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Tag: MOSOP

  • MOSOP faction backs Biafra agitation

    MOSOP faction backs Biafra agitation

    The Goodluck Freeman-led faction of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) has voiced it support for the struggle for the actualisation of Biafra.

    This is even as factional leader of MASSOB, Comrade Solomon Chukwu, warned the Federal Government to stop arresting, detaining and seizing Biafra passports.

    Chukwu, who spoke through MASSOB’s National Director of Information, Sunny Okereafor, at the end of a meeting of the two groups in Gokana, Rivers State, assured the people of Niger Delta that they would have control of their resources as soon as Biafra was realised.

    According to Okereafor, Freeman, who led the Ogoni delegation to the meeting promised that MOSOP would partner MASSOB in the Biafran struggle.

    He said Freeman lamented the suffering of his people under Nigeria, stressing that they were looking for a platform to liberate his people, which he said MASSOB provides.

    The MASSOB leader who described Ogoni land as the engine house of Nigeria, regretted that its people had been neglected by Nigeria but promised that something substantial would be done for the area under a Biafran government.

    MASSOB also warned the Federal Government to desist from impounding Biafra identity cards because according to it, the passports are valid and accepted in countries across the globe. It insisted that many Biafra citizens had travelled overseas with the passport without hitches.

    Okereafor said: “I assure you the Biafran passport is valid. Except Nigeria, other countries accept the passport and allow our citizens to travel with it. In Europe, North and South America, Biafra passport is accepted. Go to neighbouring Ghana, they will stamp it for you.

    “Don’t be confused by the propaganda of the Nigerian government that there is nothing like Biafra passport. MASSOB appeals to Biafra citizens to procure their passport and  travel with it. If you doubt me, get a Nigerian passport while I have my Biafran passport; when we get to Europe, you will see who they will welcome.

    “Many people with the Nigerian passport have been repatriated, but have you heard of anybody with Biafran passport receiving such ill-treatment?”

    He said the passport costs N5,000 and could be renewed with N2,000, even as he denied reports that people who bought the passport are being turned back at various airports.

  • Pyagbara re-elected MOSOP president

    Pyagbara re-elected MOSOP president

    The former President of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Legborsi Pyagbara, has been re-elected.

    The 2015 MOSOP Electoral Committee chairman, Prince Birah, announced this at the weekend when he addressed reporters in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

    Birah, who spoke through the committee’s Secretary, Bari-Ara Kpalap, said Pyagbara won all the 51 votes cast in the election at MOSOP Centre in Bori, Khana Local Government Area, on December 30, last year, beating Mike-Lube Nwidobie, who staged a walk-out before voting started.

    He regretted that Nwidobie, who he said left the election venue without casting his vote and did not know the outcome of the poll, organised a media briefing in Port Harcourt where he allegedly declared himself winner of the election.

    Describing Nwidobie’s action as a mere distraction to MOSOP’s leadership, Birah urged him to use legal means to express his grievances, if he could not consult the Organisation’s internal mechanism instead of creating, causing unnecessary confusion and tension in the area.

    Birah admitted that Nwidobie sent a petition to the electoral committee after presenting his manifesto on the day of the election, alleging shadiness in the electoral process.

    According to him, the MOSOP chieftain also complained about lack of confidence in the electoral body as well as the adoption of unconstitutional electoral procedure.

    He was said to have demanded the resignation of the election body.

    Birah said: “After the accreditation, which was done in the presence of all the candidates, including those vying for other positions, opportunity was given to the two presidential candidates to present their manifestos, after which the ballot boxes were brought and inspected, by turning it upside-down to confirm that it was empty.

    “It was at that point he began his protests, alleged bias on the electoral body and the composition of the accredited voters. After this, he walked out of the election hall and headed to Port Harcourt to declare himself winner. He said several other things, including misquoting the MOSOP constitution on election, to mislead unsuspecting public and the Ogoni.”

  • MOSOP urges release of abducted columnist

    The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has called for the immediate and unconditional release of the kidnapped Vanguard columnist, Donu Kogbara.

    MOSOP, in a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, by its President, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, condemned the abduction of Kogbara, an Ogoni woman.

    The kidnappers, who reportedly wore police uniform, seized the renowned columnist on Sunday morning, when they stormed her Nkpogu-Port Harcourt home in a CRV car amid gunshots.

    The gunmen disappeared with Kogbara, whose whereabouts remain unknown.

    The abductors have also not demanded a ransom, as at press time last night.

    Police spokesman, Muhammad Kidaya Ahmad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the abduction.

    He said the police were on the trail of the abductors, assuring that the victim would soon be rescued unhurt.

