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  • Activists seek implementation of UNEP report on Ogoniland

    Activists seek implementation of UNEP report on Ogoniland

    Some  Niger Delta activists  have urged President Bola Tinubu to consider the full implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme report on the clean up of Ogoniland.

     They also urged the President to approve adequate compensation  for  Ogoni farmers and fishermen who lost their means of livelihood as a result of the contamination of their lands.

     The activists also demanded  compensation to be paid to families of the over 2000 Ogoni men, women and children who were  ‘’murdered in cold blood by the rampaging soldiers during that unlawful military occupation of Ogoni.”

     The activists made the demands at a news conference  yesterday in Abuja to mark the 28 years anniversary of Ogoni activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa.

    The activists are: Team Lead, Peoples Advancement Centre (PAC), AkpoBari Celestine; Leader, Ogoni Peoples Assembly, Rev Probel Williams and Chairman, Partners for Electoral Reforms, Ezenwa Nwagwu.  One of the recommendations of the UNEP report was the setting up of an environmental restoration fund with an initial capital injection of US$1 billion contributed by the oil industry and the government, to cover the first five years of the clean-up project.

     They said: “That the President Exonerates Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists and orders immediate review of the judgment that was given by the Kangaroo Military Tribunal in 1995 that sentenced them to death;

     “That the Military Officers like Dauda Musa Komu, Paul Okontimo, Obi Umahi etc who committed genocide in Ogoni land during the military occupation of their territory be immediately arrested and prosecuted.

    “Adequate compensation be paid to families of the over 2000 Ogoni men, women and children who were murdered in cold blood by the rampaging soldiers during that unlawful military occupation of Ogoni;

    “That the President urgently and passionately looks into the legitimate demands of Ogoni people as enshrined in the Ogoni Bill of Rights with a view to addressing them. This includes the issue of political marginalization. It will interest Mr President that no Ogoni has been Governor, Deputy Governor, Speaker or Chief Judge since the creation of Rivers State on 27 May 1967;

    “That Mr President considers full implementation of the UNEP report on Ogoni by directing SHELL to immediately decommission in line with recommendations of UNEP.

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    “Mr President should also approve adequate compensation to Ogoni farmers and fishermen who lost their means of livelihoods;

    “Mr President should direct immediate release of the confiscated Non Motorised Ken Saro-Wiwa Memorial Bus which is being held by the Nigerian Customs in spite of recommendations of the National Assembly on Tuesday 19th July, 2016 and the favourable ruling of a Court of Competent Jurisdiction since 20th April, 2023;

    “On the ongoing environmental remediation in Ogoni, you cannot run the tap and mop your floor at the same time. The Government should concentrate on the clean up of Ogoni and other Niger Delta States and stop new oil exploration in the region. Niger Delta has contributed a lot to the development of Nigeria, it is time Nigeria should take care of Niger Delta people and the environment.

    “It is on record that the Government of Nigeria is yet to release one kobo in contribution to the Ogoni clean up. Government should pay up and immediately release money to HYPREP to commence environmental audits of other polluted sites in Niger Delta.”

  • UNEP to provide technical support for Ogoni clean-up

    The Federal Government has re-engaged the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) to provide technical support to the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), and ensure that the Ogoni cleanup exercise is executed in line with the UNEP recommendation.

    Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Marvin Dekil, said the Federal Government has re-engaged UNEP for the next one year to work with HYPREP in all aspects of the project, while also providing technical support in communication and project management.

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    It would be recalled that, remediation works have commenced in the four local government areas of Ogoniland following the recent hand over of 16 polluted sites to contractors by HYPREP.

    Dekil added that the re-engagement of UNEP was to ensure that its recommendations as contained in the 2011 report were successfully implemented.

    He said: “They are going to carry out high level training and I can assure you that the Federal Government’s commitment to the Ogoni clean-up is unwavering. We are soliciting the support of the youths, women and the entire community leadership to ensure the project is successful.”

  • UNEP chief seeks action on climate change

    UNEP chief seeks action on climate change

    The language of environmentalists are boring and uninspiring; people cannot be bored into action, only excitement and inspiration can create action and change people’s behaviour, Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), says Erik Solheim, has said.

