Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara has expressed happiness that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his administration are taking the issues of Ogoni cleanup and development seriously.
Speaking on Monday when he hosted the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal and Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh, in Government House, Port Harcourt, Fubara said the State Government was also working with the centre to resolve the issues of Ogoni.
Fubara said the government could only make the people of Ogoni happy after what they had gone through by returning meaningful development to the affected areas.
Narrating the sorry state of affairs of Ogoni, the Governor said: “We all know the situation of Ogoniland. They have no good water, no farmland for agriculture anymore, their rivers are polluted and the fishes, if any remaining, are contaminated.
“The life expectancy in those places, in those days, they lived up to 100, but now when you get up to 25 and some 55 and you begin to thank God. This is so because the food we eat is contaminated, the water we take is also contaminated and affects the elements in our system.
“So, I am happy that this administration being led by the President, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is taking this issue of Ogoni seriously. Honestly we want to assure you here that as a government we will do everything within our powers to make sure that you succeed as a minister, who is overseeing this affairs now and also for our people to have a better life”.
But Fubara advised the Federal Government to go beyond inaugurating projects to ensuring that people and all stakeholders were involved in the entire process of development.
“They should have a buy-in and own what you are doing. How do they own it? It is not you sitting in Abuja, awarding the contract to somebody we don’t know. Much as I won’t support awarding it to someone,.who cannot deliver, but the community people should be part of the process, so that they have that sense of belong.
“That sense of responsibility also gives sense of protection. If they believe that they are not part of it issue of sabotage comes in. So I want to advise that going forward, whatever you are doing and whatever plans you have let the people be part of it”, he said.
The Governor also expressed happiness that the water project in the area had been concluded and ready for inauguration, adding that he was confident that the locals would take full charge of the project.
He said the state government representatives would attend the inauguration of the water project and hold meetings with all the stakeholders in the area to ensure the sustainability of the project.
On issues of power in Ogoni, the Governor disclosed that his administration paid for the metering of Eleme, Tai, Gokana and Khana including Andoni for ease of energy supply.
He said there was no way the area would develop without power insisting that power was needed to operate machines and other facilities being installed in Ogoniland.
