President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to ignore the call by some persons to sack the newly appointed Minister of Environment, Mohammed Hassan Abdullahi, over alleged shady deals in the cleanup project of Ogoniland.
In a petition written to the President by Ogoni Development Drive, (ODD), and signed by its convener, Comrade Solomon Lenu, the group noted that it would be unfair to single out the new minister for any blame for the shortcomings in the effective execution of the cleanup project by the Hydro-carbon Pollution Remediation Project, (HYPREP).
The petition said in part: “It would be very uncharitable for any Ogóni man of goodwill, or group, to be calling for the change of a Minister who is barely two (2) months into his appointment and is yet to get properly acquainted with the operations of the project. Also, the Hon. Minister, Barr. Mohammed Abdullahi has not awarded any contract; neither are the things alleged in the letter took place in his tenure and therefore, he is innocent of those trumped-up charges against him”.
While the group agreed that all has not been well with the Ogóni clean-up exercise that has spanned over five years now, and the absence of the Emergency Measures, “it would be wrong to heap the blames on whatever failures HYPREP has had in the past on this young administration that is barely two months old.
According to the petition, one of HYPREP biggest weak links with the people of Ogóni is the “lack of proper communication which was caused by employing an outsider who lacks the basic understanding of the body language of an average Ogóni man to occupy such sensitive position as communication. But the correction has been made with the appointment of an Ogoni son to head the Communications Unit of HYPREP.
“Ogóni people are counting seriously on HYPREP, as the ongoing project is our only lease of hope now, and we are determined to protect it from corporate preying scavengers who use such agencies as HYPREP as a conduit to siphon the common patrimony of the local people.
“Some would come in disguise as saviour and defender of the people while in truth they are the real adversaries. But be rest assured, Your Excellency that, Ogónis of good conscience are in high spirits with you for the much you have done for us through this project; and all you have to do is to avoid distractions of this nature if the legacy you hope to bequeath to Ogóni because of the Ogóni clean-up is to be achieved”, the group said.
Responding to an earlier call by some persons to sack the minister and stop further release of funds to HYPREP, the group noted that the right thing to have asked for should be an investigation of the past administrations before the present one which has not awarded even a single contract since its inception.
