Ogoni clean-up: Group advocates capacity development for youth

Dr Young Nkpah, the President, National Youth Council of Ogoni, has called for robust capacity development for Ogoni youths as part of the environmental clean-up programme in the area.

Nkpah told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Port Harcourt that it would be unfair to implement the United Nations Environment Pollution (UNEP) report on Ogoni land without a youth development programme.

“The Ogoni youth has become hugely affected by the pollution in the land; an average Ogoni youth requires being developed and redirected.“As inhabitants of Ogoni land, we are products of the Ogoni environment; we cannot claim to be clean when our environment is polluted.

“The Federal Government must ensure that Ogoni youth is substantially factored in for capacity development in the course of the clean-up programmes,’’ he said.The NYCOP president condemned the activities of some Ogoni groups targeted at truncating the clean-up process.“I must say that Ogoni youths are in support of the ongoing process, Ogoni youths need to work together to ensure a smooth implementation of the UNEP report,’’ he said.

Nkpha, however, said that NYCOP would join other stakeholders in monitoring and evaluating the implementation processes to ensure strict adherence to specifications and international best practice.