The formal inauguration of the Governing Council and Board of Trustees for the implementation of the UNEP Report on Ogoniland by President Muhammadu Buhari last Thursday has received wide applauses and commendations from stakeholders, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf
TO many observers, life can now get back on an even keel in Ogoniland with the formal inauguration on Thursday of the Governing Council and the Board of Trustees of the Trust Fund for the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) as recommended by the United Nations Environmental Report (UNEP) Report, by President Muhammadu Buhari.
As to be expected, when the news first broke out that President Buhari had set up the two bodies meant to address the despoliation of the Ogoniland, in Niger Delta, the mood that pervaded the air was one of excitement which is just as well.
It would be recalled that the ceremonial flag off of the cleanup of Ogoniland with expected expansion to other highly polluted parts of the larger Niger Delta in mind) took place on June 2, 2016 at the Numuu Tekuru Waterside, Bodo, which saw Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in attendance.
The two bodies have a composition of a 13-man governing council and 10-member Board of Trustees on the cleanup of Ogoni in the Niger Delta, had the Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed as chairman of the government board with other members including: Minister of National Planning, Udoma Udoma, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs Pastor Usani Usani, Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Nsima Ekere, Managing Director SPDC, Osagie Okunbor amongst others while representatives of Ogoni Stakeholders on the Council include: Pyagbara Legborsi, Ben Naneen, and two alternatives.
Similarly, members of the BoT include: Chief Wale Edun as Chairman, the Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun, Minister of state for environment Ibrahim Jibril, Minister of State Petroleum. Representatives of International Oil companies, IOCs included Osagie Okunbor, Insula Massim, and Alexis Bobk. Stakeholders from Ogoni land, some communities in the Niger Delta, nongovernmental organisations as well as the UNEP are also on the board while a legal adviser is to be appointed by the Governing Council in due course.
While inaugurating the boards at the presidential villa, Abuja, President Buhari said it was in the fulfillment of the report of UNEP submitted in 2011.
Upbeat, President Buhari said: “Today marks another milestone in the commitment that this Administration has made in ensuring the implementation of the UNEP Report in Ogoniland and other impacted sites. “I thank you all for accepting to serve on the Governing Council and on the Board of Trustees, respectively, of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project. “
“This is a very important endeavour that has direct impact on the lives and livelihoods of our brothers and sisters whose environments have been severely degraded by years of unchecked pollution from oil exploration activities.
“It is exactly five years today, on the 4th of August 2011, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) submitted an extensive Report on its environmental assessment of Ogoniland. That report, which was commissioned by the Administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, did not only document the problems that existed, but also contained recommendations on how they can be addressed, both in the short term and in the long term.
“I am pleased to note that while it has been five years since the UNEP Report, it has taken only two months since this Administration flagged off the Project. “Since the time of flag-off, considerable effort has been expended to create a robust mechanism for implementing the Project in the long term. The Governing Council and Board of Trustees, which are being inaugurated today jointly form an essential part of the governance framework.”
The president who noted that the Programme would require extensive planning also called for patience. He said that it was important that the project would continue despite the challenges in the Niger Delta, saying that the cleaning would span for 20 years. “Indeed, a project of this magnitude requires extensive planning, scientific analysis, community involvement, and genuine partnerships. As a result, it will require patience and understanding of the key stakeholders as we move forward.
“It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the Project remains on course, as we face the challenges of high expectations and the current conflict in the Niger Delta. “The clean-up exercise is expected to go on for two decades. The first five years will address emergency response measures and remediation while the subsequent years will look to restore the ecosystems in the Delta. The governance framework we lay today, following extensive consultations, will form the bedrock for sustainability for years to come.”
One body that is happy with the turn of events is the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).
In a statement issued by Fegalo Nsuke, the Publicity Secretary of MOSOP, the group expressed delight over President Buhari’s approval of the governing council and board of trustees for the implementation of the Ogoni cleanup.
In the statement which reads in part, MOSOP said: “Despite the initial startup challenges, MOSOP is delighted at the steady and progressive outcome of our engagement with the government and other stakeholders for the smooth take-off of the implementation process. We commend the president for the political will to drive this process to a logical conclusion and urge all stakeholders particularly the Ogoni people to continue to show similar commitment and unity to ensure a hitch-free clean-up exercise.”
While commenting on the project, a stakeholder in the Niger Delta, Senator Magnus Abe said that the exercise was significant to the development of the region.
“It is significant because that is what the past administration had refused to do. So, with what has happened today five years after the report was submitted we are well on our way. The BOT is meeting right now as we speak so they have hit the ground running and then we believe before the end of the year things will begin to happen.
“The UNEP report specifies a billion dollars and Shell has announced since that report was released that money is available so that initial funds for the cleanup of Ogoni land is available but that money may not be enough that’s why Wale Edun, world renowned financial expert was brought in as the chairman to give confidence to the investors and donors that any fund that is brought out would be well utilised. So, we expect that following …principle more money will come but the N1million is definitely available.
“We saw the Ogoni representation in the board and governing council was quite extensive. We have a lot to do in terms of not only making the place conducive for this work to go on, educating our people on why we have to make the place conducive for experts of all shades and countries to be able to come in and work there,” he said.
Also reacting to the Ogoni cleanup exercise, Comrade Timi Frank, the Acting National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) described it as very cheery news.
In a statement issued at the weekend, Frank noted that the president has demonstrated to the people of Niger Delta that his commitment to the cleanup of Ogoni land is not a political gambit after all.
Echoing similar sentiments, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minsiter of Information and Culture at a media briefing in Lagos, said the gesture step was undoubtedly one of the most significant decisions taken by the President since his inauguration on May 29.
Mohammed said: “This action of the President transcends all the needless arguments about the appointments so far made by him, because it touches directly on the well-being of a long-suffering people.
“Undoubtedly, the most far-reaching action by the President has been to the benefit of the Niger Delta, where he is not known to have garnered many votes! What a pleasant irony,” he said.
Mohammed said that the President’s action had breathed life into a four-year report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which had been gathering dust on the shelf since it was published on Aug. 4, 2011.
”The UNEP report revealed the nature and extent of oil contamination in Ogoniland, which includes the extensive pollution of soil by petroleum hydrocarbons in Ogoni.
”Pollution has reached groundwater. In one site, in Eleme Local Government, 8cm layer of refined oil is floating on the groundwater serving community wells.
”Crops were damaged, fish fawning places in Mangrove contaminated, oil fires kill vegetation and there was loss of Mangrove cover due to increased artisanal refining
”Surface water contains hydrocarbons. Floating layers of oil vary from thick black oil to thin sheens. Fish deserted polluted areas, which made the Fish sector suffer due to destruction of fish habitats.
”On the issue of public health, Ogoni community is exposed to petroleum hydrocarbons which are in the outdoor air, drinking water and contaminated soil.
”Community members in some areas drink water with BENZENE, a known carcinogen, at levels 900 times above the WHO guideline,” he said.
Mohammed said that the immediate past government did nothing beyond establishing the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) in 2012, a full year after the report was submitted.
Mohammed said that the President had approved actions on the amendment of the Official Gazette establishing HYPREP to reflect a new governance framework comprising a Governing Council, a Board of Trustees and Project Management.
“Some US$10 million will be made available by stakeholders within 30 days of the appointment of members of the Board of Trustees 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.
”It is important to say that with these steps by President Buhari, he has proved beyond doubt that he is a president for not just those who voted for him, but for those who did not vote for him and those who did not vote at all. ”