The professional competence of the contractors handling projects in Ogoni areas of Rivers State under the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, HYPREP, came under severe questioning last week when a gigantic water tank in Gwara community, Khana Local Government Area, designed to provide safe drinking water for about 14 communities, caved in barely three days after it was commissioned by the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal at a very colorful ceremony.
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Dan Abia, our Rivers State Correspondent, in this report captures the mood of community folks and some central issues that gave rise to HYPREP.
Surprisingly last week, the fear of many observers of shoddy and half-baked jobs executed by quack contractors, was clearly established when one of the water projects at Banee and Gwara communities in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State collapsed barely 72 hours after the commissioning ceremony.
Recall that the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal had penultimate Saturday inaugurated two water projects in Bane and Gwara communities, both in Khana LGA. But three days after the inauguration, one of the facilities, specifically the Gwara water station meant to provide safe drinking water for about 14 communities, collapsed.
Sabotag – Legbo
Expressing disgust over this unfortunate development, President of Ogoni business owners in America and Gbemene Legbo, Chief Anthony Waadah described the incident as a sabotage. “It is unthinkable that a project celebrated with so much fanfare could collapse within 72 hours of its commissioning.” He insisted that “the failure of the project was not an accident but an act of economic sabotage and an insult to the Ogoni people.”
Chief Waadah also urged communities across Ogoniland not to keep quiet when substandard projects are executed in their areas. He reminded them that access to clean water, electricity, and healthcare is not a privilege but a fundamental right, adding that they must expose corrupt officials and contractors whenever such failures occur.
“The Ogoni clean-up has turned into a cash cow for corrupt officials. Ogoniland does not look like a place where one billion dollars has been spent. Our people are still drinking polluted water, hospitals are non-existent, and our roads remain death traps,” Waadah lamented.
The collapsed project was allegedly awarded by the former project coordinator of HYPREP, Dr. Ferdinand Giadom.
It’s a shame – MOSOP
The President of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke said the incident was unfortunate.
Nsuke believes that the collapse of the project was a clear indication that the job was “poorly done by a certain substandard contractor without any recourse to durability. It is a shame that this kind of thing will happen to Ogoni people after years of our nonviolent struggle for justice.”
Also speaking, the convener of a group, Conscience of Ogoni People, COP, Chief Gani Tobpa said he had already set up a three-man committee to independently investigate the circumstances that led to the collapse of the water project and make its recommendations for proper measures to be taken against the HYPREP and the company involved in the disaster.
“I don’t have much to say now because we have already set up an investigating team to find out what went wrong with that project. We have heard so many things but we need to wait until the end of our findings then we will know what to do. But this is an embarrassment, to say the least.”
On his part, the President of the Greater Ogonis in Diaspora Organisation (GODO), Chief Ambrose Kii, also strongly condemned the collapse of the project which he said was to bring the needed relief to the people of the area after many years of suffering.
“The Ogoni people have suffered for too long. If HYPREP has the opportunity to serve, let them do the right thing. We cannot continue to watch the same cycle of corruption, nepotism, and incompetence destroy our people’s trust,” he said.
While expressing disappointment over HYPREP’s handling of the project, Chief Kii however called for calm and restraint, urging the people of Ogoniland to uphold the peace that Ken Saro-Wiwa stood for, even as they continue to demand justice, transparency, and accountability in public service.
Meanwhile, the management of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project said it has launched an investigation into the collapse of the newly commissioned overhead water station tank.
Committee set up
Though the cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained, HYPREP said a high level committee has been set up to ascertain the immediate and remote cause (s) of the incident.
Vice-Chairman of the committee and HYPREP legal adviser, Gowon Ichibor, made this known when he addressed the public on what went wrong with the project last week.
Ichibor said the committee had visited the site on Wednesday morning to assess the situation and communicated its preliminary findings to the HYPREP Project Coordinator, Prof. Nenibari Zabbey.
“As part of the team that visited the site, what we discovered was broken walls with wreckage all over the ground, water pulling down the front walls. We had to inform the PC (Project Coordinator) of our discovery.”
The Chief Resident Engineer of HYPREP, Tabe James said: “There is a collapse of the water tank and investigation is still ongoing. There is debris all over the place but if you go there you will see that the foundation is still intact. So it is only when we carry out proper investigation, testing of materials and certification that we will know the real measure. For now the investigation is still ongoing.”
HYREP reacts
Meanwhile, HYPREP head of Communications, Enu-Olare Wigbo, empathizes with the Gwara community and called for calm as steps are being taken to ensure that the damaged facility is restored, and clean water available for the people.
“HYPREP remains committed to continue to deliver quality projects that meet best standards. It has introduced both internal and external measures to ensure quality assurance and control,” he said. HYPREP became an official instrument saddled with the responsibility of implementing all the recommendations made by the United Nations Environment Program, UNEP, in 2017 during the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
First established in 2011 by former President Goodluck Jonathan, the setting up of the agency renewed hope in Nigerians that the decades-long injustice in Ogoniland would be adequately assuaged and possible atonement made to the Ogonis.
One of the basic recommendations that HYPREP was expected to urgently implement without any form of bottleneck was the establishment of clean water projects for the people of Ogoni whose major sources of clean water had been polluted.
This explained why UNEP recommended the initial take off cost of US$1B to be contributed by the joint ventures including the Federal Government, international oil companies, IOCs and Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC which paid the highest part of the money, for immediate implementation of the urgent needs.
The payment of the US$1billion was staggered across five years with US$200m at intervals. With such an amount of money, it was believed that the issue of lack of potable water in Ogoni would be a thing of the past. The water level in the Ogoni area according to the UNEP report, is contaminated with benzene from oil exploration activities
