Ogoni Oil Spill: FG To Begin Clean-UP January, 2015

The Minister of Petro
leum Resources, Mr Diezani Alison-Madueke, has revealed that the restoration of Ogoniland as a result of the oil spill that occured in the land sometime ago would commence by January 2015.
The Tide source gathered that the minister made the revelation at the follow-up meeting of technical working groups on Environment  Restoration of Ogoniland Tuesday in Geneva, Switzerland.    She explained that the Federal Government was not slow to the issue as speculated in some quarters, but was determined to give the people the best.
Alison-Madueke, noted that the government felt it was necessary to commence the process in an aggressive manner.
According to her, the exercise may last up to 15 years, due to the technicalities that are involved in the system.
The minister reasoned that it may be difficult to revisit the issue, if the Federal Government could not get it done in the nearest future.
She admitted that the government was ready to fulfill its own counterpart funding that will not be part of the regular budgetary provision, saying that is why an independent body has been set up to manage the funds.
Inorder to achieve the aim of the Ogoni clean-up soonest, she also called for a financial implementation framework that would guide the implementation.
She kicked against the involvement of more community members in the multi-stakeholders committee, adding that proliferation of agencies and groups may likely impede the speed of the process.
It would be recalled that the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) in 2010, recommended $1 billion (one billion dollars) for the cleaning of Ogoni land due to several oil spills that ravaged their communities some time ago. As at the time of filing in this report the Ogonis are in a jubilant mood, but cautioned against postponement of the date, as they are yet to recover from the effect of the spill.