The Nation Newspaper

Tag: clean-up

  • Firm engages in clean-up

    A leading environmental consultancy company, Ampak Nigeria Ltd (ANL), has partnered the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) to sensitise people on the importance of imbibing good environmental management practices.

    The participants cleaned up Otunba Jobi Fele Way in Alausa, Ikeja.

    Highlighting the company’s commitment towards waste management practices, the Executive Director, Mrs. Kemi Ajakaiye, in her address to volunteers and participants, said waste collection and disposal was just one fraction of the enormous, yet crucial responsibility of managing the environment.

    She said waste management should be targeted at ensuring resource efficiency through the application of sustainable solutions that minimise waste generation, while maximising opportunities for reuse, recycling and regeneration of resources.

    Ajakaiye hailed the LAWMA management, who graced the event with 15 representatives, for their efforts in working towards a cleaner and healthier Lagos.

    She presented the organisation with cleaning tools such as rakes, scrubbing brushes, hand gloves, nose masks and trash bags as a gesture to support its efforts.

    The clean-up exercise is driven by three of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – Good Health and Well-Being (Goal 3), Clean Water and Sanitation (Goal 6) and Sustainable Cities and Communities (Goal11).

  • Ogoni people express worry over clean-up

    The Ogoni people have expressed worry over the Federal Government’s willingness to carry out the clean-up exercise in Ogoniland as recommended by the United Nations Environmental Protection (UNEP).

    UNEP in its report had recommended that a Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration be established in  Ogoniland. This, it said, would promote learning in other areas impacted by oil contamination in the Niger Delta.According to UNEP, offering  a  range  of  activities  and  services,  the  centre could run training courses in environmental monitoring and  restoration  and  ultimately  become  a  model for environmental restoration, attracting international attention.

    It also recommended that the  Ogoni  community  should  take  full  advantage of the employment, skills development and other opportunities that will be created by  the  clean-up  operation  which  is  aimed  at  improving  their  living  conditions  and  livelihoods.

    The Media and Public Affairs Adviser of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Bariara Kpalap, said the entire clean up exercise is being politicised. According to him, the Ogoni people are not yet certain the government meant to carry out the exercise as recommended by UNEP.

    He said: “Nothing is happening. The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) claims to have awarded contracts to some contractors and also given them time to commence work but as I speak with you nothing absolutely has been done.”

    He told The Nation on  telephone that measures such as provision of potable water, assessing the health issues of the people, building of health centres and centre of excellence, among others, as recommended by the UNEP report are yet to be seen. The powers that be are just using it to gain their political course.

    He confirmed that some contractors had been given site, but nobody is on any site. “The first step that should be taken is addressing the issue of water, determining the health states of the people and building of health centres, have not taken off till this moment.

    “I’m telling you that in my community (Kegbara Dere), there’s a site that would have been cleaned in this very contract that has been awarded, with other communities such as  (Gokana), nobody is anywhere doing anything. Nothing is happening. I’m telling you as a matter of fact, I can say it anywhere my community would have been one among those the clean-up would have taken place.

    “MOSOP has been campaigning that this should be done. It’s now HYPREP that’s not telling us the truth. Some money has been given for this and on the basis of that they have awarded contracts to some people (contractors), so if those things have happened why are the people not working?”, he asked.

    The Ogoni people, he said, want the clean-up exercise to take off properly. “What we want is what’s practical, if it is the issue of water, give us water, you have the money to give us water, if its building integrated centre, build it.

    “The ground breaking ceremony was done some years back. You have now gotten some money, and we are not saying that you should invest all the money here, but something has to happen that will create confidence in the people that at the end of the day the environment will be restored, and our own means of livelihood will be restored. Currently, there is nothing like that, therefore, many people believe the entire project is just a rip-off, he added.

  • Clean-up of voter register continues, says INEC 

    Chief Press Secretary to INEC chairman Rotimi Oyekanmi said the process is intensive and he solicited the support of Nigerians to rid the voter register of unqualified voters.

