Ogoni Leaders to Tinubu: Reverse HYPREP Board Change, Bring Back Nwielaghi

By: Oluwaseun Lawal

The news hit Ogoniland with mixed feelings. Relief. Confusion. And a bit of anger.

On Monday, President Bola Tinubu announced a new Board of Trustees for the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project—HYPREP. Emmanuel Deeyah was named chairman. But not everyone’s clapping.

By Wednesday, a coalition of Ogoni groups had fired back. Chiefs. Elders. Youths. Even mothers. They penned an open letter to the President, saying something’s not right.

“Deeyah has never served as BoT Chairman,” they wrote. “So calling it a reappointment is misleading.”

They claim Tinubu’s actual pick was Dr. Mike Nwielaghi—the man who led the previous board. A man they say performed remarkably. “The Ogoni people were satisfied,” one line read. “We even sent you a vote of confidence.”

But somewhere along the line, they allege, the script changed. Politicians, they say, hijacked the process. Nwielaghi’s name out. Deeyah’s name in.

To the Ogoni leaders, that swap is more than politics—it’s a setback. They believe keeping Nwielaghi would sustain the cleanup momentum, win trust, and help Tinubu in 2027.

“If the will of the Ogoni people matters,” they told the President, “reverse this. Bring Nwielaghi back. Call Deeyah’s appointment what it is—an appointment, not a reappointment.”

For them, it’s simple. The oil-polluted land is already a wound. The politics around its cleanup doesn’t need to make it worse.