    People are hungry for news about the risks of climate change but experts are alienating them with boring, technical jargon, the United Nations top environment official said.

    Erik Solheim, executive director of the (UNEP), said one of the most searched terms on the Internet this year was “Hurricane Irma”, a powerful storm that devastated parts of the Caribbean.

    “It shows people want to know about these things but when it comes to explaining why it’s happening and what can be done to stop it, we’re not speaking in language that everyone understands,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

    “The language of environmentalists has been boring, so uninspiring … If we just speak a technical language, with many acronyms and politically-correct phrases, no one will listen,” he said in an interview during a conference on landscapes in Bonn.

    “You cannot bore people into action. They need to be excited and inspired to take action and change their behaviour.”

    As public attention is focused on big disasters that make the headlines, important issues like loss of forests and land degradation risk being left behind, the former Norwegian international development and environment minister said.

    More than 1.3 billion people live on agricultural land that is deteriorating and face worsening hunger, water shortages and poverty.

  • 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.”

     

  • UNEP Report: Ogoni banks on peace for progress

    The feeling of Ogoni stakeholders at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Integrated Soil Management Centre was that there must be a mutual peace among the leaders, youths and communities before any meaningful development could take place in the area.

    The historical event, which took place at  Kwawa community and School-to-land  Bori, in Khana Local government of Rivers State,  was performed by Minister of Environment Mrs  Amina Mohammed, as  part of the implementation of United Nation Environment Programme  (UNEP) in Ogoni land.

    From one speaker to another it was all about how to make the youths give the Federal Government a chance for a successful implementation and how the stakeholders would work in synergy for the common good of the project.

    The Chairman, Ogoni Traditional Rulers, His Royal Majesty, King G.N.K. Giniwa, Gbenemene of Tai Kingdom, said there must be peace first before any progress could take place in Ogoni land.

    He said: “Today is another day in the history of Ogoni land. I want to specifically appeal to Ogoni people in Ogoni land to give peace a chance. We need peace; we must work together in harmony to achieve progress.  Let the Federal government ensure that this dream come true. I’m the father of the Ogoni land, I know my people, if you give them something good, they will appreciate it. This project must be taken with two hands and in doing that there must be peace. “

    The President, Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Comrade Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, who called for a minute silence for those who died in Ogoni struggle, also called for peace in the area.  He said Ogoni people must be grateful that the Federal Government decided to make them happy.

    He called on Ogoni people to work hard for the interest of peace and ensure that the project was successful.

    “First, we must be grateful, the Minister of environment, Mrs  Amina Mohammed, has done a great job in taking us this far. But we need to ensure peace; I want to challenge all Ogoni people that we must make sure this project did not fall. This is our project; its success would depend on the ability for mutual relationship, love and harmony among the communities, stakeholders and the youths of Ogoni land.”

    Secretary to the Rivers State government (SSG) Chief Kenneth Kobani, a son of the soil, who represented Governor Nyesom Wike, said despite the short notice to the governor, he was determined to see the success of the project and decided to donate the land to build the centre.

    The SSG said Ogoni people should count themselves lucky to be the first to receive Federal Government support on this project when Ogoni was not the first place where oil was discovered in the Niger Delta.

    “ I want to appeal to my people, they should know that managing the expectations of the people  is a problem of its own. And there is no way a project of this magnitude can be made over night, of course, UNEP report stated that it would take 20 to 30 years to succeed in what we are starting here today. I believe this exercise was long coming; if you recalled oil was not first discovered in Ogoni land but in Olubiri in Bayelsa. So, we are indeed lucky and privileged people for receiving this amount of attention from the Federal Government. I will therefore appeal like other speakers in this event that the time for peace and development is now.”

    The National Coordinator, Ogoni Solidarity Forum (OSF), Celestine AkpoBari, said the people of Ogoni were excited about the clean-up.

    “We are excited because some people have already said the clean-up will not take place, what the minister is doing here today is a testimony that  something is taking place here in Ogoni and for them to come and lay a foundation stone  shows  that something is happening and they are ready to go.  The delay in the implementation is not deliberate, there are structures being put in place. The minister is now the Deputy Secretary of the United Nation and she needs to put things in place before leaving. The only encouragement she needs from Ogoni people now is for us to maintain peace for the progress of this project.”

