The people of Ogoni land in Rivers State under the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) on Friday marked the 28-year remembrance of the unjust execution of their leader, Ken Saro Wiwa and eight other activists on November 10, 1995.
With a theme “28 Years After November 10, 1995: Refocusing the Ogoni Struggle on the Development Goals of the Founding Fathers”, the MOSOP President, Fegalo Nsuke, in a press briefing in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital on Friday said that the death of Saro Wiwa and the other eight activists had epitomised the murder of 4000 other Ogonis who became the casualties “of a Shell-backed state repression of the 1990s under the watch of late General Sani Abacha.”
Nsuke said that 28 years have gone by “since the Nigerian Government of the time brutally executed our leader the erudite Ken Saro wiwa along with eight others, John Kpuinen, Dr. Nubari Kiobel, Paul Levura, Baribor Bera, Nordu Eawo, Saturday Doobee, Daniel Gbokoo and Felix Nuate.
“Their deaths have epitomised the murder of some 4,000 other Ogonis who became the casualties of a Shell-backed state repression of the 1990s under the watch of General Sani Abacha.
“November 10, as it is popularly tagged, has become an unforgettable date now used to remember and honour all those who lost their lives in the cause of the Ogoni struggle for basic rights and survival.
“Their memorial has become an annual event, but unfortunately, it has also been used for fundraising just as the travails of the martyrs have been exploited by many.”
“It is an unfortunate paradox that since 1958 when crude oil was first discovered in commercial quantities in Ogoni, and 1993 when the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited was compelled to shut down Operations in the area due to mounting civil protests, an estimated $30billion worth of oil was thought to have been extracted from Ogoni lands.
“But the unbelievable reality is that given the current technology for crude oil extraction, the soil upon which the Ogoni people walk has a proven capacity to produce 500,000 barrels of oil daily, estimated at U.S. $40 million per day.
“It then follows that in the past 30 years of Shell's exit from Ogoni, at least 6,475,000,000 barrels of oil conservatively estimated at $328,500,000,000, have been lost to wrong approaches deployed to address the Ogoni problem. This figure is derived at a conservative estimated base price of $50 per barrel during the period.
“That is the soil upon which an estimated one million Ogoni people walk daily in misery, without jobs, security, physical infrastructure such as electricity, schools, hospitals, roads and more.
“The Ogoni story is the pathetic narrative of a national shame, and we all have a responsibility to rewrite this story for the better and reset the future and destiny of Ogonis living and yet unborn.”
The MOSOP President said that “It is in this spirit that in 2019, MOSOP commenced extensive consultations with the people in all 216 known communities in Ogoni.
“The outcome of the consultations led to a resolution of the Central Committee of MOSOP on September 27, 2020, which proposed the putting into operation of the Ogoni Development Authority, (ODA), as an acceptable pathway and framework to permanently resolve the three-decade oil conflicts in Ogoni.
“To this end, we therefore, implore the support and buy in of the new administration under the leadership of the Initiative-taking Mr. President, Tinubu, as we put forward the following demands outlined as follows namely:
“That the input and voice of the Ogoni people is a prerequisite to paving the way for an acceptable solution which MOSOP will drive within the stakeholder's engagement meetings.
“That an order be made for a judicial review of the unjust sentencing and execution of nine Ogoni rights campaigners namely Ken Saro-Wiwa, John Kpuinen, Dr Nubari Kiobel, Nordu Eawo, Baribor Bera, Saturday Doobee, Felix Nuate, Paul Levura and Daniel Gbokoo.
“That an order be made to stop further harassment, killings, or intimation of the Ogoni people by any entity or group while the suggested cause of action is diligently and genuinely pursued.
“That the resolution of the Ogoni problem be given top priority by Mr. President.”
Nsuke reassured MOSOP’s irrevocable commitment to our cause and to state unequivocally that we have recorded significant and unprecedented success to bring the Ogoni people into accepting our proposed development programme.
“While we see this as a beautiful opportunity and a win-win situation for all stakeholders, I will urge the Government to take advantage of these gains to quickly resolve the crisis.”
He noted that “After 28 years in the wilderness experience, the time has come for the sustainable development and prosperity for Ogoni where we have our arable land restored for our farmers to farm, our rivers cleaned for our fishermen to fish, good roads constructed, world class hospitals established, state of the art schools including an Ogoni University, numerous employment opportunities created for our people to be empowered and Power generation to industrialize Ogoni and making it a leading Industrial hub within Nigeria. It's in our hands to make all this happen.”