As submission of bids come to an end and screening of viable contractors begins, another major leap forward took place in Port Harcourt on Friday, when the technical assistants in the clean up and remediation were flagged off for training.
Managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nsima Ekere, flagged off a two-day training workshop for the technical assistants at the conference hall of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) in Port Harcourt.
Ekere, who was represented by the NDDC director, special duties, Princewill Ekanim, said the Commission would collaborate with Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to provide the needed support in the effort to address the environmental concerns of the Ogoni people, and restore their livelihood and native occupation of farming and fishing.
According to Ekere, “There are over 5,000 impacted sites in the Niger Delta region and about 25 per cent of that is in Ogoni land.” He, therefore, stressed the need to make the Ogoni clean-up exercise a success, so as to provide the roadmap to the clean-up of all hydrocarbon impacted sites in the Niger Delta region.
He said: “Section 2, sub section (a), (h) and (i) of the NDDC Act 2000, mandates the Commission to tackle ecological problems in the Niger Delta environment. The Commission is to work with oil companies operating in the region and other stakeholders to carry out this task.
“In the exercise of this mandate, and in demonstration of the commitment of the current Board of the Commission, a technical person, Dr. Udeme Udofia, who is an associate Professor in the area of environmental protection and pollution control was appointed to work with HYPREP and build the capacity of the local people in environmental remediation. He will eventually take over the supervision of this project which UNEP says may last for more than 30 years.”
The NDDC CEO said no significant success was recorded by HYPREP three years after it was established in 2012, till 2015 when the structure of HYPREP was amended to include a board of trustees, a governing council and a project management team.
He said further that the sum of $10 million was deposited in the trust fund to serve the financial viability of HYPREP, adding that the general council of HYPREP was a multi-stakeholder body, which included the NDDC.
He explained that the General Council of HYPREP was charged with the responsibility of providing the necessary oversight to ensure the implementation of the UNEP report.
Project coordinator for HYREP, Marvin Dekil, underscored the essence of the training on oil spill assessment, stating that it would develop the capacity of the young environmental scientists as well as foster the involvement of the Ogoni community in the clean-up project.
According to Dekil, “HYREP as a project of the Federal Government of Nigeria has the mandate of remediating oil impacted sites and restoring the livelihoods of communities whose sources of income have been destroyed as a result of hydrocarbon pollution.”
Dekil commended the NDDC for supporting the training and urged that the cooperation would continue throughout the life span of the project. He observed that the training, which was the second by HYREP, was an improvement on the previous one because of the support of the NDDC.
He noted: “The first was in June, 2017, which coincided with the visit of the United Nations Resident coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallou, who on seeing the preparatory work we were doing at the time, appealed to Ogoni people and indeed all stakeholders in the clean-up project, to be patient with HYREP to deliver a world class remediation.”
