The Governor said that the mindless activities of the multinational oil firms in the oil-rich state was responsible for the high infant mortality rate in Bayelsa and indeed the Niger Delta.
He said that the flagrant abuse of the Niger Delta environment as clearly shown by available statistical evidence, indicated that about 40 million barrels of crude oil are spilled into the damaged environment of the Niger Delta as opposed to four million barrels in the United States. Consequently, the Governor inaugurated a ten-man Commission of Inquiry on Environmental Degradation under the chairmanship of the Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu.
He added that the IOCs had a responsibility to adopt the same operational standard to the environment of Bayelsa as Norway, Scotland and the United States.