By: Felix Ikpotor
Ogoni stakeholders in Rivers State have commended the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, HYPREP, for its effort in implementing the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, Report on Ogoniland, stressing that the agency has given hope to the people.
The stakeholders which comprised of traditional rulers, political representatives, captains of industry, religious leaders, youths and women from the four local government areas of Ogoniland gave the commendation at the 2023-2025 midterm stakeholders scorecard held by the agency in Port Harcourt.
The stakeholders who x-rayed HYPREP’s interventions in remediation, livelihoods programmes, soil management, water provision, power and others, agreed that the Project was on the right track and keeping with the recommendations of the report.
Leading the assessment on HYPREP, the member representing Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency, Dumnamene Dekor said the current management team of HYPREP led by Professor Nenibarini Zabbey is doing their job with so much zest and passion.
He acknowledged that HYPREP is currently tackling the myriads of challenges facing the Ogoni people, urging the stakeholders and youths to take ownership of the projects.
“Let me say that by my own assessment the HYPREP we have today is doing their job with renewed vigour and I say that with all sense of responsibility. Let me thank all those who have been Project Coordinators before now, who laid the foundation. But particularly let me thank Professor Zabbey for driving the activities of HYPREP the way he’s doing with so much passion and also the Honourable Minister for Environment, Balarabe Abbas.
“HYPREP as a project is to address those challenges that we have always complained about but I want to beg my people and particularly the very young people in our communities, let us take full ownership and responsibility for all these projects because they are there to serve us,” he said.
Dekor, who is also Chairman House Committee on Host Communities, frowned against the vandalisation of HYPREP projects by persons in some communities.
The federal lawmaker urged beneficiaries of the agency’s various empowerment programmes to make maximum use of them to better their lives.
“Not all of those people that collected laptops and other items with which they are supposed to use to better their lives are using it. Alot of them decided to sell it off. I think we should advise ourselves. If we want to come out of poverty, if we want to improve our lives, we must take to these programmes that are made available to us,” he advised.
Dekor further informed the Ogoni stakeholders that he has initiated a bill seeking to give full legal backing to HYPREP and to sustain the gains it has made, calling for support of all Ogonis to see to the success of the proposed legislation.
Also speaking, Nigeria’s former ambassador to the Republic of Netherlands, Oji Ngofa commended the idea of stakeholders’ engagement, stating that such moves helps to get stakeholders’ buy-in in the projects.
He however, called for a sustainability framework to ensure that the gains achieved through the project is not eroded.
Ngofa urged HYPREP to adopt the same model it used in the birthing of Water Consumer Association (WCA), in other programmes to get more community buy-in.
“Most of the projects especially what I saw about water, the Water Consumer Association (WCA), that kind of initiative should also be extended to most of the programmes because as it is today, this is an interventionist programme and it could end anyday. How do we sustain all of these and to me, we should be looking at the way forward, we should have a programme of sustainability that would guide all of those presentations that you have made today,” he said.
“One of the things that we think it’s very important that you look into is to ensure that our people are proficiently trained in soil remediation and management. The point is that if for any reason all of these we have put in today does not work, we have our own trained people that can always come back to remedy and sustain it so sustainability is very important and that’s what I advice we should look into as we move forward,” Ngofa added.
On his part, a former Vice Chancellor of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology now Rivers State University, Prof Barineme Fakae lauded the quality of work done by HYPREP especially at the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration, CEER, calling for full implementation of the technical committee report on the centre.
He also called on Ogonis especially contractors to have a human face and see the projects not only from the business aspect of it but to ensure it succeeds and benefits the generality of Ogoni people.
Speaking onbehalf of the traditional institution, HRM, Dr Philip Obele, the Oneh-Eeh Eleme while also commending the efforts of the HYPREP management team, urged that while carrying out the projects, they should bear in mind the sacrifices of the slain Ogoni heroes who sacrificed their lives for the project to come to bear.
“My only advise to the management of HYPREP is that the expectations of our heroes, the reason our people died for the betterment of our lives and for the betterment of Ogoniland, we should not deviate from it so that the souls that have died for this fight can have a peaceful rest. So we should do those things that will benefit our people for the sake of those that died long ago and for the overall betterment of Ogoniland,” he admonished.
Earlier, Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Professors Nenibarini Zabbey in his presentation noted that the midterm engagement was important because it allows the agency to present tangible evidence of progress in the Ogoni clean-up effort, reinforce accountability, deepen transparency and enables HYPREP to interact directly with the communities and stakeholders who are the heartbeat of the project.
He said further that the scorecard presentation was designed to show what has been achieved across key thematic areas, what challenges the project is currently grappling with, and what the road ahead looks like, re-affirming his commitment to the success of the Ogoni cleanup project.
He informed the stakeholders that HYPREP has recorded commendable progress in the implementation of its core mandates in line with UNEP recommended actions and the directives in the official gazette establishing HYPREP.
In the area of environmental remediation, Zabbey said more sites have been successfully remediated and certified, with several others currently at different stages of remediation.
“HYPREP has successfully achieved the certification and official close-out of fifty (50) remediated lots across seventeen (17) UNEP-assessed sites, under its Phase 1 Remediation of Simple Sites.
“In addition to the certified closure of these 17 simple sites, HYPREP also secured NOSDRA certification and close-out for thirteen (13) Category N Sites. These were locations lacking sufficient data, which HYPREP reinvestigated and found that natural attenuation processes have reduced the contamination to acceptable levels. Such sites do not require further remedial actions,” he stated.
The HYPREP PC stated further that the clean-up of 1,700 ha of oiled shoreline is 53% completed, adding that HYPREP is currently advancing the remediation of 39 lots across 17 medium-risk, complex sites covering 125.39 hectares of hydrocarbon-impacted land. The sites he said involves remediating contaminated soil and groundwater outside residential areas.
Zabbey also said HYPREP has launched the world’s largest initiative to restore oil-degraded mangroves in Ogoniland with the pilot phase, covering 560 hectares, is 93% complete.
The project coordinator also reeled out other achievements in areas of livelihoods restoration, potable water distribution, the Ogoni power projects amongst others.
On job creation Zabbey said, “Interestingly, HYPREP through its various projects and programmes have created over 7,000 direct employment opportunities for Ogoni youths and women across more than 100 project sites in the four local government areas of Ogoniland. These projects have also stimulated local businesses.”
