of Nigeria in improving access
to effective remedy for people whose rights are affected by oil operations in
the Niger Delta;
(C)assist the Government of Nigeria to
implement the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in depth Ogoniland oil
assessment report which provides clear operational recommendations for
addressing the widespread oil pollution across Ogoniland; and
(D)assist the
Government of Nigeria in tackling illegal oil trade, bunkering, and building a
stronger Gulf of Guinea Energy and Security Strategy (GGESS); and
(5)the Government of
Nigeria should—
(A)establish a Commission of Inquiry to
investigate companies’ compliance with environmental legislation and
regulations in the Niger Delta, assess actual losses, make recommendations for
improving compliance with Nigerian regulations, and report publicly on all
findings;
(B)ensure enforcement
of the national and international regulatory system and impose effective
penalties when regulations are not followed;
(C)ensure that
Nigerian petroleum regulations address the social and human rights’ impacts of
the oil industry and include an assessment of the potential impacts on human
health, including access to clean water and livelihoods, meaningful
consultation with communities, and greater transparency and access to
information for affected communities;
(D)amend laws on
compensation to ensure that any sums awarded are fair and adequate, and cover
long-term impacts, health issues, and all other reasonable damages;
(E)amend the laws
regulating the petroleum industry to ensure that they address the social and
human rights’ impacts of the industry, that they include a mandatory assessment
of the potential impacts on human health and that environmental regulations are
clarified to enhance the remediation process;
(F)make public
information about the impact of oil operations on the environment and human
rights, to include companies’ oil spill contingency plans, the Niger Delta
Environmental Survey, and all information regarding oil spills, any
environmental impact assessments related to oil companies’ infrastructure and
operations, the Environmental Evaluation Report, and any post impact
assessments;
(G)encourage the
Nigerian Parliament to pass the Petroleum Energy Bill that increases
transparency, establishes a fair sharing mechanism for oil and gas revenues
with federal, oil-producing countries, protects the environment with better
wetland conservation, encourages the use of clean technology equipment, allows
diversification of energy production, and builds the region’s sustainable
economy; and
(H)arrest and
prosecute those involved in corrupted, illegal, and oil bunkering activities
and artisanal refineries.