By Mayowa Adeniran |
Stakeholders at the policy dialogue on the clean up of Ogoni land has advised the Federal Government of Nigeria to employ the service of right and qualified agents and contractors for the clean up of Ogoni land.
The suggestion was made at the One-Day Policy Dialogue on the Clean Up of Ogoni Land: The Role of Stakeholders in the UNEP Report, which was organized by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD) with support from Cordaid.
The workshop was hinged on drawing the attention of the Government, Communities, oil companies, CSOs and the Media to chart and arrive at a nuanced and holistic approach that could speed up the clean-up
. The dialogue was attended by several stakeholders including; Office of the Vice President, HYPREP, NOSDRA, Traditional rulers, Women & Youth groups, Civil Society Organizations and the Media.
Participant present at the dialogue observed that the clean-up is an idol to the Ogoni people, and they depend on it with sentiments because it has capacity to deliver them from an uncertain future while adding that the issue of re-pollution happening in communities is worrisome and is traceable to the preponderance of artisanal refining.
The Federal Government was commended for embracing the UNEP report and the subsequent set up of Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) as special purpose vehicle to oversee the cleanup of Ogoni land and indeed the Niger Delta.
It was observed that the Ogoni clean-up is a test case as there are no examples anywhere that can be referenced by HYPREP as template and there is a need to be painstaking in relation to the processes is critical.
Participants also called for and increased community engagement is critical to advance the clean-up, HYPREP should not mistake visit to traditional rulers for community sensitization while stressing the need to set up of the Central Representative Advisory Committee (CRAC) by HYPREP as an interface between community and HYPREP is commendable.
Organisations at the dialogue called for the need for a multi-stakeholder implementation approach in dealing with issues raised in the course of the Ogoni cleanup.
Other recommendations made include: “Government, Communities and the security agencies, must adopt an effective and holistic strategy to stop acts that further cause re-pollution such as artisanal refining, patronage of illegal products and adopt professional destruction of seized petroleum products.
“Stakeholders tasked the Federal government and its agencies to put in place the necessary framework that would speed up the clean-up process while sustaining the advocacy efforts which gave rise to the UNEP Assessment in the first place.
“Right and qualified agents and contractors should be engaged for the clean-up to meet international standards.
“Government should ensure that anything limiting the clean-up process are removed and insulate HYPREP from the challenges of red tapeism.
“Community engagement should be advanced to elicit the buy-in and co-operation of the communities in the implementation of the UNEP Report and Clean-up.
“The communities should avoid legal bottlenecks in seeking financial compensation for their land rather they should focus on the outcome of remediation of the environment.
“HYPREP should put in place a multi-stakeholder implementation plan which can be accessed and used for monitoring by stakeholders, carry out needs assessment prior to the implementation of its livelihood programmes, and set up complaint desk to aid liaison with the office.”
