Isaac Anumihe, Abuja

Chairman, National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, (NSIWC),  Dr Richard Onwuka Egbule,  yesterday, called for a review of the Act establishing the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA).

He explained that the call became necessary to give opportunity for stakeholders in the oil sector to collaborate and contribute in sustaining a zero tolerance for oil spill incidents in the Nigerian environment.

Egbule stated this when he received a delegation from NOSDRA on a courtesy visit to the Commission.

The chairman who highlighted the enormous contributions of NOSDRA in preserving the environment by ensuring best practices in oil exploration, said the agency cannot afford to operate solely on budgetary allocation, hence the need for synergy with major oil companies operating in the country.

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A statement by the Chief Press Secretary, Emma Njoku, said  the Commission’s  chairman explained that without the review and collaboration, the agency would not achieve the oil spill management and environmental restoration objective which require expertise.

On the requests by the agency regarding the welfare of staff, Egbule said the Commission had taken note pending when the issue of the National Minimum Wage and its consequential adjustments  are done with.

Earlier, the Director General, National Oil Spill Detection Response Agency, NOSDRA, Musa Idris Olubola, said the agency needed improved salaries and welfare package for its staff to avoid losing its professional staff to oil companies.

Olubola also noted that improved welfare will enable the agency compete favourably with its counterpart in other economies. The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR)  estimated that 1.89 million barrels of petroleum were spilled into the Niger Delta between 1976 and 1996 out of a total of 2.4 million barrels spilled in 4,835 incidents.