By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Nnimmo Bassey, Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation has said that the Federal government’s plan to transfer Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) from the Federal Ministry of Environment to the Federal Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs will encourage oil companies divestment plans.
Bassey in a statement on Wednesday said the planned move is a calculated distraction at a time when international oil companies are making moves to divest from onshore oil fields with, undeclared but real, intention of avoiding responsibility for historical and current environmental damage.
He said, “We do not need the confusion and wastage that will be created by this planned move of HYPREP to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
“Considering the ecological crisis in the Niger Delta and across Nigeria, we expect the FG to order an urgent commencement of environmental audit of the nation and ensuring that all polluters – the oil companies, including NNPC Ltd – pay for the clean-up of the entire Niger Delta and other areas afflicted with hydrocarbon pollution.”
The statement also added, “HOMEF rejects the planned move of HYPREP from the Federal Ministry of Environment to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs as reportedly announced by the Minister of Transportation Muázu Jaji Sambo in Abuja where he stated that HYPREP Is a purely Niger Delta affair and that transferring the agency to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs would quicken the pace of the clean-up.
“This planned move appears to stem from a major misconception that HYPREP is a solely Niger Delta affair. This is far from being accurate. We have hydrocarbon pollution in other areas of Nigeria outside the Niger Delta, including around Kaduna refinery, and at Atlas Cove, Badagary and other places in Lagos.
“It is also obvious that with oil extraction activities in Lagos waters and Dangote’s refinery being built at Lekki, hydrocarbon pollution will soon become the norm in Lagos. That is not Niger Delta.
“Moreover, with plans to invest 30% of the profits of NNPC Ltd in prospecting for petroleum resources in frontier basins, the scope of pollution will expand. That will not be in the Niger Delta.
“Besides the fact that moving HYPREP to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs unnecessarily limits its scope, it also blindsides the essential backstopping that agencies such as National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) seamlessly provide to the agency.”
The statement further stated that HYPREP was established under the Federal Ministry of Petroleum of Nigeria in 2012 following a recommendation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on the assessment of the Ogoni environment in 2011.
Taking cognizance of the fact that a polluter could not be saddled with the responsibility of cleaning and remediating the environment of Ogoniland, the Federal Government then moved the agency to the Federal Ministry of Environment in 2016 gazetted and renamed it Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP).
