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OPINION: A Journey Through Ogoni, The Titusville Of Nigeria

Published

8 months ago

March 18, 2025

By Suyi Ayodele

“I am happy the mangroves are coming back. I feel happy because for a longtime now, we haven’t had fish, no crabs; life has not been easy. But today, I can walk through that (pointing at the river in Gio) to fetch this jionudor (a palm tree-like stump) that serves as our firewood. Before now, the river was covered by oil. Everything in it died. Now, aquatic life is coming back gradually. I am happy and I know many of our people are happy.”

The above are the words of 65-year-old Godwin kirijio a retired civil servant, as he waded through the shallow end of the Ogoni River in Gio, Gokane Local Government of Rivers State. I engaged the retired civil servant by the bank of the river.

At a time when the Rivers of Crisis is threatening to overflow its bank, I was on a tour of the creeks of Ogoniland.

My beat is the South-South and the South-East as Regional Editor of the Nigerian Tribune. I had heard stories of poisoned soil and dead fishes and wanted a feel of the life that killed them. Then, I had an opportunity through an agency of the government called HYPREP (Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project) which is charged with cleaning up the polluted soil and water of Ogoniland. The Dr Peterside Dakuku-led Media Voices for Accountability extended the opportunity to me which I grabbed without hesitation. I wish there was a political equivalent of that agency HYPREP. If there was, we would empower it to detoxify our politics, clean up the beds of Rivers and make the people live again.

The two-day voyage in Ogoniland opened my eyes to the effects of the damages caused in that locality by the activities of the International Oil Companies (IOCs), which have operated in Ogoniland for over six decades. I saw what many may never see.

Remember Titusville, Pennsylvania, United States of America? It is the ‘Oil Creek Valley’, where Edwin L. Drake first struck oil in commercial quantity on August 27, 1859. The story of the once booming creek-turned city presents for every good student of petroleum history, the evil associated with the wealth obtained from the black substance known as crude oil.

The unfortunate story of Titusville has nothing to do with the fact that the first oil explorer, Drake, died as a poor prisoner in 1880. The tragedy of Titusville lies in the environmental degradation caused by the oil exploration activities that have affected the environment and the people.

The most unfortunate account of the misfortune of oil exploration in Titusville is contained in what petroleum experts call ‘Orphaned Oil Wells’, a euphemism for abandoned oil wells that have passed their usefulness. Those once-prosperous oil wells, now abandoned, cause unmitigated environmental damages.

The American Environmental Protection Agency (EPA,) states that over three million ‘Orphaned Oil Wells’, which “have not been properly plugged and decommissioned”, are scattered all over the country with “over nine million Americans living within a mile of the abandoned oil wells!”

The implications, according to the EPA, are that: “When an oil well is abandoned, it may emit toxins and pollution that contaminate groundwater, affecting local communities and the environment. Abandoned and orphaned wells are also considered major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions… Improperly plugged or decommissioned oil and gas wells are essentially open holes in the ground. They may release toxins like methane, arsenic, benzene, and hydrogen sulphide into the environment, even when they are no longer productive. They can cause fires and explosions. Even a small leak from a single well could have a tremendous impact over years or decades, affecting the soil and groundwater and causing air pollution.”

As it was with Titusville in God’s Own Country, America, so it is with the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The elders of my place say that a whirlwind which troubles the ogi (raw akamu) seller must have rendered the yam-flour seller empty of her wares (Ategun to damu ologi ti so elelubo d’ofo). If America with its sophistication in technology could lament about environmental degradation because of oil exploration, one can imagine the fate of the environment and the people of the Niger Delta.

The history of Ogoniland is one that humanity will never forget. The oil-rich locality was largely unknown until the early ’90s when the indigenes began agitating against the adverse effects of oil exploration in the area and demanded action to alleviate their suffering. The flagship of that agitation was the Ogoni Bill of Rights of November 1990, endorsed by leaders of Ogoni from Babbe, Gokana, Ken Khana, Nyo Khan and Tai.

