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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