The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ogoniland

  • MOSOP president cries out over imminent crisis in Ogoniland

    MOSOP president cries out over imminent crisis in Ogoniland

    The President of Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Chief Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, has cried out over imminent crisis in Ogoniland, following attempts to resume oil production.

    He said in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at the weekend that no firm would be allowed to take Ogoni oil through the backdoor, without discussion with stakeholders in the four local governments of Ogoniland, namely Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme, especially at a time when clean-up of the polluted Ogoni environment had not been carried out.

    Pyagbara said: “If there is interest in resuming oil production in Ogoniland, the Federal Government and prospective oil companies should initiate a broad-based discussion with representatives from sectors of the Ogoni community. This process of engagement must ensure that the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of the Ogoni people is embedded within the framework of any discussion with the oil sector and the government relating to resumption of oil production in Ogoniland, taking into cognisance benefit sharing arrangements and the understanding of a credible environmental impact assessment of proposed oil operations in Ogoniland, to include social and health dimensions, as well as start public consultation process, as is the present industry standard, as recommended by the UNEP report.

    “MOSOP wants to state that it has not endorsed any oil company to take over oil operations in Ogoniland, as this is a process that requires consultation with stakeholders in Ogoni. It is in this regard that MOSOP recently set up a five-man committee to develop a new template and harmonise existing processes for engagement with the government and oil industry, that will be approved by the Ogoni people and presented to any interested party.

    “We are taking this opportunity to inform the people about the imminent crisis and violence the government of Nigeria and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC)/Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), the oil production arm of the NNPC, plan to inflict on Ogoni people. We want to stress that no oil production can take place in Ogoni without a process of clean-up achieved and broad public discussion about the future of oil operations in Ogoniland.”

    He said he was aware of the efforts of officials of oil companies to resume oil production in Ogoni, with some of them not following due process.

    Pyagbara said: “In recent months, there have been intense and deliberate attempts by the oil industry to return to the Ogoni oilfields through the backdoor, without any broad-based discussion with the Ogoni, with the potential of igniting a blaze of conflict and violence that will skirt this forceful attempt to return to the area. It is especially disappointing, because we have seen divisive efforts to re-enter Ogoni for oil production over the last decade, all of which have ended in failure. In each case, the lack of transparency and attempts to deal with local actors in isolation was the fundamental failure.

    “MOSOP wants to state that the Ogoni issue had been a conflict involving three main parties: the Federal Government, oil industry led by Shell and Ogoni people. Any attempt to deal with any of the matters that had been raised, as a result of the conflict, must involve the three critical actors as stakeholders in a joint project of finding a solution to the Ogoni crisis.

    “In the present attempt, the Federal Government and SPDC have acted in disdain to the Ogoni and forcefully want to give out the Oil Mining Licence (OML) over the Ogoni oil block to a company, without initiating any consultation with the Ogoni community. The Ogoni will resist this attempt.”

    He said while the Ogoni appreciated the Federal Government’s efforts to implement recommendations contained in the report of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on the environmental assessment of Ogoniland, the people were concerned about the slow pace of the implementation of the report, occasioned by unnecessary bureaucracy, lack of independence and funding, declaring that it was time to break down the bureaucratic bottlenecks that had been hampering the effective implementation of the UNEP report.

    Pyagbara said: “While MOSOP is open to discussions relating to the resumption of oil production in Ogoniland, it rejects the present approach of the Federal Government, through its oil production wing, NNPC, resorting to the old divide-and-rule tactics, which it had used and failed before, in an attempt to cause a renewed polarisation of the Ogoni community and put them against one another. This approach is condemnable, detestable and will be resisted by the Ogoni.

    “It is instructive to note that while the government of Nigeria commissioned the UNEP to carry out an assessment of Ogoniland, whose report had called for a total clean-up and restoration of Ogoniland, it is disappointing that the same government is going about trying to force its way through the backdoor to begin operations in Ogoniland, without addressing the key concerns that had been raised by the Ogoni over the years.”

    The MOSOP president said the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) must put in place a process that would address the implementation of emergency measures needed to deal with the critical issues of water, health and infrastructure, as a matter of priority, insisting that Ogoni people could no longer continue to drink the poisoned water that was threatening their lives and those of the future generations.

