by Azeez Adeniyi

The Senate on Thursday passed a bill for an Act to Prohibit Flaring of Natural Gas in Nigeria and Other Matters for third reading.

The bill was sponsored by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas, Sen. Albert Bassey.

Basset said gas flaring is a dangerous environmental practice especially in the petroleum industry.

He said its effect on human health was enormous.

“Available data from the NNPC has shown that Nigeria lost billions in revenue last year.

“The volume of gas flared is sufficient to generate reasonable quantity of megawatts of electricity. This is not to say the unquantifiable social, health and environmental impacts.

“It appears that the euphoria of oil discovery and commencement of production in 1958 blinded Nigerians as there was no provision to handle gas in association with oil.

“Government neither stipulated any law nor guidance during the nascent period of our oil production history.

“All efforts to stop the flaring of natural gas has not been effective and Nigerians have remained the victims of lack of Gas Flaring Prohibition Act,’’ he said.

Chairman of Committee on Finance, Sen. John Enoh also said several deadlines had been set to end gas flaring but that nothing meaningful had been achieved.

“We remain an amazing country. Since 1958 we are still talking about what to do about gas flaring. So, we have to put in measures to make it expensive to flare gas,’’ Enoh said.

Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu who led plenary said the problem with Nigeria was not the unavailability of laws but their enforcement.

“In addition to making these laws, I believe that we should also wake up to our responsibility regarding the issue of oversight.

“This is because that is the only the way we can get the enforcement agencies and regulatory agencies to be alive to their responsibilities.

“If we all do our work from the National Assembly to the enforcement and regulatory agencies, I am sure we will be able to get some of these things right,’’ he said.