Tinubu Committed To Ogoniland’s Development – Minister

The Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh, has reaffirmed President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to the development of Ogoniland, listing various efforts by the current administration to improve the lives of the people.

According to Momoh, Tinubu is determined to foster peace and initiate economic activities in Ogoniland, Rivers State.

“The President is a visionary and he understands the feelings of the people. I can say that for the past one year, Mr. President has had two different meetings with the leaders of the Ogoni people – traditional rulers, political leaders, religious leaders, and the rest of them – all in a bid to bring about peace in the region so that there’ll be commencement of oil exploration in that place,” the minister said while speaking on Channels Television’s Newsnight show aired on Monday.

Inclusive Dialogue For Lasting Peace

Momoh highlighted President Tinubu’s inclusive approach, revealing that during a recent meeting, Tinubu directed the National Security Adviser (NSA) to facilitate reconciliation among factions in the region.

“What I’ve seen so far is that Mr. President’s approach is one that is commendable. For instance, during the last meeting, he also charged the National Security Adviser (NSA) to take it from there by making sure that all the different groups that did not want to see themselves – who, of course, before now, would not sit in the same table – they can now sit on the same table. Once that one is done and there is peace, oil exploration will commence,” Momoh stated.

Federal University Of Environment For Ogoniland

In a move to demonstrate inclusiveness, Tinubu recently signed into law the establishment of the Federal University of Environment in Ogoniland.

“For the president to demonstrate to the world that he means inclusiveness, something good for the Ogoni people, less than a week ago, he signed into law, the establishment of a Federal University of Environment in Ogoniland, purely dedicated to the people of Ogoni in order to address environmental problems,” Momoh added.

Momoh noted that since Tinubu’s administration took office, several projects have been initiated in Ogoniland, including those previously abandoned.

“And beyond that, under the HYPREP (Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project) hydrocarbon remedial agency, a number of projects are going on in the region which before the coming of this administration were almost at the lowest ebb,” the minister said.

Historical Context And Cleanup Efforts

Ogoniland, home to about a million people in Rivers State, has long suffered environmental devastation due to years of oil and gas exploration, particularly by Shell. Following mass protests led by activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine, Shell ceased production in 1993.

In response, the Nigerian government pledged to restore the environment after a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) assessment of the area, which estimated an initial cleanup cost of $1 billion over five years. Cleanup efforts finally commenced in January 2019.

The Federal Government is now considering resuming oil exploration in Ogoniland, a proposal that has sparked discussions among stakeholders. While some are wary, a section of the youth in the area has expressed support for the initiative.