The Environmental Right Action and Friend of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN)
yesterday said, it is delighted over the 6 billion naira approved by the Federal Executive Council for the provision of portable water for oil polluted Ogoni Communities.
The environmental right group also insisted that Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Projects
(HYPREP) should establish “Centre of Excellence for the Ogoni clean up process.”
The group had earlier surmised from majority of Ogonis and reports of its team of monitors around the project areas that HYPREP was not working optimally,it said, the agency had almost completely derailed from the goals and objectives set out in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Ogoni environmental Assessment report of 2011 leading to unnecessary delays and poor remediation work due to some unqualified contractors.
Dr Godwin Uyi Ojo, Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) in a press statement argued that the federal government environmental legacy project in the last four years has been a story of misplaced priorities, politicized cleanup, personal interest of board members overriding the interest of delivering a world class cleanup process and the critical need to save the lives of our people affected by environmental devastation.
“The slow pace of the clean-up and faulty procurement process are key areas that the present crop of managers should urgently address.” Further, Ojo stated that the new managers should also “ensure that the major pillar of the clean-up process which is the establishment of the Centre of Excellence to provide capacity building for HYPREP staff and the Ogonis, and document lessons learnt for the replication of the clean-up in the entire polluted Niger Delta is restored.”
Recall that the establishment of the Centre of Excellence was sidelined in the past four years thereby shortchanging the Ogonis of the opportunity to build capacity and skills of the youths.
It also welcomes the announcement that the federal executive council has approved over N6 billion to ensure the provision of clean portable water for Ogoni communities.
