Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), said the sack of the Project Manager of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), Dr Ferdinand Giadom by President Muhammadu Buhari was unfair and discriminatory.
MOSOP president, Fegalo Nsuke in a reaction to the sack, noted that Dr. Ferdinand Giadom was not the sole decision maker in HYPREP and therefore, cannot singularly bear the punishment for the poor performance of management.
He said president Buhari’s rod should not have spared the entire management of the agency including the ministry of environment and the members of the governing council who all share responsibility for the failure of HYPREP.
The MOSOP president acknowledged that while President Buhari has a legitimate authority to hire and fire, it considers a selective punishment for a collective failure to be unfair and discriminatory.
“We see Giadom’s sack as placing responsibility for a collective failure on a single individual and that is largely unfair.” Nsuke said.
MOSOP demanded an explanation for the sack of Dr. Giadom. MOSOP President, Fegalo Nsuke said Nigeria’s understanding of indigenous issues like the Ogoni cleanup is inappropriate.
The MOSOP leader noted that in dealing with indigenous communities like the Ogoni people, decisions ought to be taken with due consultations with the people who are affected and not always by the display of state authority in disregard to international laws dealing with indigenous issues.
He also said the sack of the project coordinator speaks volume about the massive mismanagement of the Ogoni cleanup funds and the corruption in HYPREP.
However, he noted that an errand boy who goes by the name of a project coordinator cannot be solely held responsible for HYPREP’s failures while all other decision makers including the minister of environment are spared.
“Giadom’s sack raises questions about government claims on the successes recorded with the environmental cleanup in Ogoni but would have been better understood and acceptable if the entire management of HYPREP had been sacked for poor performance.” Nsuke said.
