Ogoni Clean Up: Group Faults FG Over Proposed Centre Of Excellence

A Non-Governmental
Organisation: Social Action, has rejected the proposed creation of a centre of excellence for the clean-up of Ogoni land by the federal government.
The group which said this at a press briefing recently in Port Harcourt, said that the creation of the proposed centre will amount to a duplication of actions following the existence of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP).
Te programme officer of Social Action, Mr Ken Henshaw who briefed newsmen on behalf of the group, stressed the need for the restructuring of HYPREP to ensure its effective participation in the clean-up exercise.
According to him, “prior to the June flag-off ceremony, in November 2015, a proposal for the clean-up of Ogoniland was presented by the minister of environment.
“This was approved by the federal executive council. Amongst others, the proposal suggested the restructuring and strengthening of HYPREP rather than the creation of another entity,” he said.
Mr Henshaw also regretted the non implementation of the proposal before the June 2, flag off of the cleanup exercise.
In his words, “an important element of the new HYPREP is that it would be moved from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to the Ministry of Environment with the Minister of Environment as the overseeing minister.
“These organs were not constituted before the ceremonial launching of the cleanup.
“Indeed, the secretariat of HYPREP was not in place as at the end of June 2016,” he said.
He further stressed the need for a legal framework for the exercise, since the UNEP report has stated that, the exercise will last for over 30 years.
According to him, “this means that the cleanup process will continue beyond the lifetime of the current government in Nigeria.
“While the current federal government seems committed to the cleanup process, the same cannot be said about a future government.
“This fact underscores the need to propose and pass a legislation that ensures continued government commitment to the cleanup process beyond the life of the current federal administration,” he said.