Flag off of Ogoni clean up: Buhari’s visit certain as minister makes site ready

The mood has changed and excitement has taken over in Ogoni areas of Rivers State as the much-expected flag-off of the $1 billion clean up of Ogoni land is confirmed.

This is as the minister of environment, Amina Mohammed, almost lives in Ogoni to make ready the site in a swampy location that used to be a mega fish farm in Bodo, Gokana local council area.

The minister, who has been working round the various interest groups and stakeholders over six months now to get a consensus from the never-agreeing groups, has secured a site and the support of all groups to launch the clean up with a momentous flag-off on Thursday, June 3, 2016.

The ministry is seen working closely with the Rivers State government and the dreaded MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People), key leaders and groups, while several indigenous professionals and artists have been made ready and willing to make the president’s visit a huge success.

BusinessDay, who visited the site on Sunday, May 29, 2016, found that a fish farm that was once commissioned in 1984, Buhari as military head of state, but which was over run by pollution and abandoned by a Federal Government agency, Numuu Tekuru, Bodo, has been confirmed.

Technical experts have moved down to set up mega tents at the site while a reliable international construction giant has embarked on emergency efforts to get a road to the site near the Tekuru River. Soldiers have moved down their caravans to take possession of the entire area while young men are busy helping out with manual labour.

The flag-off would put paid to years of conflict between the federal government and Ogoni leaders over the implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report issued since 2011 which recommended $1Bn as minimum amount to clean up the areas polluted over the years.

The Federal Government seemed to dither on this and the Ogoni people reacted angrily until the Buhari administration came in and made categorical statements on the flag-off. The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) which exploited crude oil that polluted the area has since said it had complied with the UNEP Report by setting aside the said $1Bn but had waited the federal government framework for action to start.

Now, most the disputing groups and clans seem to have found common ground under the Amina Mohammed, and the Nyeson Wike administration in the state seems to have found buy-in space for collaboration and cooperation.

The minister told BusinessDay on Sunday that she was satisfied with the progress of work at the site and the willingness of stakeholders to work together for the realisation of a clean and harmonious Ogoni land. She mentioned the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Ministry of Niger Delta as other mandated agencies of government neck-deep in the exercise.