    He said the discovery of ineligible voters from Taraba State was a result of the vetting process.

    He appealed to all stakeholders, including political parties and the electorate to raise the red flag where they suspect irregularities.

    ”Well, if you see anything, say something,” he said, adding: “We want Nigerians to interrogate the voter register and if they find anything there, they should let us know and we will take action.

    “We are just determined to make sure that we clean the register as much as possible that is why we took the action in Taraba State.”

    The Taraba State office of the electoral body last Tuesday said it “discovered that some ineligible voters has been registered in the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration exercise”.

    It said it had flagged the illegal registration for removal from the Voter Register, adding that its officials involved had been queried and referred to security agencies for further investigation and possible prosecution.

    INEC also recently delisted over 200 foreign voters from the register.

    Speaking on the video of alleged underage voters in Kano State local government election, Mr Oyekanmi said “no single name has been added to the voter register in Kano since 2016.

    ”We have not issued any new PVC apart from that one (used in 2015 general election).

    “We have conducted elections using the same register in several places and there has been no complaint until now.

    “The political parties involved in those elections were given the voter register to interrogate and scrutinize before the elections, but none of them complained to INEC of any suspected underage voter.

    “As we approach Osun State governorship election, it also means we are going to print the voter register and give it to them for possible objection.”

    He called on all citizens to forward any objection to the commission, including any compromised INEC officials.

  • Clean up of police, a must

    SIR: One is not a Nigerian until one embraces a horrible encounter with the Nigerian Police Force.  The police appear to be littered with bad eggs and the government appears unable to clean up the Aegean Stables. This is not a subjective assessment for in a joint survey centred on corruption conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics and United Nations, the Nigerian Police emerged as most corrupt institution in the land laced with unfettered impunity.

    Even the Auditor General of the Federation in his recent publication listed a litany of infractions by the police, ranging from looting of evidence lockers to the disappearance of guns and ammunition from armouries. One therefore wonders if the Nigerian Police is indeed a crime fighting organization.

    From mounting illegal checkpoints to forcing innocent party goers to illegally withdraw money from their ATMs, the Nigerian Police hardly brings endearment to the hearts of Nigerians.

    The chequered past of such police czars like Tafa Balogun and Sundaay Ehindero shows the Police has a history laced in corruption and crime. Even the slaying of the Apo-six adds to the narrative that police reform is a must.

    But alas a regime that pays lip service to corruption and lacks the balls to challenge the most corrupt institution in the land appears to be lacking solutions to this perennial problem.

    The solutions are legion but each has its advantages and disadvantages.

    The police can be disbanded immediately and a new Defence Force modelled after the Israeli Defence Force constituted. Young Nigerians unspoiled and uncorrupted should be charged to join the police. These youths should be offered university education alongside acquiring policing skills. Regular integrity tests should be conducted on them and those who fail should be weeded out. Banks have for decades utilized the integrity test to try their staff and this modality is totally alien to the police but alas when the top brass are alleged to be as rotten as a rotten egg, they lack the temerity to conduct such tests. Hence this should be outsourced to independent contractors.

    Wholesale retirements and dismissals maybe required to return sanity to the Force. Certain notorious units require closer scrutiny. The Special Anti-Robbery Squad and the Anti-Kidnappings Units appear to have attained the status of demigods in the manner they conduct their business. One needs to pray hard to avoid being an innocent fly caught in their web.

    Many a police station or barracks in the land is filthy and is no different from a pig sty.

    How does a nation expect the best out of the police when they are treated like pigs?

    Ramshackle dilapidated accommodations are the bane of the Police Force. Poor enumeration and benefits push many to graft. The lack of modern policing tools and training has made the Nigerian Police a brutal corrupt entity. One doubts that the Police have a fingerprint data base talk less of a DNA crime bank. Access to modern forensic tools has been denied the police by a regime more concerned with their own personal protection over revamping the Force.

