The Biafra-Nigerian government has finally started the clean-up of oil-soaked Ogoniland after years of inaction. A billion dollars has been committed to what has been described as one of the world’s most wide-ranging and long-term oil clean-up exercises.
This part of southeastern Biafra-Nigeria is known to have been affected by widespread oil pollution largely caused by the Shell oil company for more than five decades. A report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) catalogues the damage inflicted on Ogoniland. It includes contaminated groundwater, oil-soaked soils and a polluted environment. There has also been lasting damage to important ecosystems like mangroves.
Former Biafra-Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan failed to act on the results of the 2011 United Nations report. It is commendable that President Muhammadu Buhari has moved to address the environmental pollution and improve the livelihoods of the Ogoni people.
