OGONICLEANUP: BUHARI HAS DONE NOTHING - ANNKIO BRIGGS

Following the flag up of the Ogoni clean up exercise, Independent newspaper reports that, Ann-Kio Briggs, a frontline Niger Delta female activist, has cautioned the Federal Government not to make political point out of Thursday’s ceremony for the commencement of the clean-up of Ogoniland in Rivers State.

It was reported that she said that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the event merely succeeded in “pulling a cloth across a plaque” on which the date of commencement of the exercise and the name of the President were etched.

Briggs who gave the caution in a telephone interview with Independent newspaper on Friday was reacting to the flag-off for the commencement of the clean-up of Ogoniland which held at Bodo, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State.

She said that what was of concern to the Ogonis in particular and the Niger Delta people in general, was when men and materials would move into the area to start the clean-up exercise.

She noted that the fanfare the event generated did not amount to practical commencement of the remediation of Ogoniland.

She observed that there were no recognisable structures and committees set up by the Federal Government to handle the exigencies incidental to the clean-up recommended by the UNEP report.
Briggs said: “It is imperative to point out that the ceremony that was performed by Vice President Osinbajo on Thursday was not a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a road or such projects but the flag-off of the clean-up of a massively polluted Ogoni environment.

“We are talking about polluted land, water and farm lands and means of livelihood. Therefore, what I’m interested in is: when will the clean-up start?

“We are asking that after all the ceremony, when will the machines and the people that will carry out the actual clean-up begin work because all they (Federal Government) did was just to pull a cloth across a plaque that states that the clean-up has commenced.”

The amazon of Ijaw activism noted that the Federal Government did not budget for the clean-up of Ogoniland in the 2016 budget, a development that had raised fears as to when the clean-up work would start.

She stressed that the Ogoniland clean-up exercise ought to be the beginning of the total remediation of the entire Niger Delta region, adding that work was expected to begin immediately after the flag-off event.
On the sudden change of plan by Buhari to visit Ogoniland and personally perform the ceremony on Thursday, Ann-Kio said, “there is no big deal in that.

“Except people are making politics out of it, I don’t see anything wrong with the Vice President representing Mr. President. The Vice President can always represent Mr. President, there is no big deal in that,” she added.

Independent Newspaper.