The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria has tasked the president-elect to consider the environmental and economic implications of reopening oil exploration on lake chad as fossil fuel is the number one cause of environmental degradation.
The group urged him to put sentiments aside in deciding to restart oil exploration on Lake Chad and that it shouldn’t be a balancing act between the north and the south as there is no competition.
Caritas and JDPC, both arms of the CBCN urged the president to reconsider his stand on the issue following the speech he gave at his Kaduna residence while playing host to Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima, traditional rulers and elders from the state who paid him a congratulatory visit on Sunday, April 19, 2015.
The Catholic groups made the call to the president-elect in a statement by their Executive Secretary, Reverend Father Evaristus Bassey.
It said; “The decision to commence oil prospecting, however, should not be approached with haste and certainly not from a sentimental reason of a balancing act between the North and South.
“From a more rational scientific perspective, fossil fuel is one of the greatest causes of environmental degradation and global warming.
“It should not be that while other nations of the world are researching into ways of alternative and efficient energy, we in Africa are still hooked to ideas that promote carbon emissions.”
