HYPREP assures on meeting Ogoni cleanup target with 130 ongoing projects

As Ogoni people of Rivers State recall agonies of deaths and killing of their sons, the intervention agency set up to clean up their land and tears has said it is meeting the target with 130 ongoing projects.

This is as Nenibarini Zabbey, project coordinator, Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), has said that the agency and the Movement of the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) share the same vision for an Ogoni free from pollution, poverty, and discord.

Zabbey made this statement in the USA at the MOSOP-USA annual commemoration of the Ogoni struggle in Kansa, USA, where he charged the apex socio-cultural group to rally round the cause of a pollution and poverty-free Ogoni by supporting the cleanup programme. He also urged them to imbibe the spirit of brotherliness and reconciliation, setting aside differences and working together as a people towards a shared future.

Presenting the project’s scorecard to the group, the PC explained that the about 130 projects being carried out by HYPREP in Ogoni have been carefully designed to implement the recommendations of the UNEP on the Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland and to achieve the objectives of HYPREP as stipulated by the HYPREP Gazette.

He listed the projects to include soil and groundwater remediation, shoreline cleanup, mangrove restoration, potable water provision, strengthening public health systems, sundry livelihood interventions, and the construction of the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration (CEER), Ogoni Specialist Hospital and the Buan Cottage Hospital and the Ogoni Power Project, all of which create direct and indirect jobs for the critical mass of Ogoni youths and women.

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While emphasizing the need for peace and unity, which he noted are necessary requirements to address decades of pollution and break the circle of poverty in Ogoni, the PC urged the group to work hand in hand with HYPREP to accelerate the pace of the ongoing environmental restoration, livelihood restoration and the implementation of special projects all of which would ensure a legacy of healing, prosperity and sustainability.

Zabbey further enjoined members of the group to complement HYPREP’s efforts by channeling their international networks and resources, expertise and media platforms to foster growth and development in Ogoni, adding that acknowledging and supporting the progress the project has made in the Ogoni cleanup would bolster the foundation for further success.

Mike Nwielaghi, chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) Ogoni Trust Fund, was also at the event where he presented the financial status update of the cleanup project.

Ogoni people from different groups have always seen nothing good with HYPREP and the cleanup, leading to petitions and replacement of the CEO of the agency.