Senator Seriake Dickson, representing Bayelsa West and serving as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, has raised an urgent alarm concerning the prevalent heavy metal poisoning affecting numerous residents in both the oil-rich state and the Niger Delta region. He called upon state Governors to swiftly implement measures to counter this alarming trend.

Speaking in Abuja yesterday during the ceremony where he was honored with the 2023 Excellence in Environmental Leadership Award by the Global Initiative for Climate and Environmental Sustainance (GICES), Senator Seriake Dickson, the former Governor of Bayelsa State, attributed the concerning situation to the activities of multinational oil companies operating in the region. He revealed that during his time as Governor, a committee he established had conducted blood tests on residents in oil-producing areas. The results of the laboratory examinations underscored the presence of heavy metal poisoning in their bodies, a deeply disturbing revelation.

The award presentation was conducted by Comrade Celestine Okwudili, who stood in for Mrs. Ene Obi of Action Aid at the event.

The coalition conferring the award highlighted Senator Dickson's pivotal role in maintaining a sustainable environment during his tenure as Governor of Bayelsa State from 2012 to 2020.

During his gubernatorial tenure, Senator Dickson established an International Commission on Oil Spills to assess environmental damage, assign responsibility, and develop a fresh legal framework for accountability and compensation in the affected area. He also initiated an international commission on the environment, led by Bishop Lord Sentamu, to address these challenges.

The commission's comprehensive report, resulting from a meticulous analysis, was presented in the House of Lords last month and was received by Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State.

The coalition also commended Senator Dickson's proactive decision to employ and deploy 250 trained graduates as forest protection officers in the Ministry of Environment. This initiative was aimed at curbing the unlawful deforestation that was leading to significant ecological destruction in Bayelsa, as well as other states in the Niger Delta and across Nigeria.

Dickson said, “As Governor I got tired of the environmental degradation that I was seeing in Bayelsa on daily basis, reports, I have seen first hand of the effect on the communities, on the. the livelihood of the people and indeed on the lives of the people. An international Commission of Enquiry made up of Political leaders, experts, and scientists of no mean repute drawn from around the world. I used my powers under the Commission of inquiry of the laws of Bayelsa State to impanel them, commission them, and do an indebt, thorough and comprehensive investigation and report. They went to communities, took samples from spilling sites, took samples, even blood samples from people in Bayelsa. You will be shocked at the findings.

“The amount of heavy metals that the people in Bayelsa and the Niger Delta oil bearing communities are carrying. You will be shocked the heavy metals in their systems, from the air that is polluted to the water that is polluted that they drink, from the fish that is contaminated that they consumed and so on over the years. Scientific report, I wanted a scientific base, when we say it is pollution and the activities are destroying the environment, our way of life and infant detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the people, we wanted to establish a scientific base and that was what we provided. “I want to thank members of my team, first class, Commissioners, Professors from around the world and the Lord St a member of the House of Lords, a privy Counsellor who left his work there in the church of England as number 2, next only to the archbishop of Canterbury “They did all of that for years and presented this report. I know that government continued from where I stopped but today I want to remind Nigerians about this report. Try to get a copy of this report. Everything about the scientific details and the effect of pollution over the decades in Bayelsa and across the Nigeh Delta. “it will also serve as a lesson for those States that are jubilation that they are oil producing States. We welcome them to the fold, let them come and see what we have been seeing for the past site to seventy years and feel what we feel but in all this is a call to further action. Thank you for seeing that as something worthy of commendation.”