President Muhammadu Buhari has said he is pleased to have fulfilled his campaign promise to the people of oil rich Ogoni land during his 2015 presidential campaigns.
President Buhari had pledged to implement the United Nations Environment Programme Report on the Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland which was submitted to the Federal Government four years earlier if he was elected as Nigeria’s President.
Speaking at the groundbreaking of the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration, Ogoni 100 Bed Specialist Hospital and the Ogoni Power Project in Khana Local Government Area in Rivers State, on Friday, President Buhari said it was a solemn pledge to the Ogoni people that deserve urgent economic, social and infrastructural intervention required for a decent living.
“That assurance was redeemed on 2nd June 2016 when I flagged off the Ogoniland clean-up project at the Patrick waterfront in Bodo, Gokana Local Government Area,” President Buhari said.
However, years after flag off of the Ogoni clean-up exercise, the people are still faced with environmental degradation, water pollution and poverty as many of them are largely fishermen complain of lack of portable water, no fish in their seas, rivers, and no land to farm.
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project was established to oversee the operations of the clean-up as well as the constitution of the governing council, the board of trustees, and the project coordination office to coordinate its implementation.
“I am glad the implementation is progressing as evident in several critical awarded projects that impact on the livelihoods of the Ogoni people,” Buhari said.