    He noted that the umbrella organisation of Ogoni people was concerned about reports about the approval for release of $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to fight insurgency in Northeast, saying MOSOP condemned the flagrant display of unabashed discrimination, demonstration of crass insensitivity and neglect of sections of the country.

    Pyagbara said the environmental terrorism going on in Niger Delta was more serious than the Boko Haram insurgency in Northeast, adding that in environmental terrorism, no blood would be spilled and no bone would be broken, yet thousands of human beings, animals, trees and herbs would be dying daily as a result of pollution of the environment.

  • Tinubu: we’ll draw attention to environmental challenges in Ogoniland

    Tinubu: we’ll draw attention to environmental challenges in Ogoniland

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment, Oluremi Tinubu, has said the committee is in Rivers State to draw attention to the environmental challenges facing Ogoniland in Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme Local Government Areas.

    She hinted that members of the committee were on an oversight/investigative visit to ascertain the level of environmental degradation in Ogoniland.

    Senator Tinubu spoke yesterday at the Government House in Port Harcourt, when the committee members visited Governor Nyesom Wike, before leaving for Ogoniland.

    She said: “We are concerned about these issues (pollution and environmental degradation in Ogoniland). We will use face masks when we get to the locations, which will draw the world’s attention to the essence of the clean-up.”

    Governor Wike accused the Federal Government of not being serious about the clean-up of Ogoniland.

    According to him, the clean-up remained a political project aimed at attaining political mileage, stressing that the people were tired of procrastination.

    Wike said: “The Federal Government is not serious about the clean-up of Ogoniland. We are tired of telling our people that the project will start next year.

    “Let it not be a political project. Look at the Northeast, a commission was established and $1 billion was released.”

  • Anxiety as MOSOP, others protest Shell’s resumption of oil production in Ogoniland

    Thousands of Ogoni people, from the four Local Government Areas of Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme, yesterday defied the heavy rain to massively protest the return of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) to resume crude oil production and laying of pipelines, after the Anglo/Dutch oil giant was sent packing from Ogoniland over 24 years ago.

    The protesters, comprising elderly men, women and youths, who were armed with placards, bearing various inscriptions, drumming and singing anti-Shell songs, were led by the President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Chief Legborsi Saro Pyagbara.

    The displeased protesters took off from Kpobie Junction in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, on the ever-busy Bori-Saakpenwa Road and trekked for about five kilometres to Biara, in the same Gokana LGA, the site of laying of fresh pipes by SPDC and moved into the forest, covering about 20 kilometres, to the last point with exposed pipelines about being laid, before connecting Bera-Ogoni in Gokana LGA, through a narrow forest path.

    Sighting the advancing protesters, the Nigerian and expatriate workers of Anasami Construction Nigeria Limited, the Shell’s contractor handling the laying of pipelines, took to their heels, abandoning four bulldozers and other equipment.

     As the protesters were moving round Ogoni communities, fully-armed soldiers and policemen in many Toyota Hilux patrol vans were driving/moving behind them, to prevent the breakdown of law and order,  with Nigerian Army’s Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), marked NA 381 AO1, stationed at Kpobie Junction.

    Pyagbara was accompanied by an alternate representative of Ogoni stakeholders in the Governing Council of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), Mr. Kammy Ngelale, and the National Coordinator of a socio-political pressure group, the Ken Saro-Wiwa Associates, Chief Gani Topba, among other prominent Ogoni leaders, who kicked against the return of SPDC to Ogoniland.

    Some of the placards read: “No broad-based discussion, no oil production in Ogoni”, “We say yes to clean-up and we say no to laying of oil pipelines in Ogoni now”,

    The MOSOP president, while addressing the protesters at Kpobie Junction, said: “We are at a time of national emergency, because of certain developments that are happening in Ogoniland, that we are not happy with. On August 26, 1990, our fathers and mothers came together and put in place the famous Ogoni Bill of Rights (OBR). Critical in the OBR is the issue of the stoppage of Ogoni environment from degradation. We initiated a lot of non-violent actions that forced Shell out of Ogoni in April/May 1993. Since then,  Shell was declared persona non grata in Ogoni.

    “We have not asked Shell to come back. We are seeing tendencies in the last few months about Shell trying to force its way back to Ogoni and we are saying no. The fire of the Ogoni struggle must continue to burn. We are demonstrating to the whole world, through non-violent strategy that our fathers taught us.