    The Nigerian Police Force is not beyond redemption; what is lacking is the political will to steady the apple cart. This regime has an opportunity to lay down a legacy by making police reforms a priority but who will dare upset the apple cart so late in the game when 2018 is just round the corner and politicking for February 2019 General Election will begin in earnest?

    Police reforms are a must if Nigeria must move forward. To avoid and postpone taking care of this elephant in the room is a recipe for disaster, stagnation and national destruction. That is the plain truth and nothing but the truth.

     

    • Usman Mohammed,

    IBB Varsity, Lapai-Niger State.

  • Ogoni clean-up…the fears, the facts

    Ogoni clean-up…the fears, the facts

    The state of the Ogoni clean-up has raised posers. PRECIOUS DIKEWOHA, who has toured the oil spill sites in the four local government areas in Ogoni with the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Programme (HYPREP) Team, provides the answer.

    In 2011, the Federal Government constituted a committee to study the spill in Ogoni land  and the report of the committee known as the UNEP report has given birth to a fresh hope for the people. It has also come with fears.

    The Project Coordinator, Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Programme (HYPREP),   Mr. Marvin Dekil,  an Ogoni son, said  to kick- start the process  of the cleanup, a Board of Trustee, Governing Council  and the office of the Project Coordinator was constituted for easy implementation.

    The Acting President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo had last year inaugurated committees that would facilitate the implementation. But till date the people of Ogoni are worried over the continuous delay in the implementation. The truth is that many Ogoni indigenes are looking at Ogoni cleanup  with the view that it will lead to distribution of cash, compensation and settlement of land owners. Unfortunately,   the money is tied to training and empowerment.

    Dekil said the exercise has different phases.

    He explained: “Yes, we have started, but   since the cleanup project is on stages it is not everybody that would understand that something is going on at this stage.  But we have done a lot, that was why we decided to visit your community to brief you of what we intent to do in your community.

    “The project is being backed by the Federal Government to clean all the affected Ogoni communities, but this is Ogoni project.  We need to reach out to the communities. We need to inform you that Federal Government is ready to clean up Ogoni. We are about to commence work. We are visiting the entire sites. Some companies have already moved in to the spill sites testing their equipment and expertise. But, we have not awarded them the job; anything they do now is from their own money. We will be carrying out training for women, youths and those with requisite knowledge in specialized areas that would help the cleanup process.

    “No oil spill site will be left unattended and we will respect your community and cultural boundaries. We are here to do a thorough job for Ogoni people. We will bring people who will examine the drinking water you have here because we will bring good drinking water. We will bring people who will visit all the sites.  The provision of water and health impart assessment are important to us. We will bring experts all over the world including Rivers State Ministry of Health to know the health impact of the people and provide treatment were needed.”

    During the visit to some communities in the four local government areas of Ogoni land, including a courtesy  visit to the palace of their monarchs,  the project coordinator insisted  on open meeting where the youths, women, elders and chiefs would have equal opportunity to speak and ask questions.

    Some of the questions are: how many years would this clean up last? What will be their benefits, is the cleanup going to stop us from fishing , if you train and  provide job for the youths what about our women and elderly people. Since you are going to bring some companies to work in our community can you considered us to do some of the jobs under the local content policy. When are you starting, the water you said you are going to provide is it going to be centralize or to install in each of the community.

    The coordinator said: “The water is in two phase for remediation process we are going fix all the already existing water facilities in the affected communities and in the long measure we are going to install water tanks in the communities.  On whether we are going to carry you along, the project is Ogoni project definitely we are going to train some youths including empowering the women. As I speak some Ogoni youths who have degree in the related field are already working with us. We are going to train more youths even those who have no degree.  In addressing the water needs, we will do something that will provide quick water for the people before the permanent water treatment plant will be installed. We want to beg your support so that we can be sure that the water facility you already have before can be maintained. We are to train 1,200 women from the four Local governments everybody is going to benefit.”

    When HYPREP team visited the chairman of Ogoni Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers, His Royal Majesty, Chief Godwin N.K Gininwa, the Gbenemene of Tai Kingdom, the people came out enmasse to welcome their visitors.

