Thread by @toluogunlesi

Today is a significant day for the Niger Delta. Commencement of Handover of sites to qualified contractors in first phase of remediation of 21 lots across the 4 LGAs of Ogoniland. Handover will be followed by mobilization of equipment & personnel to sites for the actual clean-up.

Of course some will ask ‘Why now?’ Answer: If you’ve followed the Clean Up news you’ll realize that the procurement process (by which these contractors were selected) has been ongoing for a while.
Has taken time cos:
1. Remediation is major work
2. Procurement is time-consuming

[When I say remediation is major work I mean to say the ‘Clean Up’ is not ‘environmental sanitation’. It’s a complex technical endeavor

NB. Alongside Remediation work, there will be work along the lines of provision of potable water, livelihood training & health impact studies.]

I’ll share a rough timeline of the Ogoniland Clean-Up:

May 2016: 4 Committees inaugurated to commence preparation for the clean-up

June 2016: formal launch of the Programme

July 2016: PMB approves Governing Council & Board of Trustees (BOT) for the cleanup (inaugurated Aug 4)

Sept 2016: The 4 Committees submitted reports

Feb 2017:
-Ground-breaking ceremony for construction of Integrated Contaminated Soil Management Centre in Bori New City, Khana LGA,Ogoniland

-Demonstration project for clean-up technology launched in multiple sites across Ogoniland

April 2017: Ogoni Trust Fund Escrow agreement signed at the Presidential Villa, presided over by VP Osinbajo. $180m mobilized from oil companies (NNPC/Shell/JVs), into escrow account with Standard Chartered Bank UK, overseen by @HYPREPNigeria Board of Trustees.

July 2017: Request for expression of interest & invitation for pre-qualification for implementation of Health Impact Assessments, assessment & rehabilitation of existing water facilities in Ogoniland, Environmental Consultancy for Scoping and assessment of oil impacted sites etc

In summary: 2017 was devoted to preliminary/foundational work for the main clean up: community visits and sensitization, Stakeholder Meetings, Livelihood Training for communities, Site Assessments and Demonstrations of Remediation Technologies, Data Collection and Studies, etc

March 2018: INVITATION FOR PRE-QUALIFICATION OF CONTRACTORS FOR REMEDIATION OF HYDROCARBON IMPACTED SITES IN OGONILAND BY FEDERAL MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT @FMEnvng etenders.com.ng/hydrocarbon-po…

(Adverts appeared locally and internationally)

June 2018: PUBLICATION OF LIST OF PREQUALIFIED COMPANIES FOR REMEDIATION OF HYDROCARBON IMPACTED SITES IN OGONILAND, by @HYPREPNigeria hyprep.gov.ng/2018/06/29/lis…

>400 companies went through technical evaluation, 183 were prequalified to submit financial bids, according to Ministry

Sept 2018: “@HYPREPNigeria has begun last round of selection of pre-qualified companies to carry out the implementation of the cleanup of oil-impacted sites in Ogoniland.”

This final selection (technical + financial) produced a final list of 21 companies sweetcrudereports.com/2018/09/26/hyp…

November 2018: this Briefing by Min @FMEnvng, noting that they were getting to end of the procurement process. “The Minister said 5 of the 21 lots which are beyond the threshold of the tenders board and Gov Council will be forwarded to FEC for approval.” premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines…

November 2018: “Mr Jibril said this is the first time the Nigerian government has put a machinery in place for the exercise. ‘No government in the last 30, 40 years of oil pollution has done what this government is doing now.’” premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines…

January 2019: Finally, the commencement of the actual Remediation Process. The last two years plus have been preparation for today: the commencement of Handover of sites to contractors. 21 selected companies (in 1st Phase), mobilizing to sites across the 4 LGAs of Ogoniland.

I’ll close w a July 2016 quote from fmr Min @FMEnvng, @AminaJMohammed, under whose watch the CleanUp started:

“The launch was the 1st step in a 30-year journey... We ask for patience as we lay solid foundations for the cleanup. The context is complex & stakeholders are diverse.“

And for one last word from our sponsors:

REMEDIATION IS NOT SANITATION, plis dears.

Thank you and God bless Ogoniland, God bless the Niger Delta, and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

I want to pick up this thread, and tell you a little about Buhari and the Niger Delta.

Story starts from 2016, when the demonstration of the commitment to the Ogoni Cleanup (which GEJ, a shon of de shoil) had paid lip service to. Upper part of this thread is about that cleanup

Recall the year 2016, horrible year for oil and gas in Nigeria, and by implication for the economy. Oil prices were down, but even worse production was at abysmal levels, dipping well below the 1m bpd mark during the year, largely on account of sabotage.