    “This is just the beginning of non-violent actions that we are planning in the coming days. There will be bigger protests in few weeks, if the Federal Government refuses to respond to the issues that we have raised. If you want to talk about resumption of oil production in Ogoni, you must come to the table. We must all discuss and bring to the fore, the issues that were raised by the founding fathers of the struggle, relating to oil production in Ogoniland.

  • NNPC loses 150,000barrel as militants strike pipeline in Ogoniland

    NNPC loses 150,000barrel as militants strike pipeline in Ogoniland

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group Managing Director (GMD) Dr. Maikanti Baru Monday announced that the corporation could not sustain its last week record of 2.2million barrel per day (mbd) owing to the attack on the Trans Niger Pipeline in Ogoniland which culminated in the loss of 150,000 barrel.

    Asked whether the NNPC was able to sustain its last week production feat, he said “Unfortunately, we have not been able to sustain it because we of challenges. As I am talking to you this morning the Trans Niger pipeline has been breached in Ogoniland and that is 150,000 barrel per of oil has been locked up day. That has been fairly an issue in that area. And we hope we can continue at that level.”

    He spoke to reporters after the opening ceremony of the “Extra-ordinary session of the Council of Ministers of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) in Abuja.

    In his opening remarks, the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, urged the African oil producing countries to track the funding of terrorists with oil funds.

    He noted that there was a global threat to peace from the funding of terrorist groups and other sources of violence and conflicts that have become a threat to the security and safety of the member states.

    Urging the member state to build up a data base that will track every molecule of oil produced in the region, he noted that the measure will also bring about accountability, transparency and global cooperation.

    His words: “Permit me to mention a matter of immediate concern. Around the world today, we are increasingly seeing crude oil, often of untraceable origins, funding the activities of terrorists groups and other purveyors of violence and conflicts.

    “Many of these groups constitute a threat or a potential threat to the safety and security in member of our member states. APPO reforms, therefore, needs to build the capacity to maintain a reliable statistical database and to deploy technology to track every molecule of crude oil extracted from our territories.

    “This is an important step, not only for global security, but also for fiscal transparency, accountability and of course, the required levels of international collaboration and cooperation that an organization like APPO is well-placed to muster.”

    He said that the session is holding when the continent and the rest of the world  are witnessing volatility in the petroleum market, and by implications, in their local economies.

    According to him, the centrality of the hydrocarbon industry to the economies of the continent  is self-evident, it is reflected in the revenue inflows that accounts for a significant percentage of their budget.

    This, said the Acting President, has become one of the, if not the primary sub-structure upon which economic planning is based and on which economic development and growth are generated.

    He added that “Over the last three years or so, oil producing countries across the world have experienced the full impact of the drop in oil prices with significant negative impact on government revenues and budgets and of the value of national currencies.

    “This volatility has triggered much soul-searching and governments are compelled to ask themselves difficult but necessary questions about the present and the future. Besides, the reality of the future, where demands for and revenues from oil drop sharply is already upon us; and almost every major oil importing country today has embarked on an aggressive non-fossil fuel alternative programme.

    “China, Japan and some Scandinavian states have already set dates within the next 10 to 15 years, to produce and use only electric vehicles. The zero oil days are clearly around the corner and I think the point has been very eloquently made by kachikwu.”

    He explained that African’s government and export bases are in dire need of diversification from the inimical dependence on natural resources that they enjoyed in the past.

    Continuing, he said that “But also the paradox is inescapable that we need oil to get out of our dependency of oil. The capacity to add value to the crude oil that we extract is crucial.

    “The whole range of the petrochemical enterprise remains a largely untapped option for growing industrial opportunities, creating jobs and increasing our chances of delivering on our national and continental commitment to inclusive growth.

    ” We must leverage our resources to fund and to support our ambition to create economies fit and ready for the 21st century.

    “In Nigeria, we are pursuing series of reforms along these lines, combining executive and legislative actions to create a sector that is more efficient, more transparent and more attractive to domestic and foreign investors.

    “We are also making progress in fine-tuning and implementing our local content policies; and that I must say is one area that is critical to the future of APPO. Indeed, that is one of the reasons why APPO was created, to provide a platform that would support and empower African countries to build and exploit local capacity and technology to the fullest.”

    Osinbajo announced that from February 2018, Nigeria would host annually, a world class international petroleum summit in Abuja.

