Niger Delta Politicians Wants To Control Ogoni’s Cleanup

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Niger Delta top politicians are petitioning President Muhammadu Buhari to be on the team that will control the $1 billion Ogoni restoration funds.

The inauguration of the governing council and Board of Trustees (BoT) is scheduled for October.
Shell, Nigerian authorities and other shareholders are to donate to the funds for the cleanup, which the government is expected to spearhead through the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP).
The UNEP ‘Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland’ was unveiled in August 2011, but since then nothing has been done towards its execution.
The source said that the president approved several actions to fast track the execution of the UN report on the environmental restoration of Ogoniland and “this inauguration is one of the cardinal steps towards this action.”
He said: “As we speak, many politicians and technocrats alike from the Niger Delta region are scheming seriously to be a part of the board.
It is expected that this will happen, but the Ministry of Environment has the task and clear direction from the presidency to be careful in getting men of integrity on the board.” The UNEP had recommended in the report on the environmental restoration of Ogoniland that 76 actions should be taken on the restoration; 50 actions for government; 22 for Shell and four for the community.
 “The representatives of Shell and Ogoni community have been called for a meeting by the ministry on the instance of President Buhari where robust engagements on how to fast track the cleanup were made. It was at this meeting that the government was told that the lack of governing council and board for HYPREP has been delaying the government action on the cleanup, and the president ordered the inauguration, which will come up in the first week of October.”
Igo Weli, general manager of communications, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), confirmed that his company and other shareholders attended the meeting.
Meanwhile, he noted that his company had completed 16 out of 22 actions given to it by the UNEP report while works were continuing for the completion of the remaining six.
Weli added that his company was waiting for the administration and the host communities to finish the remaining six recommendations.
“SPDC welcomes the leadership shown by President Buhari in setting up governance structures for the implementation of the UNEP report. We are greatly encouraged by the positive and constructive response from representatives of the community, Niger Delta NGOs and civil society,” he said.
“However, as the UNEP report stated, treating the problem of environmental contamination within Ogoniland merely as a technical cleanup will ultimately lead to failure. Ensuring long-term sustainability is a much bigger challenge; one that will require coordinated and collaborative action from all stakeholders.
“This must include an end to the widespread sabotage, crude oil theft and illegal refining that are the main causes of environmental damage in Ogoniland and the wider Niger Delta today. Shell companies in Nigeria will continue to be at the forefront engaging interested stakeholders and seeking sustainable innovative ways to resolve the problem,” Weli said in a presentation to journalists He had earlier said the road to implementing the reports’ recommendation had been bumpy, adding that to complete the cleanup would be tough, except there is cooperation among all stakeholders in the project.
 “To get to the destination is going to be very tough. I have to be sincere with you, it would be tough. We are dealing with many stakeholders whose actions and reactions border on the success of our intervention and participation. We will get there, but it will be very tough,” Weli noted.
Ogoniland is only one part of the Niger Delta that has been affected by oil pollution. Shell and the Italian oil giant ENI have admitted to more than 550 oil spills from their facilities in the Niger Delta last year, according to an Amnesty International analysis of the companies’ latest figures. The companies mostly blame the spills on sabotage.

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