Ogoni Clean-up

Stakeholders hold talks on implementation of Ogoni clean-up 

By Kelvin Ebiri   |   07 March 2016   |  

President Muhammadu Buhari is to flag off the commencement of the implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme report (UNEP) on Ogoni.

But the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has warned against the politicization of the process leading to the implementation of the UNEP report for positive results to be achieved. 

The Minister of Environment, Mrs. Amina Mohammed, during a stakeholders meeting with Ogoni leaders in Bori, Rivers state last week, revealed that President Buhari will within the next couple of weeks visit Ogoni to flag off the clean-up of the pollution sites in line with the recommendations of UNEP report.

Mohammed, who was accompanied by the Minister of State for Environment, Mr. Usman Jibril and Chief Executives of key parastatals linked to the implementation of the UNEP report, told Ogoni leaders that the federal government will start the implementation of the report process immediately.

She explained that having visited some of the polluted sites, she had been privileged to see the extent of the devastation of the Ogoni environment.

Mohammed stated that since she assumed office, she had assiduously studied the UNEP report and described the clean-up exercise as huge.

While blaming the problem on years of neglect of the environment, the Minister appealed for unity among Ogoni people so that the clean-up process will not be compromised by internal strife.

The president of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, lauded the effort of the government to commence the clean-up, but demanded that a state of emergency should be declared in Ogoni.

Similarly, Governor Nyesom Wike, while addressing the Minister and her team   at the Government House, Port Harcourt, said that issues of the environment are beyond political party affiliation since they affect everyone. 

According to him, because of the negative impact of the environmental challenges on the communities, any attempt to politicize the process will affect the eventual outcome.

“I just want to advise that the Minister and her team should be cautious while handling issues concerning the implementation of the UNEP report, especially the stakeholders meeting, environmental issues are beyond politics” he said.
 http://guardian.ng