Mr, Nwafo
BY CHIMA NWAFO
In 2011 the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) submitted its report on the clean-up of Ogoni land to the Federal Government under President Goodluck Jonathan. Despite the cumulative impact of the problem and its inherent threat to life, as well as the long-term nature of the recommended clean-up, the Bayelsa State-born Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president saw nothing urgent in it. Therefore, it has to wait, if need be, sine die. Nothing in that report, if he ever read it, moved the Niger Delta leader to action. This point is made because many Nigerians are fooled by the ethno-religious shenanigans of Nigerian politicians. Our problem is systemic. Politicians are united at the top where they share the loot irrespective of tribe or religion.
Also in the spirit of politics, presidential candidate of the amalgamated All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen Muhammadu Buhari, made the clean-up a campaign issue. Fortunately, he won. But, unfortunately, Rivers State, despite the presence of the mighty director-general of Buhari’s campaign organization: Rotimi Amaechi, remained a PDP stronghold, although an Ogoni man emerged senator for Rivers South East senatorial zone under the APC platform.
The United Nations Environmental Programme’s 2011 assessment of Ogoni land revealed that “bringing back important ecosystems to full productive health could take up to 30 years. The report had recommended that a $1 billion should be set aside for the first five years of remediation activities. Upon completion, the clean-up of Ogoni land could serve as a model for replication in both Nigeria and the region.”
On August 7, 2017, the President made good his promise when he sent Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to inaugurate the $1 billion clean-up and restoration programme of Ogoni land, announcing that financial and legislative frameworks had been put in place to begin implementing recommendations made by the UNEP. Osinbajo did not fail to remind the audience that the Federal Government was delivering on one of President Buhari’s key election promises. The Federal Government agreed that the implementation will be based on recommendations from the 2011 UNEP Report, which was actually commissioned by the Nigerian government, to study the impact of oil extraction in the area. According to the report, institutional control measures already put in place were not adequately implemented by both government and oil industry operators. As a result, the document proposed the establishment of a Restoration Authority, with an explicit mandate to clean-up Ogoni land and restore the ecosystems; and establishment an Ogoni land Environmental Restoration Fund with an initial capitalization of $1billion to cover the clean-up costs.
Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), a principal Joint Venture (JV) partner with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), reportedly applauded the ground-breaking ceremony in February 2017 of the Integrated Contaminated Soil Management Centre, “which will help create employment opportunities in Ogoni land and facilitate the acquisition of skills in the treatment of contaminated soils.” In a statement, the Joint Venture operator noted: “The SPDC JV is committed to the implementation of the UNEP Report and welcomes Federal Government of Nigeria’s efforts to progress its implementation, including the creation of a Governing Council (GC) and Board of Trustees (BoT) for the Ogoni Restoration Fund (ORF), to oversee and fund the clean-up process. SPDC is represented on both the GC and BoT and will continue to actively support the clean-up process, along with other stakeholders within the framework established by the FGN.”
To further demonstrate support for the UNEP programme, Shell also expressed its commitment to support the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) and the Project Coordinator, Dr. Marvin Barinen Dekil, in the clean-up exercise. Towards this end, it made available the $10 million take-off fund for HYPREP, as part of its contribution towards funding its share of the Ogoni Restoration Fund.
One year down the line, the government of the Netherlands advised the Federal Government to ensure that it commences the cleanup before the 2019 elections, noting that the world is waiting to see how well the government would execute the project. The message was conveyed by the Ambassador of Royal Kingdom of Netherlands to Nigeria, Mr. Robert Petri, who travelled to Port Harcourt for a fact-finding visit at the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project office. He observed: “This is a large project; the largest cleanup in the whole world. Nigeria is making history with this project. It will set an example worldwide. Your emphasis on community engagement is commendable. The problem here is that things take a long time.” This was in November 2018.
Perhaps not impressed with the pace of work, last week, their Charge d’ Affairs, Ms. Marion Kappeyne,equally decided to go and see how they can help, if need be. Her words:
“I came to see things for myself rather than sitting in Abuja and just reading them in the newspapers. This part of the country (Niger Delta) is very important, and so, we are following things up to ensure the clean-up is a success.” She expressed confidence that the clean-up would be carried out in line with global best practice due to collaboration and supervision of the United Nations Environment Programme.
“The people are assured that they are not forgotten, as we came to see how we can support the clean-up exercise. I understand the impatience as people want to see results in cleaning up of their lands. I can see that work is ongoing and hopefully it will produce results soon. “However, it will be of no one’s interest that the lands which are being remediated get re-contaminated again,” she warned.
Like a tiger proclaiming its tigritude (Wole Soyinka), penultimate weekend , the Federal Government restated its commitment to the clean-up project when the Minister of Environment, Suleiman Hassan Zarma (who ought to leave government next month), led other senior government officials on a working visit to the United Kingdom “for the successful clean-up of Ogoni oil spill.” The trip which was said to have been facilitated by the UNEP “was to enable the delegates acquire global best practices in the remediation of other sites contaminated by oil pollution across the country.”
The team which included members of governing council of the Hydrocarbon Pollution and Remediation Project are expected to visit five sites in the United Kingdom. “The visit would also enable the delegates to observe an extensive range of in-situ and ex-situ remediation techniques, such as soil washing, bioremediation, thermal desorption, separating techniques, and among others. It was envisaged that these demonstration and visits would build HYPREP’s capacity to reuse and recycle many site worn out materials, thereby contributing to the sustainability of the clean-up exercise.”
As usual, one should ask why this trip which has so much to offer has to come two years after the inauguration of the remediation programme, and at the tail-end of Buhari’s first term. No one should also be bothered about how many Ogoni folks have died of environmental pollution since 2015. It’s all about how much we care about life in this country.
*Nwafo, an Environmental analyst, can be reached on: [email protected]; +23480 2933 4754.
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