Center of Excellence
HYPREP in keeping with the recommendations of UNEP, commenced the construction of the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration with an Integrated Contaminated Soil Management Centre (ICSMC) with the award of contract to the Contractor China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) Nigeria Limited and was flagged up on May 27, 2023. Actual activity on site commenced August 2023 following the handing over of site to the contractor The center will: Run training courses in environmental monitoring and restoration Enhance the capacity and skills of the Ogoni community, with opportunities for employment Promote learning, both in the region and more widely, including abroad Become a model for environmental restoration, attracting visiting experts, students and visitors from overseas Assist with business development, offering training on all aspects of setting up and running a successful company (legal, financial, technical, health and safety, etc.) Open its enrolment to people outside Ogoniland and the wider Niger Delta (including from other countries)
Community Workers
To improve and bridge the skill gaps in the construction industry, over 700 artisans drawn from Ogoni communities across the four LGAs has been engaged, provided with hand-on-training and earning livelihood from the construction of Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration Project. The workers of Ogoni extraction are sourced through HYPREP’s Community Development Officers (CDOs) to ensure adequate distribution.
The compliant of wages were raised by the workers through agitations and protest. The Honorable Minister of Environment graciously approved the payment of additional allowance to community workers of Ogoni Extraction. This payment commenced in November 2023. As at today, HYPREP has successfully paid Ogoni workers for a period of 12months.
Graduate Internship Scheme
Man-power needs is critical to any society and the construction industry is one of the areas in needs of qualified persons. 40 Ogoni graduates were carefully selected from the four LGAs and are having hands-on-experience at the centre. The programme commenced in February 2024 and ongoing.
Establishment and Operationalisation of CEER
As a recommendation of UNEP and contained in the assessment report, the centre will serve for research, development and incubation.
Deliberate attempts are been made to establish and operationalize CEER. The Project Coordinator inaugurated the Technical Planning Committee to provide advisories on the establishment of CEER. The advisories are shown below.
- Advisory Document on Bill for CEER, Core Curricula, and Governing Council Recommendations.
- Advisory Document on Co-financing, Collaborations with Institutions, and Sustainability.
- Staffing and Recruitment Strategy.
- Advisory document on its internationalization policy, strategy, and implementation plans
The 13 member committee led by Prof. Don Baridam has meet 5 times and are expected to conclude and submit report to support the establishment of CEER to the Project Coordination office by the end of December 2024.
Some Members of TPC
To commence operationalization of CEER, the Project Coordinator inagurated the proposal writing committee on August 26, 2024 to be overseen by the CEER unit. The Unit has trained some HYPREP personnel on proposal writing and grantmanship. This training lasted for two (19-20 Sept, 2024) days.
Construction of Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration
The construction of CEER is at advance state. Click on the link below for status of completion.