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ITODE AKARI

An environmental public policy consultant, John Idamkue, has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to wipe the tears of the Ogoni people and bring an end to the recurring bloodshed in the Niger Delta region.

Idamkue, a former delegate of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) to the United Nations and former trusted aide to the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, made the appeal in a statement released to journalists in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Sunday.

He lamented that successive Nigerian administrations had continued to neglect the Ogoni ethnic nationality and failed to address the core environmental and socio-economic issues for which the late activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and his compatriots, famously known as the Ogoni Nine paid the ultimate price.

He urged President Tinubu to demonstrate genuine commitment to justice and environmental renewal in the region by ensuring full implementation of the Ogoni cleanup project, fair compensation to affected communities, and the establishment of sustainable livelihoods for Niger Delta youths.

According to him, addressing these long-standing injustices would not only honor the legacy of Saro-Wiwa and his colleagues but also promote peace, equity, and lasting development in the Niger Delta.

He said, “I call on President Bola Tinubu to wipe the tears of the Ogoni people and end the bloodshed in the Niger Delta. Tinubu’s Ogoni Dialogue Committee flippancy with confidence building measures must begin with mitigation of the harm and injustice done to the victims of military repression in Ogoni.

“Tinubu should right the wrongs done to our people. The traumatic impacts of state violence on our people have festered for thirty years. Mitigation measures must include, but not limited to, psychological evaluation and counselling of the victims, rebuilding the homes and villages that were destroyed by the military, compensating and restoring those who lost their livelihood, and environmental remediation of pollution sites.”

Idamkue lamented that besides the deaths of the popular Ogoni 4 and 9, over 4,000 natives have lost their lives in the struggle for environmental justice and no has been held accountable for the killings.

He recalled, “Besides the Ogoni 4 and Ogoni 9, more than 4,000 other Ogoni victims perished in the course of the struggle particularly during the sponsored raids from Andoni territory, killings of Ogoni traders travelling from Cameroon, killing of Ogoni people at the Port Harcourt waterfronts, and the destruction of several villages in the Ban Ogoni Special Area by the Internal Security Task Force.

“In the wake of the unfortunate killing of the Ogoni 4 and after the hanging of the Ogoni 9, Col. Dauda Komo deployed hundreds of troops and the Internal Security Task Force who rampaged and terrorized our people, raped the women, and engaged in cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of our people. No one has been held accountable for the crimes committed against the Ogoni people.”

According to him, the Ogoni struggle elevated the pro-democracy struggle against the dictatorship of late General Sani Abacha in Nigeria.

He added that the Ogoni struggle was also the rallying point of the pro-democracy movement, especially in the diaspora, as President Tinubu has acknowledged in multiple public pronouncements.

“Policy initiatives like the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), the change of derivation principle of revenue sharing for oil-producing states from 3% to 13%, United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) Report, and the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 are primarily attributable to the sweat and struggle of the Ogoni people and supported by the citizens of the Niger Delta.

“We would not forget the suffering, hardship, environmental pollution, and human rights violations visited upon the Ogoni people by successive Nigerian government and transnational oil companies as documented by the United Nations Fact-finding Mission to Nigeria, Justice Oputa Panel, UNEP Report, Major Paul Taiwo Panel Report, and other reports by Civil Liberties Organization, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and PEN-WEST USA. “

The environmentalist described Saro-Wiwa as a patriot who provided inspiring and aspirational leadership to set the pace for environmental consciousness in the Niger Delta.