    MOSOP said: “Although we do not know what might have led to the unfortunate and reprehensible act, the action is, no doubt, bestial. MOSOP finds it difficult to rationalise her abduction, as she is an acknowledged responsible, humble, peaceful and harmless journalist, who has been using her journalistic endowment to advance and promote the cause of humanity. Ms. Kogbara does not deserve this sort of treatment.

    “MOSOP is deeply concerned that she is yet another Ogoni victim of the disturbing and deepening security challenges in the state.”

    We are convinced that had adequate security arrangements been in place, she would not have suffered her present fate. The questionable circumstance in which she was reportedly abducted strengthens our doubts on the quality of our security services.

    “It is our concern that for some time now, we appear to be losing the battle against men of the underworld, who have gone berserk and have been terrorising and inflicting pains on the people, but regrettably met with counterfeiting response.

    “We urge the government and its security apparatus to redouble their efforts, directed at drastic reduction in the activities of these criminals, since they have a special responsibility to protect life and property of the citizens and residents of the state. For now, appropriate security approach that places premium on intelligence gathering, surveillance and rapid response is lacking and should be vigorously pursued.”

     

  • Ogoni clean-up: MOSOP warn politicians against sabotage

    Ogoni clean-up: MOSOP warn politicians against sabotage

    The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has warned politicians against sabotaging the clean-up of Ogoniland, as recommended by a team of environmentalists from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

    MOSOP, Friday in Port Harcourt, through its President, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, stated that it had uncovered an evil plot by internal and external politicians, as well as their cronies, to politicise the planned Ogoni environmental remediation and restoration process, to advance some parochial political and economic agenda, capable of thwarting the success of the exercise.

    The umbrella organisation of Ogoni people asked the saboteurs to steer clear of the implementation arrangements, declaring that any further attempt at undermining the process would be viewed as an affront against the collective interest of the Ogoni people and would be decisively resisted.

    MOSOP said: “We insist that the environmental degradation of Ogoniland, which has compromised our general well-being, is not a political issue. Dragging the fast-tracking actions into the murky waters of politics demonstrates inexcusable callousness that should be condemned by all, especially lovers of safe and clean environment.

    “We are warning external collaborators who have, and are providing resources including their platforms for the secret, devious agenda to realise that they are known and sooner than later, they will be exposed.

    “We have come a long way, and we urge all Ogoni to come together, irrespective of interest, as we cannot afford to falter at this time of seeming genuine interest of government to redress the environmental wrongs against the Ogoni people. We urge all Ogoni people to heed our advice, as we will resist all attempts to frustrate efforts at ensuring environmental justice for our people.”

    The umbrella organisation of Ogoni people also stated that the condition in local Ogoni communities, where the people had been reaping deaths and facing crushing livelihoods should bother everybody.

    MOSOP insisted that end must come to environmental injustice in Ogoniland, thereby ensuring environmental security.

    UNEP’s environmental assessment of Ogoniland was initiated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006, in order to put an end to the many years of pollution, neglect, environmental degradation and marginalisation in Ogoni, especially since 1958, when crude oil was first discovered in commercial quantity in Ogoniland and to adequately empower the people.

    The Ogoni environmental assessment was adequately supported by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, while UNEP report, containing far-reaching recommendations was released on August 4, 2011 and presented in Abuja to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on August 12, 2011.

    Rather than implementing the UNEP report, the Jonathan’s administration, on the eve of the first anniversary of the release of the UNEP report, in July 2012, set up the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP), which MOSOP kicked against, in spite of making an Ogoni daughter, Mrs. Joy Nunieh-Okunnu, its National Coordinator.

    During the presidential campaigns, the then General Muhammadu Buhari visited Ogoniland and he promised the stakeholders that upon his election as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he would ensure the full implementation of the recommendations contained in the UNEP report, thereby ending environmental terrorism in Ogoniland, with a stop to be put to pollution, marginalisation, environmental degradation and lack of empowerment in the four Ogoni LGAs of Khana, Gokana, Eleme and Tai.

    President Buhari, on August 5 this year, exactly sixty eight days in office, approved the actions to fast-track the implementation of the UNEP report, with the decision described by the stakeholders across the globe, as a welcome development.

    The UNEP report stated that the water in Nsisioken-Ogale-Eleme, Eleme (Ogoni) LGA of Rivers state, contained cancer-causing Benzene (carcinogen), which was 900 times the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) standards for water contamination, thereby requiring urgent attention.

    The report also revealed that the sustainable environmental restoration of Ogoniland would take up to 20 years to achieve and would require coordinated efforts from government agencies at all levels, thereby recommending that the Federal Government should establish an Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority.

    The UNEP report indicated that the full environmental restoration of Ogoniland would be a project, which would take 30 years to complete, after the pollution had been brought to an end, while recommending the establishment of an Environmental Restoration Fund for Ogoniland, with initial fund of $1 billion for capacity building, skill transfer and conflict resolution and that the management of the fund should be the responsibility of the Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority.

