Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Members of the civil society have raised concerns over the involvement of politicians in awarding contracts for the Ogoni cleanup project, warning that such actions could derail efforts to restore the environment.
Celestine Akpobari, Executive Director of the Peoples Advancement Centre, emphasized the need for the cleanup to be driven by professionals in environmental restoration, rather than politicians who may prioritize personal gain over effective remediation.
Speaking at the mangrove planting campaign in Bomu, Ogoni, as part of the 2024 Heroes Week commemoration, Akpobari who is also a member of HYPREP Governing Council, stressed that the work required for Ogoni cleanup was not a typical government contract and should be handled by qualified professionals in the field.
The mangrove planting initiative, was part of HYPREP’s broader efforts to restore Ogoni severely degraded environment, a legacy of decades of oil pollution, as Akpobari highlighted the significant progress being made, pointing to the return of fauna like periwinkles, which had disappeared from the area.
“As a member of HYPREP Governing Council, if this project must succeed, contracts should not be given to those in government, because those in government know how to steal money, they don’t work. I can tell you for free that 99% of those that took contract, that are in government, have never mobilized to site, our money is with them.
“Contracts for remediation should be isolated from regular government contracts. Ogoni cleanup is not a regular thing, it is for professionals to handle. It is not toiletries or stationaries that any person can go and supply. There are professionals in remediation, these experts are the people we should look for and give the contract.
“In fact, we should knock on their doors and give it to them. But when you give this contract so somebody in government, it takes his own first before he hire somebody that will come and do it, there is no more money, so they cut corners and they will not do a good job.”
Akpobari also urged the people of Ogoni to take ownership of the remediation efforts, stressing that HYPREP’s success depends on community involvement; he pointed to the poor maintenance of past government projects as a sign of what can go wrong when local ownership is lacking.
“My advice to the community people, the youth, women and men of Ogoni is that HYPREP is not doing this for HYPREP. HYPREP is doing it for us. After the planting the mangroves, HYPREP will leave. This thing will be with them. So Ogoni people must own this project, they are the people that will fish here.
“I saw women picking periwinkles. Five years ago, people couldn’t come here to pick periwinkles. These means that the soil have been remediated and trapped oil has been taken out. That’s why you are seeing those things coming back. So the more Ogoni people allow HYPREP to work, the better for the community.”
Also speaking, the Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Rev Nnimmo Bassey, said the civil society is poised to see Ogoniland cleaned up and would continue to hold HYPREP on their terms to ensure that every project embarked by HYPREP is visibly verified.
“The mangrove planting shows clearly that something positive is happening and that the environment is gradually returning to its normal self, and this is very critical in terms of the whole efforts of HYPREP. Because if you tell us you’ve cleaned the land and swamp, yet nothing grows, that will be a lie.
“Now we’ve seen mangroves planted earlier are thriving. We have planted some today and we hope to come bank and monitor to see whether they survive or not. We are going to hold HYPREP to its own terms. If HYPREP said they’ve done anything, we will make sure that things is done. We really want to see the region cleaned up.”
For her part, Dr. Emem Okon, Director of Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, announced plans to lead a women convention to plant at least 300 mangroves in Ogoni by December 2024.
“We have been informed that over one million mangroves seedlings have been planted already in Ogoni and more will be planted. I have been an advocate of Niger Delta cleanup, and I am still advocating that more polluted areas in the Niger Delta be cleaned. So all of us have a mandate to support HYPREP to actively execute the cleanup project.”
