President Bola Tinubu has reinstated Professor Nenibarini Zabbey as the Project Coordinator of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) on Monday, following significant protests by Ogoni youths and other groups in Rivers State.
The announcement was made by Ajuri Ngelale, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, in a statement titled “President Tinubu Reinstates Professor Nenibarini Zabbey as HYREP Coordinator.”
This decision reversed the President’s earlier appointment of Dr. Olufemi Adekanmbi as the new Project Coordinator just two days prior.
The reversal came after extensive protests by over 200 Ogoni youths who demanded Zabbey’s reinstatement. The protesters gathered at the HYPREP office on Ken Saro-Wiwa Road, Port Harcourt, insisting that the position should be held by an Ogoni indigene.
They argued that the project was crucial to the Ogoni community’s long struggle for environmental justice and that the funds used were sourced from Ogoni resources, not federal allocations.
Savior Oscar, Publicity Secretary of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), expressed the protesters’ grievances. “We are here to tell Mr President and the world that the Ogoni have been marginalized and neglected for too long; that the Ogoni people have suffered untold hardship for several decades,” Oscar said. He emphasized that the Ogoni people have the right to decide who leads HYPREP.
Barinuazor Emmanuel, National President of the National Youths Council of Ogoni People, supported the protest, stressing that the demonstration would continue until their demands were met. He expressed gratitude upon hearing of Zabbey’s reinstatement but warned that the Ogoni people would not tolerate future disregard for their needs and rights.
Barigie Goodluck, Chairman of HYPREP Host Communities, highlighted the accomplishments of Zabbey and criticized the federal government’s attempt to replace him.
“Professor Nenibarini Zabbey has done what he is supposed to do. We are aware that some contractors that felt they have connections at the federal level are the ones behind all these things,” Goodluck stated. He warned that the Ogoni people would not accept any other appointment that seemed politically motivated and not based on merit.
