Chuks Oyema-Aziken
The Senator representing Bayelsa East and Chairman Senate committee on host communities producing oil and gas, Senator Degi Eremienyo has welcomed the appointment of Professor Nanibarini Zabbey as the new coordinator of the hydrocarbon pollution remediation project, HYPREP.
The senator in a press release he personally signed and issued in Abuja on Monday described Professor Zabbey’s appointment as a square peg in a square hole.
He commended President Muhammadu Buhari and Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi for rescuing the Ogoni clean up project from implementational setbacks by terminating the appointment of Dr Ferdinand Giadom as the Coordinator of HYPREP.
Senator Degi acknowledged the sincere outstanding commitment of the current minister of environment on the Ogoni clean up project and expressed confidence that the appointment of Professor Zabbey, a foremost and renowned Ogoni expert on hydrobiology and extensive experience and background on remediation-related activities with bias in bio-monitoring and restoration ecology will no doubt actualize the federal government plan of restoring the Ogoni land to its natural form.
Senator Degi equally commends oil multi-nationals; especially Shell, foreign partners like the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited for their technical and financial contributions while urging them to do more in faithfully implementing the terms and conditions of the project to the letter.
