News
UNEP Report: FG Unfolds Fresh Plans
An official of the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), has welcomed the Fedral Government’s decision to proceed with a major
oil contamination clean up of Ogoniland in the Niger Delta.
In an exclusive interview with The Tide, UNEP’s
Communication Advisor, Julie Marks, said the government’s expressed commitment
signalled a new future for Ogoniland its environment and indeed the entire
Niger Delta communities.
She said 12 months ago, UNEP presented its scientific
assessment of oil pollution in Ogoniland to Nigerian government, underlining
serious public health and environment impacts.
The report, she emphasised called for swift action to
prevent the pollution footprints from spreading further and exacerbating the
already tragic legacy for the Ogoni people.
She explained that the UNEP environmental assessment of Ogoniland had proposed the initial sum
of $1billion to cover the first five
years of clean –up operations.
Marks stressed that “some of the ground results could be
immediate overall of the report, estimated
countering and cleaning up the pollution and catalysing a sustainable
recovery of Ogoinland could take 25-30 years which will require long term
financing.
She said , the UN under Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, Achim Stener had
stated that “ on the anniversary of the Ogoniland assessment, there are now
clear and encouraging signals that the government is keen to move on the
recommendations and this is a welcome development for the Ogoniland and its
people, who have suffered and continued
to suffer, the legacy of some 50 years of unsustainable oil exploration and
production”.
However, Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Allison- Madueke, announced last month that the Federal
Government has established the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project for
Ogoniland to fully implement the UNEP assessment report on the area.
The cleanup of Ogoniland environment will be conducted under
this new Nigerian government initiative, the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration
Project (HYPREP)”, she said.
The UNEP Communications Advisor said “UNEP stands ready to
assist the government and its agencies with expertise for getting the HYPREP up
and running so as to improve the lives and livelihoods of the Ogoni people”.
She further said UNEP had held discussions with the Director
General of the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Sir
Peter Idabor, saying it had engaged with the government to chart transformative
pathways forward in order to realise the assessment’s recommendations.
The immediate need is for the necessary funds to be
mobilised and to be deployed to take the project forward at a scale and speed
commensurate with the challenge. Everyone has a part to play in realising
significant and positive results from the government of Nigeria, local authorities
and the oil industry to NGOs and local communities”, said UNEP Director of
Environmental Policy Implementation, Ibrahim Thiaw, who on August 4, 2011,
presented the UNEP’s environmental assessment report to President Goodluck
Jonathan at the state House, Abuja.
The Tide recalls that while receiving the report, Jonathan
had promised Federal Government’s commitment to implement the UNEP
recommendations on Ogoniland.
Philip Okparaji
News
I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
News
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
News
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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