  • Clean-up of Ogoniland: PDP, South-South APC, MOSOP hail Buhari’s approval of implementation of UNEP report

    Clean-up of Ogoniland: PDP, South-South APC, MOSOP hail Buhari’s approval of implementation of UNEP report

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Rivers State chapter, and the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), have described as a welcome development, President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval of the full implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on Ogoniland’s environmental assessment.

    The Rivers PDP, through its Chairman, Chief Felix Obuah, yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, noted that President Buhari’s action on UNEP and Ogoniland was in tandem with Governor Nyesom Wike’s restoration programme in the state.

    MOSOP, through its President, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, congratulated the President Buhari-led Federal Government of Nigeria for also approving the setting up of the governing structures to facilitate the implementation of the recommendations of the UNEP report on Ogoniland.

    The umbrella organisation of Ogoni people said: “Coming at a time of growing skepticism, driven by experiences of untoward politicisation of implementation of the report by the immediate past administration (of President Goodluck Jonathan), the approval demonstrates a comforting shift from rhetoric to matching words with action, which expresses commitment. The action will rebuild and strengthen the confidence of our (Ogoni) people in the government.

    “In reciprocation of the Federal Government’s response to our outcries, MOSOP pledges to cooperate with the administration (of President Buhari) and other stakeholders to ensure a successful implementation of the recommendations of the report.

    “While we applaud the approach on UNEP report, we will plead with the Federal Government not to delay the constitution of the approved governance structures, to enable urgent commencement of the Ogoni environmental remediation and restoration exercise. We will implore Mr. President to, as a matter of urgency, call for nominations from the defined stakeholders to enhance composition of the Governing Council and the Board of Trustees of the intervention agency.”

    The PDP, while urging President Buhari to match words with actions on the UNEP report, stated that the decision would fast-track the clean-up of Ogoniland.

    The party lauded the President for not discontinuing a process started by previous administrations, which led to the commissioning of UNEP activities in Ogoni and the setting up of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP), particularly by the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, all of which were being gazetted.

    The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South-South also commended President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the recommendations of the report.

    The National Vice Chairman of the party in the zone, Prince Hilliard Eta, said in a statement signed by his media aide, Bassey Ita, that the President’s action was an indication that the President Buhari was fully ready to ensure the welfare of all Nigerians as contained in his campaign promises.

    The APC chieftain, who expressed confidence that the government will turn around the economy of the region, also urged the electorate in Bayelsa State to embrace change in the coming governorship election.

    Eta assured that the undue harassment of APC members in the state will soon become history, as the party was reaching out to relevant authorities to put a stop to the menace of the PDP-led authorities.

     

  • Justice, politics take front seat at Ogoni Day

    Justice, politics take front seat at Ogoni Day

    This year’s Ogoni Day has come and gone. But, its memories will linger on for a long time in the minds of many. Environmental justice, politics and the need to actualise the Ogoni dream took the front seat at the event, which was attended by community leaders and politicians. Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi was represented by his preferred successor, Dr. Dakuku Peterside.

    The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), which organised the event,  called for the implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report on the oil pollution of Ogoniland.

    The speech of Mr. Pius Barikpoa Nwinee on behalf of the National Union of Ogoni Students’ USA , undelined the people’s quest for justice.

    Nwinee said: “On behalf of the National Union of Ogoni Students’ USA, I humbly present to you a message of goodwill, hope, and assurances this January 4, 2015 as we celebrate “Ogoni Day” the United Nations’ World Indigenous Day. The students’ organisation is honored to be a beckon of hope for our people and our assurances is that we will emerge from political, environmental, and economic enslavement “Together.”

    “We are here today to rekindle the position of the Ogoni people highlighted in a letter to Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company, world leaders, and institutions all over the world on 10/25/2014 pertaining to divestment of Shell Oil Blocks in Ogoniland.

    We wish to strengthen our position by asking Royal Shell Oil Company to bequeath its 45 per cent interest in NNPC as equitable relieve for its liquidated debt and unliquidated damages. As a common practice the world over, Ogoni is entitled to rent, royalties, and proceeds for landownership; this has been denied us for over fifty years and therefore bequeathing the said 45 per cent to Ogoni will serve as compensation for the Ogoni people.

