Key points
- The Federal Government has urged development partners, donor agencies, and the diplomatic community to deepen support for HYPREP.
- High level administrative requests were presented by the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, at a conference in Abuja.
- Operational tracking shows the project has successfully remediated hundreds of hectares of polluted land and deployed potable water schemes.
- Budgetary assessments revealed that resources supporting the UNEP backed framework are nearing exhaustion.
- Strategic project extensions require urgent funding to remediate 18 high risk sites and 120 additional documented locations.
Main Story
The Federal Government has called on development partners, donor agencies and the diplomatic community to deepen support for the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) for completion of the Ogoniland restoration programme.
The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, said this on Tuesday in Abuja at the Conference on Donor Facilitation and Diplomatic Support Engagement for HYPREP.
The conference was aimed at reviewing progress in the implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report recommendations on Ogoni land, while strengthening partnerships and mobilising support for the sustainability of the project.
To evaluate intermediate structural dependencies, environmental administrators are executing diverse civil works alongside land cleanup tasks to build local research capacity.
Lawal said the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration is also being developed as a hub for environmental research, innovation and capacity building in Africa.
He noted that ongoing tasks include large-scale mangrove restoration projects to revive fragile ecosystems and improve biodiversity, alongside the construction of modern healthcare facilities.
Furthermore, community trust fund executives have warned that a severe deficit in statutory corporate contributions is stalling vital field operations.
Mr Emmanuel Deeyah, Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Ogoni Trust Fund Incorporated, said the environmental crisis in Ogoniland was caused by decades of oil pollution, which contaminated water sources, farmlands and fishing areas.
Deeyah explained that while the UNEP report recommended that oil companies contribute one billion dollars every five years over a 30-year period, they have done it for 10 years now and have not gotten even one billion, noting that refineries and local operators have not contributed a dime.
The Issues
- Securing additional funding as existing resources under the UNEP backed framework face total exhaustion.
- Overcoming widespread funding delays caused by expected contributors failing to make financial commitments.
- Remediating 120 additional polluted sites that were completely omitted from the original UNEP environmental assessment.
What’s Being Said
- Acknowledging the scientific base that guides current field operations, Environment Minister Balarabe Lawal “expressed the federal government’s appreciation to the UNEP for its leadership and technical support, noting that the UNEP Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland provided the scientific foundation for the remediation programme.”
- Detailing the broad scope of long-term investments required to fully sustain the localized remediation gains, Lawal noted “that the implementation of the UNEP recommendations required sustained financial and technical support, continuous environmental monitoring, infrastructure maintenance and long-term community development interventions.”
- Warning that active progress will halt without immediate capital injections from global entities, he stated: “resources that had supported much of the progress under the UNEP-backed framework are nearing exhaustion, hence additional support is critical to consolidating existing gains and completing outstanding projects.”
- Outlining the specific international groups expected to provide technical and scientific capital, Lawal “urged development partners, international financial institutions, philanthropic foundations and private sector organisations to provide financial, technical, scientific and strategic support for the project.”
- Recalling the historical community agitations that originally led to the independent environmental audit of the Niger Delta, Board Chairman Mr Emmanuel Deeyah noted “the agitation of the Ogoni people against environmental degradation prompted the federal government to invite UNEP to carry out a scientific assessment of the area.”
- Summarizing the specific funding formula established by the United Nations to guarantee a comprehensive environmental cleanup, Deeyah noted: “That UNEP report recommended that for Ogoni to be properly cleaned, the oil companies should contribute one billion dollars every five years over a 30-year period for the clean up of Ogoni land.”
- Highlighting the severe resource deficit currently crippling their newly constructed administrative infrastructure, Deeyah stated: “We have done it for 10 years now. And we haven’t gotten even one billion. The refineries and local operators have not contributed a dime. And this is a project that we know has a life span. So we felt that we should reach out to the international community, partners, multilateral agencies and financial institutions for financial support, technical expertise and strategic partnership. We have a gigantic modern-day building that is going to house the center of excellence. The building is ready but cannot function without the necessary facilities,”
- Offering a firm pledge of strict transparency and compliance to any external financial group willing to fund the trust, he “assured prospective donors and partners that resources committed to the programme would be managed prudently and in line with international best practices.”
What’s Next
- HYPREP will prioritize sourcing emergency funds to remediate 18 high-risk sites with severe soil and groundwater contamination.
- Management teams will draft operational plans to extend potable water projects to all remaining Ogoni communities.
- Project Coordinator Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey will continue soliciting international support to secure the successful implementation of outstanding projects.
Bottom Line
Warning that current funds are nearing exhaustion and that local operators have not contributed a dime of the recommended funding over the past 10 years, the Federal Government and HYPREP have launched a direct appeal to global partners for financial and technical aid to finish outstanding projects, including the remediation of 138 polluted sites and the completion of the Center of Excellence.
