Get Guardian on GoogleThe Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) has expressed readiness to partner with the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to strengthen community support, protect completed projects and sustain the ongoing Ogoni cleanup.
The organisation said the success of the restoration programme would depend largely on community ownership and continued funding, warning that the gains recorded could be undermined if residents failed to protect and maintain the facilities.
MOSOP President, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, stated this on Thursday during a tour of HYPREP project sites in Ogoniland, Rivers State, by the organisation’s leadership.
Pyagbara, who said he was involved in negotiations that led to HYPREP’s establishment, called for increased community sensitisation, stressing that residents must understand their responsibility in sustaining the projects beyond the intervention period.
“Our greater role will be in three parts. First, to make sure that we sensitise our communities to take ownership of the project. Because HYPREP projects will not last forever,” he said.
He also advocated additional funding, noting that the initial $1 billion commitment might not be sufficient to address the extent of environmental damage in Ogoniland.
Another MOSOP leader, Olu Anda Wai-Ogosu, identified inadequate community awareness as a major challenge to the sustainability of the water projects, urging HYPREP to improve communication and involve beneficiaries in managing the facilities.
“The water project cannot fully sustain itself unless we meet the challenges of sustainability. How can it be sustained when the users, the communities, have not been able to understand the good thing happening around them?” he asked.
Other MOSOP leaders, including Prince Biira, Lazarus Tamana and Fegalo Nsuke, called for stronger collaboration to address vandalism, improve water distribution and ensure the protection of public facilities.
Queen Georgenia Tenalo, however, called for greater involvement of women in HYPREP activities, while commending the restoration work at Bomu and the specialist hospital under construction at Kpite.
The MOSOP delegation visited the Training Centre for Ogoni Youths in Rope Access, Bodo Water Facility, mangrove restoration site at Bomu, 100-bed Ogoni Specialist Hospital at Kpite and a disputed land remediation site at Ogale, Eleme.
Meanwhile, civil society representatives who previously campaigned for the Ogoni cleanup also commended HYPREP for the progress recorded in mangrove restoration.
A consultant to the Codic Strategic Partnership project in Nigeria, Tola Shittu, said the disappearance of the stench that once characterised the polluted shoreline and the return of aquatic life were encouraging signs.
“Coming here, after five years that the project has ended, it’s heartwarming to see that HYPREP has actually done some of the things we advocated for,” he said.
Dr Emem Okon of the Kebet Kache Women Development and Resource Centre also expressed satisfaction with women’s inclusion in the cleanup programme, promising renewed engagement to sustain the gains.
Responding, HYPREP Project Coordinator, Professor Nenibarini Zabbey, welcomed MOSOP’s recommendations, describing the organisation’s involvement as important to strengthening community participation.
“We will sustain the partnership and collaboration we have with MOSOP and all the Project stakeholders. The sustainability of our projects depends on partnership and collaboration, creating and building networks,” Zabbey said.
He added that HYPREP would continue working with stakeholders to make the Ogoni cleanup a model for environmental restoration in Nigeria and Africa.