    “May we also reiterate on this occasion that, ‘Ogoni Oil mining license (OML 11) is not for sale.’ NUOS International USA recently discovered a sinister move by a pseudo Oil Company, (Belema Oil), an oil firm with link to Mr.Mutiu Sunmonu, the Chairman, Shell Companies in Nigeria and Managing Director of the Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited (SPDC), and Mr. Precious Okolobo, the Spokesman of Shell Oil Company Nigeria Plc., collating signatures in Ogoni areas to influence the sale of oil in Ogoni land. Some Ogoni community leaders were recently flown to Lagos where they held secret meetings on Ogoni Oil sale. They were bribed with N3 million and giving documents with which to collect signatures from the Ogoni people as consent to the sale of Ogoni Oil. We are restraining from naming names but we know all parties and agents involved from Tai, Ken-Khana, Nyo-Khana, Gokana and Eleme. We are humbly advising the leadership of MOSOP to distance itself from Belema/Shell Oil deal because we will fight it to the last man.”

    He added: “On the political situation in Ogoniland, the Ogoni students in Diaspora advise Ogoni people to re-strategise and re-position themselves to access the dividends of democracy. Ogoni people should negotiate their future with our votes. As democratically oriented people, we should start to engage our political arrowheads what their candidature would mean to Ogoni. Ogoni politicians should be accountable and answerable to the massive developmental and infrastructural stagnation in Ogoni. Importantly, Ogonis should no longer be subservient to the political class and therefore should monitor and expose public corruption, unethical practices (including ghosts and duplication of names on payroll in Ogoni Local Government Councils), and sharing of public funds in Ogoni. Silence means complacency.

    “The demand for the creation of state is still on the front burner in Nigeria. We hereby encourage you not to give up on the creation of Bori State as Bori State is the only remedy to the institutional enslavement of our people.

    “The issue of politically master-minded cultism in Ogoni is limping into national and international arena. Ethnically, we are losing greater number of youths in Ogoni area to politically master-minded cultism than any other ethnic group in Rivers State. The Ogoni youths must ask themselves, whether it is worthy to carry AK-47 for the sake of politicians, Belema/SHELL oil that means no good to Ogoni. Ogoni youths should ask for books and employments rather than guns. We urge Ogoni people to give priority to tackling security menaces in 2015 to bring normalcy into Ogoni Kingdoms. Ogoni people must live in peace because it is a universal right as declared by the United Nations.”

    The need to implement the UNEP Report did not escape Nwinee, who said: “On the issue of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), we hereby call on the Federal government and SHELL OIL to empower UNEP herself to come and handle the cleanup in Ogoniland as we shall not accept any Chinese firm that has no technical know-how and capability to clean up Ogoniland.”

    He also had nice words about the man regarded as the fathers of modern Ogoni: “In conclusion, the generation of Paul Timothy Naaku Birabi left a legacy for Ogoni as pioneer nationalists and pathfinders, those of Ken Saro-Wiwa brought Ogoni out of the dirt and shadows enabling us to celebrate a day for the Indigenous peoples as it is today. The question that begs an answer is what will be our legacy? I leave this with us as a food for thought. NUOS INTL.USA call on Ogoni people to unite as we shall not fold our hands nor blind our eyes and watch SHELL OIL Company auction the remains of our heroes in the name of divestment of OML11. We also call on Belema oil to stay clear from OML 11 as it is not for sale.”

    Another memory that will not be easily forgotten was the emotion displayed by Ogoni people when Dr Peterside, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, arrived in Bori for the celebration.

    Peterside said watching the Ogoni fight for justice, equality and right while growing up as a lad on the streets of Bori, the Ogoni heartland and political headquarters, helped to mould his life. While addressing a mammoth crowd of Ogoni natives and guests during the 2015 Ogoni Day celebration organised last Sunday, January 4 at the Birabi Memorial Grammar School open field, Dr. Peterside described his visit as “homecoming”.

    Peterside grew up in Bori where in the cause of time, built a bond with the famous Wiwa family of Bane.

    Dr. Peterside, who was the representative of Rivers State Governor and Chairman, Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, at the event, praised the Ogoni for remaining resolute in the search for a better and cleaner environment. He recalled that when the debate on the UNEP Report for the clean-up of Ogoni land was on the floor of the House of Representatives, his voice stood in total support of the Ogoni.

    “I will remind you that when the issue of the clean-up of Ogoni land came up on the floor of the House (of Representatives), I was among the few voices that spoke extensively on what the Nigerian State owes Ogoni people. And I said on that occasion that we would do everything humanly possible to ensure that Ogoni land is cleaned-up and that if Ogoni land was not cleaned-up, we would not rest.”

    The APC flag-bearer, who received record-breaking reception from the crowd, told the people how, with the support of Governor Chibuike Amaechi, he, for the first time, constructed every road in Bori.

    “The Ogoni Struggle became my life and my life became intertwined with the Ogoni Struggle. That was why when I had the opportunity to serve as Commissioner for Works of Rivers State, I, personally, with the support of the Governor, constructed for the first time all roads in Bori. Today, the roads I constructed in Bori are a living testimony of what I will do if given the opportunity (to serve as governor)”.

