 Welcome once again to the Breakfast Here On Plus TV Africa, a situation that has lasted about four to five years in a river state and of course has gotten public outcry numerous times from the people of Port Harcourt is the black suit situation where of course the residents have complained of a you know seeming presence of black suits in the atmosphere. It has of course you know been seen on the windshields of residents that's been seen in the houses of residents but the one that of course creates the most fear is how much of it is getting into the body and the lungs of residents of Port Harcourt. We're speaking this morning with Dr. B. A. Briggs as a public health physician. Good morning Dr. Briggs thanks for joining us. Good morning and thank you for having me. Good to have you on the program. I want us to start with understanding for persons who I believe you reside in or you live in Port Harcourt also. Absolutely. So let's start with the foundation you know with this discussion. How long has this been going on and is there still or is there yet any understanding as to where this suit is coming from? Yes it started about 2017 that was when it became very visible all of a sudden we wake up in the morning and we see on our floors black suits, we see on our tables, on our cars, we cut out black substances in the morning. You try to pin your nostrils in the morning and you see black substances inside your nostrils. So that was when it became apparent that something absolutely is going around with air quality in Port Harcourt. So that was visible around 2016-2017 okay and it has lasted for this long and nothing has been done until recently in the first of January 2022 that the governor did a broadcast and declared war against the suit and the major components of the suit have been identified as gas flaring and artisanary finings but also we've seen in recent years the military and other security agencies that seized illegally some crude and set them ablaze so that's also one of the major factors we see people burning tires especially in the abattoirs you see them using tires to roast the meat that we consume every day these are all the emissions from cars and generating sets although their contributions are a little bit by new. Dr Briggs, Dr Briggs I understand you're not you know with the government you know and you're not necessarily here to you know speak on the investigation into the black suit but these things have been happening the things you mentioned in now the gas flaring and the roasting of bush meat and the likes have been happening prior you know 2017 so how come it became so much worse from 2017 like you mentioned? Yes tomorrow tomorrow there will be exactly 62 years of the discovery of oil and commercial quantity in the library by our state and since that time till today gas flaring has been on gas flaring if you recall was outlawed in the 1970s each time the dead life for the stoppage of gas flaring reaches the government of the nation will keep extending the deadline you know because they see that as a way of revenue generation and over the years these gas flaring has been going on in the different parts of the Niger Delta so I think that to an extent the atmosphere has reached its threshold and further complicated in protocol by the activities of the illegal oil refiners in the creeks of the Niger Delta exacerbated the effect of the suit that we are now seeing in protocol so in 2018 the river state government set up a technical committee that they tried to investigate the sources of the suit and they came up with them a primary report wherein they said oil gas flaring and artisan refining are the major causes and sources of the suit in the river state so Dr. Briggs do we still have you okay well we're trying to reconnect with Dr. B Briggs we also have with us this morning fine face good morning and thanks for joining us he's an environmentalist and good morning Mr. Fineface Good morning to you nice to meet you happy new year everyone okay it's good to have you join us this morning the the governor of river state has like Dr. Briggs has mentioned that nothing has been done as regards the suits as since the time it started off and that is just in recent time where the government in his new year message talked about climbing down on illegal refineries and and as such it could just mean that activities of illegal refineries in Potacot is really responsible for the suit what are your thoughts would like to show your thoughts on that yeah my thoughts are that the government and governor of river states have actually started something before the new year day broadcast that led to the action currently being taken what they did around 2018 was the setting up of a committee headed by the 10 environment commissioner professor Roselyne Coya to investigate the sources of suits in Potacot and its environments that was done but in dates the governor and government of river state have not released that report to the public after the governor received the report submitted to him and we do not know why that report has not been released because the crackdown we currently have against artisanal cool oil refinance it must be as the result of that report that the governor has not made public but then we are aware that if the governor had made that report public it would have been able to let people know let us know as advocates in the civil society organizations to see how we can work with that report to getting this done then the action of the governor you know on 1st January 20 to 82 in his book as he talked about the issue of artisanal refinance steps is going to take and then this later he released the statement that you know criminalize and where he declared on 19 artisanal cool oil refinance wanted where these are steps