    Speaking, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said that one of the challenges facing the (APPO) is the need to reform and reorganize to giving it a bite.

    The minister told his members that the oil world has changed and brought about a decrease in price to about 40% of what it was five years ago.

    So most countries that produce oil, he said, have lost substantial revenue and have lost even the capacity to do some of the huge developmental programme that they are known for.

    Kachikwu added that market is becoming very distraught and most regional block producers are beginning to ring-fence specific markets.

    He submitted that America has pulled out of the large market of oil importer while Asian and the Gulf countries are protecting their markets.

    He charged the APPO members to consider ways of enlarging and protecting the African market to give its players the first opportunity to utilize the market.

    Kachikwu said: “the Asian, the Gulf countries ensuring that their markets are protected. With America pulling out of the larger market as a major importer of oil, and the America first policy, it is becoming absolutely imperative for member countries of this organization, we need to begin to look at the African market and how they can enlarge it, expand it, make it robust and yet protect it, so that those of us who play in that market would be able to have the first opportunity to utilize that market.”

     

  • Ogoni Clean-Up: UN begs Ogoni to be patient with FG over delay 

    Ogoni Clean-Up: UN begs Ogoni to be patient with FG over delay 

    …As UN team visits Ogoni land

     

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

    The team of UN  made the plea Thursday at a contaminated site in Kwawa community, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, during a familiarization visit to ascertain the level of work on the cleanup of Ogoniland.

    It will be recalled that 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.

    Mr. Edward Kallou, the Resident Coordinator United Nations in Nigeria, who led the team to Ogoni land 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 region, 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 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.”

    “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.”

    Meanwhile, the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, the body in charge of the remediation process has 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 that 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.”

     

  • Why Ogoniland clean-up must continue

    The cleaning of Ogoniland and other oil pollutted areas in the Niger-Delta region  must not stop with the government of President Muhammad Buhari,  the  Country Representative, Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), Dauda Garuba has said,

    He said to achieve this, the Federal Government must develop a blueprint that would made successive adminstrations to continue cleaning oil-pollutted areas.

    He said oil exploration is an on-going activity in Nigeria, and as a result,it would be difficult to rule out  pollution.

    According to him, there must be a time-table that specify areas that would be cleaned in the next 5, 10 or 15 years, the modalities required to achieve this goal, the amount of moneu needed for the porject, among others.

    Garuba told The Nation, that when when these measures are put in place, successive governments would know what to do on the issue of celaning oil-polluted sites and how to go about it.

    He said: ‘’A well-defined programme on cleaning of oil-polluted areas must be provided by Mr Buhari’s government. The programme would guide contractors hired, by the Federal Government, to clean up the sites to know what and where to start. Based on this, the clean-up exercise would be sustained.

    The polluted communities, he said, must be carried along by the government that is cleaning the land, to achieve the desired results.

    “ The clean-up exercise must be sustainable. The government must put in place measures that would help in achieving it. Failure to do this means that successive governments would be doing the same thing and, in the process waste money that would have been used for other developmental projects.’’ he added.

    He said the report provided by the  United Nation Environmental Programme(UNEP) on cleaning of oil-polluted sites must be followed, urging the government to involve more international agencies on the issue to record growth.

    Garuba noted that internal wranglings among  residents of oil producigng  communities had delayed the clean-up exercise, advising the people to unite for the progress of the region.

  • FG to commence Ogoniland clean-up

    FG to commence Ogoniland clean-up

    •Minister says clean-up not about money sharing 

    The federal government has disclosed plans to commence clean-up of oil devastated Ogoniland in ‘few weeks’ from now.

    But the Environment Minister, Amina Mohammed, emphasised need for adequate security for effective implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) on the clean-up.

    The minister disclosed this during a stakeholders’ sensitisation meeting on pre and post launch activities of Ogoniland clean-up and other oil impacted communities at the weekend in Port Harcourt.

    Mohammed, who stated that the exercise would take about 25 years to be completed, said the Rivers State government has responsibility to provide security measures.

    She said the sensitisation became necessary to ‎ensure interest of all affected communities, including women, children and youths were captured in the clean- up process.

    She added that the entire programme should not be politicised but collective interest was needed to restore peace.

    The minister said it was important to also develop a post clean-up programme that would restore better livelihood of the people and engage the youths as well.

