After years of non-violent struggle and agitation for environmental right and justice which attracted international attention, the Federal Government of Nigeria invited the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to carry out an environmental assessment of Ogoniland. The Report was submitted to the Federal Government in 2011.
Remediation ongoing at a site in Deebon/Mogho, Gokana, River State
President Muhammadu Buhari had promised the Ogoni people during his campaign that, if voted into power, he would implement the recommendations in the UNEP Report. in 2016, the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) was set up to carry out the Ogoni clean-up in line with the recommendations in the UNEP Report.
The President has assured the people of Ogoni, the Niger Delta, Nigeria and the international community that his government is still committed to the full implementation of the recommendations in the UNEP Report on Ogoniland, 11 years after the report was submitted to Government.
The Minister of State for the Environment, Chief Sharon Ikeazor, in collaboration with UNEP, holds a two-day retreat with critical stakeholders comprising of members of the Board of Trustees (BoT), the Governing Council (GC) and the Central Representatives Advisory Committee (CRAC) of HYPREP, UNEP, representatives of the Joint Venture Partners and management staff of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP).
The retreat, which holds in Abuja from Thursday, March 17 to Saturday, March 19, 2022, will provide an opportunity for UNEP to present the recommendations it made in the report that was presented to the Federal Government in 2011 as well as the Federal Government Gazette on the establishment of HYPREP.
Chief Ikeazor had promised the Ogoni people that the Federal Government would ensure that the project recovers lost time and delivers on its mandate.
The retreat is expected to reposition HYPREP to function much more effectively and efficiently to deliver to the Ogoni people the benefits of the project.
