When I was younger I heard a story of a family that were all killed in their sleep by the gas released from their generator at night, it was a very sad story. The only reasonable conclusion was the family died as a result of ignorance, they probably didn't know that the gases released from the generator could kill them.
Well the same can probably be said for the people of Ubeji community who go about their daily activities unaware of the amount of poisonous gases released into their atmosphere daily because situated at the heart of Ubeji is an oil refinery that still practice the non-environmental gas flaring, this practice increases the average temperature of the surrounding areas and most importantly leads to the release of harmful gases, this leads to the pollution of the atmosphere, causing adverse environmental and health effects and we all inhale that polluted air in Ubeji.
The first time I came to Ubeji, I saw the flaring tower like a beacon, in its yellowish aura and ever extending black pillar of hazy smoke and I immediately felt uncomfortable with the realization that the more I stayed, the more I would be slowly poisoned. I talked to miss Isabella who has been living in the community since birth and she said "this is how it has always been and it is a part of us". It seemed that she had already accepted her fate, the same perhaps can be said of the Nigerian that accepts the mediocre state of affairs of the nation and say "it's part of us". Ubeji is not an isolated community, there are so many communities in Nigeria and in the world that are still affected by gas flaring but Nigeria stands out as the country that flares the most natural gas and Nigeria may waste 2 billion US dollars on gas flaring per year (world bank, 2008). We can't just seat and allow this happen to us.
By omasan Akperi
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