The Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, says the federal government has identified additional 635 hectares of contaminated shoreline in Ogoniland.
He spoke in Abuja on Wednesday at the eighth edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration scorecard series (2015-2023). The minister said litigation from Ogoni indigenes was hindering clean-up of oil spills in the area.
He said, “On the part of government, we are focused on delivery and objectives of the Ogoni clean-up. We have a roadmap and a plan as spelt out by the water programme, which is also supported by the federal government.
“Part of what we’re doing at the moment is survey of the sites and remediation. We’re on course.
“Yes, it is normal, for a group to be angry. My take is that most of the challenges we are facing are from there. People go to court to obtain orders, either ex parte or interlocutory orders to restrain us. “Sometimes, the blame is not really from the government. It is the people in one way or the other, doing all these, to slow down the clean-up. But, we’re doing everything to address the challenges.”
Abdullahi said his ministry had spent over N3 billion on the construction of six water supply schemes with a capacity of supplying 2,400m3 of potable water per day to affected communities across the four LGAs of Ogoniland.
“The ministry, conscious of the need to ensure effective and timely implementation of the UNEP Report on the Ogoni clean-up, in line with Mr. President’s commitment, has achieved the following: remediation of 21 sites covering about 230 hectares out of the 65 sites reported in the UNEP report fact sheet.
“The ministry also assessed additional 213 grids consisting of 200x200m2 per grid of shorelines, which will pave way for the actual clean-up and remediation of 635 hectares of contaminated shorelines and planting of mangrove,” he said.
