An Environmental Eyesore On Lagos Marina —Kehinde Johnson

A few weeks ago, while driving along the Lagos Marina, I was shocked to my bone marrows to notice a giant oil rig berthed on the Lagos Lagoon.

I wondered aloud what this huge piece of steel and possibly toxic chemical-laden equipment was doing in an environmentally sensitive Marina that is close to landmark national monuments and buildings such as the Cathedral Church of Christ, National Post Office, Old Federal Ministry of Justice, Lagos General Hospital, the Old State House, Lagos House that is the official residence of the Lagos State Governor, and the Muson Centre.

An answer to my probing thoughts was later provided in the Sunday Punch of 28 August 2011. Quoting from a statement made by Alhaji Hakeem Olarenwaju, Managing Director of Talod Ocenair, the news report confirmed the presence of the oil rig – 65th Rig 140 belonging to the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor – Transocean which arrived in Lagos from Equatorial Guinea for repairs at the “expansive Nigerdock” .

The company disingenuously tried using the local content policy of the Federal Government to justify the rig repair works by a “ local company” on the Lagos Marina.

A marina in any coastal city around the world is a prime choice location offering scenic and therapeutic effect for tourists and other nature-loving persons.

Unfortunately, this is not the case with our Lagos Marina despite the substantial beautification project embarked upon by the Lagos State Government along that corridor as the entire stretch of the Marina shoreline is presently littered with abandoned derelict vessels.

As if the present situation is not bad enough, oil service companies with little or no regard for our environment now want to turn the Lagos Marina into a repair yard for oil rigs with its accompanying obtrusive visual impact.

It should be emphasised that oil rig repairs in civilised countries are usually carried out in distant marine locations far removed from public view for environmental health, safety and security reasons. The surreptitious presence of the rig on the Lagos has compelled us to ask the following pertinent questions:

1. Was an Environmental Impact Assessment carried out before the oil rig was moved to the Lagos Marina with the apparent knowledge or omission of a host relevant government regulatory agencies such as the Federal Ministry of Environment, NESREA, LASEPA, Nigeria Ports Authority, National Inland Waterways Authority, Lagos Inland Waterways Authority, Nigerian Navy, State Security Service, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Department of Petroleum Resources?

2. Who granted the permit to Talod Ocenair and/or Nigerdock to repair oil rigs at the Lagos Marina?

3. Did relevant government agencies inform the general public about the presence of the oil rig on the Lagos Marina, the nature, scope and duration of repair works?

4. How is the company currently handling and disposing off special/toxic wastes arising from the rig repairs operations? Is the rig’s effluent and solid waste dumped directly into the Lagos Lagoon as I observed this afternoon?

5. What happened to the privatised multi-billion naira Nigerdock Dry-dock facility along the Apapa Coast where such major repairs should have taken place in the first instance but is now leased out to oil marketing companies for the storage of petroleum products?

6. Does the jurisdiction and work-yard of an “expansive Nigerdock” extend to Lagos Marina?

This urgent appeal goes to the Lagos State Government including Environmental regulatory agencies at Federal and State levels to order Tadol Oceanair to immediately remove the rig from the Lagos Marina while the company should be made to undergo a mandatory environmental audit with a view to determining the extent of damage to the aquatic environment that could have occurred as a result of the rig’s repair works at its present location.

The right of the public to demand for, and obtain answers to these questions is recognised under the recently passed Freedom of Information Act and it is our collective duty to protect the Lagos Marina from further environmental degradation by putting pressure on relevant government agencies to remove the oil rig from our sight.