The Nigerian government, in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has launched a US$1 bn clean-up programme for the Ogoniland region in the Niger Delta after it was found that the oil industry has had a serious impact on the local environment
In 2011, the Nigerian government commissioned a report by UNEP on the impact of oil extraction on Ogoniland and the clean-up, announced this month, is a response to the report's recommendations. The report revealed serious and widespread contamination of soil and groundwater across the region, and that institutional control measures put in place by the oil industry and the government were not adequately implemented.
Recommendations of the report included the establishment of a restoration authority with a specific mandate to clean up Ogoniland and restore eco-systems, as well as an environmental restoration fund with initial capital of US$1 bn. Oil operations have been in place in Ogoniland since the 1950s.
"The task to clean up Ogoniland will neither be easy nor fast, but it needs to be done," said Erik Solheim, UNEP's incoming executive director and special envoy to Ogoniland since 2013. "If we succeed here, it will demonstrate that degraded environments can be restored, sending a signal to many other communities around the world that peaceful cooperation can lead to positive outcomes."
The Ogoniland restoration project is likely to be the world's most wide-ranging and long-term oil clean-up exercise ever undertaken, and experts suggest it may take up to 25 years to fully restore eco-systems.
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