Ogoni youths appreciates FG for ongoing clean-up

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

Ogoni Youth Federation (OYF) Worldwide, under auspice of Ogoni youths in Rivers states has appreciated the Federal Government for the clean-up of Ogoni land .
The association gave the commendation while awarding minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, for an outstanding Performance, on Tuesday in Abuja .
The President General of OYF, Chief Legborsi Yamaabana, said the visit was to reassure Nigerian government of their continuous support and prayers in its effort to succeed with HYPREP.
Presenting the award, he said it was in recognition of the minister keen interest and commitment to implementing the United Nations’ Environment Programme (UNEP), report on Ogoniland.
He said the gesture was an expression of gratitude over the success of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP).
“HYPREP is one of Federal Government’s strategic intervention initiatives, which essence and significance cannot not be over-emphasised”.
He said the association recognised the efforts of other past ministers of the ministry in the struggle to keep the Ogoni people safe.
“We commend successive honourable ministers of environment, who at different times, made their contributions, while superintending over this ministry and the Ogoni clean-up project.
We, owever, want to emphatically stress here that under your watch, as the Minister of Environment and the supervising Minister of the Ogoni Cleanup Project, several uncommon milestones are being achieved”, Yamaabana stated .
He emphasized that from the Ogoni power project, to the recently approved Specialist Hospital and the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration, you have proven to all that indeed you are the square peg for this square responsibility.
He also commended, President Muhammadu Buhari for keeping his promise to the Ogoni people as well as his approval of funds for the project.
Responding, the minister of environment Mohammed Abdullahi, thanked the youths for the urged for the support and encouraged them to continue to keep the South-South safe and habitable.
“You have been very cooperative and very supportive, it has also been part of the underlying reasons why we have succeeded in Ogoniland.
“If you have been restive if you had been very provocative, if you have not given us the understanding and the environment to operate, it would have been very difficult to operate.
So, that is why we take this award as very important to us, we will not take it for granted, we appreciate that.”
He noted that President Muhammadu Buhari will do his best to sustain the government and leave good legacies that will also be sustained by the incoming government on Ogoni clean-up.
that the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, the mandate would end this year while the government is also working with United Nations for Offices for Project Services, UNOPS, to take over the entire process by January next year.
He said; “I want to say that the UNEP mandate is coming to an end this year, at the end of the year UNEP will withdraw its services in Ogoniland.
Meanwhile, the minister stated that the UN has arranged with its Office for Project Services, also known as UNOPS, also a project Protection Unit of the United Nations, so we are working with them now to transit between UNEP to UNOPS.
He revealed that hopefully by January next year, UNOPS will take over the entire process, so we must know this transition is ongoing for the benefit of our people of Ogoniland.