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By Sunday Ani, Lagos
The National Union of Ogoni Studentship (NUOS), Int’l (USA), and the Centre for Democracy Human Rights & Anti Corruption (CDHRAC), Int’l (USA), have called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to disband the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP).
The call followed the failing grade given to the agency by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), for its poor, unprofessional and unethical supervision of the ongoing UNEP cleanup in Ogoniland.
This was contained in a statement jointly signed by the President of NUOS, Mr Pius Barikpoa Nwinee, Secretary General of NUOS, Mr Sampson B Npimnee, Acting Coordinator of CDHRAC, Mr Deekor Adokor and the Secretary General of CDHRAC, Mr Toate Ganago.
“We, therefore, urge the federal government of Nigeria to disband HYPREP immediately, and further stop HYPREP from putting a bandage on the pandemic to defame our land and contract the service of international remediation firms with professional experience and technical know-how capacity to handle the cleaning of the ongoing Ogoni cleaning project.
“NUOS INTL USA and Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) are committed to advancing the UNEP cleaning in Ogoniland. We are aware of the recent UNEP publication in Bloomberg of August 30, 2022, distancing itself from HYPREP, and the Royal Dutch Shell’s cutting corners and unprofessional practices of hate, chaos, betrayal, injustice and attempted impropriety to sabotage the cleaning project, so as to permanently endanger and extinct Ogoniland and her enclaves,” the statement read.
The organisations added that the NUOS INTL USA and MOSOP’s position in the matter is clear and unambiguous.
“While we do not oppose oil resumption in Ogoniland, we also want to state categorically and unavoidably that HYPREP’s improper and inadequate usage of harmful chemicals to breach or defame our land is not a guarantee for oil resumption in Ogoniland, so the Nigerian government should be aware.
“We urge the Federal Government of Nigeria to negotiate with UNEP to hire or contract the service of international firms with professional experience and technical know-how capacity with recent track records in environmental deforestation, coastal erosion and ecosystem remediation to take over the clean up so as to jump-start Nigerian oil resumption prospect and defend our national security protection.”
The groups contended that no amount of visits to the London laboratory or facility by HYPREP or the Ministry of the Environment would change the fact that HYPREP and the Ministry don’t have what it takes to cushion Shell’s decades of pollution.
They stated that Shell and HYPREP’s “11 years of big lies, half-truths, no truth and inactions is enough and it is time to chat a new course to restore Nigerian economy and national security.”
They noted that Nigeria is a sovereign nation and that it was time to stop the Royal Dutch Shell from corrupting and manipulating the project, by putting profit ahead of Nigeria’s national security.
“Despite the Royal Dutch Shell’s lip service claims of anti-bribery policy, Shell has continued to manipulate HYPREP to hire local companies with no professional experience to cause more ecological destruction in the area.”
According to Prof. Philip Shekwolo, “The purported argument made by HYPREP that they are using $35 instead of $100 expected by international firms is baseless because the entire cleaning was estimated in dollars.”
The group stressed that they have also found that rather than Shell contributing money and allowing the cleaning to take its course, it has fraudulently lobbied HYPREP to hire its former employee to manipulate HYPREP not to hire international firms and fall back to its old styles before UNEP study.
“HYPREP and Shell have repeatedly ignored and abandoned UNEP suggestions; instead they blame and scapegoat Ogoniland and Ogoni people as if they are perpetrators of their own victims instead of Shell taking responsibility for its decades of oil theft,” the statement read.
