By Robinson TomBari Sibe
When on the eve of the 1st anniversary of the submission of the UNEP report to the President, the federal government announced the set up of HYPREP, some of us complained ab initio of our fears. According to the Press Release announcing HYPREP, “the Project shall implement the recommendations of the UNEP report on Ogoniland as well as investigate, evaluate and establish other hydrocarbon impacted sites and make appropriate recommendations”. I remember doing an article on my reservations, titled “HYPREP: PREPPED TO FAIL?”, published in two parts on the 10th and 11th October, 2012 in Business Day Newspaper, where I raised fundamental issues why I think HYPREP will fail given the structure, mandate and philosophy. Permit me to quote sections of that article, which if I must say didn’t make me popular in certain quarters, especially those who now feign advocacy for this same issue they now pretend to champion:
“According to the report, the first recommendation to government is the “Creation of an Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority”. According to the report, the authority shall have the following features:
1. The mandate to follow up and oversee implementation of the recommendations made in this report, as well as any other matters that the Federal Government may wish to assign to the Authority
2. The Authority will have a fixed lifespan, initially of ten years. Within this time the key elements of the restoration should be in place and overall institutional strengthening achieved. After ten years the Federal Government, on reviewing the status of the environmental restoration and the overall institutional capacity, may either extend the Authority’s mandate for another term or redistribute the tasks to the other, strengthened, agencies
3. The Authority will work under the Federal Ministry of Environment
4. The Authority’s staff will largely be seconded from relevant national and state institutions
Instead of implementing this first recommendation, the government decided to set up the over-hyped “hydra-headed” HYPREP. The HYPREP announced by the federal government apart from taking on a different name other than the recommended seems to have a different mandate as well. The scope also seems to extend beyond Ogoniland. Also, while the Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority is project specific, HYPREP seems to have a mandate that extends beyond the UNEP recommendations. That leaves one wondering if this bogus structure will not suffocate the project-specific objectives and time-bound recommendations as stated in the UNEP report. This is not to say that other areas in Niger Delta do not need similar treatment, but here we are talking about a report that presented scary scientifically proven facts about a specific area and gave context specific recommendations. Leaving these project-specific recommendations to chase a broader agenda while the people continue to sip hydrocarbons and inhale the stench of dead aquatic animals is not in the best interest of the people.
Also, the UNEP report recommended the creation of an Environmental Restoration Fund for Ogoniland. The report recommends an initial capital of $1 billion, with contributions to be made by NNPC and SPDC. The report recommends that management of the fund shall be the responsibility of the Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority. In announcing the creation of HYPREP, the federal government was silent on this aspect. No mention was made of the funding, the exact budget and the ratio of contribution by NNPC and SPDC. There was also no mention of the projected life span as well. A project like this needs the highest level of transparency to build trust and confidence between the people and all stake holders. That has not been the case thus far.
Another major concern is the secrecy surrounding the structure and modus operandi of HYPREP. Who do they report to? The Minister for Petroleum Resources or the Minister for Environment? For me, the oversight ministry should be the ministry of environment since the petroleum ministry is an interested party. I might not be a lawyer but at least I know the meaning of: Nemo Judex in Causa Sua. The exact structure has not been made public, at least not to my knowledge. But going by the two HYPREP bill boards I saw recently (at Kira Junction in Tai LGA and along Aba Road by St Johns), the messages were signed off by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. Does that mean they are the oversight ministry? Same ministry that supervises oil exploration in the country, that left the host communities with such unbelievable level of pollution are the once to supervise the clean-up? Ridiculous! Little wonder the message on the billboard was only directed at those engaging in oil theft. No message was left for the irresponsible operators that caused the bulk of the pollution in the first place. Maybe they think the only source of pollution is from oil theft. What is the role of NOSDRA in this? What is the role of the Ministry of Environment? They are the most appropriate government ministry/department that should have oversight role. Statutorily (NNPC Act) the Minister for Petroleum is the chairman of the Board of NNPC, therefore asking HYPREP to report to the minister who is the Board Chairman of same NNPC that is partly responsible for the pollution in Ogoniland is not the right thing to do”…. Hyprep: Prepped to fail? – R. Tombari Sibe (Businessday Newspaper, 2012)
I had to bother you with the excerpts above so you will know where I am coming from. I also remember reading a couple of articles expressing similar concerns. I recall reading an article by Ross Alabo-George, titled: “UNEP Report: HYPREP not Amnesty”, and published in August 2012. In this article, the author also questioned the structure and even the leadership of HYPREP. There have also been genuine and consistent calls, by such credible and respected people like Nnimmo Bassey, drawing attention to flawed structure of HYPREP. It is instructive to remind ourselves that while these points were made by few genuine minds, even before the structure of HYPREP was made public, these politicians who are now pretending to be friends of the Ogonis were silent, because as at the time, their political estates were intact. It is easy to verify if what I’m saying is true or false. Thank God, we live in a world where it is easy to track digital footprints – you can search on google if you’ll find any trace of any of these politicians condemning or raising their fears about HYPREP, as at the time predating the current political imbroglio in Rivers State. No, they kept a deafening silence because they were politically comfortable. Today, they are now the latter day crusaders, pretending to be on the side of the Ogonis, simply because their political empire is in flames.
The Ogonis are arguably the most deprived, maligned and battered people in Nigeria. However, they have kept their cool and not resorted to violence. They remain resilient, resolute, fiercely determined, yet very peaceful. Today, their land remains toxic; their health is failing by the day. They are an exceptional people, characterized by their intellectual prowess and depth. Therefore, I expect our people to see beyond this political sophistry by “the latter day saints”. Most of these politicians were in a good position to advance the Ogoni cause but did nothing. Now, the political seasons are here and all of a sudden they have turned environmental activists to give the impression they care. They will abandon the people once they achieve their aim in 2015. When genuine environmental activists were campaigning against environmental injustices against the Ogoni people, they were either quiet or took sides with the establishment that oppressed the people. Now, out of political blues, they have turned activists. Their political empire went up in flames and they scramble for support from every corner. Ogoni became the beautiful bride of Rivers Politics. Well, let them carry on with the campaigns, at least people are getting to hear the plight of the Ogonis which is good. Thank God for politics! However, beyond these subterfuge and chicanery by the latter day crusaders, the people know who the real friends of Ogoni are.
Like I have always done, I call on the President to be more decisive in the implementation of the UNEP report. It is obvious that our fears are coming to pass – HYPREP is not working! We must not pretend that anything good will come out of this misadventure, at least not with the current structure. Tough decisions must be taken; the lives of the Ogonis are at stake here. Their health is failing and they have been completely ripped off of their economic livelihood. Like I captioned an earlier article, the Ogonis are “a people on death row”. The President should make a renewed effort to reach out to the Ogoni people, and groups like MOSOP and other non-partisan interest groups should take the initiative by themselves, without allowing politicians to chart their course for them. I recall the last meeting the President had with the Ogonis was at the instance of politicians, most of which were there for sinister objectives. It’s time for the President to make efforts to reach out to the ordinary Ogonis and build trust, restore hope, and inspire confidence . Most importantly, Ogoni land MUST be cleaned and RESTORED to her once pristine state. We want our land to bubble with rich biodiversity like it once was.
Robinson Tombari Sibe writes from Bodo in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Source: Rivers Politics Facebook page