Scene of 2007 oil spill near the community of Goi, Ogoniland, Nigeria, photo taken January 28, 2008
A group, ‘Kebetkache Women Development Centre’, has advocated urgent and expanded cleanup of the Niger Delta, warning that limiting remediation efforts to Ogoniland alone will leave large parts of the oil-bearing region in continued ecological ruin.
Executive Director of the Centre, Emem Okon, stated this in her keynote address during the Dinner Night of the Correspondents’ Week organised by the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Port Harcourt.
The week, which has as its theme “The imperatives of comprehensive cleanup of the Niger Delta environment: role of the media”, was supported by Renaissance Africa Energy Company, Nigeria LNG Limited and Kebetkache Women Development Centre.
Okon said the Niger Delta crisis requires immediate expansion of environmental remediation efforts beyond the Ogoni cleanup project, insisting that delays will worsen pollution and suffering in the communities.
