The paramount ruler of Nortem Bori community in Ogoni in Rivers State, King Lenu Tsaro Igbara (Gbene Teekoo IX), has hailed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the clean-up of hydrocarbon in the area.
The royal father thanked the President for his administration’s plans to resume oil prospects in the area, 30 years after the military administration of General Sani Abacha sealed up the oil well in the area.
King Igbara spoke yesterday when he visited the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
The monarch described the clean-up as “paramount to my people because of the environmental hazard suffered by the people of Ogoni land over the years”.
He said the clean-up would address years of environmental degradation that oil prospect has caused in the area, stressing that this has had adverse effects on his people over the years.
King Igbara expressed gratitude to the Federal Government, through the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), to resume oil prospects in Ogoni Kingdom.
The monarch said the oil well in the area is expected to produce 300,000 barrels of crude oil daily, stressing that this accounts for about one-quarter of the total production in the country.
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Alluding to how the oil well in Ogoni land was sealed up, he said: “The oil well allotted to Shell Petroleum in Ogoni land was sealed up by the military administration of General Sani Abacha in 1993, following the killing of rights activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa.
“Over the years, Shell’s licence to prospect oil in Ogoni land expired. But on assumption of office, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu embarked on the clean-up of Ogoni land. With the success recorded in the clean-up, the Federal Government handed over the oil well to NNPCL and the company has since returned to site in preparation to commence work.
“By the time this operation begins, about 300,000 barrels of oil (representing 25 per cent of daily production) will be produced from the Ogoni oil well.”
Dr. Ganduje expressed appreciation to King Igbara for his visit and for recognising the effort of President Tinubu’s administration in the Niger Delta within a short period of the administration.
Ganduje said: “The Federal Government under President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed is very active in the cleaning up of the hydrocarbons that are there in Ogoni land.
“So, I am happy today that our brother, His Royal Majesty from Ogoni land, has come to this office to appreciate what the Federal Government is doing in Ogoni land.
“He (King Igbara) appreciates the clean-up because of the pollution, which everybody knows is an environmental hazard.”
“Though royal fathers are not partisan, but royal fathers, since they represent the security, the social and the needs of the people, are also in a position to thank the government, if something is done for their people. In that case, they are not exempted from doing what he has done.”