Nigerian Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari,
today set in motion a $1 billion clean-up and restoration programme of the
Ogoniland region in the Niger Delta, announcing that financial and legislative
frameworks had been put in place to begin implementing recommendations made by
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Speaking at an event in Port
Harcourt attended by thousands, including international football star Joseph
Yobo and Miss Nigeria Pamela Lessi, the Vice President said the Nigerian
government was now delivering on what was one of President Buhari’s key
election promises.
UNEP’s Executive Director Achim
Steiner travelled to Port Harcourt to join Vice President Osinbajo and other
dignitaries for the launch ceremony.
The implementation will be based on
recommendations from a 2011 UNEP report, commissioned by the Nigerian
government, on the impact of oil extraction in Ogoniland. The report found
severe and widespread contamination of soil and ground water across Ogoniland.
In a number of locations public health was severely threatened by contaminated
drinking water and carcinogens. Delta ecosystems such as mangroves had been
utterly devastated. The report also found that institutional control measures
in place both in the oil industry and the Government were not implemented
adequately. The report proposed the establishment of a Restoration Authority
with an explicit mandate to clean up Ogoniland and restore the ecosystems. The
report also recommended the establishment of an Ogoniland Environmental
Restoration Fund with an initial capitalization of 1 billion dollars to cover
the clean-up costs.
Mr. Steiner said, “The people of
Ogoniland have paid a high price for the success of Nigeria's oil industry,
enduring a toxic and polluted environment for decades. Today marks a historic
step toward improving the situation of the Ogoni people, who have paid this
high price for too long. A clean-up and restoration effort like this cannot
happen overnight, but I am hopeful that the cooperation between the Government
of Nigeria, oil companies and communities will result in an environmental
restoration that benefits both ecosystems and the Ogoni people of the Niger
Delta. UNEP has provided the scientific basis for this work, and will continue
to offer its technical expertise as needed to help ensure a positive result for
all involved.”
Requested by the Federal Government of Nigeria, UNEP’s Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland was released in August 2011. It examined over the course of two years the environmental impact of oil industry operations in the area since the late 1950s. It found that oil contamination in Ogoniland is extensive and is having a grave impact on the environment, with pollution penetrating further and deeper than previously thought.
Requested by the Federal Government of Nigeria, UNEP’s Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland was released in August 2011. It examined over the course of two years the environmental impact of oil industry operations in the area since the late 1950s. It found that oil contamination in Ogoniland is extensive and is having a grave impact on the environment, with pollution penetrating further and deeper than previously thought.
UNEP Executive Director Achim
Steiner, who will be stepping down from his position this month, was joined by
Erik Solheim, UNEP's incoming Executive Director. Since January 2013, Mr
Solheim has been UNEP’s Special Envoy to Ogoniland, supporting negotiations
between the Ogoni people, the Nigerian Government and oil companies. His role
as UNEP’s future Executive Director will ensure UNEP’s continuity in supporting
the programme.
“The task to clean up Ogoniland will
neither be easy nor fast, but it needs to be done,” Mr. Solheim said. “If we
succeed here, it will demonstrate that degraded environments can be restored,
sending a signal to many other communities around the world that peaceful
co-operation can lead to positive outcomes.”
The clean-up is vital for the future of the region. It will help create new livelihoods, establish old livelihoods and change the lives of a million people. It will also establish a new model for working towards sustainable development, even in the most challenging of environments.
The clean-up is vital for the future of the region. It will help create new livelihoods, establish old livelihoods and change the lives of a million people. It will also establish a new model for working towards sustainable development, even in the most challenging of environments.
The environmental restoration of
Ogoniland is likely to be the world’s most wide-ranging and long-term oil clean
up exercise ever undertaken. Experts suggest that it may take up to 25 years
until ecosystems are fully restored.
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