    For them the federal government should first of all fix the bad roads linking the area, which, they said, has become a nightmare for the people.  They promised to give necessary support to HYPREP project coordinator.  They also made it clear that the cleanup should reduce crime in the area through provision of job for the jobless youths.

    While commending the Federal Government for fulfilling their promises to Ogoni people, Chief Gininwa also thanked God that money was not paid to be shared among the communities but tied around the project, adding that this could have resulted into bloody communal clashes and family problem.

    A visit to the  tensed   Kpor community in Gokana local government of Rivers State showed that the crisis rocking  chieftaincy stool in the community may be a setback for the companies  testing their equipment at the oil spill sites because both the youths and the elders are divided. Our investigation revealed that the cleanup can only be successful when there is peaceful co-existence among the communities in the area.  Of course, HYPREP has done one of the crucial aspects of going round the communities in the four local government areas to sensitise the communities to understand the important of the project and give their approval, especially the youths of the area.

    During an Ogoni stakeholders meeting, which took place at the HYPREP office in Port Harcourt, Ogoni leaders–   made up of traditional rulers, politicians, businessmen and community heads– demanded to know the challenges facing the project coordinator’s office which they believed is affecting the speedy implementation of projects in the oil spill  affected communities.

    They expressed dissatisfaction over inability of the stakeholders, including IOC to contribute their quota of the $1billion clean up in Ogoni land, adding that it was not enough to present an Ogoni man at the front as the project coordinator.  They said every necessary thing required at the office of the project coordinator should be provided.

    The Ogoni leaders  insisted that the project coordinator must always open up and feed them with information  to enable them pressurise the government, board of directors and others to fast tract the project.

    Mr. Barinua Wifa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who chaired the meeting, said the essence of the meeting was to listen to the overview of the cleanup from the project coordinator and know what role to play as Ogoni leaders. He said it is legitimate for people to show concern about the issue affecting the people and its environment but it is totally wrong to play politics with issues that are affecting the people.

    He called on the Federal Government to be sincere and provide adequate fund for the project implementation in Ogoni land, stressing that, Ogoni leaders cannot allow anybody, be it Federal or state to play politics with Ogoni project.

    Another Ogoni son at the stakeholders meeting was Hon Dike Matthew, member Representing Tai Constituency in Rivers State House of Assembly.   He called on HYPREP to take urgent step in providing water to the affected communities.

    Hon. Matthew said: “The UNEP report stated clearly that the drinking waters in the area are not safe for consumption. So why are they still telling us that they are going to provide water when water are yet to be provided to this affected people. If UNEP report said water source has been contaminated and that drinking the water in those areas is poisonous, yet the people are still drinking the same water, something need to be done urgently to protect the lives of the people.”

    The Resident Coordinator of United Nations in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallou   and United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Stuart Syminton,  visited Ogoni and interacted with the people and HYPREP team.

    Kallou stated that the remediation process involved technical approaches that needed a lot of time to achieve a result. He urged the people of the area to give the Federal Government a chance to be able to deliver a better result.

    Kallou said: “I am here today on a familiarization visit on Ogoniland. I am here to have a better understanding on the impact of the oil spill and the progress that has been made in the implementation of the UNEP assessment of the devastation in the area. There are two conclusions I want to draw in my visit. This is a very technical investment; it is not a rural type of investment where you are going to see houses built within a short period of time. My appeal is patience, to ensure that the required technical needs are met and to ensure that at the end of the cleanup it is properly done.”

    For Mr. Stuart Syminton, United State Ambassador to Nigeria said his visit to Ogoni was to get information about the cleanup. He commended the idea by HYPREP to think of providing water and building of health facilities to the communities in Ogoni area, adding that the project should target on the people by ensuring that everyone is happy at the end of the day.

    He noted that United States would partner with government and those handling the programme to achieve a good result for the people of Ogoni and the people of Niger Delta.