    Hajia Mohammed, who was accompanied by the  Minister of State for Environment and other top senior officers of the ministry, said President Muhammadu Buhari was interested in the development of the Niger Delta.

    She  said the Ogoni clean-up was part of President Buhari’s campaign promises to Ogoni people, adding that the project was not for sharing of  money but investing money for the development of the area. The minister noted that the government would begin the clean-up with the training of 1,200 Ogoni women.

    Mrs. Mohammed:  “Calling for peace, to me, this is the greatest support you have given me and I will continue to look behind to cherish it. The development of Ogoni land is the priority of this administration started by President Buhari as one of his campaign promises. This is the recognition of the fight and struggle of injustice of Ogoni People. The issue of clean-up is not only for Ogoni people but for the rest of Niger Delta where oil exploration has impacted negatively to their environment.  I know, you will be asking after now, what next? What we want to do is to start something that in the next five years, people will attest the government effort.  In the next 20 years, we will restore Ogoni land to where it was years ago.

    “From the community leaders, youths, women, oil companies, civil society groups everybody must play his or her part to ensure that we succeed. The clean-up in Ogoni land is not just for a particular section of people it is a collective responsibility. We also have the board of trustees. I want to recognise you.  I’m glad that   Ogoni man is your project manager; after today, he will not know rest until he finishes the cleaning. We want the sons and daughters of Ogoni land to benefit from this project; everybody will be carried along. Those of you that cannot do it will be trained to be part of it.  So, we are not leaving you behind; even if you don’t have the ability, you will learn on the job. What this means is that we are trying to find peace, unity and progress of the Niger Delta. There are many people who have benefited from the injustice and misery in Ogoni land and we will not allow them to do that again.

    “This project is a collective effort; we must ensure that we succeed; we are not here to be sharing money but to invest money.  After the clean-up, we are to provide jobs to you. That is the reason we want to keep this place clean. President Buhari has talked about the diversification, but the way we are polluting the environment here, there is no diversification for Niger Delta. There would be no diversification of the economy of Niger Delta if we continue to pollute the environment.  We are pleading, let today be a new era in the Niger Delta. We must stay clean after the clean-up. We are also going to begin this project by training our youths. Let me say that the most important thing for us is our women because they carry the burden of what was happening in all these days.  Today, we are going to start with 1,200 Ogoni women in this project.  Please what we need is for people to come and tell us how we can clean and how to sustain the cleaning.”

     

  • Dialogue Way Out Of Niger Delta Crises- Ex-Deputy Gov

    Dialogue Way Out Of Niger Delta Crises- Ex-Deputy Gov

    Worried by the resumption of bombings of oil pipelines by militants in the Niger Delta, former Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Dr. Chris Ekpenyong, has warned against using strong-arms tactic to quell the problem.

    Militants’ groups in the region have resorted to blowing up oil and gas infrastructure in the region since former President Goodluck Jonathan lost the 2015 Presidential poll in a protest that has cut oil output from 2.2 million barrel per day to a staggering 1.5 million.

    The agitators, who are demanding for greater share of resources from the zone, have warned oil companies operating in the region to leave or be killed in a renewed campaign to draw Federal Government’s attention to series of environmental disasters plaguing the region.

    But Ekpenyong, though described the agitation as legitimate, has faulted the militants approach, warning that: “there is no amount of militancy that will help the Niger Delta.”

    Speaking in an interview in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, the former Deputy Governor traced the history of arms struggle in the region to the 60s when the late Adaka Boro was at the forefront, noting that such confrontational postures only worked antithetically to undermine the development of the Niger Delta.

    While urging the militants to sheathe their swords, Ekpenyong advised President Muhammadu Buhari to convoke a parley where genuine stakeholders of the region will interface with the Federal Government team to resolve the problem.

    He noted that as the Buhari-led administration has set the tone towards the implementation of UNEP report on Ogoni clean up, it was unnecessary for the militants to further degrade by polluting farmlands and waters that would add to the problems of the long-suffering people of Niger Delta.

