Buhari Cancels Trip to Ogoniland Sends VP Osinbajo

President Muhammadu Buhari has cancelled his eagerly anticipated visit to Ogoniland, Rivers State, to flag off the clean-up of the area.

Vice-president Yemi Osinbajo will now represent the president on the historic event in the volatile Niger Delta region.

President Buhari was billed to visit the area to kick-start the process June 2 (today) after confirmation by the Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed following her visit to Bodo in Gokana Local Government Area of the state to inspect an oil spill clean-up demonstration.

It is pursuant to a 2011 report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which cited the Niger Delta region as having the worst case of environmental degradation in the world, and also in keeping with his electioneering promise to people of the region.

However, his scheduled visit has thrown up controversies in the increasingly unstable region, with the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) accusing Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike of plotting to derail the visit while new militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers, vowed to assassinate the president should he come to their land.

With the trailing security situation, Vice-president Osinbajo, who last week represented the president on a two-day official visit to Lagos State, will now kick-start the long-awaited clean-up campaign of Ogoniland and indeed, the entire region.

Oil spillage and gas flaring over the years have left most parts of the region in deplorable conditions, with the lands, air and waters completed polluted and eroding the means of livelihood of the people, who also complain of economic marginalisation.