March 24, 2010
Your Excellency, Sir: We, the Ogoni people, under the aegis of MOSOP— home and abroad, do commend the statewide developmental initiatives your administration has come to embark upon within a very short time in office. What a milestone—what a break from previous administrations. If this trend continues, our support for your government and prospective political endeavors will remain unwavering.
Your Excellency, Sir: We, the Ogoni people, under the aegis of MOSOP— home and abroad, do commend the statewide developmental initiatives your administration has come to embark upon within a very short time in office. What a milestone—what a break from previous administrations. If this trend continues, our support for your government and prospective political endeavors will remain unwavering.
However, it is pertinent that your administration be informed that after a broad range of consultations across Ogoniland, from local communities to youth organizations, Student bodies, community leaders and women associations; the fierce anger and opposition to your proposal to relocate a military cantonment to Ogoniland is unequivocal and unyielding. During same consultations, it was also realized that some Ogoni people at the corridor of political powers have given your administration their support on this proposal.
Sir, MOSOP has elected to bring the true state of affairs in Ogoni on this matter to your attention. MOSOP has high opinions of your administration so far, but Ogoni is our constituency, and the interest of the Ogoni people is our cause. MOSOP therefore, in the spirit of Democracy, our respect for authority, and appreciation of the need for a peaceful co-existence in our ethnically diverse Rivers State, urges you to rescind the plan to bring a military cantonment to Ogoniland. Because we have concluded that there is no means of convincing our people to yield an inch of their anger about this project.
If you do continue, it will be messy—to say the least. And we cannot grantee cooperation or tranquility from the Ogoni people.
Nigeria is a democratic State. The whole concept of democracy is predicated on the idea that government is formed by the people for the people. Therefore, government and constituency representatives should pay attention to and heed the popular will of the constituents. The Ogoni people are the affected constituents in this probable cantonment relocation. Therefore, our view should be taken very seriously. We, the Ogoni people, DO NOT want another military installation on our soil.
Since 1958, Ogoniland had been ravaged extensively for natural resources that had sustained the State and the nation at large. It is not hyperbolic to surmise that Ogoni remains deplorably stricken by poverty and all forms of underdevelopment, even with the abundance of natural resources in the area. In our quest to bring awareness to our devastated environment, demand a fair share of our carted-away resources, Ogoni was invaded by soldiers under the commanding ogre of Paul Okuntimo. Widespread mayhem, massacre, and scenes of carnage were all too common in Ogoniland. Our iconic leaders, including Ken Saro Wiwa, were judicially lynched by the State.
Our nose is still bleeding from our experiences with the Nigerian army. One would ordinarily expect that the current Governor was around and well aware of the predicaments of the Ogoni people. Most surprising, is the manner of insensitivity to the plight of the Ogoni people that would inform the thought of relocating a military camp to Ogoni. Your Excellency Sir; as Ogoni people, our experiences with the military are not flattering, our fears are retroactive and well-founded. Preponderant upon the dehumanizing saga of cruelty that oil politics had inflicted on the Ogoni people, our first instinct upon hearing about a military camp in Ogoni does not only reopen our excruciating scars of death and destruction, but triggers a logical conviction that ‘this’ is another tactical plot to bring soldiers closer to the Ogoni people in anticipation of a forceful resumption of oil operations in the area.
More than that, Ogoni has an estimated population density of about 2400 persons per square mile. The entire Ogoni land area is about 400sq miles pole to pole, inhabited by an estimated 1million people. We have a police academy in Ogoni; we have a naval base in Ogoni; we have the NNPC and its hazardous emissions In Ogoni; we have the petrochemical plant in Ogoni; we have vast land areas encroached upon for oil exploitation and, other acres of land rendered useless by crisscrossing oil pipes. We have large portions of land rendered useless by oil spillages that are yet to be cleaned up. What more do we have to offer to the State?
We, the Ogoni people, DO NOT have the will or the real-estate to accommodate another military installation.
