By: Felix Ikpotor
Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, has tasked members of the Board of Trustees of the Ogoni Trust Fund and the Governing Council of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to redouble efforts in mobilising funds for the completion of the ongoing Ogoni cleanup exercise.
The minister gave the charge at a two-day joint retreat for members of the two organs of HYPREP held in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State.
The retreat with a focus on strategically repositioning the Project to effectively deliver on its mandate as recommended in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report on the Ogoni Environment, marked a significant demonstration of the Federal Government’s commitment to the Ogoni Clean-up Programme under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, in line with the Presidential Directive on the acceleration of the clean-up, particularly Priority Three, Deliverable Three.
Five ministers attended the retreat, alongside key stakeholders in the oil and gas sector. They include the Minister of Environment and Chairman of the HYPREP Governing Council, Honourable Balarabe Abbas Lawal; the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu; the Minister of Regional Development, Honourable Abubakar Momoh; the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Honourable Heineken Lokpobiri, represented by Dr Enene Xynex Ambah; and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo.
Other participants included the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Ogoni Trust Fund Incorporated, Emma Deeyah; the Project Coordinator and Secretary to the Governing Council, Professor Nenibarini Zabbey; and representatives of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited and its Joint Venture partners.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company, Engr Tony Attah, was represented by the General Manager, Relations and Sustainable Development, Igo Weli, and the Project Manager, Environment and Oil Remediation Project, Mr John Ede. Joint Venture partners from TotalEnergies and Oando were also in attendance.
The National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, was represented by Alhaji Usman Iya Abbas, while the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Environment, Mr Mahmud Kambari, members of the Governing Council and Board of Trustees were also present.
With the theme “Strategic Governance for Sustainable Remediation of Oil-Impacted Environment,” the retreat provided a platform for participants to critically appraise project performance, review policy frameworks, and make strategic interventions aimed at strengthening the implementation of the Ogoni Clean-up Programme.
Discussions centred on HYPREP’s mandate, the need for enhanced synergy among stakeholders, effective policy development, fundraising strategies, policy and strategy reviews, performance evaluation, accountability, and efficient project implementation.
Addressing participants, the Minister of Environment, Honourable Balarabe Abbas Lawal, reiterated the Federal Government’s unwavering commitment to the Ogoni Clean-up Programme.
He urged members of both the Governing Council and the Board of Trustees to rise to their responsibilities, particularly in the areas of fund mobilisation and effective project monitoring.
The Minister added that the Project’s institutional structures should leverage the renewed commitment of the participating ministers to attract critical government interventions.
He further emphasised the need for close collaboration among the Governing Council, Board of Trustees, and other key stakeholders to ensure that HYPREP effectively discharges its mandate.
“As members of this two important bodies, we are supposed to be the ones that will stir HYPREP and we know that the project of HYPREP is based on agitation on a land that was polluted and required remediation. We are all here to see that this project progresses very well and see that the purpose for which it was created is achieved and that’s the cleanup of Ogoni land.
”HYPREP has a lifespan so we must work to achieve what we need to achieve within that lifespan. And we believe this retreat is important to understand our roles in the project, ” Lawal said.
He lamented that the two Boards of Trustees that were created have not sufficiently worked for the purpose for which they were created which is to mobilise funds for the project. The minister noted that the project is progressing into complex sites which requires much funding, urging the BOT to be up to its duties.
”The new BOT must standout and mobilise funds for the project. The funds we are using are the ones mobilised in the last five years, so we need the BOT to be up and doing. There are now four ministers onboard and so we must use this opportunity to mobilise funds for HYPREP.
”We are moving into the complex sites which are much more difficult to address and that’s why we need to sit and discuss on what we are going to do and so we need the support of the BOT to get us the funds for this and the Governing Council to ensure that we give out the right contracts for this. It’s important to note that our roles is to make HYPREP function very well and that’s why this retreat is important for us, ” the minister added.
These positions were echoed by the Ministers of Budget and Economic Planning, Regional Development, and Petroleum Resources (Oil and Gas), who commended the Minister of Environment and HYPREP management for progress made so far in the Ogoni Clean-up Programme, while also proposing alternative funding sources to ensure sustainability.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ogoni Trust Fund, Emma Deeyah, called for HYPREP to be made a full-fledged government agency to strengthen its operational capacity and long-term sustainability.
He also advised the development of a holistic project implementation roadmap to enable the Project effectively deliver on its mandate.
Speaking on behalf of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, the operator of the Joint Venture, Igo Weli reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the success of the Ogoni Clean-up Programme, while urging prudent and transparent utilisation of funds.
“On behalf of the JV Partners, we really want this project to succeed and all that will make it successful, we’ll do, ” he affirmed.
Presenting the Project Status Report, the Project Coordinator, Professor Nenibarini Zabbey, highlighted key milestones achieved by HYPREP across several thematic areas.
These include soil and shoreline remediation, mangrove restoration and biodiversity recovery, provision of potable water, livelihood support programmes, public health interventions, and special projects such as the construction of the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration and the Ogoni Power Project.
” In the last two and half years of this administration, we have created over 7000 direct jobs in our various project sites, train over 5000 in skills acquisition, trained 250 active cassava farmers and gave them fertilisers and bundles of cassava stems in line with the renewed direct to contribute to food security, trained 90 mangrove vanguard and gave them incentives to set up mangrove nurseries and they were able to train additional 305 persons, ” Zabbey said.
The Project Coordinator also stated that scholarships have been granted to 300 post-graduate students.