    According to her, the process will not be a money-sharing ‎galore but clean-ups and training of the affected communities.

    Mohammed said: “Security is very important to the clean-up process of Ogoni Land and roles of the state government are so vital.

    “It is not about sharing money. It is about investing in the future of the people of Ogoni Land.

    “In the next few weeks, we will begin to roll out the timeline,” she added.

    Prof Ben Nani, a respected scholar in the community, urged the minister to setup a trust fund and inaugurate a board that would manage the trust.

    Nani emphasised important role of the board before the cleanup could commence.‎

    The Commissioner for Environment, Prof. Roseline Konya, described the UNEP report as unbiased and acceptable by majority of the Ogoni inhabitants.

    She said it ought to have been implemented since 2011 but the state had patiently waited for additional five years for the project to commence.

    Konya commended federal government’s decision to kick-start the clean-up, adding that “what is required is confidence building on all sides.”

  • Ogoniland Clean-up: A step to right the wrong?

    Shortly after his assumption of office, President Muhammadu Buhari approved several actions to fast-track the long delayed implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report on the environmental restoration of Ogoniland.

    The president’s approval was a fulfilment of his campaign promise to the Ogoni people when visited the area in January 2015 to solicit their votes.

    Expectedly, the president will officially launch the onset of the clean-up in the coming weeks, according to the Minister of Environment, Hajiya Amina Mohammed.

    Oil spillage and pollution in Ogoniland began in 1968 at Ejamah, Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, and in 1970, the area recorded another spill at K-Dere in Gokana Local Government Area.

    The multinational oil company, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, is said to be responsible for the spills and its attendant environmental pollution.

    Commenting on the spills, Mr Fegalo Nsuke, the Publicity Secretary of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni (MOSOP), said that it was quite vexing to note that Shell made no tangible attempt to clean up the spills till date.

    “Since Shell pulled out in 1993, there had been no normal activity in Ogoniland oilfields.

    “However, we have had cases of illegal mining and stealing by Shell’s agents but no oil company is officially operating in Ogoniland today,’’ he said.

    Nsuke stressed that the struggle for Ogoniland’s clean-up and the remediation of its environment had claimed several lives, including the lives of Ken Saro-Wiwa, Agbarator Otu, Edward Kobani Theo Orage, Barinem Kiobel and John Kpuinen.

    As part of preparations toward the launch of the clean-up, the minister of environment visited Ogoniland between March 3 and March 4 to inform the people of the impending exercise and seek their cooperation with government on the project.

    The minister’s first port of call in Ogoniland was the palace of Gbeneme of Tai kingdom, Godwin Gininwa, who is also the President, Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers of Ogoniland, where she met with traditional rulers and other leaders of the area.

    At the meeting, Mohammed conveyed the Federal Government’s commitment to implementing the UNEP report and pleaded for the people’s cooperation.

    Responding, Gininwa commended President Buhari for keeping to his promise to clean up Ogoniland.

    “We are happy that he kept faith because less than 100 days into his government, the president directed several actions to fast-track the implementation of the UNEP report, as he promised,’’ he said.

    Nevertheless, Gininwa appealed to Buhari to mop up arms in Ogoniland and rid the communities of violent militants, saying that this was very important as the area’s clean-up was imminent.

    “Ogoni is faced with a dangerous situation as there are arms in almost all the communities; hence the Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers endorses continuous deployment of the military to Ogoni,’’ he said.

    Sen. Magnus Abe, who was one of the dignitaries on hand at the palace to receive the minister, pleaded with the people to bury their differences so as to ensure the realisation of the clean-up’s objectives.

    “I want to use this opportunity to appeal to Ogoni people that the implementation of the UNEP report is beyond politics. This is not a fight we started today.

    “I do not think it will be right, proper or fair for us to do anything that will give anybody the impression that we cannot bury our differences for the sake of our land.

    “If we do that, it will be very, very unfortunate. Anybody that creates that atmosphere is doing Ogoni people a great disservice and that will not be right,’’ Abe said.

    After the meeting at Gbeneme’s palace, the minister proceeded to Bori, the headquarters of Khana Local Government Area, where she held a stakeholders’ meeting with a cross-section of Ogoni people.

    Mohammed described the proposed clean-up of the area as a “right step to right the wrong of the past’’.

    She believed that the exercise would mark the end of the long years of the struggle and the dawn of a new era for Ogoni people.