    Syminton said: “We are here to access the progress in Ogoni land, we are happy to hear that work has started, we are also glad that they are thinking on how to provide clean water for the communities including the provision of health facilities. This is part of the remediation; it is not about starting this project, it is about the people, the community and to ensure that everybody is involved.

    “The United States is interested in the area of provision of health care facilities and we are going to look at areas to partner with you, but we are happy that something is going on in Ogoni land.  We would like to know how the fund is being release to you, what is the structure of the decision making body of this programme. Are the people affected full represented, who are these people, is the private sector and local community part of the structure. I will advise that you source your manpower locally.”

  • Clean-up will reduce crime, says Ogoni monarch

    The Chairman of Ogoni Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers, Chief Godwin N.K Gininwa, the Gbenemene of Tai Kingdom, has said the clean-up in Ogoni land will provide jobs and reduce crime.

    Gininwa, chairs the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rules, said Ogoni monarchs strongly support the project and the Project Coordinator of   Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) Mr. Marvin Dekil, who is an Ogoni.

    The monarch spoke yesterday in Korokoro community, Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State, when HYPREP team visited his palace.

    Congratulating Dekil for accepting the Federal Government offer to coordinate the project, Chief Gininwa said Ogoni people deserve to be happy, adding that his people had suffered from the effect of oil exploration.

    Chief Gininwa said: “On behalf of my people and the council of chiefs, I want to welcome you to our community. I want the Federal Government to be fast about this project. My people had suffered a lot and we have waited for years to see this project running.

    “Please this is an appeal to Federal Government, the roads linking this community and some of the communities in this area are very bad. We thank God that money was not paid to be shared but was tied around the project. At least, we will not be fighting with each other over money, but the government must be fast about the project.

    “You are our son, be assured that Ogoni people are in support of you, you must succeed because if you succeed, the Ogoni people have succeeded. Please as the companies will be coming to our community, carry the youths along.”

    Dekil, who also visited Nweke community where he  interacted with the village head, Chief Victor N-bane, said his visit to Tai was to create awareness on the clean-up.

  • Clean-up delay: UN begs Ogoni to be patient

    Clean-up delay: UN begs Ogoni to be patient

    Six years after the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Report on Ogoniland, the United Nations has appealed to the people to exercise patience with the Federal Government over the delay in the commencement of the implementation process.

    The team of UN made the plea yesterday at a contaminated site in Kwawa community, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, during a familiarisation visit.

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo last year inaugurated committees that would facilitate the implementation.

    The Resident Coordinator United Nations in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallou, who led the team, stated that the remediation process involved technical approaches that needed a lot of time to be achieved appropriately.

    Kallou, who disclosed that it was his first visit to Niger Delta, noted that he was in the area to have firsthand information on the devastation and the level of work done.

    He noted that work was on going in the implementation process and urged the people of the area to the give the Federal Government a chance to be able to deliver a better result.

    Kallou said: “I am here today on a familiarsation visit on Ogoniland. I am here to have a better understanding on the impact of the oil spill and the progress that has been made in the implementation of the UNEP assessment of the devastation in the area.”

    “There are two conclusions I want to draw in my visit. This is a very technical investment; it is not a rural type of investment where you are going to see houses built within a short period of time. My appeal is patience, to ensure that the required technical needs are met and to ensure that at the end of the cleanup it is properly done.”

    “The beneficiary communities or the affected areas are looking up to what are the critical outputs of this investment, but the project is on. It needs to be given time to ensure that the technical aspect of the work is done properly.

    “We need time to allow the experts on the ground to do the critical analysis that are required before an investment is done. My advice to the project coordinator to look at a diversified approach with a rural development focus within the project itself that can be delivered in a short term.”

    The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, the body in charge of the remediation process, said it had commenced fully the training of graduates who would work to achieve the project.

    The Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Dr. Malvin Dekil, said over 12 people from different environmental related courses were been trained in different skills of remediation.

    He noted that there would be reassessment of impacted sites during the implementation proper as to capture the level of impact on the ground before a remediation plan is sketch for the area.

