The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has declared that Ogoniland is not for sale and its resources cannot be expropriated by private interests that are masquerading as public interest.
The umbrella organisation of Ogoni people stated this on Saturday in a 15-point communique, after its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The communique, signed by MOSOP’s President, Legborsi Pyagbara, and the Secretary-General, Anthony Porole, disclosed that the meeting was called to deliberate on Monday’s broadcast of Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike, where he claimed that Rivers government had acquired Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited’s (SPDC’s) 45 per cent stake in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 11.
In OML-11, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has 55 per cent stake, SPDC with 30 per cent, Total has 10 per cent, while the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) has 5 per cent.
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In the communique, MOSOP condemned the continuing humiliation of the Ogoni people by state actors, particularly with the brazen, insensitive, outrageous, dismissive and insulting manner in which government officials at all levels had been treating the matter of OML-11, which comprises the Ogoni oilfields.
It noted that the stoppage of oil production in Ogoniland was the result of the Ogoni campaigns for environmental protection, resource control, political justice and economic emancipation, with Ogoni people declaring Shell persona non-grata on January 4, 1993.
MOSOP said: “International human rights law has affirmed the rights of ownership of indigenous people over their lands, territories and natural resources. The secrecy and inconsistencies surrounding the latest purported acquisition indicate absolute ignorance.
“Ogoni people have always insisted that they are stakeholders in the ownership, exploitation and utilisation of the natural resources found in the bowels of their land. That is the core of the Ogoni struggle. In pursuance of this position, a committee was set up to establish a template that would be the basis of petroleum operation in Ogoniland. The Ogoni people are about to discuss the report of the committee.
“Ogoni rights of ownership have not been respected. All purported midnight acquisitions, divestments or licensure of the Ogoni oilfields, without broad consultation and agreement with the Ogoni people are null, void and cannot stand.
“The people of Ogoni are not opposed to the resumption of oil production in Ogoniland, but Ogoni must be treated as an area of subsisting struggle against injustice meted against them by the duo of the Federal Government of Nigeria and SPDC, and requires a reconciliation process to look into the issues that had been raised over the years and proffer a process of national healing, reconciliation and addressing of legacy issues arising from the decades of environmental degradation, political marginalisation and repression.”
The umbrella organisation of Ogoni people also stated that any future discussion about resumption of oil production in Ogoniland must address the issue of benefit sharing among the community, the government and the prospective oil company, the issue of community participation in the entire value chain of the industry and the emplacement of a clear environmental management plan for the fragile Ogoni ecosystem.
MOSOP called on Ogoni people to remain peaceful, united, vigilant and be their brother’s keeper, while hinting that there would be challenging days ahead, with their detractors to employ all conceivable tricks to cause division among them.
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