The Bill, an intellectual arm of the struggle against environmental devastation in Ogoniland, also had its militant wing known as the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP). MOSOP was led by the State-murdered environmentalists, writer and poet, Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa, otherwise known as Ken Saro-Wiwa, or simply, Saro-Wiwa.

The agitation for the emancipation of Ogoniland from the shackles of IOCs visiting untold environmental pollution in the area took a tragic-dramatic turn on May 21, 1994, when the foursome of Albert Badey, Edward Kobani, Theophilus Orage and Samuel Orage, who were holding a meeting in Giokoo Community in the Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, were attacked by an irate mob and murdered.

The Federal Military Government of the expired Head of State, General Sani Abacha, wasted no time as it arrested Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others, accusing them of being the masterminds of the killing of the four Ogoni leaders. Saro-Wiwa and his eight Ogoni leaders: Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine, were railroad before Justice Ibrahim Auta’s special tribunal which found them all guilty and sentenced them to death by hanging.

The Abacha-led military junta affirmed the sentence on November 8, 1995, and had all the nine Ogoni leaders executed on November 10, 1995. Their bodies were never released to their families! In all, Ogoniland lost 13 of its illustrious sons to the agitation to have a clean environment for the people. Many of the IOCs left the area and have not returned. Many oil wells in the locality became ‘orphaned’ and the attendant effects of such ‘Orphaned Oil Wells’ combined with the already environmental degradation, made Ogoniland lie in waste!

The death of the initial Ogoni Four and the State murder of the Ogoni Nine opened the eyes of the international communities to the happenings in Ogoniland. Taking a clue from the happenings, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) commissioned a report on the environmental devastation in Ogoniland. The UNEPA report recommended, among others, the immediate remediation of the soil and groundwater in Ogoniland.

The report was presented to President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government, which did nothing. Thus, the Ogoni Clean-Up project became a political sloganeering in the hands of successive governments until, surprisingly, the lethargic administration of General Muhammadu Buhari took over the challenge and initiated the Ogoni Clean-Up Project with the establishment of HYPREP under the Federal Ministry of Environment, vide a memo dated April 28, 2022, with Ref No, PRES/81/SGF/82.

Before the Ogoni Clean-Up Tour, Ogoni had remained, to me, a mystery; a land of fairy tales, typical of the mystical city of Kathmandu in Nepal. So, the tour became experiential, especially as the team was taken through the landscapes to have first-hand information of what happened in the land of Ken Saro-Wiwa, and what HYPREP is doing in fulfilling the mandate given to it to remediate Ogoniland.

The idea of the tour, when it was first mooted by Dr Dakuku, ignited in me a deep sense of enthusiasm. I knew it was an opportunity I must take, first, out of curiosity. But more importantly, to have a first-hand idea of what the famous Ogoniland of the late KenSaro-Wiwa and his eight other heroes of the 1995 agitation against the inhuman environmental degradation caused in the area, and the entire Niger Delta in general, looks like, by the operations of the IOCs extracting crude oil.

My first impression as we took a detour to Ogoniland was that life had returned to the once-devastated land. The pre-tour presentation by the Communication Department of HYPREP headed by Dr Enuolare Mba-Nwighoh on what the body had put on the ground, no doubt fired inspiration to explore the famed Ogoniland. Ditto the idea, as suggested by the Project Coordinator (PC) of HYPREP, Professor Nenibarin Zabbey, that HYPREP had gone beyond the original mandate of remediation to providing basic infrastructures to make life abundant for the Ogoni people.

So, as we hit Ogoniland, I looked out to see if indeed the narratives have changed and if life is back in Ogoniland. I admit here that indeed, Ogoniland is getting back its glory before the devastation. The peasants and their farmlands, the luxuriant vegetation, the new road networks and the presence of government in the locality all combined to show that Ogoniland will be great again.

Just as Professor Zabbey, HYPREP Project Coordinator assured that: “HPREP will implement the UNEP reports and recommendations but not sheepishly” but would “add value to the report. Beyond the core value of remediation as recommended by UNEP, we are adding electricity, healthcare delivery services and potable water facilities”, the agency can be said with empirical evidence that it has lived up to its billing as an interventionist agency.

