Ogoni Clean-Up : HYPREP seeks NOSDRA’s support

The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), has solicited support of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) to accelerate the Ogoni Clean – Up project.

The Project Coordinator, HYPREP, Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey, said this when he visited the Director-General of NOSDRA, Mr Chukwuemeka Woke on Tuesday in Abuja.

Zabbey said that HYPREP was responsible for the clean-up of Ogoni land and the restoration of livelihoods of the people of Ogoni.

According to him, the new drop down agenda prioritises accelerating the Ogoni clean-up.

“So we cannot do that without the active support of NOSDRA.

“We have come to familiarise with the new director-general of NOSDRA and to encourage them to support us to accelerate the Ogoni clean-up,” he said.

Zabbey listed some on-going projects by HYPREP which included remediation projects such as land remediation, shoreline clean-up as well as restoring oil-degraded mangroves.

“We are also providing potable water for the Ogoni people.

“We have 14 schemes we are constructing that will reticulate potable water to 68 communities in Ogoni land,” he said.

He said that HYPREP was also strengthening health systems in Ogoni, building specialist hospitals and building the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration.

Responding, Woke said that NOSDRA was a major regulator of HYPREP operations.

He said that the meeting aimed to strengthen collaboration between NOSDRA and HYPREP.

“In line with President Bola Tinubu’s renewed Hope Agenda, we have decided to meet and see how we can collaborate and ensure a very smooth free operation of HYPREP,” he said.