By Ken Asinobi
The convener of Ogoni Development and Democracy Forum (ODDF), Legborsi Pyagbara has warned against any attempt by the federal government to “capture” the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) by nominating representatives for the Ogoni people on its governing board.
Pyagbara, who made this clear while briefing journalists in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, emphasized that such moves undermine the agreed stakeholder governance structure.
He explained that HYPREP and the Ogoni Trust Fund (OTF) were established through a unique tripartite agreement involving the federal government, oil companies, and the Ogoni people themselves, represented by the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP).
According to Pyagbara, each stakeholder group has the right to nominate its own representatives to the governing bodies, and the federal government must not interfere by appointing Ogoni representatives.
Pyagbara, a former President of MOSOP highlighted that the Ogoni cleanup is the result of a long, peaceful struggle by the Ogoni people, culminating in extensive negotiations facilitated by the United Nations, which centered Ogoni interests in the project.
“The Ogoni clean-up and ecosystem rehabilitation project was not a gift by the government of Nigeria.
It is a product of the definitive collective struggle of Ogoni people as engendered by the peaceful and non-violent revolution of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People”, he said.
Piagbara stressed the seriousness of the situation, declaring, “The present attempt to capture the project will be resisted at all cost.”
The ODDF Convener reiterated that while the federal government initially participated through the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and later the Ministry of Environment, the project’s governance depends on equal representation from all three stakeholders. “Any unilateral nomination by the government for Ogoni representatives contravenes this principle and threatens the project’s integrity”, he affirmed.
