HYPREP: Ogoni Cleanup Enters New Phase as Women’s Participation Rises to 45%

• Mangrove restoration, health projects advance

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

The Hydrocarbon Pollution Rehabilitation Project (HYPREP) has said women’s participation in the Ogoni cleanup programme has risen from five per cent in 2023 to 45 per cent, as the federal government intensifies efforts to make the project more inclusive and sustainable.

HYPREP Project Coordinator, Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey, disclosed this on Wednesday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the 2026 third quarterly meeting of key regulators and asset owners involved in the Ogoni cleanup.

Zabbey said the project was being implemented through a human-centred and multi-stakeholder approach designed to ensure that the environmental restoration programme delivers lasting benefits to the people and ecosystem of Ogoniland.

“We are implementing the recommendations of the UNEP report on the environmental assessment of Ogoniland and, in doing that, we have decided to adopt a multi-stakeholder and human-centric approach,” he said.

According to him, regular meetings with asset owners, regulators, civil society organisations and other stakeholders were critical to sustaining collaboration, reviewing progress and addressing challenges affecting the cleanup.

He said the quarterly meeting was particularly significant as it coincided with activities marking the 10th anniversary of the Ogoni cleanup.

Zabbey said HYPREP had recorded significant progress in mangrove restoration, urging stakeholders to support the protection of the Ogoni mangrove wetland, which has been designated a Ramsar site of international importance.

He also called for greater investment in ecotourism, saying it would help conserve Ogoni’s biodiversity while creating economic opportunities for residents.

On healthcare, the project coordinator said HYPREP had gone beyond the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) by implementing a series of health interventions across Ogoni.

He said four health facilities had been strengthened with modern medical equipment and solar power systems, while five fully equipped ambulances had been provided to health facilities to improve emergency and referral services.

“Those that have visited the Onne Health Centre recently will attest to the fact that since we installed our solar system in February this year, light has not blinked in that facility,” Zabbey said.

He added that HYPREP had completed construction of the 43-bed cottage hospital at Buwa and was awaiting the posting of personnel by the Rivers State Government to commence operations.

Zabbey further disclosed that the Ogoni Specialist Hospital was about 80 per cent complete, with an oncology unit expected to provide cancer screening and treatment.

He said the hospital would be equipped with a state-of-the-art MRI machine, adding that HYPREP had inspected the equipment in Germany.

“We are bringing the latest MRI, and what that means is that it will be the second latest MRI in this country,” he said.

The coordinator also disclosed that HYPREP had commissioned the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to conduct a three-year comprehensive health study of the Ogoni people.

He said the study had entered its second year, with blood sample collection already underway.

“This is not just for Ogoni. HYPREP is doing the cleanup in Ogoni to develop a sustainable template that will be applicable to other impacted communities in Nigeria,” he said.

On challenges, Zabbey identified flooding and communal land disputes as major obstacles to the remediation programme.

He explained that heavy rainfall had flooded some remediation sites, particularly those located around floodplains, forcing work to stop temporarily.

“When they are flooded, remediation activities will have to stop. You cannot, under that condition, excavate the soil and treat it. You cannot, under that condition, install your bioburging devices,” he said.

He, however, assured that HYPREP would fast-track remediation activities after the rainy season to recover lost time.

On communal disputes, Zabbey said the agency had adopted mediation and alternative dispute resolution rather than force, while training community leaders and members of its conflict-resolution structures in dispute management.

He said the agency had also made progress in preventing repollution linked to illegal artisanal refining and oil theft by engaging former artisanal refiners in its programmes.

According to him, hundreds of former artisanal refiners are currently being trained in commercial diving and underwater welding to equip them with skills for employment in the oil and gas and maritime sectors.

Zabbey said HYPREP was also training 300 persons living with special needs in five skill areas selected by them.

He stressed that the project was determined not to leave vulnerable groups behind.

The HYPREP coordinator also urged asset owners, regulators and other stakeholders to remain committed to collaboration, saying the success of the Ogoni cleanup was ultimately in the public interest.

Coordinator of the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), Dr Nabie Nubari commended HYPREP for adopting a community-centred approach.

Nubari said civil society organisations were motivated to support the cleanup because of HYPREP’s engagement with communities.

“If HYPREP is doing this massive cleanup, and there is an act of sabotage and there is repollution while cleanup is ongoing, we find it like mopping the floor while the tap is on,” he said.

He commended HYPREP for the reported reduction in repollution and pledged CEHRD’s continued support for the project.

“We will continue to support HYPREP in any way possible, and we encourage that HYPREP, please keep it up with a community-centred approach,” Nubari said.