OGONI leaders have again urged the Federal Government and delegates to the national conference to review the current list of new states being proposed and ensure that Bori State is included . This was part of the decision taken at the weekend during the general congress of the Ogoni people at Bori, Rivers State which was attended by several participants, including the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, (MOSOP) and representatives of other constituent organizations in the area.
MOSOP President, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, in a statement after the congress, said Ogoni people decried the current debacle on resource control and derivation as needless and insensitive.
“The Congress further reiterated that it stands by earlier position of MOSOP that communities should be given 100percent control over their resources and pay the necessary taxes to the Federal Government, “ he said.
Pyagbara added that the Congress condemned the stunning and continuing failure of the Federal Government to set up a proper process for the implementation of the recommendations of the environmental study of Ogoniland and called on the Ogoni people to join the non-violent protest being organized by MOSOP to demonstrate their anger t against the Federal government’s stance.
According to him, the leaders also mandated MOSOP to intensify its internationalization of the campaign for the clean-up and restoration of the Ogoni environment , including invoking provisions of international environmental and human rights laws to hold Nigeria accountable to her misdeeds against the Ogoni People.
He explained that the body expressed regret at the recent cult crisis in some communities in Ogoni and advised the people especially the youths not to mortgage their future by submitting to cult violence and manipulations by external masterminds to create conflicts in the Ogoni area.
According to him, the Congress also called on all Ogoni traditional rulers to redouble their efforts in ensuring and promoting peaceful co-existence in their respective domains.
The leaders reiterated their earlier warning that Ogoni politicians and their supporters should eschew politics of hatred, bitterness, intolerance and acrimony and unite to work for the common good of the ethnic group.. They also commended MOSOP and her supporters for the steps taken so far in the actualization of the desires of the Ogoni people to produce the next governor of Rivers State to enhance adequate political representation and fairness in Nigeria.
Source: GuardianNG