to be taken to address the issue of suits and related environmental pollution that we are experiencing in Potacot and its environments but then I think that the action of the governor is one-sided one-sided in the sense that this youth have said over time that they have more people in their employment than the river state government itself so out of the thousands of people that they are working with that they form to become that big big at a point in at 19 names is just like a tip of the iceberg and some of this name that the governor made public are just single names some of them are just nicknames they are not really well investigated and presented a report that the governor got and I think that doing some of these things without having to bring on board a lot of them from different local government areas of rivers it becomes an issue because as it is today we have come to see that it is difficult to actually say this is a particular local government area in river state that they are not carrying out acts of artisanal cool oil refinance and refining in river state and I think the effort should be holistic by the governor by not just displaying them from what they are doing but also trying to put in place alternative livelihood opportunities that we have been advocating and pushing for the governor to do as a way of not making they have been displaced from this action to cause insecurity issues and other challenges to society well mr. Vineface you know I'm sure you would agree that just before we get to talk about the health challenges proper with dr. Briggs mr. Vineface I'm sure you would agree that this has gone on long enough you know for a government that truly was interested in making a difference to have made a difference these complaints have been you know going on for years the report has been you know given to the governor he has you know made statements but if it's if the governor was serious about ending this then he should have been over by now some people have equated this you know and stated that this is very similar to like the drug business in Colombia there's a lot of corruption there's a lot of you know things that are going on behind the scenes that make this almost impossible to end do you agree with that yes I agree with that because apart from working as an environmentalist I am the executive director of uterine environmental advocacy center and I also function as a national facilitator of platforms for the coordination of artisanal cool oil refinancing the niger death model and I work with a lot of these boys I talk to them go to the crease and talk to them I've been to where they might talk to them to stop what they are doing it is a strong cut there the artisanal economy is a strong cut there that cut across river states cut across other states in the niger data and extend to neighboring countries within the west african subregion so but all this cannot be possible if we do not have the hand of security operatives inside because the former president head of state of this country Simon Abacha said any problem that lasts for over 24 hours look very well the government has a hand inside so I think that what we are experiencing in river states and other parts of the niger data is as a result of the involvement aiding and abiding of these activities by the security operatives and some of the abouja boys and illegal boys and then the otaku boys and other states so it's a of statistic to address of food and related issues I believe that if we can collaborate collaborate with the security operatives collaborate with the federal government and other agencies and stakeholders will be able to arrest this situation and bring it to a halt for everybody to have a sigh of relief from the impact of suits on the people we are all smokers of suits in river state and is telling more on the aged people and children that are more affected by by this suit and we have to stop this now okay let's also bring in Dr Briggs at this point and talk about the health implication of this black suit what are the implication of the suits okay the health impact of the suit are largely divided into early and late complications one of the complications of the suit is skin irritation nausea vomiting confusion acute won't get asthma acute respiratory distress syndrome sudden infant deaths pneumonia pneumonia 90s and a lot of other complications that I cannot believe then the late complications we are talking about it is it's chemical disease cardiovascular diseases cardiovascular accidents we have lung cancer liver cancer kidney cancer of the kidney kidney failure and even ultimately death so it's really there and right now we've had them researchers that have been done in potacot that show that the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections have decreased amongst children under the age of five they researched to ascertain the healthiness of the sperm of male residents in potacot have also been born and revealed that male residents in potacot have varying varying degrees of structural abnormalities of their sperm and that simply means that the majority of the males that are residing in potacot cannot impregnate their spouses researchers have been done in teaching us people here in potacot but they found out an increase in the incidence of birth defects okay okay one of the search studies revealed that 20.73 per 1000 live births come down with birth defects of course if you compare that with the southeast which was a 4.51 north east was 5.23 so you see that the incidence of birth defects in potacot is exponentially high as compared to other parts of the country so this is what we are seeing is not something that will happen with something that is happening that I'm telling you this research findings have been published