The Hydrocarbon Pollution and Remediation Program, (HYPREP) is a special purpose vehicle for the implementation of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) ordered clean up of Ogoniland following decades of oil exploration that devasted the the Ogoni environment.
HYPREP is not only saddled with the responsibility of cleaning the polluted environment, but also to restore the land for meaningful livelihood for the people.
Part of this restoration includes provision of state of the art health care facilities, meaningful engagement of the people in productive ventures, provision of clean water, among other essentials.
It is trite to say that the people cast their expectations on the agency which is also led by a son of the soil, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, as project coordinator to right the wrongs of the past and rekindle their lost hopes of maximally benefitting from the resources embedded in their land.
Parts of Ogoniland are awash with projects being executed by HYPREP in fulfilment of its mandate, even as the people continue to expect the new dawn promised by the agency.
However, recent events have thrown up some skepticism over the quality and durability of the projects being executed by HYPREP, raising further fears of the agency coming off as its forebears, OMPADEC and NDDC, even the Niger Delta Ministry which have faced severe backlash for failing to justify their creation despite huge funds at their disposal.
The proverbial hurricane which exposed the
anal region of the fowl in the case of HYPREP are two incidents of its giant water towers collapsing no sooner than they were mounted to serve some Ogoni communities.
While one collapsed in Gwarra, Khana Local Government Area, the second one collapsed in Obolo Community,Ebubu in Eleme Local Government Area. These were projects certified done and delivered by the contractors engaged by HYPREP.
The incidents at Gwarra and Obolo have led some analysts to begin to think whether HYPREP has been engaged in some window dressing in most of their activities and claiming to be serving the interest of the people.
In a piece titled, “Season of Anomie for HYPREP”, written by Taneh Beemene, Secretary, National Association of Ogoni Media Workers Worldwide in a scathing reaction to the collapse of the two HYPREP water towers, he opined that corruption and incompetence are at the core of the pitfalls of HYPREP.
He wrote, “Despite attempts and moves by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, HYPREP, to launder its grossly indicting and diminishing profile, the table seems to be persistently upturned against it, exposing its naked tinsel.
” Providence and nature have never failed. The inseparable duo have conspired to rip HYPREP bare by exposing and shredding into debris the most vaunted project of the agency, (provision of water) amidst it now evidently serial pitfalls in the name of projects delivery in Ogoni communities as part of its statutory objectives.
“While battling to quell the untold and unpalatable consequences of the sad episode of Gwara community, the Ebubu disaster struck with not only the quickening of lightening, but an equal ounce of luck like that of Gwara which recorded no human casualty.
“The lessons are painstaking yet confounding, especially now that Ogoni land is in dire need of development, social rehabilitation and interventions. The reapers and morbid handlers of HYPREP will hurriedly rush to the press and defend stoutly these anomalies, giving a clean bill of health to the agency, and expecting everyone to yield to their mendacity and blandishments”
Taneh expressed outrage over HYPREP’s intransigence and insensitivity to “voices of reason” to mend their ways and get things done the right way.
He contended that the fact that the failed facilities are newly delivered reveal that the projects are dead on arrival and expose the culpable rot in the system.
Suggesting a way forward he stated: “However, the situation at the moment requires emergency intervention and a thorough overhaul of HYPREP to avert the perpetrations of more havocs.
First , decisive steps should be taken to ascertain and establish the veracity and validity of the projects.
“The water tank gate is only a point of enquiry into HYPREPs many institutional altercations and compromise deals at the expense of the target beneficiaries of their operations. But the entire running of the agency seems to be shrouded in secrecy and completely devoid of irrevocable commitment to due process and leadership by conscience.
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“The repeated water tank collapse are sparks from a smouldering furnace that may soon escalate to more unquantifiable damages if not put under check”
Yet according to Chief Mike Baah, Chairman of Gbo-Kabaari, a leadership group in Ogoni, certain preliminary work that ought to have been done before mounting the water tank might not have been done leading to the collapse of the project.
While absolving the Project Coordinator of HYPREP of any blame, he said the supersing officials should be asked to step aside for a thorough investigation into the failed projects.
“They must raise a team that will involve the Federal Minister of Environment. In this case, the Federal Minister of Water Resources will also have to come in. They must look at some persons from the Ogoni stock and approach them to be part of the investigation. The soil test was not properly conducted. All the materials used were substandard. You’ve seen the water tank that was built in Bori long before the war. It’s there. We also have a lot of it done by NDDC and Ompadec. They are there. So what is collapsing this one?”, he wondered.
As calls for probe of the incidence of HYPREP’s now ‘Watergate Scandal’ continue to grow, analysts are at a loss to fathom why development agencies in the Niger Delta often turn into cesspool of corruption and sleaze, euphemistically referred to as the Nigerian Factor.
