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A non-governmental organization, Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, has organized a training programme to enable stakeholders in Ogoni acquire capacity to monitor the clean-up process.
Addressing participants at the event, Kebetkache’s executive director, Emem Okon, said her organization, being one of the partners of Catholic Organization for Relief and Development (CORDAID), has been passionate about the success of the emergency measures and the clean-up process.
She said that since 2016 they started the process of training Ogoni people so that they can understand and know what to monitor as regards the clean-up process, noting that the aim is to make sure those companies paid to clean up the land do the job with zeal, integrity and transparency.
Okon said that some people were trained at the office of National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), with a view to build their capacity and skill to monitor the cleanup by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP).
The executive director also noted that Kebetkache had within its mandate created awareness on the clean-up process and also trained some civil society organizations in the state, adding that all these were geared towards ensuring best practice in the system.
Emem Okon explained that the clean-up have far-reaching implication on water, health and clean environment, adding there will be more interaction and discussion.
The Kebetkache boss further explained that the clean-up in Ogoni land has implication for other impacted communities too in the Niger Delta.
Earlier, the zonal director of NOSDRA, Sir Cyprus Nkangwu, expressed joy with Kebetkache for requesting for the training, noting that one of their mandates was to partner with NGOs in the area of training.
Representative of Dr. Marvin Dekil, project coordinator of HYPREP, said they were committed to the clean-up because they had a bigger picture for the Niger Delta, adding that if they did not get the Ogoni clean-up right, it will be difficult to get others right.
He said that the essence of the training is to monitor the clean-up so that it will be done properly.
The NOSDRA boss told the participants that as the supervising agency to HYPREP, it is their mandate to give certificate to successful companies at the end of the cleanup.
The zonal director maintained that the clean-up have specifications and methodology, adding that “it is not all chemicals will be allowed or biological substances or foreign body that will be allowed into the ground.”
On the controversy surrounding the progress of work on the clean-up, he explained that the minister of Environment came and saw that work was going-on, while commending Kebetkache for taking the bold step to train people to acquire the skill to monitor the clean-up process, noting that the environment belong to all of us.
Resource person, Austine Bello, gave detail on the types of spills and explained the establishment of NOSDRA as it affects oil spill detection and management in Nigeria.
Also, Mr. Udoma Emmanuels, of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), said the training for the monitors is very vital saying any oil company that spill oil will be penalize.
It will be recall that some stakeholders had expressed sadness over the slow space of work at site, the non-inclusion of women and casualization in the employment of workers. They equally expressed disappointment on the lack of portable drinking water in Ogoni land deemed necessary as one of the emergency measures.
