On 2nd June last year, the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, stormed the city of Port Harcourt, precisely Bodo community in Gokana Local Government. He was welcomed with a rising ovation, but why? Because he had come to inaugurate the long-abandoned Ogoniland clean-up project. This was widely celebrated and described as ground-breaking.
The clean-up is a 30-year long project that ought to commence almost immediately but till today not a single drop of oil has been cleaned.
Osinbajo, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari, was firm to restate assurances of the federal government to cleaning the oil polluted Niger Delta region starting from Ogoni-land. He even went as far as issuing stern warnings to the multinationals to comply with international best practices. “The current oil theft and illegal refining will not be tolerated. The regulators in the oil industries must live up to expectations. They must ensure that oil companies carry out their operations in line with universal best services…..”
However, no one ever imagined that more than a year after the much publicised inauguration, rural dwellers in Ogoni land will still be subjected to lavish in pains and despair. Fish farmers turned commercial motorcycle riders will rather stay glued to their new profession while infections of all degrees persist due to the high-grade contaminations.
One would have wondered that real action on the clean-up will be at par with the huge resources expended on publicity. The news spread from live telecast on popular broadcasts to billboards, radio jingles, social media platforms, interviews, including small handbills distributed at the inauguration site.
All these efforts, though, affirmed that the project execution was a deliberate, planned and conscious effort but weak at implementation.
But prior to the inaugural ceremony, the former Environment Minister, who is the current United Nations Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed, engaged every important personality in order to make the project holistic. She held series of meetings with relevant stakeholders solely to ensure everyone was being carried along and emphasised the meetings were to ensure the host communities took ownership of the project and most importantly stay clean, thereafter the project implementation.
From January – February 2016, the minister held meetings with core groups in Lagos. This was followed by stakeholders meeting in Tai (Korokoro), Bori and Yenagoa from 3rd March – 5th March, 2016. On 24th March, 2016, the ministers met with oil companies and later a consultative meeting with all stakeholders in Port Harcourt.
Concerns
Despite these consultations, till date residents and host communities still drink from polluted water and contaminated wells filled with cancer-causing benzene that is 900 times beyond acceptable standard. The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) and some prominent Ogoni people repeatedly lamented the delay asking the federal government through Hydro Carbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to back their words with action and commence real work.
The
leaders from the region repeatedly expressed worries questioning the sincerity
of the federal government on the project. Some even wondered, perhaps the
environment ministry is confused over the right approach to the real clean-up
exercise. The Ogoni people, according to MOSOP, had envisaged a speedy cleanup
and remediation process but the project appeared to be crippled with so much
bureaucracy and poor funding.
In
an interview with The Nation, the Executive Director, Environment Rights
Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Dr. Godwin Ojo, condemned inactions of the
federal government. To him, it is a sad development that one year after the
much celebrated inauguration, not a drop of oil has been cleaned.
“There
is need for an environmental emergency for the whole of Niger Delta…..This is
long overdue. As we speak, the Ogoni clean-up, a year after flag-off, is yet to
commence. We have for long recommended to the federal government to set up a
$100 billion clean-up fund for the region. That has not been done.
“We
are very certain that with the way government is moving, very little or nothing
will be achieved. The government is on the way to fail if they don’t change because
as we speak, not a drop of oil has been cleaned in Ogoniland.”
As
a result, farmlands are still being destroyed due to slow implementation of the
United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report. Livelihood of the host
communities are also at a standstill as their hopes had been dashed.
Parents,
who had earlier believed their children are free drinking from contaminated
wells, are still very much disappointed. The optimism that their farmlands will
no longer become waste-land such that will bear good harvests is long gone.
Obviously, they will continue to spend more on medicals. Those who vacated
their natural abode due to the pollution will hold on to the fact that it will
be a worthless decision to return home as the natural ecosystem remained contaminated.
The
Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Jubril, agreed to this claim when he
recently described in an interview that “….the pollution in Ogoni is alarming.
The creek waters are seriously polluted; the mangroves are destroyed along with
the marine lives that inhabit them. Bore holes cannot yield good water and so
on and so forth. All these have serious consequences.”
President
of MOSOP, Mr. Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, during a visit of the United States
Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Stuart Symington, to some crude oil-impacted sites
in Ogoniland, appealed to the US government to prevail on Shell, as well as the
federal government to provide adequate funding for the speedy commencement of
clean up.
“Whilst
we appreciate that the federal government had taken steps to put some
structures in place, particularly governance frameworks, we are deeply
concerned that the process had been immorally too slow. The emergency measures
on water and health that needed to be addressed immediately are not yet on ground.
We appeal to you to use your good officers to call on the joint venture
partners led by SPDC and the Nigerian government to provide adequate funding
for this project to take off effectively.”
The
MOSOP leader called for a sustainable development for the Ogoni people in order
to ensure a successful clean up. “As you are aware, without addressing the
issue of poverty, the move to stop environmental degradation will also not be
effective and successful. In order to ensure a successful clean up programme,
we will be appealing for a concomitant economic rejuvenation programme for our
people.”
Symington
said empowerment of the host communities remains a vital implementation
component necessary for the project. “We are here to learn about your country
and to hear directly from people in different places of this wonderful land,
and I have learnt a lot.