in international so we are actually dying slowly but surely okay and I am speaking strictly as a medical doctor okay but we have been engaging the government in on this issue and one of the times we had a meeting with the government representatives um as under the ages of stop the suit campaign in 2018 they told us very clearly that the issues of the environment is within exclusive needs of the federal government and the attempts have been made to draw the attention of the federal government on the issue of black suit in potacot however the federal government and our agencies have not you know lived up to their responsibility but only recently that the governor in his wisdom had to carry out steps that he feels are to stop the suit one of which was to declare a war against artisanal refining in englandia delta but you know there is little much that the government or the government of riverside can achieve except the federal government and other agencies of the federal government such as the mezra and nozra and all the other agencies of government federal municipal of environment all come together you know to put a stop to the suit just like do many families was talking talked about the complicity of the security agencies in 18 and a big thing that are involved in artisan refining and why we are trying to stop the suit we do not want to create another social problem where the boys would be hunted down their facilities destroyed and then they don't have an alternative source of livelihood and then they will now resort to criminality and for that wasn't we already very volatile security situation we have in englandia delta especially in potacot so why we are trying to stop the suit we're also looking at an alternative and one of the alternatives we have proposed to government is modular refining or cellular refinery so that these boys will have something to do their businesses will be legitimized taxes will be paid to create employment and they can be properly regulated and we can also see this for record purposes that is stakeholder democracy network in an NGO as they carried out a research on the quality of petroleum products used by the artisanary refiners and those important by the federal government i need to shock you to note that the research findings that have been published and is on the net revealed that the quality of petroleum products from the artisanary refiners is higher than those that are imported from by the federal government what this simply tells us is that these people are providing a solution to a problem all right and if you see that there is a massive shortage of petroleum products in circulation in the country so there is a rating market these boys have rating markets most of the bands schools public my other business institutions that are corporate organizations that do their business in potacot and emeralds they take their products from these people so they are providing an economic solution to some of the challenges we face so if we begin to stop them abruptly that would be a massive shortage and their businesses will collapse and we do not want this to happen because we want the boys to do it in a way that they can be properly regulated and our environment is not polluted and that's exactly what we we stand for and that's what i advocate as an environmental advocate but haven't said that we commend the governor for what he's done you know for the first time we're seeing corporate steps being taken to stop the suit in fact yesterday we heard on the news that they've governor visited one of the artisanary refining sites and went through the press and security men and they chased the boys out and all that we commend him but we also want this thing to be holistic we don't want temporary or quick fixes we want something that is sustainable in the long in the long term the only way we can sustain it is that where there's a transition from the assistant refining to modular refineries or cellular refineries so that these boys have something to do and they are deeply engaged so that they don't become a menace to the society all right i want to um uh find face uh do uh uh do nam and to also speak with regards that um what are the possible solutions how do you think this can be you know solved um do you agree with dr briggs uh that we should encourage them uh not chase them away from the the the creeks about these persons please i didn't say we should encourage them i mean encourage them to move into modular modular refining modular refining instead of in 2018 the vice president then yemi oseba joe came to potack or helped me things stakeholders of the nandia delta and there he said very clearly that he was going to support the uh licensing of modular refineries it's pretty much the same thing and they repeat when they beat to stop the artisan refining or since that 20 30 and nothing has been done in this regard and that's exactly what we are saying well the argument should be said i'm committed to doing what they have said they are going to do dr briggs finally hold on um so that we can have um uh find face also get to share with us um i believe that you also you also have been on ground and you've gotten to interact with some of these persons so do you agree with this idea of you know setting up modular refineries and the likes and do you think that these persons in question really would be interested in the idea of modular refineries i agree with uh dr briggs and uh i most said the right person because since 2017 that the vice president then acting president talked about modular refinery as alternative livelihood opportunity for you to are involved in artisanal food refining and the person who has been working with them preparing them training them across the nandia delta to embrace that uh modular