By Obiabin Onukwugha
Concerned about the continued pollution of the Niger Delta environment and the need for the Nigerian Government to transit to renewable energy, renowned Environmentalist, Nnimmo Bassey, has embarked on Advocacy Visits to Government Ministries and agencies in Rivers State.
Speaking during the advocacy visits, Bassey, who is the Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), noted that the visit was to explore opportunities and ways of strengthening the push for a pollution-free and healthy environment for communities in the Niger Delta and Nigeria at large.
Speaking during the visit to the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), Bassey noted that the success of the Ogoni cleanup and remediation was crucial to the clean up of the entire Niger Delta environment.
He said: “HOMEF believes that the success of the Ogoni clean-up is a crucial trigger for the clean-up of other polluted areas of the region. There are a whole lot of expectations placed on HYPREP and there must be transparency and accountability. We request that CSOs and other critical stakeholders should have access to the work sites and project milestones for the purpose of regular evaluation and assessment of work being done.”
Responding, the Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey, expressed gratitude for the show of support from HOMEF and pledged to hit the ground running with a human-centric approach to the clean-up.
“Things are beginning to take shape and in the coming weeks, there will be a lot of activities because the Federal government has awarded 39 plots for remediation, 34 shoreline cleanup contracts, and 9 mangrove regeneration contracts.
We are also contracting an ecologist who will train youths on how to setup mangrove nurseries. We are not just doing the training, there will be grants to start up their mangrove nurseries, as a means of enhancing livelihoods.
We are going to have 60 percent men and 40 percent women participation in some of the cleanup processes. We are strengthening our Monitoring and Evaluation abilities in cooperation with UNEP”, he said.
Other agencies visited included the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Rivers State Ministry of Environment.