“The
most important thing I have learnt is that as we clean up the polluted sites
which the government is working to do with the people of this place, it is important
to lift up the people themselves, so that they can be part of the solution,
because that will bring a lasting security and prosperity that will truly make
a difference.”
Need
for Improvement
There
are concerns that Shell Corporation which is allegedly responsible for the
devastation of the Ogoni land may frustrate the cleanup. Some environmentalists
wondered why Shell had to be included among the governing board of HYPREP, the
implementing body.
According
to an expert who does not want his name in print, the governing board is
saddled with supervisory and regulatory function, thus Shell should not have
been included.
In
terms of funding, the federal government appeared to have faced serious debacle
to accessing the $1 billion initial take-off fund. Though, Shell insisted that
the federal government must setup needed structures before it releases the
fund, which already has been done. The oil company is expected to also release
the $1 billion in tranches of $200 million annually.
But
investigation has shown that the federal government has so far gotten $10
million from the firm. This is far below what was expected annually. Aside, a
look into the 2017 budget revealed that the HYPREP project was not captured.
This could have possibly contributed to the setback.
Moreover,
prior to the cleanup or while the cleanup is ongoing, the federal government as
part of the UNEP report ought to have provided alternative water source for the
rural dwellers but that also remains hazy.
Efforts So Far
After
the inauguration, little or less effort seemed to have been achieved according
to MOSOP and other concerned individuals in the region. Though no physical
presence of machineries or real clean-up has commenced, needed structures meant
to promote transparency in the project implementation such as board members of
HYPREP is up. The governing council of the project has also been inaugurated
while project coordinator for the clean-up has been engaged. From 300 entries,
an indigene from the region, Dr. Marvin Dekil, was lucky to emerge as HYPREP
national coordinator.
“Everything
is on ground, but primarily, the role of NOSDRA as regulatory agency primarily
is to ensure the project is well cleaned using our standard and international
procedures,” Director General of National Oil Spill Detection and Response
Agency (NOSDRA), Sir. Peter Idabor, said when he spoke with The Nation.
He
argued that even though the process was slow, he said government was putting in
place needed structure to ensure the implementation is hitch-free. He said
before the last quarter of the year, the real implementation will commence.
“NOSDRA
has always been involved in clean-up of Ogoni-land. ?The former Environment
Minister, Amina Mohammed, was able to make due consultations with civil society
organisations, host communities, ministries of finance, petroleum and they were
to fine tune the gazette that setup the HYPREP.”
He
explained further that “The BOT was setup and members were carefully selected
from the stakeholders even the oil companies themselves and the Ogoni people to
have balanced judgment. The governing council was setup. It has a bigger
selection of individuals. Chairman of the council is the Minister of
Environment.”
The
Nation further gathered that over 1,000 people will be engaged through empowerment
programme component of the project. Already, Shell has made a commitment
to pay about $1 billion compensation for the project. However, there are
concerns that the large sum may need further review considering the new dollar
rate on the naira.
MOSOP
argued that the compensation should reflect current economic trend. But in
order to manage the initial commitment, the federal government is considering
engaging relevant public servants from Federal Ministries, Departments and
Agencies (MDAs) for the clean-up exercise.
The
officials are expected to be drawn from the environment ministry, finance,
petroleum resources among others to make-up support staffs for HYPREP, which is
the implementing body. In addition to these, the environment ministry, through
the HYREP office, according to the minister, had commenced on site
demonstrations to ascertain the right technology to be deployed in order to
achieve expected results.
A
keen look into the HYREP official twitter handle @HYPREPNigeria revealed that
the project office had commenced sensitization at the polluted communities. The
office assured that in few weeks there will be “visible action on the project
site.”
At
Gokana local government, in Bodo and K-dere communities, HYPREP project
coordinator, Mr. Marvin Dekil, commenced sensitisatìon campaign. He stressed
the need to intimate residents of their activities. “The project is introduced
by the federal government to clean up all Ogoni communities. We need to reach
out to the communities. We need to inform them that FG is ready to clean up
Ogoni. We are about to commence work. We will be visiting the entire site soon.
We will be bringing in companies soon with their technology to test what they
can do.”
These
were his words during the maiden sensitisation programme. He gave assurances
despite the late commencement of the programme. Like the minister, NOSDRA DG
and other government officials involved, the assurances have been ‘soon’
commencement but the exact implementation on the field kick-off remains hazy.
He was affirmative that the first stage of the project would include provision
of good drinking water and healthcare for the areas.
The
Environment Ministry’s Director of Information, Alh. Yusuf Isiaka, when
contacted to determine reasons for the delay in actual implementation, said the
ministry had offset the responsibility of the clean-up to HYPREP, thus the
project office is responsible for the clean-up exercise.
“HYPREP
is in control now. The ministry has handed over to HYPREP. They have moved to
sites and even the consultants are there working with Hyprep. So work is
ongoing.”
As
the Ogoni land people awaits actual implementation, it is expected that the
federal environment ministry which is the coordinating government arm will
hasten full implementation, address funding issue, facilitate security to
prevent likely renewal of agitations from the host communities. These remain
important as the whole project still appears hazy over a year after inauguration.
Source: Nation Online
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