Buhari Is Set To Launch Ogoniland Cleanup – Minister

The minister announced this when she paid a courtesy visit to Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers. “It is hoped that we will have this launch in the coming weeks and the president himself will launch the cleanup.

“It is really to us a turning point in the history of the struggle. Ogoniland is the first place where actions need to be – cleanup.

“There is a wide challenge of pollution in the Niger Delta. We are here to begin activities toward the launch of the cleanup with stakeholders’ dialogue.

“We are beginning in Rivers because this is the home of the struggle but we know it is wider,’’ she said.

According to her, the cleanup of the Ogoniland would span between 25 and 30 years.

While speaking, Wike advised the Federal Government that in order to achieve success, the cleanup must not be politicised as there were diverse interests.

“It doesn’t matter the political party that anybody belongs to, environmental issue does not affect a political party; it affects the entire state and the entire Niger Delta as a whole.

“Communities do not know about political parties, what communities know is about how to survive.

“And so, I will advice that we approach it in such way that it does not look political, particularly in Ogoniland, it is a very complex place; you have to be extremely careful.

“Because if you are not careful you may not achieve what you want you intend to achieve,’’ the governor warned,” he said.

Recall that in August 2015, President Buhari approved several actions to fast-track the long delayed implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report on the environmental restoration of Ogoniland.