SDN would like to congratulate Professor Nenibarini Zabbey on his appointment to the Project Coordinator post at the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) in Ogoniland. SDN has worked closely with Professor Zabbey, and we know him to be a committed member of civil society in the Niger Delta, who has dedicated his career to the restoration of the environment, and someone with the technical background required in the Project Coordinator role.
We were saddened to see HYPREP’s previous Project Coordinator, Ferdinand Giadom, removed from his post. Throughout his tenure, we had received many positive reports from communities who had felt he brought a new, more transparent and participatory approach to working with them. The Ogoni clean-up has encountered significant challenges, and for there to be any hope of an effective clean-up for Ogoni citizens, we need stability, and high-quality leaders with integrity.
As Professor Zabbey takes up his role, we recall the requests we have all been making in civil society towards HYPREP. This includes the need for far greater transparency in the bid development, selection and contract management process for clean-up contractors; the need for the regular publication of HYPREP’s budget and financial reports; and the publication of the audit ordered by former President Buhari. Additionally, we highlight the significant concerns that our monitoring project has identified in the conduct of clean-up activities themselves. This includes:
- Likely significant secondary contamination at clean-up sites caused by poor practice by clean-up contractors, particularly around biocells.
- Significant damage to agricultural land through the poor implementation of the soil backfilling processes.
- Lack of transparency over what contaminant levels can be used under the newly introduced Risk-Based Approach, meaning there is potential for the ‘goal posts’ for the required standards of clean-up to be constantly moved.
- The need to address several instances where there are very high levels of dissatisfaction and concerns from communities towards clean-up contractors operating in their communities.
- The extensive delays in providing the emergency measures prescribed by UNEP in 2011 (namely the provision of clean water and creation of a health registry). Where some water projects have been started, they appear to have taken place without prior testing of water quality to ensure it is safe; and where some health-related activities have taken place, we have seen the collection of people’s medical data without providing prior and informed consent. SDN extends our cooperation to Professor Zabbey and to HYPREP to resolve these issues and support the improved conduct of the clean-up.
A note on the partnership between SDN and CEHRD: SDN has a long history of collaboration with CEHRD – the organisation previously led by Professor Zabbey – and CEHRD is a partner of SDN’s in our civil society initiative to independently monitor the clean-up. We have confirmed with CEHRD’s Board that Professor Zabbey will retain no ties with CEHRD. Having assessed the risk of a conflict of interest, we believe our ongoing partnership with CEHRD does not threaten our ability to conduct an independent assessment of the progress of clean-up activities in communities. We constantly assess any risk to the credibility of our monitoring project, and we are highly sensitive to the importance of this, as SDN has repeatedly stated that a lack of transparency, accountability and trust between HYPREP and communities is harming the clean-up.
