Yemi Olakitan
The Minister of Environment, Dr. Mohammed Abdullahi, has urged Nigerians to question their governors what they do with the huge money they routinely receive from the federation account for ecological concerns because he is alarmed by the recurring flooding that decimates the country every year.
The minister claimed that the amount of flooding that Nigeria experiences each year, which frequently results in the loss of many lives, would not have been as catastrophic if the governors had used ecological funding to address ecological issues in their individual states.
Dr. Abdullahi argued that while the federal government, through the relevant ministries and agencies, such as the one for the environment, has a role to play in preventing and controlling flooding, state governments also have a responsibility to take action with the enormous sums of money they raise for environmental causes.
At a news conference organised by the Ministry of Information in Abuja on Wednesday, the minister spoke while outlining the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s performance in the environmental sector from 2015 to the present. The Environment Ministry generated and deposited into the Treasury Single Account of the Federal Government the sum of N8.7 billion it generated internally through environmental services, according to the minister who reeled off an avalanche of accomplishments allegedly recorded by the ministry. He added that Nigeria had put in place a number of steps to lessen the effects of climate change and guarantee that it wouldn’t fall behind in the process of switching to a more sustainable kind of energy. The minister declared, “We are leading in receiving benefits from the global fund being established to address climate change. Through the identification of initiatives and programmes that promote our switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy, we have an action plan in place to make sure Nigeria profits from it.
The minister also declared that efforts were underway to clean up Ogoni land in accordance with a schedule created by Nigeria and the United Nations Environmental Program.
The minister stated, “The ministry has achieved the remediation of 21 sites covering approximately 230 hectares out of the 65 sites reported in the UNEP factsheet and accessed additional 213 grids consisting of 200 by 200cms per grid shorelines which will pave the way for the actual clean-up and remediation of 635 hectares of contaminate.
The construction of water supply schemes with the capacity to supply Eleme, Gokana, Tai, and Khana communities, as well as the training of no less than 400 Ogoni women in agribusiness and the creation of 20 cooperatives for them, were among the initiatives the minister cited as having been undertaken to help the Ogoni people and add value to their lives in order to make room for the operation.
A further claim made by the minister was that N491 million had been utilised to hire 500 Ogoni youths as local security at various HYPREP sites.
