Amina Mohammed: I’m Torn Between Working for Nigeria and UN

Says IOCs are duty bound to clean up Niger Delta

The former Minister of Environment, Mrs. Amina Mohammed, has opened up on why she took the job of Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), saying she was convinced by the new UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, to join him to continue to strengthen the ideals of the global body.

Speaking yesterday in an interview with Arise Network, a sister company of THISDAY in Abuja, Mohammed also stated that while she will miss serving Nigeria as a cabinet minister in President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.

She, however, added that the wider responsibility of serving humanity in the UN, to which Nigeria belongs, contributed to her decision.

“It is a very conflicting decision I have to say. It is an incredible privilege and I am humbled to have been selected to be the deputy secretary-general, but this is home and we have masses of challenges.

“So it has been very difficult and you know, I’ve got withdrawal symptoms, but it’s a calling now that is global and that includes

Nigeria,” she said.

Asked if she was looking forward to her new assignment, she said: “Yes, I am, I think the secretary-general of the United Nations is an amazing person.

“I asked him: ‘So why did you go after a job like this in such a complicated time,’ and his answer was more imperative and I think that is something that gets us engaged because it is about our humanity, it is about the core values of the UN and the ability to be on that platform that engages everyone as contentious as they may be.

“You have from one side to the other – from your seat to the G70, the United States – everyone is a member of the United Nations and to try to keep that together, to fix our social fabric, to really bring back those core values and not to complicate the conversations.”

She said she would be resuming at the UN with Nigeria on her mind, adding that she would continue to work for Nigeria and the world.

Prior to her appointment to the Nigerian cabinet in November 2015, Mrs. Mohammed was a key player in the Post-2015 development process, serving as the Special Adviser to UN SecretaryGeneral, Ban Ki-Moon on Post2015 development planning.

On who would fill the position she will be leaving behind, Mohammed said she was convinced the Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril will continue to drive the policies of the government, adding that Jibril has the pedigree to continue with the job they started together at the ministry.

“I often wonder how this whole thing will happen but in his wisdom, the president had two of us as his ministers in the environment ministry and we have worked very closely.

“We are two sides of the same coin and he will continue that work – the Minister of State, Ibrahim Usman will do that.

“He is dedicated, really dedicated and experienced. He has been around for a very long time at all levels of government and so I am confident he will carry on very well.”

Mohammed also said international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Niger Delta will have to show reasonable acts of responsibility in the clean up of the oil polluted region, stating that the volume of work required to restore the environment was enormous.

She disclosed that the federal government will update the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report on the devastation of the environment in Ogoniland, which was released in 2011, to enable it do a detailed clean up of the environment.

According to her, the government welcomed the $1 billion pledged by Shell Petroleum Development Company ( SPDC) for the clean up of Ogoniland, but was expecting other IOCs in the country to also show the same commitment on the clean up efforts.

Mohammed said the degree of damage in the Niger Delta was immense, and that Shell’s pledge will unlikely go anywhere. On this, she said the government was challenged by the work ahead of it.

“I look at the wider Niger Delta and its clean up in the long term. I think it is going to be incredibly difficult because what we have seen over the last couple of years is an increased amount of pollution that has come from illegal and third party activities and I am not sure we have assessed the damage to know how much or how long that is going to take, if at all, but it is tragic,” said Mohammed.

On expected commitment to funding and operational ethics by the IOCs, the former minister added: “I don’t think it is too late, it is never too late to start to rebuild the lives of the people in Ogoniland and any other place.

“Is it enough? Unlikely, and so I think as we start now, we will look at the UNEP report and try to update it so we can see what is ahead of us.

“Ogoni is a small island among others polluted in the Niger Delta; we are absolutely challenged by what we have ahead of us, and there has to be better partnership between the tiers of government.

“Our regulatory agencies have also not done the job they have to do and other multinationals have to do something about the environmental pollution in the Niger Delta.”

Speaking on past efforts of governments to clean up the region and what was needed for the success of the renewed effort, Mohammed said a peaceful Niger Delta could guarantee sustained commitment to the clean up exercise.

According to her, “The struggle to get to where we need to be has taken many decades.

“In the last administration, they tried to put something in place but it didn’t work, and so we didn’t have much happening then.

“The president, however, made a political commitment as he came into power and that is what we tried to execute and we did it in a way that it has taken time, because we needed governance structures in place that will allow for sustainability of the programmes over 25 to 30 years – five years for remediation, and another 25 years to restore.

“Now that is also on the condition that it doesn’t get worse. So there are many issues that have not been addressed holistically overtime.

“But peace is necessary for that and I have to say that the communities and their representatives that we have being working with since last year have been incredibly supportive and patient. It is a conversation and we have to do this together.”