…seek permanent solution to oil conflict

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and other relevant Ogoni stakeholders have demanded 20 per cent for the people from any player in the oil and gas industry that eventually resumes oil exploration in Ogoni.

They also called on Ogoni within and outside the country to embrace peace and development in order to permanently resolve over three decades of conflicts with the government and Shell over oil production and underdevelopment.

The president of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke, and other stakeholders, resolved at an Ogoni congress held in Bori, the headquarters of the Ogoni, that bickering and infighting over oil resumption in Ogoni was no longer an option.

They said it was time to tow the path of development and pledged to work with the Federal Government for the development of Ogoni, noting that the infighting that existed for years has not yielded any positive result to the Ogoni struggle.

Nsuke urged the Ogoni people to stand up to defeat both internal and external repression, regretting Ogoni’s inability to address its critical challenges of underdevelopment since the struggle was launched 34 years ago.

Nsuke said: “We launched the struggle in 1990. We are thirty-four years into it and the problem was that we were protesting underdevelopment. For thirty-four years, we have been unable to address this problem”

He faulted the growing number of splinter groups in Ogoni attributing it to “the commercialization of the struggle which has says had been very costly in lives and assets invested and lost in the process”

“The reason why you see all these splinter groups is that we have left the primary goal of the struggle and have started chasing money and our pockets,” he said.

He urged the Ogoni people to be ready and committed to resolving the problem permanently noting that President Bola Tinubu, being a listening president, had a rare opportunity to permanently resolve the Ogoni problems.

“While I am not speaking for the government, I want you to know that the current president is a listening president and offers an opportunity to resolve the problem. Let us take the advantage,” he said.

Also speaking, Ogoni youth president, Barr. Theophilus Mbagha, urged the Nigerian authorities to dialogue with the Ogoni people to resolve the Ogoni problem, affirming the resolve of Ogoni youths to support MOSOP under Nsuke to foster development in Ogoni.

The spokesperson for the Federation of Ogoni Women’s Association (FOWA) Lady Immaculate Kpopie assured the Congress that Ogoni women would continue to work for development, and drive led by Nsuke.

The Ogoni congress also mandated Nsuke to initiate and conclude discussions on the issue and to win a fair share of Ogoni resources which will be committed to Ogoni development.

The congress demanded compensation for livelihood losses due to decades of oil pollution, and the need to set up a resolution committee bringing everybody including dissenting voices together.