President Buhari on Thursday in Nairobi, Kenya, reaffirmed his administration’s
commitment to the implementation of the United Nations Environmental
Programme’s recommendations for the clean-up of Ogoniland and other parts of
Niger Delta which had been damaged by oil spillage.
Speaking
during a visit to the United Nations Office in the Kenyan capital, President Buhari
urged the UN to give more support for his administration’s efforts to clean up
the region.
In a
statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba
Shehu, the President said: “When I came into office on 29th May 2015, one of
the first tasks I carried out was to authorize the implementation of the
recommendations of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) for the
clean-up of Ogoni land.
The
devastation caused by oil spillage has destroyed many lives and livelihoods and
is clearly one of the reasons why many people in that region lost faith in
government and resorted to the many criminal activities we are seeing in the
region today.
“The action
our government took to implement UNEP’s recommendations has given the indigenes
of the region hope that there are better days ahead.
“Let me,
therefore, express appreciation on behalf of the Government of Nigeria to UNEP
and other development partners for their cooperation and support on this very
delicate matter and also request for their continued support as we implement
the recommendations and transform the fortunes of the region.”
The
President applauded the outcome of the
21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was held in Paris in
December last year.
“The
commitments agreed in Paris will clearly benefit Nigeria and many African
nations adversely impacted by climate change. We therefore look forward to
their fulfillment and implementation.
“As the UN
Office in Nairobi gears up to host the 2nd session of the United Nations
Environment Assembly (UNEA-2) this year under the auspices of UNEP, I would
like to take this opportunity to further pledge Nigeria’s commitment to this
very worthy cause of having a safe, secure and clean planet,” he said.
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