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The federal government has been urged to ensure that the committee inaugurated for the clean up project relocate from Abuja, Nigeria's capital city to Ogoni land, Rivers state. The executive director for the Sustainable Initiatives for Nurturing Growth (SING), Idris Usman, on Monday, July 29, said it is unfortunate that the committee set up for the project operates from Abuja.
        The SING Foundation is a non-governmental, non-partisan and non-profit organization, it commenced formal operations in 2008, engaging in advocacy and enlightenment campaigns on good governance, issues of the environment and youth restiveness in the Niger Delta. Speaking at a media parley in Abuja, Usman said the federal government and those involved in the clean up process appears to be unserious over the challenges faced by the people of Ogoni land. He said: "We have a committee for the Ogoni clean up operating from Abuja. The committee members should leave Abuja and relocate to the Ogoni area." Usman said it is disheartening to know that a committee which has been saddled which such pressing responsibility will on depend on phone call to ascertain the situation on ground over the clean up process. He said that while the Ogono clean up project appears to be on the front burner of issues affecting the Niger Delta region, there are other major pressing issues which also need to be addressed. "The Ogoni clean up has been on the front burner for a long time. We've promises upon promises. Government comes and to appease the Ogini people, they say we are going to begin the clean up," Usman said. "As it is the clean up is on going. But to be very honest, Ogoni clean up is just one major clean up. There's so many clean ups that the federal government need to start doing in the Niger Delta region. There's some communities that if you go there today, they are in a sorry state. And nobody is talking about those communities.
        Those communities are abandoned today. People are there, they can't farm, they can't fish. How would they survive? And we are talking about violence in the Niger Delta. We are calling on the federal government to pay attention to every village that requires a clean up," Usman said. He also urged the federal government to ensure that more youths are steered towards Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for the purpose of national growth. According to Usman, the youths, especially those in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria need to be empowered to curb restiveness. Noting that SING has been working in the Niger Delta region since 2008 and can authoritatively say that the locals encourage environmental pollution, Usman said the foundation focuses on ensuring that such hazards which aid in operation of illegal refineries that promote spillage are curbed. "Yes, there are issues in the region, when these challenges arise we blame the oil companies but the communities are also contributing to some of these issues like the operation of illegal refineries," he added. He further called on the federal government to do the right thing by mapping out regulation policies for such activities in the region. Also speaking, a member of the Initiatives for Nurturing Growth, SING, Itari Turner, said that efforts are being made to assist women in the region. Turner noted that most of the women in the region face fertility problems which comes up with environmental degradation. "A lot of women face fertility problems and death rate among women who are giving birth. So it is very important to educate and enlighten the women on what to do," Tuner said. She said that SING plans to visit those degraded places, fine out what the women need and proffer research based solutions to the specific problems the women are facing specifically. Also, Mohammed Basah, said addressing environmental degradation in the Niger Delta would bring about the desired peace. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app He also said the foundation would continue to train Nigerian youths in Information and Communication Technology which would help them fit into the the larger society. In our efforts to campaign against youth restiveness in the Niger Delta region, we initiated an ICT training programme for young people in one of our focus community. The aim was to engage the youths creatively and take their attention away from crime and violence starting from a young age, Basah said.