HYPREP Water Project Collapse: A Glaring Symbol of Corruption and Negligence in Ogoni Land

By Nwafor Oji Awala

Barely four days after its commissioning, a multi-million-naira water project built under the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) in Gwara, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, has collapsed, an incident that has once again cast a dark shadow over the credibility of the Ogoni clean-up programme.

The water facility, inaugurated amid fanfare by representatives of the Federal Ministry of Environment and HYPREP officials, was designed to provide potable water to communities long devastated by oil pollution. But the excitement that greeted its commissioning quickly turned into disappointment, as the structure reportedly developed structural faults, leading to the collapse of a major section of its reservoir platform.

Residents say the incident has rendered the facility non-functional, cutting off water supply to hundreds of households that had only just begun to enjoy the service.
“We were so happy when the project started running, thinking our suffering had finally ended,” said Mrs. Fyneface Baridam, a resident of Gwara. “But just a few days later, the entire structure gave way. This shows that the contractors did a very poor job.”

The collapse has sparked outrage among community members, environmental advocates, and civil society groups, many of whom have long accused HYPREP of poor supervision, inflated contracts, and politicization of the Ogoni clean-up process.

Dr. Kaani Zorva, Executive Director of the Centre for Oil Pollution and Environmental Response (COPER), described the incident as “a moral failure.”
“Billions have been spent in the name of the Ogoni people,” he said, “yet what we see are substandard projects designed to fail.”

The Ogoni clean-up, launched in 2016 and revived under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, was meant to restore the environment and rebuild trust among the people. However, persistent allegations of corruption, delays, and substandard work continue to trail HYPREP’s operations.

Unanswered Questions

The Gwara collapse raises critical questions about transparency and accountability. Who handled this very water project? Was due process followed in the award of contracts? Did HYPREP’s internal monitoring teams and external consultants truly supervise the project, as claimed? And most importantly, who certified it fit for commissioning?

Equally troubling is the issue of water quality. Before the collapse, was the water ever tested and certified safe? Can HYPREP convincingly assure the public that the water met the United Nations or World Health Organisation’s standards?

HYPREP, in a statement, said its Project Coordinator, Professor Nenibarini Zabbey, had constituted a high-level committee to investigate the incident and determine its immediate and remote causes. The agency expressed concern and empathy toward the affected community, promising to restore the damaged facility.

But these assurances have done little to quell public skepticism. Similar investigative committees in the past have produced reports that were neither published nor acted upon.

A Broader Pattern of Decay

Observers argue that the Gwara incident is not an isolated case but part of a troubling pattern. Another HYPREP water project in Ogale, Eleme, has dragged on for years without completion. Many wonder whether that project will ever see the light of day — or whether it will suffer the same fate as Gwara once it is commissioned.

For a programme built on the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), such recurring failures represent not just technical flaws but a crisis of confidence. The Ogoni people, who were promised environmental justice after decades of oil exploitation, now face fresh wounds inflicted by the very agency meant to heal them.

Prominent voices from Ogoni have repeatedly decried what they call the “high politicization” of HYPREP’s activities. According to them, contracts are too often influenced by political patronage rather than competence, resulting in poor quality work and inflated costs.

Restoring Trust

For HYPREP to regain credibility, stakeholders insist that it must embrace full transparency—naming contractors, publishing project budgets, and making monitoring reports public. Anything short of that, they warn, will further erode trust in a process that already stands on shaky ground.

The collapse of the Gwara water project is not just a construction failure. It is a mirror reflecting the cracks in Nigeria’s environmental governance and a sad reminder of how corruption and negligence continue to sabotage genuine development efforts.

Until those responsible are held to account and systemic reforms are enforced, the promise of a clean, restored Ogoni land may remain nothing more than another broken dream.

Nwafor Oji Awala 

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