The Federal Government yesterday said the pollution in Ogoniland via oil exploration is a tragedy that ‘should never have happened.’
Minister of Environment, Mrs. Amina Mohammed, spoke when she featured on News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Abuja.
Mohammed, who was speaking on the expected clean-up of Ogoniland, said the exercise would begin in a couple weeks. She said: “I think that the expectations are very high.
For many years, the people of Ogoniland have suffered and struggled to try to begin the implementation of the UNEP report. “If you are living there, you would understand that this is a tragedy and it is something that should have never happened.
So, it is urgent that we do something about it.
“However, if we want to begin a process of clean-up, what we are putting in place to ensure that it is sustainable and that we are clean after the clean-up, requires a lot of buy-in.
“It requires us to talk to communities, key stakeholders to make sure that they are all on board so that once we launch, it is a question of going along that road map, remembering that the clean-up in Ogoniland is going to take up 20 to 25 years.
“The damage there is considerable.
It is not something that can be fixed overnight. So, that launch will take place in the next couple of weeks.”
Speaking on the Paris Climate Change Agreement, the Minister said Nigeria was yet to ratify the document as there were a number of issues that needed to be addressed before the signing of the agreement. She said: “We believe in the climate change agreement, but we also know that we have a year to sign.
