Mkpoikana Udoma
24 August 2018, Port Harcourt — A total of 60 Ogoni women have been trained by a group known as Lokiaka Community Development Centre, on how to monitor the forthcoming clean-up and remediation of hydrocarbon polluted sites in Ogoniland as recommended by the United Nations Environment Program, UNEP.
The women, according to the group were selected from oil-impacted communities across the four Local Government Areas of Ogoniland in Rivers State, namely Eleme, Tai, Gokana, and Khana.
Speaking, the Executive Director of the group, Martha Agbani, said the training was imperative for environmental monitoring and sustainability for women from oil-impacted communities across Ogoniland.
Agbani expressed optimism that the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project, HYPREP, would soon commence the cleanup of Ogoniland, stressing that women must not be left out in the process.
She further stated the training taught the women on what do and how to get involved before, during, and after the cleanup exercise.
“Women are those that actually use the land; so they should be part of the exercise to know if the clean-up is carried on or not, if there is a remediation or restoration women should also know and that is why we are giving them the necessary skills to understand the environment before, during and after the cleanup.
“This is a follow up to the training we have conducted before now, what we are looking at is if we have made women be contributors of the environment, by way of planting the mangroves, then they should be keepers of that same environment.
“We are also using this opportunity to let them know that they cannot say they are looking for money without knowing how to make the money. So if they have so planted their mangroves and people are coming to destroy the land and with the monitoring skill they have they will be able to stop.”
Also speaking, the resource person at the training, Dr. Sam Kabari, said the training was centred on exposing women on how they can be part of soil, air and water remediation during the cleanup.
“One of the things UNEP recommended was inclusiveness, for communities to be included in the Ogoni clean-up process.
“So we thought that one of the ways women can be included in the cleanup process is to allow them to monitor the progress of the clean-up and remediation processes when it actually starts.”
