Hope rose yesterday in Ogoni, Rivers State, at the flag-off of the Ogoni clean-up exercise when two important stakeholders in the journey to restoration made two major fiscal pronouncements for the Ogoni and other oil producing states.
President Muhammadu Buhari announced that he had just approved the much-awaited $1 billion Ogoni Restoration Fund, and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) said it was ready to move in its own part of the fund.
President Buhari, who was represented by Vice President Yomi Osibajo, however, warned that the Federal Government would not accept oil theft or illegal refineries in the oil region, and called on leaders and elders of the region to impress it on their children to think twice, and urged agencies of government to take appropriate actions.
The President, who recounted the ugly history of the Ogoni struggle underlined by neglect, agitation, loss of lives, and damage to both the economy and the ecology, said he had also given approval for the setting up of all institutions required by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report. This was the critical stage that held the past administration back for over four years.
The UNEP Report had demanded the creation of Ogoniland Restoration Authority, creation of Environmental Restoration Fund for Ogoniland, and Institutional Regulatory Reforms. The past administration rather set up some agencies that appeared to be for all the Niger Delta, and headed by non-Ogoni instead of being Ogoni-specific. This brought contentions, as there was also no fund set up.
Presuident Buhari said he was moved by the devastation and deaths in Ogoni, noting that he took definite action as soon as he was sworn in, saying, “I want to come back here for inspection of work,” and the crowd roared.
The Vice President made his own personal remarks in which he blessed Ogoni land and prayed for total healing, saying, “Today is a historic day for Ogoni and for Nigeria. It is restoration of everything good in this land.”
Legborsi Pyagbara, president, Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), said his people lost over 2000 persons and many more in exile, describing the occasion as triumph of non-violence, as it would change the destiny of the Ogoni ethnic nationality.
Chibuike Amaechi, minister of transportation and former governor of Rivers State, recounted how he fought hard to convince the Ogoni people to allow the UNEP to come in, and even had to act as surety to the UN.
Speaking next, Nyesom Wike, the state governor, said the entire Niger Delta had suffered spills and degradation, but agreed that the injustice in Ogoni was fundamental, saying, “We welcome this initiative to bring environmental justice to the Ogoni and thanked the President for the decision to close out this ugly chapter in the life of the nation.”
He assured of his administration’s determination to partner the Federal Government in the Ogoni project.