refinery as alternative to artisanal food refining which is causing massive environmental problem in the nandia delta but indeed the federal government has not taken concrete steps to be able to address that issue and i think the reason is also because the federal government did promise that the moment we put them on cooperative society what we now call the modular refinery multiple society that they are going to give them license we are putting them across in a cooperative society from the license in 2020 also to organize a an investor summit where we are bringing an investor from the united kingdom to come this issue of funding so that a lot of this address and i also propose what i call the presidential artisanal food refining development initiative pakodi pakodi is an initiative like dr blaine mofah is what they are currently doing make it more friendly and is able to be able to make it a legal framework and it was because of that proposal made in 2020 you know july 27 then with the presidential artisanal gold mining development which the federal government have legalized for illegal gold miners in parts of the north and west that was only because of that idea got leveraged on and on june and on march 16 and 17 2021 they organize a national conference for the integration of artisanal food oil refining and modular refinery into the nandian economy in abuja but today that has not been done at the state level i have just proposed in this 2021 what i call the river states artisanal food oil refining development initiative rissa kodi that is what we think the federal government at the river state government can do by bringing the youth that are involved in this illegal refining on that platform develop that platform modify what they are currently doing invest into that process make a lot through the state assembly legalize the entire process modify it and they can buy crude they can refine they can contribute to local economy making that process a legalized job creation venture we have all these ideas as think time that we are making this available to be able to address this issue we are also thinking that if the government not just display them but also create employment opportunities like now the world is moving away from hydrocarbon to cleaner renewable energy the government of river state can invest into solar pvs creating solar farms in communities that will generate standard electricity in communities and the youth that are involved in this can look for alternative livelihood opportunities around this electricity that is being generated and they can go into something else but what we have today displaying them without blueprints on how to engage them meaningfully we increase piracy activities we increase criminal activities and may make the state that the commissioner told us in 2022 that it is one of the most peaceful states in the country it may become 18 of the past if the step currently been taken is not you know approached with alternative opportunities for these youths just as you know the people and we all wait for the government's intervention the federal and the state government what can be done how can the people of river state protect themselves i mean their measures you know to protect themselves against this deadly suit yeah the measures to protect themselves by the people are just very few because the people cannot control the air that they breathe when they wake up in the morning or when they sleep at night they cannot control it and these particles travel by air so the people are just helpless in the middle of all this but how they can help in the fight against illegal refining and other sources of suits we are not saying that it's only illegal refining but the focus now is on illegal refining otherwise you can lease a lot of other sources of black suit that is affecting us so what the people can do is to work with the government work with the traditional rulers work with the governor and the government of the state to expose the youth who are involved in this be able to tell let the government understand this are the people doing it and the government will go after them to stop what they are doing what they can also do the security operatives that are aging and abetting this activity that is causing soon they also live in rivers they sleep in rivers that they breathe the air in river state so they can also be able to help themselves their children are also affected these are some of the ways we can expose what is being done help government to see how we can all collectively address the issue around black suit because today the black suit is there the activities contributing to the environmental pollution that make fishermen and farmers not to be able to get that again and the entire water body in river the pollution we have in river state today is such that is is as massive as the father in 50 years and we cannot clean it up and river state is hosting the largest ever environmental cleanup in parts of Ogoni being undertaken by the hydrocarbon pollution remediation project that we are thinking that if it will succeed it can be extended to other parts of the Niger data to address environmental issues and if river state cannot play that leadership role to be able to work with the stakeholders and address this issue of pollution it becomes a problem that is why it is worrisome to me be an environmentalist that in a state like river state we are talking about suit and pollution okay this is just to express you know that the people of the Niger Delta truly have have suffered you know with regards pollution in every regard that in every way that you can describe environmental pollution they have you know suffered um Dr Briggs you know we want you to speak with regards the on the health angle in what ways