The Ogoni leaders at the corridor of political powers have in their usual self-interested mode and, in their usual routine subservience to any Governor in power, declared their support for this project, either for aspiration to political powers or lack thereof. Their political ambitions and anticipation of project contracts are their preoccupations. Consequently, they are either openly supportive of this proposal, or portraying a laisser-faire attitude towards it. It is also obvious that some self-seeking chiefs in the Ogoni area may sell their consciences and seemingly support whatever government policy after being induced with peanuts. The fact remains that neither the self-centered politicians nor the self-seeking chiefs are speaking for the Ogoni people. Their support for this project does not hold water in Ogoniland. We will vehemently oppose, reject and spurn this project to its very core, with every ounce of blood in our veins. The quest for political powers or lack thereof by a few out-of-touch politicians whose interest in politics is not about representing their constituents, but predicated on looting public money will not dampen the spirit and the resilience of the Ogoni people to preserve and protect our homeland for generations coming behind us.
The Ogoni people will appreciate government’s willingness to heed the tenets of democracy and listen to the desires of the Ogoni people. If the government will choose to be dictatorial and force a decision upon our people, the Ogoni youths will not hesitate sacrificing the blood of the last one of us to oppose any sacrilegious/dictatorial policy in our area.
Relatively speaking, there are other communities in Rivers State with much more land areas than Ogoni. Let them accommodate the military camp. Ogoni has sacrificed enough and had gotten nothing but death and the destruction of our environment in return.
At what point is this repression going to stop?
We will not sit-tight to see this happen. The only area of the state having the only semblance of a developed city in the State is the same area allotted for a “greater Port-Harcourt city” and a new University, even though it already houses one Federal University and a State University, and the State capital! A military camp is the project needed in Ogoni? With due respect, Dear Governor, we will not welcome this in Ogoniland.
Let us give peace a chance and bring all ethnic communities together to build and develop our state in peace and unity.
Your Excellency, may you, in the spirit of democracy and in the interest of our State and its peoples, coddle the consciences of our politicians, that they may remember that they represent their constituents and the Rivers people, and are not just in public offices to loot public money and spurn the yearnings of the people they are expected to represent. Government will come and government will go, but our State and its peoples will remain. Dauda Musa Komo is gone, Governor Odilli is gone; so will the current administration go. But it is important to remember that good policies of lasting legacies are as memorable in history as its author. Neither riches nor political offices could supersede the lasting memories of generations unborn for outstanding imprints on the development of our State and our region.
May this appeal to the consciences of our Governor and our politicians be heeded in the interest of peace and development in our great Rivers State. Your Excellency, No military camp in Ogoni. We just cannot let that be!
Signed:
Chief Stephen Kpea…. Chairman, MOSOP USA Central Working Council
DumBari Tsaro Deezua, Secretary, MOSOP USA Central Working Council
Hon. Rotimi Amaechi
Executive Governor of Rivers State
Feb. 19, 2010
However, it is pertinent that your administration be informed that after a broad range of consultations across Ogoniland, from local communities to youth organizations, Student bodies, community leaders and women associations; the fierce anger and opposition to your proposal to relocate a military cantonment to Ogoniland is unequivocal and unyielding. During same consultations, it was also realized that some Ogoni people at the corridor of political powers have given your administration their support on this proposal.
Sir, MOSOP has elected to bring the true state of affairs in Ogoni on this matter to your attention. MOSOP has high opinions of your administration so far, but Ogoni is our constituency, and the interest of the Ogoni people is our cause. MOSOP therefore, in the spirit of Democracy, our respect for authority, and appreciation of the need for a peaceful co-existence in our ethnically diverse Rivers State, urges you to rescind the plan to bring a military cantonment to Ogoniland. Because we have concluded that there is no means of convincing our people to yield an inch of their anger about this project.
If you do continue, it will be messy—to say the least. And we cannot grantee cooperation or tranquility from the Ogoni people.
Nigeria is a democratic State. The whole concept of democracy is predicated on the idea that government is formed by the people for the people. Therefore, government and constituency representatives should pay attention to and heed the popular will of the constituents. The Ogoni people are the affected constituents in this probable cantonment relocation. Therefore, our view should be taken very seriously. We, the Ogoni people, DO NOT want another military installation on our soil.
Since 1958, Ogoniland had been ravaged extensively for natural resources that had sustained the State and the nation at large. It is not hyperbolic to surmise that Ogoni remains deplorably stricken by poverty and all forms of underdevelopment, even with the abundance of natural resources in the area. In our quest to bring awareness to our devastated environment, demand a fair share of our carted-away resources, Ogoni was invaded by soldiers under the commanding ogre of Paul Okuntimo. Widespread mayhem, massacre, and scenes of carnage were all too common in Ogoniland. Our iconic leaders, including Ken Saro Wiwa, were judicially lynched by the State.
