By NewTelegraphNG
The Ogoni – American organizations; National Union of Ogoni Students, NUOS Int’l USA, Center for Democracy Human Rights and Anti-Corruption and Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP have urged the Federal Government of Nigeria, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, through the Ministry of the Niger Delta Development, on the need to clean up oil spills in Ogoniland, Rivers State and bring more development to the area.
While congratulating the newly appointed Minister of Niger Delta Development, Abubakar Momoh, the groups said that it is time for the ministry to look into the land that had been producing the wealth of the nation. According to them, almost all the previous administrations in the country have done little or nothing to develop Ogoniland in Rivers State, which they said has been suffering deprivation owing to oil spillage and total neglect.
The groups maintained that the people of Ogoniland they have suffered the devastation of their ecosystems and land. They explained that HYPREP has achieved little or nothing in cleaning up the Ogoni area “but instead has turned the cleaning into a fat cat erectitude, scammed and fraud, while we call on the FG to launch or conduct a forensic probe and investigation into HYPREP daylight robbery.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released its Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland in August 2011. The report was commissioned by and delivered to the Federal Government of Nigeria. It made recommendations to the government, the oil and gas industry, and communities to begin a comprehensive cleanup of Ogoniland, restore polluted environments, and put an end to all forms of ongoing oil contamination in the region.
UNEP assessed that the environmental restoration of Ogoniland would require coordinated efforts on the part of government agencies at all levels, industry operators and communities. UNEP also presented its recommendations as a major opportunity to bring new investment, employment opportunities and a culture of cooperation to Ogoniland in addition to driving improvements in the environmental and health situation on the ground.
Recall that several oil companies, including Shell, set up operations in the 1950s in Ogoniland and since then, the land, water, and air have been polluted to such a great extent that the Ogoni people’s livelihood is threatened. Between 1976 and 1991, over two million barrels of oil polluted Ogoniland in 2,976 separate oil spills. While oil production has ceased, pipelines operated by Shell still traverse the land, creeks and waterways.
The group added in a statement jointly signed by the President of NOUS Int’l USA, Pius Barikpoa Nwinee, it’s Secretary General, Sampson B Npimnee, Coordinator, CDHRAC Int’l, USA, Cornelius Dumerenee, and its Secretary General, Toate Ganago and made available to journalists, that the Niger Delta Development Ministry must rise to the occasion and bring the long-awaited development to Ogoniland.
“NUOS INTL, CDHRAC AND MOSOP wish to call on the Ministry of Niger Delta Development to ensure a total clean-up of Ogoniland and compensate the people of the area for the loss they have suffered over the years. “Our people have been deprived of their means of livelihood and they have been left to suffer in a nation, where they have contributed a lot to through their natural resources.
“Rather than developing Ogoniland through the clean-up projects embarked upon by the ministry few years back, what has plagued the project is the government and HYPREP kickback and kickfront, the government’s refusal to hire competent international remediation firms and HYPREP hiring unqualified contractors that placate and perpetuated more contamination in the area.
“HYPREP is now saying that it is engaging in nursery mangroves despite the fact that HYPREP has no professional experience in nursery mangroves planting or has contracted any professional in nursery mangroves with capacity,” the group said.
According to the group, the activities of HYREP, which they said they have consistently criticised, leave much to be desired, adding that the federal government has failed Ogoniland. “As a people, we cannot allow Shell Oil company to use our land to achieve their own selfish purposes. They took resources away from our land, so they must be ready to be responsible for the arm they caused our people, who have been suffering in silence.
“Our position is that Shell Oil cannot continue to pollute our land without accepting responsibilities for what they ought to do. The Federal Government ought to be proactive and ensure that HYREP carries out its duties effectively and end years of suffering that the Ogoni people have had to endure,” they said.