    He said: “We will take every site and capture the current contamination profile before we design a remediation plan for that area. We a will address that technically.”

     

    Wike appeals for urgent action

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has called on the leadership of the United Nations (UN) to prevail on the Federal Government to implement the clean-up of Ogoni-land, which was flagged off last year.

      Speaking at the Government House, Port Harcourt yeesterday when he granted audience to the United Nations Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr Edward Kallon, the governor regretted that nothing has so far been done on the Ogoni clean-up.

      He said large scale environmental pollution in different parts of the state leads to environmental degradation, which negatively affects the sources of livelihood of the people.

      He said the clean-up of Ogoni land should not be politicised, as it dwells directly on the development of the area.

      The governor said: “Yesterday in the Senate, somebody said that the Federal Government has not done anything as far as Ogoni clean up is concerned. When we were saying it, they said we were playing politics.  But now, it has dawned on them that nothing is being done.  So, we urge you to intervene.

      “Part of the problem we are having today is because of the lack of attention by the Federal Government when it has to do with Rivers State.  We will provide you with Helicopter to see what we are talking about.  Don’t only read it on papers. You will really pity us. “

      Speaking further, Governor Wike said: “The Federal Government has taken our oil and our environment has been degraded.  Nothing seems to be done.

      “We urge you on your own part as the United Nations to impress on the Federal Government that this clean up is very serious.  Let it not be a political issue. We should not play politics with the lives of the people.”

  • Niger Delta Report causes Benin Ring Road’s clean-up

    Niger Delta Report causes Benin Ring Road’s clean-up

    Benin City centre, the Oba Ovoranmwen Square popularly called Ring Road, is now wearing a new look. Adjoining streets, such as  Lagos Street, Oba market road,Ibiwe, Ebo Street, Omo Street, Lagos Street, Mission Road, Iguisi and Palm Palm, notorious for street trading, have also been cleaned up. All the street traders, hawkers and squatters have been sacked.

    The cleaning-up of the Ring Road and adjoining streets happened seven days after Niger Delta Report published a report on its dirty state despite millions of naira spent by government to beautify it.

    Heavy vehicular traffic that used to characterise the Ring Road has been removed as commercial drivers were barred from entering the place. All motor-parks erected at the Ring Road and all adjoining streets have been closed.

    Before the state government’s recent action, the Ring Road was an eye-sore. Millions of naira spent to plant flowers, built several gardens around the Ring Road appeared to have been wasted as dirts littered everywhere. The gardens were overgrown with weed. Traders took over all spots around the Ring Road to display their wares. Efforts to chase the commercial drivers and traders away were unsuccessful.

    In preparation for the sacking of the traders, Governor Godwin Obaseki set up the Clean Up Edo Project Committee headed by Secretary to the State Government,  Osarodion Ogie. The committee carried out several sensitisation street walk on the need for the traders to stop trading on the walkways as well as leave the streets.

    Perhaps the streets traders had hoped that like in previous administrations,  government officials would attempt to clear them during the day by the use of force and destroying of wares. What the traders had expected that they would gain public sympathy during the destruction or seizing of their wares, especially with television cameras around but they were mistaken.

    Obaseki, instead, delivered a surprised upper cut that the street traders are yet to recover from. On May 8,  the street traders and squatters were shocked to see that all illegal structures they erected were demolished over night and set ablaze. What they saw were burnt tables, chairs, umbrellas, make shift stores among others. Obaseki engaged the services of the Chairman of Akugbe Ventures, Comrade Tony Kabaka, who brought his boys to join officials of the Waste Management Board for the night operation. They started the operation at about 10pm on Sunday till 7am on Monday.

    At dawn, traders who came to sell at the streets and walkways were perplexed and confused. It was not an operation they had expected. Some had already gone to buy goods from nearby villages not knowing that they have been dislodged.

    The displaced street traders expressed divergent views on whether shops were available at various markets in Benin City. Some said available shops at markets were owed my middlemen who are not traders but demanded as high as N150,000 annually while others insisted that all shops at the Oba Market have been occupied.

