The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) has gained recognition for its efforts in restoring the environment in Ogoniland.

The non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) comprising the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (LSD) and Friends of the Earth International commended HYPREP for the significant milestone recorded under Nenibarini Zabbey as Project Coordinator when they visited project sites in Ogoniland.

The Founding Executive Director, Centre-LSD, Otive Igbuzor and the President, Friends of the Earth International, Hemantha Withanage expressed satisfaction at the successes recorded in the provision of potable water, Construction of the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration (CEER), Ogoni Specialist Hospital, Livelihood programmes, among others, pledging to continue to sustain advocacy for the funding and sustainability of the projects.

Both NGOs planted mangroves at the Bomu waterfront, site for the HYPREP mangrove restoration project to demonstrate their support for the Project in its frantic effort to restore lost oil-degraded mangrove areas, having recorded 93% completion in Phase 1.

Speaking after the visit, Professor Zabbey stressed that HYPREP is disposed to collaborating with NGOs, institutions, and development partners to ensure the actualisation of a sustainable cleanup of Ogoni, while reeling out its significant achievements.

He added that this has been possible due to community support and ownership of the Project, which has been designed to position the Ogoni people as the centre piece of the cleanup programme.

In commemoration of this year’s World Mangrove Day, the PC led the visitors to a presentation of a Prolific Wildling Award to a Mother mangrove tree in the Bomu shore, which has produced over 15,000 seedlings. He described this as a significant reflection of nature’s contribution to HYPREP’s mangrove restoration efforts in Ogoni as the seedlings will be replanted in the next phase of HYPREP’s large-scale mangrove restoration.

HYPREP maintained that it will continue to collaborate with stakeholders across divides to deliver sustainable cleanup of Ogoni, provide knowledge legacies, expertise and framework for the remediation of other parts of Nigeria.