Claim:
Various claims and reports have been trailing the ongoing clean-up exercise in Ogoni land in Rivers State, being handled by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP). Former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, in June 2016, flagged off the remediation exercise.
However, on May 25, 2025, the Africa Independent Television (AIT), and some media outlets reported that the remediation of the Ogoniland at the Centre of Excellence and environmental restoration are almost 80 per cent completed and has attracted various partnership from within the country and International communities, including the Irish Ambassador to Nigeria, Peter Ryan, who was at the HYPREP office in Port Harcourt, seeking partnership with the agency.
The report has since sparked controversy, especially on X Space, with many X users commending the efforts of President Bola Tinubu. In contrast, others described it as a ‘ propaganda’, stating that the President wants to resume oil exploration in Ogoniland again, hence the claim.
For instance, an X user with the handle @TheLionkin6627, said, “Your interest is to suck their oil, you don’t care about them( the Ogonis), another user, @proudnaijaguyy, said, “PBAT na talk and do,” while George Damian, said, “We play with figures too much in Nigeria.”
Verification
Concerned by the controversies generated by the report, The Guardian conducted an on-the-ground fact check on the current status of the Ogoni clean-up exercise, which revealed that the clean-up exercise is still far from achieving 80 per cent completion.
Even the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report’s recommendation noted that it will take about a 25-30 year project duration to remediate the polluted Ogoni environment, starting from June 2016 when former Vice President Osibanjo launched the clean-up exercise. However, nine years down the line, there’s limited progress.
Findings revealed that, of the few oil-damaged sites for which contracts have been awarded, there is an appreciable restoration of the mangrove and shoreline, though HYPREP, in its 2025 mid-term scorecard, claimed that the mangrove restoration on the awarded sites is 93 per cent. Still, the report could not prove or interpret the instrument used for data collection or explain how it arrived at the figure. The report also claimed that the shoreline remediation stands at 53 per cent.
The Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof.Nenibarini Zabbey, however, acknowledged that it is the Centre of Excellence, the mangrove and the shoreline that have attained appreciable progress.
Context and Concerns
The report that the Ogoni clean-up remediation is 80 per cent completed, when it is still witnessing slow progress after nine years, and is expected to take 25 to 30 years to be completed, given its national significance, can promote misunderstanding between the government and the people and may lead to unrest.
Verdict
The report that the remediation of the Ogoni clean-up exercise is almost 80 per cent completed is false and misleading. Some of the clean-up sites are yet to be awarded, and even the awarded sites are far from attaining 80 per cent completion.
Recommendations
Reports should be verified before being released to the public domain. In areas where claims are not well understood, further clarification should be sought to avoid false and misleading information, which can breach public trust.
