ABUJA-President Goodluck Jonathan has urged the people of Ogoniland to support and cooperate with those conducting the assessment of the environmental impact of oil contamination in the area.
He made the appeal at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, after receiving an update on the assessment, from the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP).
Reports say that UNEP is conducting the exercise at the request of the Federal Government.
The President stressed that the objective of the ongoing assessment was to establish the level of pollution in the area and determine the best remedial actions.
He said the Federal Government would work with the Rivers Government and leaders of the Ogoni people to overcome the security challenges hindering the completion of the assessment.
Jonathan thanked UNEP, the Shell Petroleum Development Company and members of the Ogoni Reconciliation Committee headed by Rev. Mathew Kukah for their roles in the exercise.
The President said he looked forward to receiving the report.
The UNEP Project Manager for the Assessment, Mr. Mike Cowing, had told the President that a team of more than 100 Nigerian and foreign experts were engaged in the exercise which began last year.
He said that the scientific assessment of collected samples began in the second quarter of this year.
Cowing said UNEP would be able to present a final report to the government by early next year if the challenges its assessors were facing in the Gokana Local Government Area were removed.
Reports also say that UNEP has indicated that the vast majority of the oil spilled into the Niger Delta was caused by criminal activity, not systems failure by the oil companies.
However, the people believe otherwise, accusing the agency of siding with Shell because the oil giant is paying for the UNEP study.
They also blamed Shell for polluting the Niger Delta and demanding that it pay billions of dollars in compensation to local communities and to pay for the cleanup.
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