The HYREP water projects in Korghor/Gio and Barako, the giant ongoing 100-bed specialist hospital in Dotem due for completion in September; the 40-bed cottage hospital at Buan Community slated for commissioning in July and the N40 billion Centre of Excellence, a research institute with its Integrated Soil Management Centre (ISMC), sitting on a 28-hectare of land, are mind-boggling!

With what HYPREP has been able to do, one can confidently say that life is back in Ogoniland! The remediation works ongoing in Ogoniland to address the pain of the people are pointers to the fact that life could become abundant in the area again.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: Gambaryan’s Flower Of Thorns

Day two of the tour of the HYPREP remediation sites opened one’s eyes to the level of devastation visited on the agrarian community by the various oil companies that had operated in Ogoniland in the last 60 years! I saw for the first time what oil spillage looks like. I was shocked and sad to see, for instance, at LOT 15 of the Obajioken remediation site, a land measuring 30,750 square metres, polluted up to 6.2 metres deep! Even with my almost total anosmia state, I could perceive the smell of crude oil in the environment!

But it is heartwarming to note that gradually, life is returning to Ogoniland. Revegetation is taking place and aquatic habitats are being restored. The massive excavation sites geared towards removing the contamination in the soil and groundwater are encouraging. One can boast that the Ogoni Clean-up project has gone beyond political sloganeering and has now become a reality.

More engaging is the fact that HYPREP is also focusing on reforestation of the ancient Ogoni mangroves. Though I couldn’t follow the team on the voyage to the big sites for the mangrove replanting because of my phobia of water, the few sites by the banks of the Ogoni River at Goi in Gokana Local Government Area, are enough testimonials that aquatic elements and avian species would soon return to their natural habitats. The simple implication of this is that the locals would soon have their aquatic delicacies and means of livelihood back!

More delightful is the engagement of the locals in the projects. The sense of belonging, relevance and ownership given to the Ogoni rural dwellers cannot be quantified. This is the physical manifestation of light at the end of the tunnel!

This is why HYPREP cannot afford to drop the ball. Its ambitious projects in Ogoniland indicate that with the right mindset, sustainable willpower, and determination to make a difference, establishments can indeed change the narrative for a people once on the verge of extinction. One can only hope and pray that Nigeria will not happen to those giant strides in Ogoniland.

The Ogoni people, nay, the entire Nigerian people, owe it a duty to sustain the efforts of HYPREP in Ogoniland by building a solid wall of protection around the facilities deployed to redress the injustices of the past six decades. HYPREP must be self-challenged to keep upping the ante. The success of the Ogoni Clean-Up Project is the success of the Niger Delta people.

The PC of HYPREP, Professor Zabbey, re-echoed this when he intoned that “HYPREP sees the Ogoni clean-up project beyond Ogoniland. What we are doing is a sustainable project for the entire Niger Delta region and the whole country at large. We are determined to ensure that what we are doing in Ogoniland will serve as a template for other areas where we have that kind of experience as Ogoni.” Nothing can be more encouraging!

As the tour ended, the biggest message for me is that the late environmentalists, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and his fellow Ogoni patriots who were murdered by the State, and the four Ogoni chiefs who paid the supreme price for a better Ogoniland, in the wake of the Ogoni crisis, did not die in vain. Without any intention to engage in necromancy, I say this: Ken Saro-Wiwa, hear this: You and your ideas live on in HYPREP.

News

Account For N3tn Or Face Legal Action, SERAP Tells CBN

Published

5 hours ago

November 16, 2025

Editor

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has given the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, a seven-day ultimatum to account for what it described as “missing or diverted N3 trillion of public funds” cited in the 2022 annual report of the Auditor-General of the Federation.

SERAP said the allegations, published on September 9, 2025, point to major breaches of financial regulations and constitutional provisions.

It urged Cardoso to identify individuals responsible for the alleged diversions and hand them over to the ICPC and EFCC, as well as recover all funds involved.

