Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, has called on indigenes of Ogoni ethnic nationality of Rivers State to support and cooperate with the Federal Government in expediting actions in the ongoing clean-up project.

The minister, who was on a two-day working visit to the state, commissioned four water scheme projects in Ebubu, Korokoro, Kpean and Terabor, in Ogoni land, initiated by the Hydrocarbon Remediation Pollution Project (HYPREP), holding interactive sessions with stakeholders.

During the commissioning of the water scheme at Terabor, Lawal urged traditional rulers and stakeholders of Ogoni to continue to render their support and cooperation to the government to achieve the collective goal of providing a healthier, cleaner and safer environment for the Ogoni people.

He harped on the need for people to get involved in all programmes and activities of HYPREP, urging community members to seize the opportunity given by the Federal Government and own the project.

He, however, regretted the pace of the project, saying the litany of lawsuits against HYPREP on issues he described as frivolous are creating obstacles for the execution of programmes embarked on by the project.

Similarly, while addressing Ogoni stakeholders in Port Harcourt, Lawal noted that one of the issues causing conflict in HYPREP is the non-involvement of the people in its programmes.

He assured that the ministry will review operations of the project, emphasising that 40 per cent of youths and women will be considered in all programmes and activities of the Project.

Lawal said: “The President is committed to the issue of land degradation in Ogoni land.
“I want to appeal to all of you to give us a helping hand in trying to sustain this scheme. Of course, there is a lot of progress made, while trying to restore life to Ogoni people; but there are a lot of issues that we need to address and one of them is the involvement of people.
“I want to appeal to all of you to take the opportunity given to you by the Federal Government. We need your cooperation and support.  Every day, I get lawsuits from people who are taking HYPREP to court. There are cases of vandalism and extortion and I think this is the time for us to sit down and see that we nip all these obstacles in the bud. If we allow this to continue, some obstacles can destroy the project.”