Juliana Taiwo
17 April 2009
Abuja — The Federal Government and the management of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), operators of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) joint venture have approved N1.5 billion ($10 million) for the technical study on the clean-up of Ogoniland allegedly polluted by the oil giant.
The Federal Government has also approved the immediate commencement of the technical study of all the locations affected by oil spillage in Ogoniland as a necessary prelude to the clean-up.
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua made this known yesterday in Abuja at a meeting with the Presidential Facilitator of the Ogoni-Shell Initiative, Monsignor Matthew Hassan Kukah, leading a delegation of the Presidential Implementation Committee and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
According to him, the possibility of a shorter implementation time frame for the environmental remediation should be considered.
He, therefore, directed the Presidential Implementation Committee, Shell, UNEP and Ogoni to hold consultations with all stakeholders involved in the exercise and ensure that all stakeholders were carried along.
He said Rivers State Government, the Ministry of Niger Delta and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) should be at the forefront of providing social amenities for the people of Ogoni, adding that the social cushions in the UNEP proposals should be restored.
Fielding questions from State House Correspondents after the meeting, the President of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Ledum Mitee, said the presidential directives followed concerns raised by the Ogoni at the meeting that they were not being carried along in the scheme of things on the proposed clean-up processes.
Asked if the Ogoni stakeholders were satisfied with government's intervention so far and Shell's pledged commitment, Mitee said: "Some of the concerns we raised was the issue of consultation and I think the President has also agreed. That is the outcome of the meeting that they need to do more about consultation.
"Shell will speak for themselves. But what I want you to know is that the relationship between Shell and Ogoni is obviously strained and that has affected even the question of trust and it requires a lot to build that trust. So it is going to be difficult for me to say that we have gotten anything. We do not believe their words and I am sure perhaps they might not also believe us."
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A big thankyou to you Mr President, and to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), and the Nigeran National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).