    They said they were not given any notice to quit the streets and walkways before they were displaced.

    Taju Bamidele, one the displaced street traders, thanked the government for taking the steps to sack them but urged Obaseki to help reduce the cost of securing a shop at the Oba Market.

    Kingsley Okeke said they bought a land at Uteh village to build an international market but the community leaders have stopped them from carrying out the project.

    Acting General Manager of the State Waste Management Board, Prince Aiyamenkhue Akonofua, said five mobile courts were stationed at various locations within the Ring Road to prosecute anybody who flouts the directives.

    Prince Akonofua, in an interview, said the traders were warned several times to quit the walk ways and the Ring Road but the traders refused and explained that the midnight action was to stamp out illegal squatters, hawkers and street traders.

    He urged the displaced street traders to take up empty shops at the Oba Market, Agbodo market and other places.

    His words: “This is is the centre of Benin City and we cannot allow it to remain dirty. Civil society groups were involved in the sensitisation. Illegal squatters, hawkers and street trading have been prohibited. We have stamped it out. They have been outlawed.  We warned them, begged them and adviced them to leave the walk ways but they did not heed the warnings and directives of government.

    “All the market women leaders are in agreement with our move. They have been ordered to make shops available to any trader looking for shops. They are ready to provide space. We have five mobile courts to try offenders. Any offender will be dealt with. They should go into the main market where they are supposed to do business.”

    Ogie said said the action was to send a message that government would no longer tolerate what he described as a “disorganised Benin City”.

    Ogie told reporters that besides the street traders that were sacked, some arms were recovered during the clean-up at the Lagos Street.

    His words: “You recall that about a month ago we had a stakeholders meeting which we invited residents from the streets around the King Square, Ebo Street, Tebite, Ugboagbe and others. We told them that we cannot continue business as usual and there was need to clean up Benin City. In doing that we also agreed that the existing markets have enough spaces for our traders. The governor inspected Oba Market and we found that half of the shop there are unoccupied.

    “The same thing Agbada market. Infact the whole of Uwa Market is empty. So today we started with Ring Road and Lagos Street, we intend to follow it up to other streets. All traders on the walk way are prohibited. We will not allow it, our roads must become passable again, traffic must flow on the Ring Road, Lagos Street and other roads. For over ten years now, Lagos Street has become impassable, but the government has resolved in clearing those areas.

    “Government has identified bus terminals so that buses do not park on Ring Road. And you recall that during the administration of Governor Adams Oshiomhole, certain roads were rehabilitated around Oba market to make traffic movable. We intend to put on ground enforcement units within our traffic agencies to make sure that buses and other vehicles do their businesses without obstructing traffic at Ring road.

    “We have a market coming up at Ute, Ikweniro, one in Oredo, another one at Sapele Road near Ekae, we have several markets in Benin but people choose to abandon them to trade on the roads. Our markets are empty, we are cleaning up all the markets for them to do their businesses but not on the roads anymore”.

    Several traders and commercial drivers who attempted to sneak back to the Ring Road have been prosecuted and sentenced to various jail terms or an option of N50,000 fine.

    This is not the first time Edo State Government would be chasing traders and commercial drivers out of the Ring Road and adjoining streets. The traders and drivers always make their way back as election approaches. The coming months will tell if Obaseki can sustain the policy of keeping the Ring Road clean and free of street traders.

     

     

  • Ogoni communities discuss clean-up of ravaged environment

    Ogoni communities is discussing  how to clean their farmland, rivers and other natural habitats after the Federal Government initiated plans to fast-track the implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) report on the restoration of land polluted by oil in the Niger Delta region.

    The government amended the official gazette, which established the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project, among other decisions that would pave way for the restoration of the Ogoniland and other oil polluted areas in Niger Delta region in 2017. But Ogoniland is still affected by oil pollution, as cleaning exercise is yet to take place.

