Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has said that integrating Ogoni people in all the processes geared towards remediating their land to bring lasting respite to years of environmental degradation they had suffered will truly make them own the projects without sabotaging them.

Governor Fubara made the remark when he received on courtesy visit, the Minister of Environment, Mr Balarabe Abbas Lawal, and his delegation, at Government House in Port Harcourt, yesterday.

The Minister of Environment was accompanied by the Minister of Regional Development, Hon Abubakar Momoh, the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator, Mohamed Malick Fall, and HYPREP Project Coordinator, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey.

Governor Fubara noted with delight the progress reports that have been reeled out by the Minister of Environment, which indicated the seriousness given to remediating the effects of pollution occasioned by oil exploration and production in Ogoniland.

He said, “We all know the situation of Ogoniland. They don’t have good water, they don’t even have the farmland for agriculture anymore, their rivers are already polluted.

“If they have anyone that is remaining, the fishes there are already contaminated. The life expectancy is also cut short because whether we like it or not, the food we eat, when contaminated; the water we drink, when contaminated; also affects the elements in our system.

“So, I want to appeal that while we go on with this programme, it is not just coming to commission the water project and the few other things that have been outlined here, the Ogoni people, the people directly affected should be part of it. There should be buy-in, they should own what you are doing.”

Governor Fubara stated: “And how do they own it? It is not by you sitting in Abuja and awarding contracts to somebody we don’t know. Inasmuch as I don’t support issuing it to somebody who cannot deliver, but the community people should be part of the process, so that they have that sense of belonging, that sense of responsibility; it also gives the sense of protection. Because if they believe that they are not part of it, issues of sabotage come in.”

Governor Fubara said the Water Project that has been completed under the supervision of Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), and now ready for inauguration, must be truly functional to serve the people who had suffered lack of portable water for years.

He promised, as a government, to convoke a meeting of critical stakeholders in the benefitting communities to emphasise the need for them to protect the projects, and never allow them to collapse, either by lack of maintenance or vandalisation.

Governor Fubara explained that his administration paid for metering of consumers in communities in Eleme, Tai, Khana, Gokana and Andoni Local Government Areas in order to ensure the availability of electricity to the people to enhance their livelihoods.

He added, “You mentioned something very important, which has been given serious attention by this administration. The issue of power. In fact, I can say it here without any fear of any contradiction that my administration paid for metering of Eleme, Tai, Gokana, Khana, including Andoni Local Government Areas for ease of power supply.

“So, I am happy that you are also doing something to that effect, because if we are talking about development coming into Ogoniland, you cannot develop the area without power. Power is the most important thing.

“Even the issue that we are talking about, effective healthcare services; power is even needed because those machines and facilities you want to install, they need constant power to function. So, not having power is just like not having life in a system.”

Governor Fubara added: “So, please I will appeal that whatever thing that you need to do, whatever you are doing, go ahead with it. When we need to come in to support you to make sure you succeed or compliment what you have already done, we will not hesitate to support you.”

Governor Fubara explained that his administration conducted a study across sectors to determine more pressing areas to give urgent attention to make life comfortable for the people.

He said after expert analysis was made from reports collated, there was need to break away from mere jamboree that the state witnessed for a long while, and government decided to address issues head-on, especially healthcare delivery and education.

He said, “We have to go all out to make sure that we do what is right. And I believe what you are seeing in the recent report is because of our deliberate action to make sure that we improve the state of our healthcare services in Rivers State.

“I can tell you: we have won several awards as best performing state when it comes to issue of healthcare. It is an important aspect of our administration. You need to be alive to work; you need to be alive to be productive.

“We didn’t end just in the aspect of the healthcare, knowing fully well that if the SDGs have to be achieved on poverty, and healthcare, education is also key. With education, you also reduce the level of crime, because when a lot of people are educated, they get into positive engagements. These engagements, in a way, reduce, at least, 10 percent of the number of those people that are supposed to go into crime.”

Governor Fubara restated: “In the next six months, we might be even inviting you to come and do a tour of what we are already achieving because we have a lot.

“By the special grace of God, in the next two weeks, we will be unveiling Bori Zonal Hospital. This hospital is to take care of intermediary medical cases to reduce the pressure that we are having in our teaching hospital,” he added.

In his address, the Minister of Environment, Mr Balarabe Abbas Lawal, said the delegation was in Rivers State to inspect ongoing projects, adding that they will also be inaugurating some that have been completed like the Water Projects.

Mr Lawal stated that they have been confronted with frustrating attitude put up by the people in accepting some projects or even owning the ongoing ones, which he added, has led to series of town hall meetings and community engagement fora to secure the people’s buy-in.

The Minister spoke on the Ogoni power project, and appealed to Governor Fubara for support to facilitate the distribution of electricity that will be tapped from the National Grid to serve both Ogoni people and neighbouring communities.

He added, “Tomorrow, we are commissioning water project. We have done about four before, and we believe that these projects are not just meant for the Ogoni people, but I think there are also going to extend to a number of other communities around Rivers State.

“We understand that water is critical, because when you are talking of pollution, the first victim is water. So, that is why we are putting more emphasis on trying to address the issue of water. We are also trying to address the issue of healthcare, because pollution normally comes with the issue of health of the people.

“Accordingly, we are building a state-of-the-art hospital, which has gone more than 50 percent now. It is going to address some of the bigger issues related to pollution. We also have so many cottage hospitals we are trying to do, which will link to that. In that area, we have been receiving a lot of cooperation from the state government.”

In his remarks, the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator, Mohamed Malick Fall commended the Governor for his administration’s support to ongoing work in Ogoniland, and stressed that the partnership will help all parties achieve the desired targets set out in the UNEP Report recommendations for the benefit of Ogoni people, the entire State, and indeed, the Niger Delta region.