In a letter dated November 15 and signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said the Auditor-General’s findings “suggest grave violations of the public trust, the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the CBN Act, and anticorruption standards.”

The group also warned that the alleged violations undermine public confidence in the apex bank.

“These violations have seriously undermined the ability of the CBN to effectively discharge its statutory functions and the public trust and confidence in the bank,” it said.

According to SERAP’s summary of the report, the Auditor-General queried the non-remittance of over N1.4tn operating surplus, failure to recover N629bn paid to “unknown beneficiaries” under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, and the non-recovery of N784bn in overdue intervention loans.

One of the key portions of the Auditor-General’s report quoted by SERAP states that the CBN “failed to remit over N1 trillion [N1,445,593,400,000.00] of ‘the Federal Government’s portion of operating surplus’ into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) account.”

He also raised concerns over the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, noting that “the numbers of beneficiaries who collected the money are unknown.”

The report further questioned intervention spending, with the Auditor-General saying the bank spent “over N125 billion [N125,374,000,000.00] ‘on questionable intervention activities’” without supporting documents.

SERAP added that the CBN spent over N1.7bn on operational vehicles for the Nigeria Immigration Service, noting the Auditor-General’s remark that the spending was “unjustified because there is no connection with buying operational vehicles for the NIS and the objectives of the CBN.”

The organisation reminded the CBN of its constitutional obligations and insisted that Nigerians “have the right to know the whereabouts of the public funds.”

SERAP said it would take legal action if the bank fails to respond within seven days.

News

Ekweremadu: S’East Leaders Divided Over Planned Transfer To Nigerian Prison

Published

6 hours ago

November 16, 2025

Editor

Leaders of top south-eastern groups have expressed divided opinions over the move of the Federal Government to transfer a former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, from a United Kingdom correctional facility to a Nigerian custodial centre.

While some queried the plan which they said was meant to boost President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election chances, others said motives did not matter.

The embattled senator was convicted in the UK for organ trafficking.

Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, were arrested by the London Metropolitan Police in June 2022 after a man was presented as a cousin to their daughter, Sonia, in an attempt to facilitate a kidney transplant for her.

The incident led to their conviction under the UK Modern Slavery Act in 2023.

While Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison, his wife received four years and six months jail term.

Beatrice was released earlier this year and has since returned to Nigeria.

However, President Bola Tinubu sent a high-level delegation to London to discuss the case of the former Deputy Senate President.

According to The PUNCH, the Federal Government was seeking arrangements that would allow Ekweremadu to serve the remainder of his sentence in Nigeria.

The delegation, led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, met with officials of the UK Ministry of Justice to discuss Ekweremadu’s incarceration and the possibility of allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence in Nigeria.

Following the meeting, the delegation visited the Nigerian High Commission in London, where the Acting High Commissioner, Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu, received them.

Speaking on the matter with The PUNCH, the President of the Igbo National Council, Chilos Godsent, questioned the motive and timing of the government’s request, warning against what he described as “political manipulation” or “vendetta” disguised as compassion.

He accused former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration of failing to protect Ekweremadu during his legal ordeal in the UK.

Godsent argued that the negligence allowed British authorities to try a sitting senator of the Federal Republic.

He said, “There is one thing that is really not clear: are they bringing him back to Nigeria to set him free or bringing him back to put him on trial, or to let him continue his jail term? These things are not really clear.

“That is why people are sceptical that he can be brought back and then, as part of political vendetta, he might be retried, which is not proper. It is better to allow him to serve his term in the UK, where he was found guilty. Why this time, why this election period? It is because they want to use him to play politics.

“Earlier, if the government had put in efforts for him as a citizen of this country to compel the British government, there wouldn’t have been any need for the UK government to try him as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria when this issue took place. That was negligence on the part of the Nigerian government.”

While commending Tinubu for what they described as a “laudable” plan if the intention was to reintegrate Ekweremadu with his family and community, he cautioned that any attempt to use his return for political ends would be condemned.