    Recalling what it was growing up on the streets of Bori, fetching and drinking water from Ogoni rivers and streams; cultivating their farmlands made rich by natural manure.

    Dr. Peterside said his heart is always broken much as any Ogoni to see such once fertile lands and rivers ruined and devastated.

    “I have drunk from the waters of Kpor. I have participated in farming in the farmlands of Nyortem, of Zaakpon, of Kaani.

    “And so, if they talk about social justice, I understand what it means.”

    Dr. Peterside said peace, justice and progress of Ogoni land were uppermost in his heart and would work, if elected governor of Rivers State next month, to ensure Ogoni’s environment was cleaned-up.

    “This place (Ogoniland) gave me the formative days of my life. As a young boy growing up on the streets of Bori, I admired the courage of the Ogoni people, their resilient spirit; their spirit of industry. And I can tell you those rare qualities in the Ogoni which I observed while growing up in Ogoniland inspired me to the point where I am today.

    “We have come in solidarity with the Ogoni people; in solidarity with Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People. If we were here for politics, I will remind you that when the issue of the clean-up of Ogoni land came up on the floor of the House (of Representatives), I was among the few voices that spoke extensively on what the Nigerian State owe Ogoni people. And I said on that occasion that we would do everything humanly possible to ensure that Ogoni land is cleaned-up and that if Ogoni land was not cleaned-up we would not rest. You will recall that my relationship with the late Pa Chief Jim Wiwa of Bane and that I participated in most meetings that led to the birth of the Ogoni Bill of Right not as an outsider but as a son with rights. So my brothers and my sisters, I have not come for politics but I must say that this is like a home coming for me.

    “To you our brothers and sisters, as we mark another Ogoni Day, please know that what is uppermost in our mind is peace, justice and progress of Ogoni land.”

    Peterside and Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, ‘put politics aside’ and exchanged pleasantries.

    Wike declared that he would work with Ogoni people to actualise their dream. He noted that as an administrator who believes in development, he would ensure that all the programmes meant for Ogoni development are brought to fruition.

    He stated that as governor of Rivers State he would develop Ogoniland and all other ethnic nationalities across the state.

    Wike said: “We are committed to the development of Ogoniland and the entire Rivers State. The emerging Rivers State Government under the platform of PDP will address the challenges being faced by Ogoniland. I will personally lead the struggle to develop Ogoniland.”

    The Ogoni people will have to wait till after May 29 to see what their next governor will do for them. For now, they are preparing to go to the polling booths on February 28 to choose Amaechi’s successor.

     

     

  • MOSOP threatens to boycott 2015 polls

    •Seeks Ogoni candidates for parties

    Thousands of Ogoni people, under the aegis of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), protested yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, over alleged political marginalisation and betrayal of the “Ogoni 2015 project”.

    The protesters were from Khana, Gokana and Tai, three Ogoni areas in the state. They were joined by their kinsmen who resided in Port Harcourt.

    The march lasted over two hours, causing a heavy traffic on the popular Aba Road.

    The protesters danced and distributed handbills, including the Ogoni Bill of Rights (OBR), which says: “Ogoni should be granted adequate and direct political representation as of right in all Nigeria national institutions.”

    Some of the messages on their placards read: “We reject unequal political system in Rivers State”; “Adequate political representation is the right of all Ogonis” and “MOSOP decries political slavery.”

    The protest was led by former Ogoni students’ leader, Simeon Waayii. It started at 7.30am from Rumuokuta to Isaac Boro Park at Mile 1 in Port Harcourt.

    Waayii was arrested on the way by the police but later released.

    Addressing the crowd, Waayii said if political parties in the state did not substitute their candidates for Ogoni candidates before next year’s general elections, the ethnic nationality would boycott the polls.

    The former students’ leader explained that since the creation of Rivers State, no Ogoni man had been governor, deputy governor, House of Assembly Speaker and chief judge.

    He said: “…We will boycott next year’s elections, if the political parties in the state do not act fast to substitute their candidates for Ogoni candidates. We cannot be betrayed when we are the sole contributor to the socio-economic development of Rivers State and Nigeria.

    “When I was arrested in the cause of this struggle, MOSOP called the police to explain the reason for my arrest. They could not prove anything. That’s why I was released. The Ogoni have the right to carry out a peaceful protest, and nobody can stop us.

    “We are protesting injustice and marginalisation against the Ogoni 2015 project by successive administrations in Nigeria and stakeholders in Rivers State. We want to govern Rivers State in 2015. Since 1967, when Rivers State was created, we have not produce a governor, a deputy governor and chief judge.”

    MOSOP Leader Legborsi Pyagbara said the peaceful demonstration was meant to show the people their concerns over the “Ogoni 2015 project”.

    He noted that if the political parties in Rivers State decided not to field Ogoni candidates, they should explain where the decision was taken and what would be the position of Ogoni in the political leddership of Rivers State.

