The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engineer Andrew Yakubu has revealed that the corporation in conjunction with international oil companies are finalising strategies on how to adopt the full recommendation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report on Ogoni land.
At a meeting with the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) in Abuja, Engineer Yakubu stated that NNPC is committed to ensuring a proper clean-up of oil spillage and its attendant effects in various communities in the Niger Delta.
He however expressed concern that illegal oil bunkering, crude oil theft and the establishment of illegal refineries is worsening the situation in the area.
It will be recalled that the Federal Government has also set up an Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) in furtherance of its commitment to implement the UNEP Assessment Report on Ogoni land.
The Project was charged to implement the recommendations of the UNEP report on Ogoni land as well as investigate, evaluate and establish other hydrocarbon impacted sites and make appropriate recommendations.
UNEP had at the request of the Nigerian government, conducted an independent assessment of the environment and public health impacts of oil contamination in Ogoniland, in the Niger Delta, and options for redemption.
The United Nation’s Environmental agency had insisted in its recommendations which was submitted in 2011 that the environmental restoration of Ogoniland was possible but may take 25 to 30 years. The report also called on the Nigerian government to compel multinational oil companies operating in the area to clean up the pollution caused by decades of oil exploration in the area.