In Nov of that year the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) came to visit PMB. They had a long list of items for consideration, on the agenda. President then asked VP to take charge of working with stakeholders to come up with a comprehensive Plan for the Niger Delta.

Now you can’t produce a Plan for a people without talking to them. Not just talking to them but spending time with them, on their turf, the places where the Plan is going to be implemented. And so VP embarked on an tour of all the Niger Delta States, starting Jan 2017.

VP’s Tour of the Delta took place in H1 2017. He visited all the States, and met with Traditional Rulers, politicians, community leaders, Women, Youth etc. Out of those visits, and conversations, the ‘New Vision for the Niger Delta’ was born: @ndnewvision #NDNewVision

The New Vision is multi-faceted, in summary it’s an umbrella vision responding to the needs and demands of the people of the Niger Delta. Incl:
Take-off of Maritime University
Ogoni CleanUp
Support for Modular Refineries
Continuation of Amnesty Programme
Investments in Infra

Two years on, what’s the status?

1. The Ogoni CleanUp MAIN Phase - the actual remediation - is set to kick off. Sites were handed over to the contractors earlier this month, after a long a comprehensive procurement process. Check the earlier parts of this thread for a Timeline

The Maritime University, long promised, has now finally taken off, in Okerenkoko, Delta State. The Uni got an NUC license early 2018, PMB approved take-off funding, and 1st set of students were admitted in Q2 2018. This weekend is the Uni’s first official Matriculation Ceremony.

Modular Refineries: As far as I’m aware, there was only one existing or functioning Modular Refinery in Nigeria pre-Buhari: the 1,000bpd Ogbele Refinery in Rivers State, owned by NDPR, and commissioned in 2010: ngdelta.com/our-business/o…

Today, as we speak, there are 4 Modular Refinery Projects ongoing in Nigeria, three of them nearing completion. They have taken advantage of the Buhari Administration’s commitment to supporting the development of Modular Refineries, as an alternative to illegal artisanal refining

The 4 Modular Ref Projects:

1/Expansion of existing Ogbele Refinery from 1,000bpd to 11,000bpd

2/5,000bpd Waltersmith Refinery, Imo google.com/amp/s/guardian…

3/5,000bpd Ikwe-Onna Refinery, Akwa Ibom nipc.gov.ng/work-begins-50…

4/7,000bpd OPAC Refinery,Delta montserrado.net/industry/modul…

These are all private sector projects of course: private investors putting in millions of $$$ to build Modular Refining Capacity in communities across the N/Delta. And why are they doing this now, and enthusiastically too?

Because they can see a Govt serious about Infra & Devpt

And of course the Buhari Admin is also enthusiastically supporting all existing and potential Modular Refinery investors, through such incentives as fast-tracking licensing/approvals premiumtimesng.com/business/busin…

The icing on the policy support cake is the work ongoing to extend tax and duty waivers to actual investors in Modular Refineries.

2018: FG to woo MR Investors with Tax Waivers google.com/amp/s/www.thec…

2019: FG reduces import duty on MR equipment google.com/amp/s/punchng.…

Let me add this: that while work has started & is ongoing on 4 Modular Refinery Project (Imo, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Delta),there are at least 3 others that are close to ground-breaking stage. It’s instructive that this kind of progress eluded the PDP years: google.com/amp/s/guardian…

It’s a mini-revolution taking place, mostly under the radar cos it’s the kind of News people don’t want to associate w/ PMB

When next Twitter’s clan of self-acclaimed ‘intellectuals’ accuses PMB/PYO Govt of being anti-Biz/private sector, show them this thread. More coming btw.

PHOTOS: Ongoing expansion of the Niger Delta Exploration & Production Co. Modular Refinery in Ogbele, Rivers State. It was a 1,000bpd capacity Refinery (commissioned 2010) now being expanded to 11,000bpd. Production scheduled to commence in March 2019. #NDNewVision

Follow @HYPREPNigeria for Ogoni CleanUp news and updates, and @ndnewvision for the New Vision for the Niger Delta.

One #FunFact for the #thread:

On October 4, 1976, PMB (as Federal Commissioner of Petroleum Resources) on behalf of the FGN signed a partnership agreement with Shell and BP for the construction of an LNG plant in Bonny, Rivers State, to be jointly owned by the 3 parties.