    Pyagbara said: “The protest is our disapproval of the political campaign in Rivers State. We are not interested in the campaigns in our communities. We are also using the protest to call on those concerned that Ogoni cannot wait for another four to eight years before we rule.

    “We have been in the wilderness. We are tired. That is why we decided to tell the world that we disapprove the political decision against the Ogoni. We demand an explanation because we have made sacrifices and we cannot continue to be taken for granted.”

  • Ogoni: our oil blocks are not for sale

    Ogoni: our oil blocks are not for sale

    •MOSOP urges Jonathan to clear Ogoni martyrs

    THE Ogoni ethnic group in Rivers State, under the aegis of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), have said the oil blocks in their land are nor for sale.

    They spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, at the 19th memorial lecture in honour of the November 1995 hanging of nine Ogoni martyrs.

    The lecture, titled: Minorities at Crossroads: Confronting Political Inequality in Nigeria, highlighted the position of the minorities in the nation’s political sphere.

    The military junta under the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, endorsed the warrant for the execution of nine Ogoni sons, following a court judgment that sentenced them to death for alleged murder of Ogoni elders.

    The case bordered on mineral deposits in their land and other parts of the Niger Delta.

    The Ogoni agitators are: Ken Sawo-Wiwa, Chief Edward Kobani, Albert Badey, John Kpuinen, Barinem Kiobel, Chief S. N. Orage, Nordu Eawo, Chief T. B. Orage, Saturday Dobee, Daniel Gbokoo, Paul Levura, Baribor Bera, Garrick Leton, Felix Nuate, among others.

    They are widely described as the heroes of the struggle for the emancipation of the Ogoni and the Niger Delta.

    MOSOP’s President-General Legborsi Saro Pyagbara decried the neglect of successive Federal governments to clear the names of the Ogoni Nine.

    The spokesman urged President Goodluck Jonathan to clear the names of the martyrs.

    He said: “Condemnations poured in like torrents of water. The United Nations (UN) sent a fact-finding team to Nigeria to examine the process of their trial according to applicable local and international standards.

    “The team returned a verdict, which clearly showed that the trial of the Ogoni Nine did not follow any known local and international standards. Yet, the greatest disservice to the memory of the men continued.

    “Successive Nigeria administrations have failed to do the needful by clearing the names of these men, who were unjustly tried, condemned and then murdered.

    “On this remembrance day, we are sending a strong request to the Jonathan-led administration to immediately set in motion the process for clearing the names of the Ogoni Nine. Jonathan has gone to sleep for too long on this issue and now is the time to act.”

    On the oil disputes between the people and the oil giant, Shell Development Nigeria Limited, the MOSOP president said their quarrel subsisted.

    According to him, no part of oil blocks in their land should be sold to a third party without due consultation and agreement.

    Pyagbara warned investors to steer clear of Ogoni land until their matter with Shell was resolved.

    He said: “While Shell remains a persona-non-grata in Ogoni, we have stated repeatedly that Ogoni oil assets cannot be partitioned and put on sale, like the partitioning of Africa, to any investor without the free, prior and informed consent of the Ogoni people, as guaranteed under international human rights laws, particularly the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP).

    “We have to reiterate here that Shell and Ogoni are in dispute and the issues surrounding the disputes have not been settled.

    “MOSOP vehemently condemns the present attempt to divest Ogoni oil blocks without clear and focused discussions with the Ogoni people. We are also seizing this opportunity to warn all would-be investors to stay clear of Ogoni until matters on this divestment have been properly discussed with Ogoni people.”

     

  • ‘No half measure for Ogoni, MOSOP’

    President, Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, has said the Ogoni would not accept any part implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report.

    He said the people are ready to collaborate to sustain any genuine effort towards the implementation of the report, noting that there is no alternative to consultation in charting a course for the protection of the Ogoni environment.

    Pyagbara spoke during the stakeholders forum on environmental restoration of Ogoniland organised in Abuja by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Madueke.

    At the event, the minister said the Federal Government is considering the upgrade of Bori Polytechnic.

    The MOSOP President said: “We believe strongly that coming together we can chart a new course for the protection of Ogoni environment. Hon minister, that is why we are here, and I can assure you on behalf of MOSOP and the Ogoni people that we are ever ready to collaborate with any partner to sustain every genuine effort to drive the implementation of the UNEP report.

    “For the Ogoni people, we are not prepared for any half measure. For the Ogoni people we feel that all that is needed should be put in place for the full implementation of that report. I think this is where the Ogoni people stand.

    “As I emphasised at our last consultative meeting, we need to rise above politics, and put words to action, if we are ready to achieve a sustainable Ogoni environment that we need to achieve,” he said.

