President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday initiated actions that would lead to the rapid implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report on the environmental restoration of Ogoniland.
Accordingly, he has approved that the official gazette establishing the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) be amended to reflect a new governance framework comprising a governing council, a board of trustees and project management. Special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, who gave this hint in a statement, noted that Buhari’s decision to implement the long delayed clean-up of the Niger Delta area was in keeping with his avowed commitment to working for the development and well-being of all Nigerians.
He added that the actions approved by the president were based on “recommendations to him by the executive director of UNEP, the UNEP special representative for Ogoniland, permanent secretaries of the federal ministries of environment and petroleum resources, and other stakeholders.”
Adesina said President Buhari further approved that the HYPREP governing council be composed of representatives, one each from the ministry of petroleum resources, the impacted states (Rivers), ministry of environment and the United Nations system. President Buhari also approved the composition of a six-member board of trustees for the HYPREP Trust Fund which would include representatives, one each from the federal government, NNPC, international oil companies, Ogoniland and the United Nations system.
Adesina said that following a meeting held on the directive of President Buhari, “it was also agreed that a contribution deposit of $10 million will be made by stakeholders within 30 days of the appointment of members of the BoT for the Trust Fund who will be responsible for collecting and managing funds from contributors and donors. “A new implementation template has also been evolved at the instance of President Buhari, and the environmental clean-up of Ogoniland will commence in earnest with the president’s inauguration of the HYPREP Governing Council and the BoT for the Trust Fund,” the presidential spokesman added.
