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Ogoni Clean-up Receives $360m …BOT/OTF Says Project Conquered

The Board of Trustees of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), which is also the Ogoni Trust Fund, has expressed satisfaction with the level of work done in the ongoing Ogoni clean up, noting that the remediation work has been conquered.
This was as the Project Coordinator of HYREP, Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey, disclosed that the project has received about $360,000,000, adding however, that the Coordination Office is yet to pay all of its contractors in the first phase of the works done.
The BOT/OTF after a four-day tour of all the remediated projects sites and the reticulated water projects in the four local government areas of Ogoni, noted that the work done has the value for fund already released.
The Chairman of BOT/OTF, Dr Mike Nwielaghi, and members of the board comprising HRH Bebe Okpabi, Hon. Emmanuel Deeyah, Chief Babajide Damazio and Mr. Adokiye Ikpoki, as part of their mandate, visited completed water projects at Alesa Eleme, Bori Town, Kpean Community, Terabor, Gokana, Barako and Korokoro Tai. They had also visited remediated site at Alode, Kpean Gio/B-Dere among others.
Speaking at the end of the four-day tour, Nwielaghi commended the serenity of the coordinating office, adding that it has taken the status of a project and has not deviated form the mandate before it.
Nwielaghi stated that HYPREP gazette mandates the BOT to release necessary funds, assess the projects regularly and report back, adding that the board ought to know what has been done with the money already given out to the Project Coordination Office.
He said: “It was the decision of board in line with the gazette of HYPREP that we do occasional tour to HYPREP project sites as to be able to acquaint ourselves with the fund we send to HYPREP, how it is being used, what projects are there for us to see and what more do they need.
“It has been a four-day intensive visit. We have gone to all the four LGAs. We have come and we have seen. In a way, I can proudly say that we have conquered. As we speak, we have gone to remediated sites. Those sites that have been recovered we could see that grass and trees are growing. We will have to put a signal post on those sites to show that truly those areas have been remediated.
“Remediation work is an intangible activity. If you look at the fact that hundreds of dollars have been put underground, there could be no appreciation, because what we are seeing is the same grasses that are growing. I can say without fear of equivocation that there has been value for money spent on the remediation projects.”
Nwielaghi said the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has certified all the remediated sites free of contamination, adding that the project was a huge success, warning against acts that can lead to re-pollution of remediated sites.
“A lot of water projects have been completed. These are reticulated water projects. The water goes round the communities. In Kpean, some people have started drinking water from the project. Barako is drinking, Terabor is also drinking. The PCO has come up with another 14 water projects meaning that the whole Ogoni has been covered.
“I can score what has taken place on the UNEP report within the region of 70% of work done. The problem is that publicity is poor. This project is not a farce. The project is not running out of fund as we speak. We have funds that could sustain us. We have come to see value for the money spent”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Project Coordinator of HYREP, Prof. Nenibari Zabbey, said the projects has received about $360mn from the board, adding that the project was going on successfully.
Zabbey said: “We did this because it is the responsibility of the BOT/Ogoni Trust Fund to Actually find out if we are spending the money, they are giving to the Project Coordination Office prudently. To also see if we have built in sustainability framework into all of our activities.
“We are happy to report to you that a lot of activities are going on in Ogoniland. The mandate of HYPREP is mainly to restore the Ogoni environment, both land and wetland contaminated. We also mandated to restore the livelihoods of the people.
“The much I know is that the board of Trustees have released about $360,000,000. We have not exhausted that amount. We are still paying the contractors.”
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
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Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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