One year after flag-off, Ogoni cleanup yet to commence
Several months after President Muhammadu Buhari, represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, flagged off the Ogoni cleanup exercise, the project has remained a mirage to the affected communities.
The hope of communities like Kpie, B-dere, K-dere, Bomu, Bodo, Ebubu, Bera, Korokoro, Ueken and Ogale, which have been badly affected by the age-long oil spillage that destroyed farmlands and polluted their only source of drinking water, has been dashed.
The glamour and fanfare that heralded the flag-off exercise has whittled down, just as community leaders and rural dwellers are in doubt over the sincerity of the Federal Government to clean up the affected areas.
A resident of K-dere, Ben Barinee, said the Federal Government was not sincere in carrying out the cleanup exercise. “When Vice President Yemi Osinbajo came to Ogoni land last year to flag off the cleanup exercise, we all expressed happiness that our devastated land would be restored. We mobilised the entire community and enlightened them on the benefits of the exercise. We also urged them to support the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) team. But several months after, the actual commencement of the cleanup exercise has remained a mirage. What we hear in the media on a daily basis is that they have done this, they have done that,’’ he said.
He accused the Federal Government of being afraid of the huge money involved in the exercise, adding, however, that the involvement of the UNEP was keeping the project alive.
“If not because of the involvement of the UNEP in this exercise, the Federal Government would have jettisoned it. They are pretending to be interested in the project,’’ he added.
Also speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday, Chujor Ngowa, a youth leader in Ebubu-Eleme, where benzene polluted the community’s only source of drinking water, accused the Governing Council of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Programme (HYPREP) of insincerity. He said that since the inauguration of the HYPREP, it has been on a jamboree, visiting Ogoni communities and assuring them of its readiness to commence the cleanup exercise.
He said, “I don’t really know what is going on. Everything about this cleanup is in confusion. Nothing has actually started. All we have been hearing from the HYPREP is that they have done this, they have done that. But what they are doing is visiting communities on jamboree tours and assuring residents that work would soon commence. They have not done anything. The entire Ebubu and Ogale communities are polluted. What we are drinking is benzene-polluted water.’’ He called on the Federal Government to commence action on the exercise.
Also calling on the Federal Government to commence the cleanup exercise, the paramount ruler of Ebubu, Chief Godwin Chiwi, said the people of the community were dying because of the impact of environmental degradation.
The paramount ruler of Ogale community in Eleme, Chief Bebe Ukpabi, said the community donated parcels of land for the Integrated Contaminated Soil Management Centre (ICSMC) to the Federal Ministry of Environment for the commencement of soil test, but regretted that the land had not been put into use.
“We have given the Federal Ministry of Environment a land for the ICSMC, but they did not use it. They told us that the HYPREP would correct this, but it has not done it. The community is not pleased that the land we brought out for the ICSMC was abandoned,’’ Chief Ukpabi was quoted as saying when the HYPREP coordinator, Dr Marvin Dekil visited Ogale community on a sensitisation tour.
He called on the HYPREP to commence the cleanup, and ensure that youths of the community are fully engaged in the exercise.
A resident of Bomu, Peter Mene, said the community had been deprived of their farmland and source of drinking water. “Our people are predominantly farmers. When the cleanup was flagged off, we were all happy that our polluted land would be restored, but more than one year down the line, we are yet to see anything.
The coordinator of the HYPREP had visited our community and assured us that work would soon commence, but for how long will we continue to wait?’’ he said.
The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), a pressure group that advocates the right of Ogoni communities, also accused the Federal Government of insincerity.
The president of the group, Legborsi Pyagbara, said the recent move by the Federal Government to resume oil exploitation in Ogoni land without the cleanup was an indication that it was deceiving the people.
“While the cleanup has not even taken place, they are talking of oil production in Ogoni land. That is why we are drawing the attention of the whole world to the fact that this government has not been sincere to us. It is against the recommendations of the UNEP. If they were sincere they would have completed the cleanup before any other action,’’ he said.
At Bodo, the exercise has not started, but because of the tension in the area, the government of Netherlands, through its former ambassador, Robert Pedri, facilitated a special cleanup for Shell. As part of peace building process, Shell has trained about 400 youths of the community to assist in the cleanup exercise.
The paramount ruler of the community, Chief Sunday Bebor Berebon, insisted that Shell should ensure that the cleanup is done according to international best practices. “The SPDC should ensure that Bodo community is fully cleaned, remediated and restored so that the people can return to their source of livelihood,” he said.
The coordinator of the HYPREP, Dr Marvin Dekil recently embarked on a tour of communities affected by oil pollution. Some of the communities visited are K-dere, B-dere, Korokoro, Ogale, Ebubu and Ueken. During the visit, Dekil assured the communities that total cleanup would soon commence.
“We are here to let you know that we are about to start. We are on the scientific stage. You will soon begin to see big equipment in preparation for the cleanup. The soil testing is important because soil will be treated there,’’ Dekil said during the sensitisation visit.
On the outbreak of diseases in the area, Dr Dekil said, “We want to find out whether the sickness in Ogoni came as a result of the different oil spillages that the people have been exposed to. Provision of water is topmost of our agenda now. The health impact assessment will be done by the best hands.’’
In January 2016, an interministerial committee in charge of environment, Niger Delta Affairs, Budget and National Planning, Justice, as well as Petroleum Resources and the Office of the National Security Adviser, considered some of the provisions contained in the HYPREP gazette and proposed amendments. A committee of permanent secretaries in the same ministries was set up to work out modalities for all the prelaunch, launch and postlaunch activities for the successful implementation of the UNEP report. The key activities identified for the pre-launch, according to a document obtained from the HYPREP, included consultations with key stakeholders, approval of the reviewed HYPREP gazette and the establishment of institutional framework for the implementation of the cleanup. The institutional framework, which was approved by the Federal Executive Council on December 12, 2016, include a governing council, a board of trustees and the project coordination office.
On February 16, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Integrated Contaminated Soil Management Centre was performed in Bori New City in Khana Local Government Area. On the same date, the project for the demonstration of cleanup technology was also launched at a site in Kwawa, also in Khana Local Government Area, with demonstration projects starting at 11 other sites identified in the four local government areas in Ogoni land.
MOSOP president, Pyagbara, blamed the inability of government to commence the cleanup exercise on what he called administrative bottleneck from the Federal Ministry of Environment, which he said had a rigorous process. He said the bottleneck was capable of eroding and frustrating the genuine intentions of government.
Pyagbara, who earlier issued a seven-day ultimatum to Shell and the NPDC to cease all engagements aimed at resuming oil production in the land, urged the Federal Government to explain to Ogoni people the reason for the quick move to resume exploration.
The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) said it was committed to the implementation of the UNEP report. In its quarterly bulletin, Shell said it had made $10million available as a take-off fund for the HYPREP as part of its contribution towards funding the project, adding that it would continue to implement several initiatives to prevent and minimise the impact of crude oil theft and illegal refining in Ogoni land and other parts of the Niger Delta.