He raised doubts about the independence of the Nigerian judiciary, expressing fears that Ekweremadu could become a victim of political retribution if transferred at this time.

Similarly, the President of the Ala-Igbo Development Foundation, Prof. Awuzie Unachukwu, questioned the government’s motive.

He said, “If it is appreciated that Senator Ekweremadu should come back having paid his dues for his offence, why does this same government shy away from releasing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who was only asking for self-determination for the Igbos?

“Nnamdi Kanu deserves immediate release if the action of the government in asking for the return of Senator Ike Ekweremadu is not political or a means of mobilising some influential Igbos like Senator Ekweremadu for the President’s 2027 second-term ambition.”

He commended President Tinubu for initiating steps toward the repatriation of the embattled senator. Unachukwu said: “However, he shouldn’t bring him back to Nigeria to serve a jail term in this dungeon of a prison. He suffered for his crime enough. If he is coming back to Nigeria, it shouldn’t be for a jail term,” Unachukwu added.

But the Deputy President General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said the move was not politically motivated.

Isiguzoro stated, “Ohanaeze is supporting the President and we are at the forefront to ensure that the President repatriates and rehabilitates him. He is a political leader. The President doesn’t hate the Igbo people. Ekweremadu was instrumental to the release of Nnamdi Kanu in 2017.”

“The senator has paid his dues in the region and to Igbo nation. That move is being applauded by us. Ohanaeze will not tolerate anybody who stands to block this move. If the President thinks bringing Ekweremadu will help him stabilise his re-election in 2027, the South-East has no choice than to support. We must be devoid of politics in issues that regard to ethnic nationalities in Nigeria.”

Expressing a similar opinion, the Abia State Peoples Democratic Party Chairman, Abraham Amah, said there was nothing wrong with any administration taking steps it considered appropriate in the interest of justice, humanitarian consideration, or national responsibility.

He stated that Buhari’s inaction did not invalidate Tinubu’s decision to do so now.

Amah added that governance was a continuum, and each administration exercised its judgment based on the realities before it.

“The insinuation that the move is driven by politics does not, by itself, make the action improper or undesirable. In matters like this, motives will always be debated, but what ultimately matters is whether the action aligns with national interest, compassion, and due process.

“What is important here is that a Nigerian citizen who has served the country at the highest legislative levels is in a difficult situation, and if the current government believes it can intervene within the confines of the law and diplomatic norms, there is no justification to condemn such an effort,” he said.

Also, the President-General of the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, Goodluck Ibem, expressed support for the government to facilitate the return of the embattled senator, saying his return was crucial for the rule of law in the country.

He said, “This move is not just about a singular individual; it is about fostering a sense of justice and integrity that resonates deeply within our community. The people of the South East are committed to a future where justice prevails, and we stand firmly behind the Federal Government in its efforts to uphold these values.

“We urge all stakeholders and members of the public to focus on the broader implications of this process. Our collective goal should be the restoration of justice and creating a political environment founded on transparency and accountability.”

FG to revive Nigeria–UK prisoner transfer programme

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has begun fresh efforts to revive the long-stalled Nigeria–United Kingdom prisoner transfer programme, as part of diplomatic consultations to repatriate Ekweremadu.

Ekweremadu’s case reopened talks about the 2014 Nigeria–UK Prisoner Transfer Agreement, which has remained unimplemented more than a decade after it was signed.

The agreement, signed under former President Goodluck Jonathan and then UK Prime Minister David Cameron, was intended to allow convicted nationals to serve their sentences in their home countries.

To support its implementation, the UK funded the construction of a £700,000, 112-bed wing at the Kirikiri Custodial Centre in Lagos, compliant with United Nations standards.

Despite these arrangements, no prisoner has been transferred under the scheme.

The spokesperson for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alkasim AbdulKadir, on Monday told Arise News that discussions with UK authorities to extradite Ekweremadu were still ongoing.

He revealed that a formal request had been submitted for Ekweremadu’s transfer under the existing prisoner exchange framework.

