Mkpoikana Udoma 22 June 2017, Seetcrude, Port Harcourt – Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has disclosed that the flag off of Ogoni clean up was politically motivated due to the rerun elections in the state at the time.
Recall that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo flagged off the clean up of hydrocarbon polluted sites in Ogoniland as recommended by the UNEP report, with pomp and pageantry on 2nd of June 2016, in Bodo, Rivers State.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by the United States of America Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr William Symington, at the Government House, Port Harcourt, Governor Wike called on the federal government to begin the cleanup of Ogoniland.
The governor explained to the US Ambassador that since the rerun elections in the state, the people of Ogoni were yet to see any tangible thing from the federal government concerning the clean up.
Wike further said that all tiers of government should be focused on governance instead of dwelling on the 2019 election.
“The Ogoni clean up was flagged off to boost the political chances of APC politicians from Ogoni extraction during the Rivers rerun election.
“We must be sincere to our people, we must help our people. The clean up of Ogoniland is so vital. What will it cost the government? This is the place where the oil is taken from and the place is polluted. The farmlands, rivers are polluted. The people cannot farm any longer.
“Yes, the Ogoni clean up has been flagged off, so what follows next?,” he queried.
Governor Wike also called on the United States Government to establish a Visa Office in Port Harcourt to cater for the South-South and South-East .
He also urged the government of the United States of America to consider Port Harcourt the capital of the South-South, where the nation’s resources are generated for a Visa Office.
“If you open the Visa Office in Port Harcourt, you would have created a plethora of opportunities for the people of the region”, the governor said.
Speaking further, the governor also said that his administration is interested in building partnerships with the United States of America, especially in the area of commercial agriculture, oil and gas and industrialization.
“We are willing to partner with the American government in attracting investments to the state. Investments attract employment which reduces youth restiveness.”
Earlier, the US ambassador said the focus of his visit was to interact with the people of the state and learn about the state.