    Mohammed admitted that the apathy of the government and oil companies to the plight of the Ogoni people, whose land had been degraded over the years by oil spillage and pollution, had created considerable tension in the area.

    “We must protect the environment, it exists for our prosperity.

    “Since the discovery of oil in Oloibiri (Bayelsa) in 1958, the environment in the Niger Delta area has been degraded and livelihood of the people negatively affected.

    “This has led to agitations and public outcry, championed by notable sons and daughters of this region.

    “Let me at this junction emphasise that the Federal Government, under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, is committed to changing the narrative of environmental degradation, pollution, erosion, desertification and unhygienic conditions in Nigeria,’’ she said.

    Mohammed promised that the clean-up would be used to “jump-start a sustainable livelihood agenda for the people of the Niger Delta that is less dependent on oil.

    “We intend to use the process to create jobs, improve capacity of the Niger Delta on environmental management and improve the economy.

    “The process of the clean-up is being designed to ensure its ownership by Ogoni people and, indeed, the entire Niger Delta area,’’ the minister said.

    Mr Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, the President of MOSOP, who responded on behalf of the people, said that the current efforts to clean up Ogoniland were the outcome of the struggle of the Ogoni people.

    “Ogoni environment is bleeding. There cannot be sustainable development in Ogoni without a sustainable environment and vice versa,’’ he said.

    Pyagbara, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to use the opportunity of the clean-up to bring to an end the environmental degradation of the area, while addressing the myriad development challenges facing the area.

    The MOSOP president emphasised that poverty was also a causative factor of environmental degradation.

    “Any clean-up and remediation of Ogoniland, which is not backed up by a clear practical development framework or plan to address other socio-economic issues, is not likely to succeed in the long term,’’ he said.

    Besides, Pyagbara proposed that the environmental rejuvenation programme should involve three phases: “oil spills’ prevention, oil spills’ clean-up and environmental restoration’’.

    He said: “Nigeria will be judged not only by its efforts to promote national integration but also how it actually protects the weak, the vulnerable and those whose lives have been imperilled by oil exploration by multinationals.’’

    Also speaking, Mr Kennedy Goodfriday, a youth leader in the area, said that the faith of the Ogoni people in the government had waned considerably because of the delayed clean-up of the land.

    Goodfriday demanded assurance from the minister that the exercise would not be jettisoned after all, while Mr Baris Gbama, an elder, pleaded with all leaders of Ogoni not to betray the hope of the ordinary people.

    A bishop, who preferred anonymity, also appealed to the political class in Ogoniland to close ranks and mobilise the people for the clean-up.

    The cleric, however, appealed to the Federal Government to channel whatever benefits that would accrue to the people in course of the clean-up to “the real Ogoni people and not crooks.’’

    A woman, who simply identified herself as Mary, said that women should not be left out in the process “because the women usually bear the brunt of environmental pollution and degradation in Ogoniland’’.

    While receiving the minister earlier, Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers advised the Federal Government to refrain from any form of partisanship by including all stakeholders in the clean-up process to make it a success.”

     

    • Eyiangho is of the News Agency of Nigeria

     

  • Buhari vows to clean up Ogoniland

    Buhari vows to clean up Ogoniland

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Nairobi reaffirmed  his administration’s resolve to  implement the United Nations Environmental Programme’s (UNEP’s) recommendations for the clean up of Ogoniland and other parts of Niger Delta damaged by crude oil spillage.

    Speaking during a visit to the United Nations Office in the Kenyan capital, President Buhari urged the United Nations to give more support for his administration’s efforts to clean up the region.

    In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President said: “When I came into office on May 29, 2015, one of the first tasks I carried out was to authorise the implementation of the recommendations of UNEP for the clean-up of  Ogoniland.

    “The devastation caused by oil spillage has destroyed lives and livelihoods and is one of the reasons people in that region  lost faith in government and  resorted to criminal activities.

    “The action our government took to implement UNEP’s recommendations has given the indigenes hope.”

    Buhari said with half of the world’s population in cities, leaders must pay greater attention to rapid urbanisation.

    Resident Coordinator of the UN Office Ms Sahle-Work Zewde said  Buhari’s election in a free and fair election demonstrated the commitment of Nigerians to democracy.

    She described Nigeria as a “crucial member of the UN,  a vital partner and a major contributor to  UN peacekeeping operations.”