News

Tinubu Set To Name Envoys – Presidency Sources

Published

6 hours ago

November 16, 2025

Editor

President Bola Tinubu is set to appoint ambassadors to the country’s foreign missions in major countries in the coming weeks, top presidency sources have said.

The move comes amid growing public concern that the prolonged absence of substantive envoys has weakened the country’s diplomatic presence abroad, particularly in key strategic countries like the United States amid the alleged Christian genocide row.

Tinubu had in September 2023 recalled all envoys from Nigeria’s missions in 76 embassies, 22 high commissions, and 11 consulates across the world to reassess the country’s foreign policy.

However, the process of appointing new ambassadors has suffered multiple delays more than two years into the current administration.

In the absence of substantive envoys, the missions have since been overseen by chargés d’affaires or senior consular officers.

In April 2025, sources close to the President told The PUNCH that the Federal Government had concluded the vetting of persons nominated to fill the ambassadorial roles, including security and background checks by the relevant agencies.

Tinubu had previously blamed the delay on the complex political considerations involved in making such appointments.

“I couldn’t appoint everybody at once and thank you for your patience. I still have some slots for ambassadorial positions that so many people are craving for. But it’s not easy stitching those names,” he said in September while receiving members of The Buhari Organisation at the Presidential Villa.

Last week, multiple presidency officials said the President had ordered a “final cleanup” of the list ahead of its release.

One of the officials explained that since the President sent the list to the Senate, some people on the list had died, while some were no longer eligible for appointment due to retirement.

The official said the need for cleanup prompted the Upper Chamber to return the envoy list to the presidency.

Speaking in separate interviews with The PUNCH, top aides privy to the process confirmed that the cleanup was in its final stage and that only envoys for major countries would be appointed.

“The final process is almost completed. The President is committed to making the appointments, and the announcement will come in the next few weeks. I wouldn’t want to specify two. However, only ambassadors to major countries will be appointed,” a source said.

Another senior presidency source said the list would be released before the end of November.
But he declined to give the specific date of the release.

“The President has said they should clean up the list. I’m sure before the end of the month, it should be ready. There’s no point speculating. When it is ready, it will be officially announced,” the official said.

Allocations without envoys

It was gathered that part of the delay in the appointments was linked to the paucity of funds, estimated at $1bn, needed to pay foreign service officials’ arrears, clear backlog of overheads, replace ageing vehicles and renovate embassy buildings.

Earlier in the year, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, also confirmed the funding constraints, warning that posting envoys without adequate operational resources would be counterproductive.

To address the funding gap, the Federal Government earmarked N2.1bn in the 2025 budget for the posting and return entitlements of ambassadors and officers.

According to The PUNCH, another N53bn was proposed for the renovation of 103 foreign missions, covering chanceries, staff quarters, ambassadors’ residences, office furniture and official vehicles.

The proposed allocations included N554m for Abidjan, N812m for Banjul, N555m for Brazzaville, N558m for Port of Spain, N576m for Caracas, N624m for Kingston, N567m for Libreville, N409m for Buenos Aires and N899m for Niamey, among others.

A letter, dated July 3, 2025, from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, also revealed that the Tinubu administration released a total of $54m to support the operations of the country’s 103 embassies and high commissions.

According to the document, $46.14m was allocated for overhead costs, $9.58m for personnel costs, and $282,829 for other expenses.

However, with the year running out and no substantive ambassadors appointed, there are growing public concerns over what will become of the budgeted allocations for the missions still operating without confirmed envoys.

In October, the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs summoned Tuggar, and Heads of Missions to appear before it over the utilisation of funds appropriated to Nigeria’s foreign missions in 2025.

The committee, in a letter dated July 24, 2025, and signed by its Chairman, Oluwole Oke, invoked Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to demand detailed records on how the funds were spent by the various missions.

The Oke-led committee had earlier in the year begun probing a contract scandal involving the alleged mismanagement of $2m earmarked for the renovation of Nigeria’s Permanent Representative’s residence at the United Nations headquarters in New York.