By Obiabin Onukwugha
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) has awarded postgraduate scholarships to 500 Ogoni indigenes to promote peace, environmental recovery and sustainable development in Ogoniland and the Niger Delta.
The beneficiaries, comprising 300 Master’s and 200 Doctorate degree students, were drawn from the four local government areas of Ogoni — Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme — across various fields of study.
Presenting the awards in Port Harcourt on Thursday, the Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey, congratulated the beneficiaries and described the scholarship as an opportunity to fulfil their academic ambitions and build a better future for Ogoni.
He said the intervention goes beyond financial support, noting that it is aimed at restoring hope and preparing young people to participate in community development.
“For many of you, it is finally a dream come true. Beyond the grant, this intervention is also about renewing hope and the future we are co-creating in Ogoni,” Zabbey said.
He urged the beneficiaries to see the scholarship as a call to service and to use their knowledge to address challenges facing Ogoni.
According to him, the scholarship is part of HYPREP’s human capacity building and alternative livelihood programme in line with the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoni.
Zabbey listed ongoing HYPREP interventions to include soil and groundwater remediation, shoreline clean-up, mangrove restoration, provision of potable water, construction of the 100-bed Ogoni Specialist Hospital and a 43-bed cottage hospital, establishment of a Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration, the Ogoni Power Project, and livelihood and educational support.
He added that HYPREP is also supporting environmental monitoring and health research, including a three-year human biomonitoring survey in collaboration with the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The Project Coordinator stressed that HYPREP cannot achieve its objectives without the active participation of Ogoni people, particularly educated youths, and called on beneficiaries to promote peace, dialogue and cooperation among stakeholders.
He encouraged them to take advantage of research opportunities created by the clean-up exercise for multidisciplinary studies that can contribute to environmental restoration.
Zabbey assured beneficiaries who raised concerns over disbursement timelines that HYPREP remains committed to the objectives of the scholarship programme.
He said the activities reflect the Federal Government’s commitment to Ogoni recovery, noting that the clean-up has been elevated to a national priority under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. He thanked the President and the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, who chairs the HYPREP Governing Council.
Some beneficiaries thanked HYPREP and the Federal Government, saying the grant would ease their financial burden.
A Ph.D student in Mathematics Education at the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Mrs. Bara Uloma Celestine, said the grant would go beyond school fees to support research and publications.
Also, Mr. Bienebari Solomon Oscar, a Ph.D student in Development Studies at the University of Port Harcourt, described the process as transparent and pledged to channel his research towards solving societal problems.
