President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday approved several actions to expedite the implementation of the long overdue United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on the environmental restoration of Ogoniland.
Based on recommendations provided to the President by the Executive Director of UNEP, the UNEP Special Representative for Ogoniland, Permanent Secretaries of the Federal Ministries of Environment and Petroleum Resources, and others, President Buhari among other things approved the amendment of the official gazette establishing the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) to reflect a new governance framework comprising a Governing Council, a Board of Trustees and Project Management.
The President also approved that the HYPREP Governing Council be composed of representatives of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Federal Ministry of Environment, impacted states, oil companies and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, representatives from Ogoniland, representatives from the United Nations System.
Following a meeting held on the directive of the president, it was also agreed that a contribution deposit of $10 million (N2 billion) will be made by stakeholders within 30 days of the appointment of members of the Board of Trustees for the Trust Fund, who will be responsible for collecting and managing funds from contributors and donors.
A new implementation template has also been evolved at the instance of President Buhari, and the environmental clean-up of Ogoniland will commence in earnest with the President’s inauguration of the HYPREP Governing Council and the Board of Trustees for the Trust Fund, Vanguard reports.
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