FG commences strategic plan on Ogoniland

The Acting Executive Director of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development, (Centre LSD) Mr. Monday Osasah has lauded the FEDERAL Government on the commencement of the official handover of polluted sites to remediation firms on the Ogoniland Clean-Up.

“Cleaning the Niger Delta is social justice, and having achieved relative calm so far, we believe that further tampering with citizens expectation by the lull in the process might be problematic. The country went into recession a few years ago by a factor relating to the hostilities in the Niger Delta and pipeline vandalization. Therefore anything that could bring a repeat or question the country’s recovery from recession must be avoided as much as possible.”

“We are therefore pleased that Hydro Carbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), the body responsible for the clean up has commenced the official handover of polluted sites to remediation firms. We hope that the initial delay will be compensated by speed of the firms particularly with the availability of the sum US$180 million in the project account since the beginning of the 3rd quarter of 2018,” Osasah stated.

He made this statement at a one day High Level Advocacy Workshop on the Clean-Up of Niger Delta yesterday in Abuja.

He further said the need to address the environmental issues in the Niger Delta could not be over emphasized, reason being that addressing this issue would be equivalent to addressing the broader Nigerian problems.

Chairman COTRA H.R.H King Suanu Timothy Baridam urged the federal government to involve the community in the process going on to avoid crisis, adding that companies awarded to carry out responsibilities for the clean up should be ones that are competent and ready to do as expected.

 According to a participant, a community activist Mr Celestine Akpobare said the federal government needs to wake up to the urgent need of the Niger Delta by doing the needful over the issue of the Ogoniland clean up, adding that the government should pump more money for the project to be facilitated.

In response, the representative of the office of the Vice-president the SSA to the President on special matters Mr.  Edobo Iyang said due to the commitment by the present Administration have had series of programs.

“We constantly put HYPREP under pressure by inter-ministerial community headed by Agencies in the Niger Delta with the aim of making positive impact and to bring development to the region,” he added.

He further explained the need for a slow and steady input of the monetary efforts by the government being a long-term project of 25-30years which money should not be pumped into the project without using a 5% of the US$100 billion deposited to start the project.

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