In its efforts to adopt initiatives to avert any crisis and achieve a peaceful resolution of problem that affect the Ogoni people, MOSOP and Ogoni Liberation Initiative have decided to collaborate for Ogoni development.
We brief you today in view of the most recent happenings affecting our Ogoni people and to intimate the general public on the initiatives we are adopting to avert any crisis and achieve a peaceful resolution of the problem.
A statement signed and made available to news platforms by Fegalo Nsuke, President, MOSOP and Rev. Dr. Fabeke Douglas, President, Ogoni Liberation Initiative (OLI) noted that “most of you will be familiar with the travails of the Ogoni people in Nigeria, particularly the state repression for which till date, no individual, or organisation have been held accountable, prosecuted or punished despite the death and disappearance of some 4,000 Ogonis. You are also very much aware of the pains and trauma our children, old people, young men, women had to endure following state-sanctioned extreme torture, imprisonment, and even death which became a policy of the Nigerian Government. Our only crime had been our demands for a just, equitable society that recognises and respects our rights to fair treatment and to function within Nigeria as a distinct ethnic nationality.”
According to them, “despite these very painful experiences, we have continued to make frantic efforts at achieving a permanent settlement that resolves all pending issues and provides a pathway to a prosperous Ogoni society.”
Full text of the statement read: “Unfortunately, the manipulative tendencies of the oil and gas industry, backed by strong political interests, have remained a stumbling block to our honest desire to move forward with a mutually beneficial settlement.
“Despite these monumental obstacles, we have remained very determined to forge ahead in greater unity to achieve our much desired peace and to usher in a new era of progress and development to our people.
“As you may be aware, the development we envisage presumes that full economic activities will have to be encouraged in the land, including the resumption of oil and gas extraction.
“However, we recognize that our people, the masses of Ogoni, paid the sacrifices that made it possible for the Ogoni oil to be available for discussions today, in the first place.
“While we continue to advocate for the good and the best interest of the Ogoni people and insist that the struggles of the grassroots must benefit the grassroots and not just serve elitist intentions, we reiterate our dissociation from, and rejection of the current surreptitious approach which in utter disregard for the directive of Mr. President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, blatantly excluded MOSOP and other relevant stakeholders from the so-called dialogue process.
“We insist that having championed the cause of the Ogoni people for justice and fairness, having held the mandate of the Ogoni people, as expressed in the Ogoni Bill of Rights, to advocate and negotiate a settlement of the issues raised by the Ogoni people, and having made enormous sacrifices for this cause, we are unable to remain silent and watch a derailment of the efforts and progress we have recorded in the past five years to achieve a resolution by persuading the Ogoni people through massive community sensitization, to accept our development proposals which presumes the resumption of oil and gas extraction in Ogoni.
“We therefore expressly and strongly reject the current attempt to hijack and derail our peace process through manipulative and fraudulent means as currently observed, which does not reflect our desires to uphold justice and mutuality in discussions about the future of the Ogoni people.
“However, we will maintain our commitment to a peaceful resolution of the Ogoni problem and in this regard, will continue to pursue and seek collective grounds for stronger consensus to ensure that our goal to permanently address the Ogoni problem is collectively achievable.
“We have therefore sought collaborations for a stronger support base with the goal of commencing massive re-orientation and mobilization of our people for the new Ogoni of our dreams.
Today, we are pleased to announce our collaboration with the Ogoni Liberation Initiative (OLI).
MOSOP is today collaborating with the OLI to drive a new, stronger and better future for the Ogoni people.
This collaboration will focus, amongst others, on these critical areas:
1. The restoration of the Ogoni environment and pollution remediation programme.
2. The development of the Ogoni economy.
3. The security and preservation of Ogoni interests in the extraction of its abundant natural endowments including its oil and gas resources.
4. The demand for political justice, in Nigeria, for the Ogoni people.
“It is our hope that this collaboration will create an even broader and stronger platform for community engagement and pave the way for an honest approach to genuinely address the concerns of the Ogoni people and consequently lead to a resolution of all issues.
“MOSOP and the Ogoni Liberation Initiative will further engage relevant stakeholders and the international community with the view to achieve the goals of the Ogoni struggle and to ensure that the sacrifices of our struggles of over 32 years are not in vain.
“We seek the understanding of the Nigerian Government in particular, and the partnership of every stakeholder to drive this new vision to success.”