    The chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council, Gbenemene Giniwa, advised the people to “behave” themselves since the Federal Government is consulting with them.

    Mrs. Madueke said the Federal Government is working to set up a centre of  excellence in environmental restoration  in Ogoniland to train, and provide competencies  and vocational and technical skills, capacity building, expert assistance required by stakeholders through government agencies .

    According to her, this is for the stakeholders to carry out their mandate in protection, preservation and restoration of the environment.

    She added that the “actual location of the vocational training entities is what is being discussed at this moment. Some suggest we should fully refurbish and upgrade Bori Polytechnic but again these are some of the issue I expect here today during this discuss.”

    She expressed hope that the youths in Ogoniland will be able to take thw advantage to enhance their knowledge and strengthen their capacity to become involved in the process of restoration programme.

     

  • Ogoni degradation, a cause for concern –MOSOP President

    Ogoni degradation, a cause for concern –MOSOP President

    President, Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Legborsi Saro Pyagbara speaks with Gboyega Alaka on the state of pollution and degradation of Ogoni-land and its trans-generational impact, government and Shell’s inaction on implementing the United Nation’s Environment Programmes’  (UNEP) report three years after.

    THREE years after the UNEP Report, it doesn’t seem like the government or Shell is doing anything to implement it. How true is this from your privileged point of view as MOSOP President?

    There is nothing like grading the truth. The truth is that nothing significant has happened in terms of implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme report. We’ve not seen the government mustering the political will and courage to make that bold effort to a level that will assure us of the protection or restoration of the degraded Ogoni environment.

    Looking through the report, a few of the recommendations are such that a serious government would just have swung into immediate action to implement…

    Well, that is the bottom line. The water crisis which is a component of the entire environmental crisis we are having is one. And this is quite important because we all agree that water is life. And if water is life and we all agree that water has been negatively impacted, then it means that life itself has been negatively impacted. And with the report and all that is stated in it that the water in Ogoni has been so polluted to a level that the concentration of benzene found in Ogoni water is up to 900 times more than the World Health Organisation’s accepted standard for consumption; and that alone points a very serious picture of the situation. Beyond that, the same report states that hydro-carbon was found in water in 49 locations, which again means that the water in Ogoni is threatened. And if the water in Ogoni is threatened, it means that the life of the average Ogoni person has been threatened.

    There is also the part about subjecting every Ogoni citizen to a health test.

    The report recommended that there should be health check across the Ogoni land. That has not been done. And it is supposed to check the health status of the people, who have had a direct relationship with the exploration or impact of the oil exploration that had gone on for long in the location. Those things have not been done. And nothing aimed at it has been put in place. And that is why we’re saying that what the government is doing amount to environmental terrorism. Because when you destroy a people’s environmental resources, thereby stopping them from getting the environmental benefits and environmental services derivable from such environment in terms of resources, then you are committing environmental terrorism. When Ken Saro Wiwa said in 1990, that what is being done in Ogoni is far worse than warfare, people didn’t understand. Because he used to say that in this ecological war against the Ogoni people, bones are not broken, blood is not spilled, so people are not seeing it happening. But when you drink poisoned water  take for instance, a pregnant woman drinks from a water that is poisoned with benzene; and the pregnant woman passes on that same water poisoned with abnormal chemical component to the unborn child in her womb, and eventually that child is born carrying that chemical component in his system; so we have a transfer of pollutant across generations. So the situation in Ogoni is a situation that is killing people installmentally. It is even worse than Boko Haram, because Boko Haram can come in here and shoot two, three or four people and destroy life and we all make a lot of noise and condemn it; but how about this one that is killing people insidiously. People are falling sick every day, and we are seeing strange diseases and medical situations every day, and yet the government is not concerned.

    The Ogoni women while sharing their experiences talked about the fact that it is now hard to see women put to bed naturally, except through Caesarian Section; and the fact that Ogoni women, who naturally used to be known for their ravishing beauty are no longer beautiful. That seems to confirm your words about insidious and cross-generational pollution.

    It’s a cross-generational thing. Why? We are a people that are in love with nature and live in harmony with land. For the Ogoni man, land is not just land, land is the abode of the spirits; land is the abode of our ancestors and land is where they derive their livelihood. So it is the land that they till and harvest from; therefore they worship the land and we have a ceremony that is connected with the worshipping of the land. So the land is tied to the Ogoni spirituality. And when you destroy the land, you have destroyed the people.

    At the moment, the reality is such that fishing is no longer possible; and farming is near comatose, to the extent that you harvest a tuber of yam, and half of it is soaked in crude oil. What then is the source of the people’s livelihood at the moment? How do the people manage to survive?

