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).

Be more committed to duty -EHCON chairman tells staff

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

The newly inaugurated Environmental Health Council’s (EHCON) Chairman Tonye Longjohn has urged the management and staff of the Council to be more dedicated and commitment to their duty.

This was contained in a press statement signed and issued by Kehinde A. Openibo Director, Public Affairs (EHCON) For: Registrar.

The statement noted that the chairman of board addressed the top management and staff of the Council recently, after the inauguration of the board of agencies by the minister of environment,Mohammed Abdullahi with other members of the Board in attendance at the Council’s office in Abuja.

According to the Chairman “Mr. president would not be happy with us if he finds out that we are defaulting on discharging our duties, that would not be nice” adding that “there would not be room for truancy, please , if you have subordinates that are truants, please tell them that the days of truancy are gone”.

The EHCON Chairman, however assured the staff that they were not there to disturb anyone from carrying out his/her work because, they are all brothers and sisters.

He informed the staff that whatever benefit is due to them, shall be made available to them as at when due either promotion or welfare, he posted.

On his part, the Registrar EHCON, Dr. Yakubu Mohammed Baba who was represented by his Senior Technical Adviser (STA) and a Director, Registration, Ethics and Standard in the Agency Dr. Isah Adamu praised Mr. President for appointing a board for the Council after many years, he however, went back to memory lane on numerous achievements the Council had recorded since the appointment of the Registrar Dr. Yakubu Mohammed Baba two years ago.

Speaking further, the Director, Registration, Ethics and Standard Dr. Isah Adamu who stood in for the Registrar posited that the Council was established in 2002 by an Act of Parliament and was known and called Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON) but now that the Act has been amended by Mr. President, the Council is now known and addressed as the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON).

According to the Director, the practice of EHCON is segmented into two, one is for individual practitioners and the other is the companies’ service providers, adding that, the sanitary inspection of Premises, Cleaning Services, Public health officers and sewage collection, the Council ensures Registration and Regulations are done in administrative way at the headquarters.

Dr. Isah Adamu however, on behalf of the Council promised the Chairman and other members of the Board that the Council is ready to give full support and maximum cooperation to the Board in order to discharge their duties creditably.

“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.