    He charged the Federal Government to work towards addressing the genuine concerns of minorities in the polity, recalling that the Willink Constitution of 1958 had provided for the minorities to be given a sense of belonging in the Federation.

    “Niger Delta should be given a fair share of what it is producing”, Ekpenyong stressed, lamenting that the management of oil resources in region must be equitably distributed and Niger Deltans allowed greater participation for greater benefits to the region.

    Besides, Ekpeneyong, who has joined the growing calls for the restructuring of the Federation, advocated for each States to have greater control of their resources, noting that the Federal Government’s overbearing influence on components States was partly responsible for the ongoing geopolitical wars in the country.

    According to him, dousing the current tension in the region through genuine dialogue would detract the President from his pre-election promises to Nigerians and also force public opinion against him -if he wishes to re-contest in 2019.

    He charged the Federal Government to work towards a new paradigm shift by diversifying the economy from oil to agriculture and solid minerals, pointing that such change in focus would reduce attraction from oil, while creating jobs and wealth for the people in other sectors of the economy.

  • Ogonis paid for oil firms’ success – UNEP

    The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on Thursday said Ogoni people have paid a high price for the success of Nigeria’s oil industry, enduring a toxic and polluted environment for decades.

    The outgoing Executive Director of UNEP, Mr. Achim Steiner, made the remark on Thursday at Bodo, Rivers State, where President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the clean-up of polluted Ogoniland.

    “Today marks a historic step towards improving the situation of the Ogoni people who have paid this high price for too long.

    “A clean-up and restoration effort like this cannot happen overnight.

    “I am hopeful that the cooperation between the Government of Nigeria, oil companies and communities will result in an environmental restoration that benefits both ecosystems and the Ogoni people of the Niger Delta,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the UNEP chief as saying on the matter.

    Steiner said UNEP had provided the scientific basis for this work, and would continue to offer its technical expertise to help ensure a positive result for all involved.

    He recalled that the report on Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland as requested by the Federal Government was released in August 2011.

    According to him, it examined for two years the environmental impact of oil industry operations in the area since the late 1950s.

    “It found that oil contamination in Ogoniland is extensive and is having a grave impact on the environment, with pollution penetrating further and deeper than previously thought,’’ he added.

  • ‘UNEP Report implementation’ll reduce crimes’

    ‘UNEP Report implementation’ll reduce crimes’

    The Minister of the Environment, Mrs. Amina Mohammed, has assured that the full implementation of the recommendations in the report of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on environmental assessment in Ogoni land will reduce crimes and violence.

    Also, the Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, said the Federal Government’s interventionist agency would take part in the Ogoni clean-up.

    She said this was part of its mandatory assignment to ensure the development of every community in Niger Delta.

    Mohammed and Semenitari spoke yesterday while inspecting the venue for the June 2 kick-off of Ogoni clean-up by President Muhammadu Buhari at Numuu-Tekuru Waterfront in Bodo City, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    During last year’s electioneering campaigns, Buhari, the then presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), visited Ogoni land and pledged that he would ensure the full implementation of the recommendations in the UNEP report, if elected.

    On August 5, last year, after 68 days in office, the President approved several actions to fast-track the implementation of the UNEP report in Ogoni land.

    These included the amendment of the official gazette establishing HYPREP to reflect a new governance framework, comprising a Governing Council, a Board of Trustees (BoT) and Project Management.

    The minister yesterday said it was a coincidence that the Federal Government decided to kick-off the clean-up at the same location, where Buhari, as Head of State, inaugurated a fish pond for the Niger Delta Basin Development Authority (NDBDA) in 1984.

    Mohammed said: “It is such a coincidence. I do not imagine that President Buhari, when he was making his promise, remembered that this is going to happen at this time, because this fish pond was working and he is the one who inaugurated it. It was about livelihood in the midst of the wealth we take from this land and you see that it is gone.

    “It is a tragedy, but we are coming back again with that hope that we can return the ecosystem to what it was, the livelihood to what it was and provide alternatives to the crimes that are going on now. It is a kind of blessing that comes along. He (President Buhari) made a promise and is trying to deliver.”