    Before leaving the UN Office, President Buhari undertook the symbolic planting of a tree, a tradition reserved for visiting Heads of State and Government.

  • Ogoniland, Buhari, Jonathan and history

    On May 21, 1994, Ken Saro-Wiwa; Ledum Mitee, Dr. Barinem Kiobel and twelve others were arrested by soldiers and charged with the murder of the four prominent Ogoni sons.

    Saro-Wiwa, like other suspects, was severely beaten and injured, even before interrogation, and his legs were chained together for ten days, in spite of his heart condition.

    The Justice Ibrahim Auta-led Ogoni Civil Disturbances Tribunal, set up by the then Head of State, General Sani Abacha, was inaugurated by the then Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mohammed Bello, in November 1994, to try the fifteen Ogoni men, who were charged with the killing of the Ogoni-Four. The trial commenced in February 1995, while the members of the tribunal were sitting in Port Harcourt.

    Saro-Wiwa and others, except Mitee, were hanged after a kangaroo trial. At the heart of Ogoni’s crisis is oil giant Shell, which the people eventually banished. Its land and water are polluted and not useful for productive use. And when former President Goodluck Jonathan, who spent the bulk of growing up years in Rivers State, where Ogoniland is, became President, the people were hopeful that the clean-up of the area would be done. Jonathan spent six years as president and failed the Ogoni people.

    Buhari seems ready to perform where he failed. On Wednesday, the president approved the full implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP’s) environmental assessment of Ogoniland. It is a fulfillment of his electioneering campaign.

    During the 2015 presidential campaigns, he visited Ogoniland and he promised the stakeholders that upon his election as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he would ensure the full implementation of the recommendations contained in the UNEP report. The Ogoni are excited.

    On August 4, 2011, the 262-page UNEP’s main report was received by Jonathan. He set up a Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC), headed by the ex-Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

    The primary objective of the PIC was to review the UNEP report and make recommendations to the Federal Government on the remedial and long-term solutions. The report of the committee was subsequently submitted to former President Jonathan, without the content made public.

    Rather than implementing the UNEP report, the Jonathan’s administration, on the eve of the first anniversary of the release of the all-encompassing and strategic UNEP report, set up the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) on July 20, 2012.

    The inauguration of HYPREP was based on the provisions of the Petroleum Act CAP 350 LFN 2004, as a special unit under the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, to cover all pollution sites in the Niger Delta and other parts of Nigeria.

    HYPREP is to investigate and evaluate all hydrocarbon polluted communities and sites in Nigeria and make recommendations to the Federal Government. HYPREP will also restore all the communities and sites established as impacted by hydrocarbon pollution in Nigeria.

    An Ogoni daughter, Mrs. Joy Nunieh-Okunnu, was appointed as the National Coordinator HYPREP, but MOSOP kicked against the Federal Government’s HYPREP initiative, while insisting on the full implementation of the UNEP report.

    The UNEP report stated that the water in Nsisioken-Ogale-Eleme, Eleme (Ogoni) Local Government Area of Rivers State, contained cancer-causing Benzene (carcinogen), which was 900 times the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) standards for water contamination, thereby requiring urgent attention.

    The report also revealed that the sustainable environmental restoration of Ogoniland would take up to 20 years to achieve and would require coordinated efforts from government agencies at all levels, thereby recommending that the Federal Government should establish an Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority.

    The UNEP report indicated that the full environmental restoration of Ogoniland would be a project, which would take 30 years to complete, after the pollution had been brought to an end, while recommending the establishment of an Environmental Restoration Fund for Ogoniland, with initial fund of $1 billion for capacity building, skill transfer and conflict resolution and that the management of the fund should be the responsibility of the Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority.

    Following a meeting on the directive of President Buhari, it was also agreed that a deposit of $10 million would be made by stakeholders, within 30 days of the appointment of members of the BoT for the trust fund, who will be responsible for collecting and managing funds from contributors and donors.

    A new implementation template has also been evolved at the instance of President Buhari and the environmental clean-up of Ogoniland will commence in earnest with the President’s inauguration of the HYPREP Governing Council and the Board of Trustees for the trust fund.

    Between Buhari and Jonathan, who will history judge right? The answer depends on whether or not the president sees through his implementation template. Ogoni, Nigerians and the world are watching.