can people protect themselves do they need to wear face mask do they need to you know drink certain have all medication to clean their system i'm not sure what it is but i think we've lost us to Briggs a fine face if you're still here can you share with us you know if there is any of those steps that are currently being taken to people wear face masks regularly the people don't wear face masks here regularly it's unfortunately people face regularly and all the executive orders and directives that we are given to you know compel people to use majorals you know around covid-19 that should also help to prevent them from inhaling black suit the people are not adhering to that so as one of the ways of addressing this i think the government should try as much as possible to reinforce the you know the the rules that will make the people to use face masks and then the government should also try as much as possible to those to have money residents can buy fitters into their houses we understand some companies some big people within the city they buy fitters into their houses that try to fit at the air there are pictures we have in my own house i do publish a bus suit in my house in my office when you see i call it black suit fighting back because i campaign against suit every 30 days you open your air condition ac you see a lot of spitting it every time you get to office you see a lot of suit everywhere the pollution the suit is everywhere so these meters can be taken people should wear masks those who have money should you know get some fitters into their houses and everybody's hand must be on deck to be able to address this issue you know of suit by preventing it before all of us turn into very dangerous smokers of suits that will lead to the reduction in our lifespan in the city of portico and its embarrassed all right um fine phase uh do nam and we first we thought that we're going to also get Dr Briggs to quickly uh share you know from a doctor's perspective you know ways that you can protect yourself um um you know because this is this is you know it should be seen as a national emergency for the people of river states you know and the action should be taken immediately some of the things that he mentioned also as a health challenges um then the later on health challenges that may also emerge are really really scary uh but thank you very much for joining us and for you know sharing your thoughts with us with regards uh the portico suit and we'd love to speak with you again as always thank you for having me have a nice day everyone good morning absolutely pretty scary uh when you mentioned the um you know the health challenges uh with we you know that people can deal with you know and too many of them too many you know you know respiratory challenges you know child birth defects of you know failure to impregnate your wife you know is one of the things that he mentioned um and and these are so the ones that we're experiencing now you know one thing i was going to even say you know is that we're lucky that they even have research institutes that have been able to carry out uh proper research to understand the um increase in the number of setting you know health your challenges in portico because of the suit very likely because of the suit um so i can imagine what it will be like in 15 years in 20 years and 30 years if there's going to be complications uh that they would still be experiencing in 30 years time and 20 years time sadly we do not live in a society where people can sue their government for failures and that's why you know i'm very concerned and we're very concerned about what people can do in the interim to actually survive uh protect themselves against the suit are there non-pharmaceutical methods that can be followed uh i don't know if we can still you know um connect with dr briggs if you can hear us uh i think we have him back thank you for having me and i'm sorry for the wicked translation yeah that's fine we're talking about pharmaceutical or non-pharmaceutical methods you know that people can also protect themselves now this is one question that has been asked me several times and actually cannot provide very specific answers however three planting is one thing close your houses the doors the windows on time even though the suit will put a tiny bit into your house but better you shut it but consider what common you do with you take lots of water we have to shut the clothes clean your nostrils early if you see or observe any symptoms you make sure you go to the hospital on time these are some of the things you need to do keep your house clean all the time because it's always good where the suit rolls on the floor and wash your place regularly because you need to eat and all that to try to reduce this impact but whether we like it or not now we know it or not every day we respire to 24 hours in a day we should take a big break you see only smokers are liable to die in smoking causes cancer and yet these smokers do not smoke 24 hours the residents of Potatakot have been smoking the suit on stop 24 hours a day for seven years now or more so you can imagine the danger we find ourselves all right thank you very much Dr. BA Briggs who's a public health physician thank you so much for joining us we of course I encourage you to keep doing the work and informing people of river state and the rest of the country on the danger and the environmental challenge that this is we look forward to speaking with you again thank you for being here please go to help us all right stay with us we move away from river state and the black suits in Potatakot we're going to be talking now about the preparedness of the independent national electoral commission and most importantly the electorate in Nigeria for the next general elections