President
Muhammadu Buhari will launch the Ogoni land clean-up on June 2, a statement has
said.
This
was contained in a statement issued by Chijioke Amu-Nnadi, the Head of
Corporate Affairs unit of the Niger Delta Development Commission, in Port
Harcourt, Rivers State on Monday.
It
stated that the Minister of the Environment, Amina Mohammed, confirmed the date
when she visited Bodo in Gokana Local Government Area of the state to inspect
an oil spill clean-up demonstration.
The
statement quoted Mohammed as saying that the President had given assurances
that the area would be cleaned-up in fulfilment of his electioneering promise
to people of the Niger Delta.
She
was quoted as having said: “I can confirm that President Buhari will visit
Ogoni land on June 2 to flag-off clean-up of oil spills in the area as
recommended in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report.
“Buhari
would return to Ogoni land where he inaugurated a fish pond in 1984 where the
once flourishing pond regrettably had been destroyed by oil pollution.
“The
Federal Government is coming back to restore the ecosystem to what it used to
be and as such restore the peoples’ source of livelihood.
“We
are not just committed to implementing the UNEP report but we are also going
beyond that by taking steps to improve security, good governance and economy of
the Niger Delta region.
“I
can assure that the clean-up exercise is only the beginning, as Mr President is
focused on restoring hope to people of the region.”
Mohammed
solicited support of all stakeholders to make the exercise a success.
The
statement also quoted Ibim Semenitari, the Acting Managing Director of the
NDDC, as saying that the clean was of utmost importance to the commission.
Semenitari
lauded the President for taking steps to fulfil his electioneering promise of
improving welfare and living conditions of people of Ogoni and others in the
region.
She
said: “Ogonis are united behind this effort by the Federal Government to clean
up their environment, and as such, the people will help in ensuring
sustainability of the clean-up.”
Semenitari
said NDDC, through the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan Forum,
would mobilise and coordinate support of various stakeholders to make the
clean-up a success.
Source: NAN
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