    Semenitari said the NDDC had a commitment and a mandatory assignment to ensure that it was part of the clean-up process.

    She said: “Development is a big issue for us and the commission’s assignment is to ensure development of every community. One of the biggest issues for the commission is the matter of the environment, to the extent that it was actually the reason the commission was created.

    “NDDC was created to ensure sustainable livelihood, cleaner environment and more sustainable environment in the region from where crude oil exploration and exploitation occur.

    “Clearly, the commission has a commitment and a mandatory assignment to ensure that it is part of this process, as long as it takes.”

  • Shell praises Buhari on UNEP report implementation

    Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for setting up governance structures for the implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report.

    The General Manager, External Relations, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Igo Weli, said at a forum in Lagos that the UNEP report implementation is paramount to Shell, adding, “we are greatly encouraged by the positive and constructive response from representatives of the community, Niger Delta non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society. This is an important step forward and SPDC is determined to play its part in maintaining the momentum.”

    He noted that as the UNEP report stated, treating the problem of environmental contamination within Ogoniland merely as a technical clean-up exercise, will ultimately lead to failure. Ensuring long-term sustainability is a much bigger challenge, one that will require coordinated and collaborative action from all stakeholders. This must include putting an end to the widespread pipeline sabotage, crude oil theft and illegal refining that are the main causes of environmental damage in Ogoniland and the wider Niger Delta today. Shell Companies in Nigeria will continue to be at the forefront engaging interested stakeholders and seeking sustainable innovative ways to resolve the problem, he added.

    Weli stated the SPDC championed grassroots environmental campaign in partnership with the Rivers State Ministry of Environment, NOSDRA and NGOs to deepen awareness on the ills of illegal bunkering and oil theft. 12 town-hall sessions were held across the four local government areas yearly, and about 11,000 participants recorded from 2014 to date.

    He also drew attention to the need for the people of Ogoni to know that the $1 billion Ogoni Restoration Fund is not for distribution among indigenes of Ogoniland. He said most worrisome aspect of UNEP report implementation, is the belief among some of the community members that every Ogoni person will get $1 million from the planned $1 billion fund after which the remainder will be channeled to spill cleanup and environment remediation.

     

     

     

  • UNEP report: why implementation is stalled, by Shell

    UNEP report: why implementation is stalled, by Shell

    Three years on,  the report of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) on assessment of the environment and public health impact of oil contamination in Ogoniland in Rivers State and the options for remediation, is yet to be implemented.

    This followed stakeholders’ non-compliance with the project.

    The independent assessment by UNEP was conducted at the request of the Federal Government to create a sustainable remediation of the polluted area and stem militancy in the region. But since release of the report in August 2011, much has not been done to implement its recommendations.

    But the General Manager, External Relations, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Igo Weli, told reporters in Lagos that the UNEP report implementation was paramount to the company.

    He regretted that other stakeholders were not working on the responsibilities assigned to them.

    The Report recommended  76 actions, with the Federal Government getting 50, Shell 22 and the community four.

    Weli noted that the most important of all the actions are those assigned to the community, including the taking of a proactive stand against oil theft and illegal refining to stop spills and environment degradation and allowing access to clean-up spills.

    There had been no progress on the actions, he said, adding that the implementation of the recommendations would make no sense or achieve any result with continued spills and illegal refining.

    Weli said: “Oil production in Ogoni by SPDC was stopped abruptly in 1993, due to access denial. Facilities were vandalised, accompanied by fires and oil spills. Oil theft and illegal oil refining have, in addition, led to significant environmental impact. But SPDC is committed to remediating the environment, if only the community will cooperate. It makes no sense to clean up while fresh spills and illegal refining continue unabated.”

    He said 22 actions were recommended in the report for the operators to carry out.

    These include reviewing the procedures for clean-up and remediation, developing asset integrity management and decommissioning plans for Ogoniland and contributing to an Ogoni clean-up fund established by government.

    Weli said 16 actions had been completed, five were ongoing, such as relocation of right of way (RoW) encroachers, among others.