Group tasks Buhari on Niger Delta environment

The people of Niger Delta have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to go beyond rhetoric and ensure immediate implementation of his directive on clean up of Ogoni land and extend same to other oil producing communities affected by environmental degradation.

This was the resolution of the concerned stakeholders who converged on the National Theater, Iganmu, Lagos, on Friday to mark the 20th anniversary of the execution of environmental activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa and others during their struggles for environmental justice. The Guest Speaker on the occasion, Mr. Eifye Bribena, in his paper entitled: Overcoming the triangle of irresponsibility in the Niger Delta Environment, blamed successive governments, oil companies as well as their host communities for the absence of sustainable environment plan for the Niger Delta region.

He expressed skepticism over the commitment of the Buhari administration to frontally deal with the environmental issues causing agitations in the Niger Delta region. According to him, despite the Federal Government’s approval for the release of $10 million for the cleanup of Ogoni land, nothing has been done four months after.

His words: “The euphoria that greeted the directive by the current government on the UNEP report on Ogoni land is misplaced. The approval to release a paltry sum of $10 m shows how irresponsible the state has become concerning the environment.

Credit: Sun Newspapers

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