Dr. Dakuku Peterside, a former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has publicly spoken out against the planned resumption of oil exploration in Ogoniland, Rivers State.
According to him, it will be premature to resume oil exploration activities at this point.
As a result of serious environmental concerns, exploration in Ogoni has been suspended for several years.
Persecondnews recalls the cleanup of Ogoni land under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari was not completed.
Although Buhari’s government resuscitated and reformed the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) in 2015, providing it with a $10 million budget, the project’s progress was slow.
The UNEP report had estimated that the cleanup would take around 25-30 years to complete, and it’s unclear how much progress was made during Buhari’s presidency.
Additionally, the Ogoni people have expressed concerns that the cleanup efforts were not sufficient and that the government’s primary goal was to resume oil production in the region.
It’s worth noting that HYPREP did commission its first water project as part of the cleanup efforts but the overall status of the cleanup remains incomplete.
The Bola Tinubu administration appears to be planning a return to Ogoni land for oil exploration.
But Peterside, the 2015 governorship candidate for APC said on Channels TV on Wednesday that until certain contentious issues were addressed, it would be premature to make such move.
He said: “If I must be sincere with you, it will be premature to resume oil exploration in Ogoni land.
“What I think and I think that is the part the government has also chosen is to do further consultations, build trust and show genuine commitment to real environmental governance.
“The challenge all along has been the opaque nature of oil exploration not just in Ogoni land but in the entire Niger Delta.
“And the fact that the way benefits derivable from oil exploration is distributed to the exclusion of the people of Niger Delta is a big question mark. And until we address that in a transparent manner, then we will not make much progress.”
According to Peterside, the Federal Government’s plan to establish a university in Ogoni was not enough to address the injustice of several decades.
Persecondnews reported that on February 3, President Tinubu had signed a bill establishing the Federal University of Environment and Technology (FUET) in Ogoni, pledging support for the area.
In addition to addressing injustice in Ogoni land, he said the Ogoni Bill of Rights would be revisited.
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