    That is what we are saying. As I said at a forum earlier, if it is where we have a serious government, this report alone would have forced this government to declare a state of emergency in Ogoni; emergency of water. It’s just like when the Fikushima nuclear disaster happened; the Japanese government had to move the people entirely from that zone, because of that crisis. Now you have a crisis that is happening to your own people and you’re not doing anything to deal with the food insecurity that is happening; you’re not dealing with the livelihood insecurity that has happened, because people’s sources of livelihood and survival has been destroyed the moment you destroy their farming system and destroy their fishing system. So you have inadvertently driven people away from their land; because the land has been so destroyed. And that is why today we have a situation of where people are described as environmental refugees because people are leaving Ogoni communities, not by choice but because they are forced to migrate out of their communities because you have destroyed their land and they have no choice but move into the urban areas, where they don’t even have any means of survival. So if you go to Port Harcourt today, who are those living in the suburbs? Who are those living in the waterfronts and water sides? Take the statistics and you’d find out that majority of those living in the waterfront and in the poor accommodation areas are the Ogoni people. And you now push them into all sorts of criminality without any means of survival. It is to me a big war. Today, the average Ogoni man can no longer go to the farm or go to the rivers to fish. Yet they don’t have the skill required to fit into those sorts of jobs that’ll guarantee good living.

    Does the government engage in any kind of funding or skill acquisition to empower the people through other means?

    We are not seeing that, although that is what they’ll keep saying. The Ogoni people launched a protest over 20 years ago, but we’re not seeing any definite programme targeted towards the people to address the issues that have been raised. What you can see is the government saying they are doing things across board, which is not the same thing as addressing the questions of those who have been marginalised, whose lands and waters have been destroyed; who have made enormous sacrifice during the struggle. We lost more than 2000 persons during the struggle; we lost a whole generation of leaders; and you are not doing anything specifically to compensate the people for all these losses?

    At the moment, a Niger-Deltan in the person of President Goodluck Jonathan occupies the highest seat in government; how well has he attended to the problems of the region that he met on ground?

    In my assessment the truth is that so much was expected from President Jonathan in terms of dealing with the issue of Ken Saro Wiwa and the struggle of the Ogoni people, because whether he likes it or not, his becoming president of Nigeria today is a fallout of the agitation against the oppression of the minorities in the country as spearheaded by the Ogoni people in the 1990s; that agitation for the protection of the environment, agitation that the corporate power and abuse should stop. He is a politician from this region and we are expecting that he would expand the frontiers of the discussion. Unfortunately we are not seeing any of that. He is not doing anything to show that he even appreciates the fact that Ken Saro Wiwa’s life was sacrificed for all of us in the Niger-Delta. We’ve not seen him demonstrate any serious intention and there have been instances. Jonathan became Acting President in 2010; that same year he hosted the 50th Anniversary of Nigeria’s independence and honoured 50 Nigerians, yet he did not deem it fit to honour Ken Saro Wiwa. We consider this a slight on not just the Ogoni people but the entire Niger-Delta. And nobody can say that Ken Saro Wiwa has not affected the shape of discourse in Nigeria. Before Ken Saro Wiwa, who was talking of environmental issues? Nobody. Who took the issue of minority people to the level that people, right up to the international community, started looking at it? Ken Saro Wiwa. By 1990-2000, the UN Working Group on Minorities commissioned a study on Nigeria on minority issues, courtesy of the fact that people like Ken Saro Wiwa were making it an issue. Now in 2014, President Jonathan again honoured 100 outstanding Nigerians, to commemorate the country’s centenary of amalgamation, and yet he did not include Ken Saro Wiwa. If he did not do it in 2010, 2014 provided another opportunity for him to correct that mistake; yet nothing happened. So what else can he tell us?

    Perhaps the argument might be that Saro Wiwa was dead and gone, or that you guys didn’t clamour for him?

    But some of those whom he honoured were also dead. And if we are talking about the people not clamouring, nobody clamoured for those personalities that he selected. It was purely on presidential discretion.

    So what is the way forward? What is the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People doing to ensure that the implementation of the UNEP Report, which has become a reference point, does not just continue to gather dust?

    As you know, interestingly, Nigeria as a nation state has acceded to several international environmental conventions. Nigeria has ratified the convention of biological diversity. She has also done the same thing with optional protocol. As a country, we have ratified all the major human rights instruments, which of course obligate Nigeria to do ABC.  The Nigerian government’s role is to protect the citizens against all abuses, whether environmental or human rights abuse. We are rights holders and we are making claims that our rights are protected under international human rights law; our environment is protected under international environmental laws; so it is now an obligation for you to respect all these agreements you have entered into, for you to be accepted in the comity of nations. Now, we as a people are not going to give up, because this report came as a result of the struggle of the people. We continue to raise our voices and shout until the right thing is done. We will continue clamouring until the recommendations in the report are implemented, and not just implemented, but in a way that meets international standards.