FG to commence clean up of Ogoni land

:::The Minister of Environment, Hadiza
Mailafia has revealed that all is now set by
the federal government to commence a
drastic and adequate clean-up exercise of
the oil spills in polluted Ogoni land.
Hajia Mailafia was addressing State House
Correspondents after a meeting with President
Goodluck Jonathan where she presented the
performance of her Ministry in the
implementation of the 2012 Budget.
The Minister gave kudos to the Rivers state
governor, Rotimi Amaechi for providing the
enabling environment for the initial tasks such
as provision of portable water, marking out the
wells that were too polluted and other
framework activities.
She however blamed the delay in the take-off of
the remediation effort on the strike that crippled
the nation following the fuel subsidy protest,
earlier in the year.
The United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), released a report a year ago detailing
the massive extent of pollution in the Niger-
Delta region, needing a $1billion for the
remediation process.
According to the UNEP Report, “the
environmental restoration of Ogoniland in
Nigeria could prove to be the world’s most wide-
ranging and long term oil clean-up exercise ever
undertaken if contaminated drinking water,
land, creeks and important ecosystems such as
mangroves are to be brought back to full,
productive health.”
Civil organisation and residents of Ogoni land on
Sunday held a press briefing in Abuja to mark
the one year since the UNEP result was released
and decry the non-existence of government’s
commitment to reclaim the land.::