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•Ogoniland varsity’ll heal historic wound, says TDF
Moves by President Bola Tinubu to ensure resumption of oil exploration in Ogoni, Rivers State, is under threat following massive protests that disrupted a planned congress in Bori, traditional headquarters of the Ogoni in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The disrupted congress was organised by a group reportedly set up by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Nuhu Ribadu, to facilitate the process and sensitise the people on the planned resumption of exploration.
Reports said the event was shut down by protesters carrying placards with various inscriptions, including, “Ledum Mitee and Ribadu, Leave Ogoni Alone,” “On Ogoni Development Authority We Stand,” and “Exonerate Ken Saro-Wiwa,” among others.
A delegation of Ogoni people led by Governor Siminalayi Fubara recently visited President Tinubu to negotiate a possible resumption of oil production in Ogoni land. The President then mandated the NSA to ensure that all Ogoni stakeholders were included in the dialogue process.
Prior to the protest on Saturday, the decision was greeted with mixed feelings as various interest groups expressed displeasure in the way the oil resumption plan was being carried out.
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) had earlier expressed displeasure over its exclusion from the process. In a statement by its president, Fegalo Nsuke, it accused Ribadu of bias and turning his back against MOSOP after an earlier commitment to ensure that the group’s position was considered in the dialogue process.
Nsuke said the struggle of the Ogoni people had been championed by MOSOP, noting that the Ogoni people were very conscious of the sensitive situation and would rely on the position of MOSOP on the way to go. He expressed worries that MOSOP, being left out, could create distrust in the hearts of the Ogoni people.
MOSOP also expressed worries that the process was being rushed in a way that could generate tension, anxiety and crisis in Ogoni.
A coalition of civil society groups known as the Ken Saro-Wiwa Exoneration Campaign (KSWEC) on Friday, called for honesty and transparency in the process.
The group said the approach being adopted was not acceptable to the Ogoni people and called for exoneration of nine Ogoni activists killed alongside Ken Saro-Wiwa by the Nigerian government on November 10, 1995. The coalition also called for a panel of investigation to unravel the immediate and remote causes of the death of four Ogoni leaders killed earlier on May 21, 1994.
Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others were executed on the orders of General Sani Abacha after a widely condemned trial in Port Harcourt. The convicts were denied the right to appeal their sentences.
Also, Ogoni in the United States and Canada had earlier condemned the planned resumption of oil production in Ogoni and called for the exoneration of the innocent men, including Ken Saro-Wiwa.
The protest on Saturday, according to observers, represented a major setback for President Tinubu’s determination to resolve the Ogoni issues and resume the production of oil in Ogoni. The president had only last week approved a University of Environmental Technology in Ogoni.
Meanwhile, The Democratic Front (TDF) has said the approval of a university in Ogoniland was a statement of intent by the Federal Government to the people to heal the long-standing grievances against the government.
The group, in a statement by the chairman, Malam Danjuma Muhammad, said the university would serve as a reminder of efforts to solve environmental issues in the area.
“We recall that the Ogoni people, for years, had to go through the agony of environmental pollution and degradation caused by oil spillage and other activities of oil prospecting companies in the region.
“Years of neglect have also enabled a degeneration of the Ogoni environmental issues into an ethno-political crisis that is still lingering since the late Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders of MOSOP were executed in 1995.
“It is against this backdrop that we commend President Bola Tinubu for the wisdom in institutionalising a permanent solution through meeting key Ogoni stakeholders.”
The group said the university would serve as a symbolic monument to the tragic environmental history of the Ogoni people and a precursor for deterrence against the mis-governance that triggered it.
“We commend the President for his depth of knowledge of history, and his thoughtful decision.
“We also urge the people of Ogoni and, indeed, all oil-producing communities in the country, to see this gesture as an opportunity to pursue academic excellence, with particular emphasis on the protection of their economic environment.”
TDF added that the decision underscored the commitment of the Tinubu administration to pursue environmentally friendly policies.
English (US) ·