The Federal Government of Nigeria has formerly launched the clean-up of oil spills in Ogoni land, Rivers State, Nigeria, as recommended in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report.
The clean-up which would cost at least $1billion, was formally flagged off on Thursday by President Muhammadu Buhari who was represented at the event by Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.
Osinbajo described the occasion as an historic one, not just in the lives of Ogoni people but also for the entire Niger Delta.
He said the clean-up was not just a restoration of the environment but also a restoration of families, the people’s commonwealth, health and everything that is good about the land.
Osinbajo prayed for the landmark event to mark the beginning of real change in the land and in the future of the Ogoni people.
“It is the day of victory, believing that it would be the beginning of many more good things,” Osibajo added.
Ogoni leaders at the event commended the federal government for embarking on the programme which is scheduled to last for 30 years.
The Minister for the Environment, Ms Amina Mohammed seized the opportunity to remind Nigerians about the need to support the exercise.
She said that the President, having kept his promise to the Niger Delta people in cleaning up Ogoni land has proved that the work is a collective responsibility of the government and the people.
The Federal Government had said that it is committed to restoring the ecosystem to what it used to be and as such restore the peoples’ source of livelihood.
Government says that it is not just committed to implementing the UNEP report but is going beyond that by taking steps to improve security, good governance and economy of the Niger Delta region.
The flag off event attracted many international figures including international football star Joseph Yobo who was recently appointed at a special adviser to the Rivers State government on sports development.
Also present at the event was Miss Nigeria, Pamela Lessi and UNEP’s Executive Director, Achim Steiner.
Implementation of the clean-up will be based on recommendations from a 2011 UNEP report, commissioned by the Nigerian government, on the impact of oil extraction in Ogoniland.
The report had pointed out severe and widespread contamination of soil and ground water across Ogoniland. In a number of locations public health was severely threatened by contaminated drinking water and carcinogens. Delta ecosystems such as mangroves had been utterly devastated. The report also found that institutional control measures in place both in the oil industry and the Government were not implemented adequately.
The report proposed the establishment of a Restoration Authority with an explicit mandate to clean up Ogoniland and restore the ecosystems. The report also recommended the establishment of an Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Fund with an initial capitalization of 1 billion dollars to cover the clean-up costs.
Commenting at the event, Steiner said, the people of Ogoniland have paid a high price for the success of Nigeria’s oil industry, enduring a toxic and polluted environment for decades.
“Today marks a historic step toward improving the situation of the Ogoni people, who have paid this high price for too long,” he said.
“A clean-up and restoration effort like this cannot happen overnight, but I am hopeful that the cooperation between the Government of Nigeria, oil companies and communities will result in an environmental restoration that benefits both ecosystems and the Ogoni people of the Niger Delta. UNEP has provided the scientific basis for this work, and will continue to offer its technical expertise as needed to help ensure a positive result for all involved.”
Steiner, who will be stepping down from his position this month, was joined by Erik Solheim, who will replace him as Executive Director.
Solheim said the task to clean up Ogoniland will neither be easy nor fast, but it needs to be done.
“If we succeed here, it will demonstrate that degraded environments can be restored, sending a signal to many other communities around the world that peaceful co-operation can lead to positive outcomes,” he said.
The environmental restoration of Ogoniland is likely to be the world’s most wide-ranging and long-term oil clean up exercise ever undertaken.