Ogoni clean-up project must not be abandoned

On June 2, 2016 the Federal Government of Nigeria, inaugurated a one-billion-dollar Clean-up Restoration Programme of the Ogoni area of Rivers state following recommendation by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Then Vice President Yemi Osinbajo commissioned the programme on behalf of former President Muhammadu Buhari in a ceremony with Rivers state government officials, dignitaries from Ogoni land and the state, celebrities, local and international experts on environment as well as representatives from the UNEP. The programme was based on a study by the UNEP commissioned by the Nigerian government on the impact of oil extraction activities by oil and gas companies over the years in Ogoni land. The study found out that the soil and ground water across Ogoni land had suffered severe and widespread contamination in drinking water and carcinogens. The entire ecosystems in the area including mangroves and fish catch had been utterly devastated. UNEP’s Executive Director Achim Steiner, who was present at the occasion, in his speech stated ‘’The people of Ogoni land have paid a high price for the success of Nigeria’s oil industry, enduring a toxic and polluted environment for decades. Today marks a historic step towards improving the situation for the Ogoni people who have paid this price for too long. A clean-up and restoration effort like this cannot happen overnight, but I am hopeful that the cooperation between the Government of Nigeria, oil companies and communities will result in an environmental restoration that benefits both ecosystems and the Ogoni people of the Niger Delta. On June 2 2026 the Ogoni clean-up programme marked 10 years and questions are naturally being asked as to whether the programme had met its stated objectives or not. The Ogoni clean-up is managed by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP). The scorecard of HYPREP showed that as of December 2025, shoreline remediation reached 72.7 per cent completion; Mangrove Restoration at 99 per cent; Soil and Groundwater remediation at 39 per cent. Provision of 16 water facilities and supplying of water to 42 communities, several public health, specialist and public health facilities was completed. There have also been Livelihood Restoration and Improvement programmes which provided skills acquisition training in such areas as cybersecurity, mechatronics. Under the Educational Support Programme there have been renovation and refurbishment of several primary and secondary schools across Ogoni land. Scholarships to Ogoni students for study abroad have also been awarded in the period under review. From available records the Ogoni clean-up presents an impressive and positive picture of an intervention that was conceived to mitigate the environmental impact of oil exploration and extraction activities in an oil producing area. In the particular case of Ogoni land oil extraction activities have not only resulted in physical environmental degradation in Ogoni land it had produced tragedies in the form of communal conflicts resulting in the regrettable death of prominent individuals of the area. This certainly is case of double jeopardy for a people who had to live with this trauma. The Ogoni clean-up programme should therefore be seen as government’s token remediation to a people who have sacrificed and lost quite a lot in allowing activities of beneficial economic importance to the nation take place in its soil. Considering that oil exploration and extraction activities are prevalent in not only Ogoni land but right across the Niger Delta, extreme care must be taken to ensure that the Ogoni clean-up is not abandoned by all concerned in the project implementation. That is why we are concerned at the reported slow pace of some of the agreed items for implementations. Reports have it that procurements of some of the equipment and facilities are being hampered by bureaucratic bottlenecks. We are also alarmed that some of the community stakeholders are squabbling over which community should be given priority in terms of projects. This is unacceptable in view of the fact that it was issues like these that resulted in the Ogoni tragedies of the past. We accordingly call on the Ogoni stakeholders, the Rivers State government as well as officials of the oil companies and federal government to crank up their commitment to the programme and not to allow the positive momentum that has carried the programme this far to slide. The Ogoni clean-up programme, if successfully implemented, as designed will provide the model for a similar exercise in the oil producing areas in Nigeria who face similar environmental and social issues as Ogoni land. If it fails we might lapse back to the unfortunate and unhelpful era where restiveness in the oil producing areas in Nigeria nearly brought the country to its knees.