Coalition bemoans responses to Ogoni clean up

The Cordaid-led Strategic Partnership (SP) Lobby and Advocacy Program has expressed dissatisfaction on the progress made on the Ogoni Land clean-up.

The coalition lamented that government has not put in place needed interventions and the process of the clean-up has not been transparent.

The Project Coordinator SP, Dr. Akinwunmi Oke, said this in Abuja at the close-out dissemination event on the SP’s achievements.

According to him, the Federal Government is yet to implement the provisions of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report on how the process should be effectively implemented

He that since 2016, over $360m have been committed to the clean-up of Ogoni Land and that there was a need to get value for money while also advocating for sustainable funding of the project.

He said that a scorecard conducted by one of its partners brought to the fore issues on how the contracts for the clean-up are being issued in the first place and the capacity of the contractors.

Oke said, “We are not satisfied with how the process is going. I am in fact concerned that we still do not have the provision of portable water in Ogoni Land, people still drink water polluted with hydro carbons despite clear recommendations form the UNEP report that the process must include provision of portable water to communities where hydro carbon pollution was 600 times higher.

“Government must ensure that these provisions are adhered to and go through these processes as planned.”

On his part, the programme manager, CISLAC, Salaudeen Hashim, said that one of the biggest achievements of the project was the establishment of a more robust HYREP with funding to carry out the clean-up in 2006.