By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The federal government has been charged to fully implement the UN environment programme report (UNEP) in Ogoniland.
The Ogoni Liberation Initiative (OLI) made this call in Bori, Rivers state while urging the Federal Government to make the environmental clean-up a legacy project of President Muhammadu Buhari.
President of the group, Douglas Fabeke, disclosed that he has partners who can fund the implementation of the UNEP report.
Fabeke said that what the group needs is only the approval of the Federal Government to invite partners.
He advised the Federal Government to ensure that the clean-up of the polluted sites are cleaned to a reasonable extend before the expiration of President Buhari’s administration, which would be an added mark to his (Buhari) government.
The group’s president frowned at the non-availability of potable water across Ogoni communities and criticized Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP).
Douglas alleged that HYPREP has not implemented any recommendation in the UNEP report.
He added that contracts awarded to companies and individuals for the clean-up of the Ogoni environment were done as political patronage, insisting that the Federal Government should compensate the Ogoni people for the loss.
UNEP conducted an independent assessment of the environment and public health impacts of oil contamination in Ogoniland, in the Niger Delta, and options for remediation.
Over 4,000 samples collected for analysis from more than 200 sites.
A press statement published in 2011 by UNEP, identified some areas, which appear unaffected at the surface, are in reality severely contaminated underground and action to protect human health and reduce the risks to affected communities should occur without delay says UNEP’s Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland.
In at least 10 Ogoni communities where drinking water is contaminated with high levels of hydrocarbons, public health is seriously threatened, according to the assessment.
In one community, at Nisisioken Ogale, in western Ogoniland, families are drinking water from wells that is contaminated with benzene– a known carcinogen–at levels over 900 times above World Health Organization guidelines. The site is close to a Nigerian National Petroleum Company pipeline.
UNEP scientists found an 8 cm layer of refined oil floating on the groundwater which serves the wells. This was reportedly linked to an oil spill which occurred more than six years ago.
While the report provides clear operational recommendations for addressing the widespread oil pollution across Ogoniland, UNEP recommends that the contamination in Nisisioken Ogale warrants emergency action ahead of all other remediation efforts.
It also recommended that full environmental restoration may take up to 30 Years with calls for an Initial US$1 Billion Fund to Kick-Start Clean-Up.