Speaking while inaugurating the board, Buhari warned the members to ensure that the funds devoted for this project are used only for the intended purpose.
The president also contended that the clean-up would serve as the standard for the clean-up of similar pollution in other parts of the Niger Delta.
He noted that the inauguration was coming exactly five years the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) submitted an extensive report on its environmental assessment of Ogoniland.
According to him, the project would have direct impact on the lives and livelihoods of the people in the area whose environments had been severely degraded by years of unchecked pollution from oil exploration activities.
President Buhari said that the report, which was commissioned by the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, did not only document the problems that existed, but also contained recommendations on how they can be addressed, both in the short term and in the long term.
He noted that the late commencement of the project added to the picture described in the UNEP Report as “a landscape characterized by a lack of trust, paralysis and blame.”
The president noted that while it had been five years since UNEP submitted its report, the inauguration of the Governing Council only took two months after ten projects were flagged off.
He said, “Since the time of flag-off, considerable effort has been expended to create a robust mechanism for implementing the project in the long term. The Governing Council and Board of Trustees inaugurated today (yesterday) jointly form an essential part of the governance framework.
“In addition to the management and administration structure, other systems and controls are being put in place to ensure that the funds devoted for this Project are used only for the intended purpose”
“It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the project remains on course, as we face the challenges of high expectations and the current conflict in the Niger Delta.”
Buhari noted that the clean-up exercise was expected to go on for two decades, saying that the first five years would address emergency response measures and remediation while the subsequent years would look to restore the ecosystems in the Delta.
The president called on the local communities, especially the youth, who would be the direct beneficiaries of the project, to work with government to ensure the security of the projects and persons implementing them.
Members of the Governing Council include the minister of environment, Amina Mohammed, as the chairman. Others are the minister of National Planning, Udoma Udoma; minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Usani; minister of state for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, national security adviser, Babagana Monguno; managing director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nsima Ekere, and managing director, SPDC, Osagie Okunbor, amongst others.
Representatives of Ogoni stakeholders on the Council include Pyagbara Legborsi, Ben Naneen, and two others.
Members of the BoT include Wale Edun as chairman; the minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun, minister of state for environment, Ibrahim Jibril and minister of state, Petroleum.
Representatives of IOCs include Osagie Okunbor, Insula Massim, and Alexis Bobk.
The Ogoni stakeholders, other communities in the Niger Delta, NGOs as well as the UNEP are also represented on the board. A legal adviser would be appointed by the governing council in due course.
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