Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to launch a $1 billion clean-up project of the Niger Delta, one of the world’s most-polluted oil regions that spans from the Bight of Biafra side of the Gulf of Guinea to the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria.
The clean-up is projected to take more than 25 years before the Delta will regain its full natural form, after being subjected to years of oil spills by Nigeria’s oil firm and other multinational oil giants.
The Nigerian government will collaborate with UN engineers and oil companies for the clean-up and is expected to include the establishment of a factory aimed at facilitating the rehabilitation of tens of thousands of tons of contaminated soil.
Meanwhile, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says the project will create jobs for thousands of Nigerians that is aimed at bringing development to the region of Ogoni, which is documented to have suffered bouts of conflicts and resource exploitation.
In 2008, several oil spills from faulty pipelines did not only pose a health risk to the people of Bodo land but also led to a protracted court case that had Shell slapped with a £55 million lawsuit aimed at compensating the affected families.
