Bayelsa govt applauds Buhari for implementing UNEP report

The Bayelsa government has applauded President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the implementation of the UNEP report on the clean-up of Ogoniland.

The Commissioner for Environment in the state, Mr Iniruo Wills, while speaking in Yenagoa, yesterday, applauded the president for initiating the implementation of the clean-up the oil-polluted Ogoniland.

“President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval of the steps to fast-track the clean-up and restoration of Ogoniland in line with UNEP’s recommendations is a positive signal for the hitherto relegated environment sector and for the Niger Delta region.

“This is an elixir, coming at the fourth anniversary of the release of the UNEP report, which happens to be the first anniversary falling within President Buhari’s tenure. We congratulate the Ogoni people and the entire Niger Delta,” Wills said.

He further made a case for Bayelsa and other states in the Niger Delta equally impacted by oil pollution, induced by oil and gas exploration and production.

“We are very hopeful that the president and relevant Federal Government authorities will correct the crucial omissions in the measures approved, especially the non-incorporation/representation of other pollution ravaged states in the Niger Delta.

“For example, Bayelsa State is currently under the burden of about one thousand recorded oil spills per year.

“The state of Bayelsa has been suffering the same fate as Ogoniland for 60 years, dating back to the start of Nigeria’s commercial oil production which took place in Oloibiri in present day Bayelsa State,” Wills said.