    The Bodo Council of Chiefs’ Chairman, Mene Slyvester Kogbara, said discussions were ongoing to ensure that oil-ravaged areas were cleaned. Bodo communities have 16,000 people who are located in Kogana Local Government Area of Rivers State, he added.

    In an interview with The Nation, Kogbara said the affected communities have been holding meetings with companies contacted to do the job by the oil firms. He said: “The communities through their chiefs have been holding meetings with the firms that are contracted by oil companies to clean the land. A meeting between the communities and the firms that are going to clean the land was billed to take place last Friday but it did not hold. The representatives of the oil cleaning firms were not available due to some reasons. We are almost arriving at a period, when the land and the rivers would be purged of oil pollution.”

    He attributed the absence of oil cleaning firms at the meeting to communication gap, adding that the problem would be resolve soon. He said residents of the oil-polluted communities are upbeat that their areas would be cleaned coupled with the fact that their conditions would be normalised soon.

    According to him, socio-economic activities have been paralysed due to delay in cleaning the areas.  “Despite efforts made by the Federal Government to ensure the wellbeing of people in the oil producing areas of the Niger Delta, the residents are living in abject poverty. The 12,000 acres of farmland in Ogoniland has been destroyed by oil. Also, oil spills have destroyed the rivers in Ogoniland.

    “Farming and fishing are the traditional sources of livelihood in Ogoniland but due to oil-pollution, the residents have not been able to earn a living. They are primarily farmers and fishermen implying that they do not have any other means of livelihood. That is why they (residents) are at the mercy of oil firms that produce and explore oil in the areas. Until Ogoniland is cleaned, no meaningful progress can be achieved in the area,” he added.

    He commended the Federal Government for putting in place measures to restore peace in Niger Delta region, stressing that the development would speed up activities in the region.

    He said the processes of reclaiming the land and other natural habitats from oil pollution were long, adding that residents of the affected communities would enjoy in the long run. He urged the Federal Government and other stakeholders in the value chain to work together to develop Niger Delta region and the oil and gas industry, stressing that this is the only way by which the potentials of the industry can be harnessed to improve the economy.

  • Ogoni clean-up too slow, says MOSOP

    The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has expressed concern over the clean-up  of Ogoniland, saying “it is too slow.”

    ‘’We are very uncomfortable with this slow pace because the environmental pollution in the area is not lessening instead it is deepening and the more it is delayed the more it spreads and deepens, it said.

    Its spokesman, Bariara Kpalap told The Nation on telephone that the slow pace was not helping the situation, adding that people are still dying in large numbers from environmental pollution.

    The people who are mainly farmers and fishermen, he said, could no longer fish or farm because the rivers were destroyed by oil spills.

    “People are dying as a result of the pollution, our fishermen can no longer fish, the contamination of the waters have killed the fishes, so nothing has happened,’’ he said.

    According to him, the problem has not abated because nothing has been done to address the environmental pollution in Ogoni, adding that the environment still remains polluted.

    “We want this issue of pollution in Ogoni land to be resolved and we do not see how continued delay will help and that is why we are insisting that this whole thing should assume a level of response through implementation.

    “In a situation where it takes about six months for a fast-track action to be announced, it takes another six months or more for the Governing Council and the Board of Trustees to be announced and inaugurated, it takes another six months or more for ground breaking to be done, it takes another six months or more for kick off and just like that, the impact is not being felt.

    ‘’We want something that will be more pragmatic than it is now.’’

    According to him, because of this delay, people are beginning to lose confidence in the exercise, adding that they to feel that the whole thing is a trick.

    He urged the government to be committed to the clean-up, adding that the exercise must be active. ‘’I must confess that the pace is extremely slow, though the process is on because the project manager has just been appointed and he only assumed duties on the  March 1, I think that on assumption of duties, he will now have to organise the secretariat, get things in shape and begin to draw up action plan, a framework for the process, all these things will require time to develop and design after which the exact plan will now be sent to the governing council for approval before any meaningful implementation can take place.