Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana has urged the Federal Government to fast track the cleanup of Ogoniland and the entire Niger Delta region.
He spoke as the keynote speaker at the 30th memorial lecture for the late Ogoni environmental activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, held in Port Harcourt, Rivers state capital, yesterday.
According to him, “The Federal Government must speed up the cleanup exercise in Ogoniland and the entire Niger Delta Area, pay special attention in terms of social amenities and job creation for the youths.
“The government must give back to the Niger Delta from the enormous wealth of the area. It is very crucial that part of the 13 percent derivation should go back to the oil and gas producing communities because the nine oil producing states of the country receive special allocation from Abuja every month, so they must give back to the communities that produce the oil and gas,” he said.
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On the 3 percent allocated for the development of oil and gas host communities as enshrined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the SAN stated that it is not good enough for the communities who ordinarily own the oil, and suggested that it should be increased to 5 per cent.
While reacting to the planned resumption of oil exploration in Ogoni, Falana insisted that the government must speed up the cleanup exercise, noting that it is the only way to encourage the people to ask for exploration resumption in their land, prioritising their own interest over that of the oil companies.
Echoing similar sentiments, Celestine Akpobari insisted that before resumption of oil production in Ogoni, the issue of marginalisation of the region must be addressed, as enshrined in Ogoni Bill of Rights.