Our nose is still bleeding from our experiences with the Nigerian army. One would ordinarily expect that the current Governor was around and well aware of the predicaments of the Ogoni people. Most surprising, is the manner of insensitivity to the plight of the Ogoni people that would inform the thought of relocating a military camp to Ogoni. Your Excellency Sir; as Ogoni people, our experiences with the military are not flattering, our fears are retroactive and well-founded. Preponderant upon the dehumanizing saga of cruelty that oil politics had inflicted on the Ogoni people, our first instinct upon hearing about a military camp in Ogoni does not only reopen our excruciating scars of death and destruction, but triggers a logical conviction that ‘this’ is another tactical plot to bring soldiers closer to the Ogoni people in anticipation of a forceful resumption of oil operations in the area.
More than that, Ogoni has an estimated population density of about 2400 persons per square mile. The entire Ogoni land area is about 400sq miles pole to pole, inhabited by an estimated 1million people. We have a police academy in Ogoni; we have a naval base in Ogoni; we have the NNPC and its hazardous emissions In Ogoni; we have the petrochemical plant in Ogoni; we have vast land areas encroached upon for oil exploitation and, other acres of land rendered useless by crisscrossing oil pipes. We have large portions of land rendered useless by oil spillages that are yet to be cleaned up. What more do we have to offer to the State?
We, the Ogoni people, DO NOT have the will or the real-estate to accommodate another military installation.
The Ogoni leaders at the corridor of political powers have in their usual self-interested mode and, in their usual routine subservience to any Governor in power, declared their support for this project, either for aspiration to political powers or lack thereof. Their political ambitions and anticipation of project contracts are their preoccupations. Consequently, they are either openly supportive of this proposal, or portraying a laisser-faire attitude towards it. It is also obvious that some self-seeking chiefs in the Ogoni area may sell their consciences and seemingly support whatever government policy after being induced with peanuts. The fact remains that neither the self-centered politicians nor the self-seeking chiefs are speaking for the Ogoni people. Their support for this project does not hold water in Ogoniland. We will vehemently oppose, reject and spurn this project to its very core, with every ounce of blood in our veins. The quest for political powers or lack thereof by a few out-of-touch politicians whose interest in politics is not about representing their constituents, but predicated on looting public money will not dampen the spirit and the resilience of the Ogoni people to preserve and protect our homeland for generations coming behind us.
The Ogoni people will appreciate government’s willingness to heed the tenets of democracy and listen to the desires of the Ogoni people. If the government will choose to be dictatorial and force a decision upon our people, the Ogoni youths will not hesitate sacrificing the blood of the last one of us to oppose any sacrilegious/dictatorial policy in our area.
Relatively speaking, there are other communities in Rivers State with much more land areas than Ogoni. Let them accommodate the military camp. Ogoni has sacrificed enough and had gotten nothing but death and the destruction of our environment in return.
At what point is this repression going to stop?
We will not sit-tight to see this happen. The only area of the state having the only semblance of a developed city in the State is the same area allotted for a “greater Port-Harcourt city” and a new University, even though it already houses one Federal University and a State University, and the State capital! A military camp is the project needed in Ogoni? With due respect, Dear Governor, we will not welcome this in Ogoniland.
Let us give peace a chance and bring all ethnic communities together to build and develop our state in peace and unity.
Your Excellency, may you, in the spirit of democracy and in the interest of our State and its peoples, coddle the consciences of our politicians, that they may remember that they represent their constituents and the Rivers people, and are not just in public offices to loot public money and spurn the yearnings of the people they are expected to represent. Government will come and government will go, but our State and its peoples will remain. Dauda Musa Komo is gone, Governor Odilli is gone; so will the current administration go. But it is important to remember that good policies of lasting legacies are as memorable in history as its author. Neither riches nor political offices could supersede the lasting memories of generations unborn for outstanding imprints on the development of our State and our region.
May this appeal to the consciences of our Governor and our politicians be heeded in the interest of peace and development in our great Rivers State. Your Excellency, No military camp in Ogoni. We just cannot let that be!
Signed:
Chief Stephen Kpea…. Chairman, MOSOP USA Central Working Council
DumBari Tsaro Deezua, Secretary, MOSOP USA Central Working Council
Hon. Rotimi Amaechi
Executive Governor of Rivers State
Feb. 19, 2010
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