Stakeholders in the four local government areas of Ogoni in Rivers State have expressed appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari for the flag-off of the implementation of the recommendations of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoniland but, warned that the apparent slow pace of progress on the process portends serious danger to peace, stability and development in the entire Niger Delta.
The Ogoni people, who expressed the concern at a special congress called by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), at the Peace and Freedom Centre, Bori, urged the Federal Government to speedily put in place the governance structures and fast-track the implementation of the UNEP report on Ogoniland without further delay.
In a communiqué signed by MOSOP President, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara and General Secretary, Anthony Mbaa Porole, on Monday, the congress, attended by over two thousand participants, which included women groups, youth groups, traditional rulers, professionals, and politicians, urged the government to act fast to sustain the goodwill gained with the kick-starting of the implementation process.
The Ogoni people also noted “with dismay, the re-introduction of the controversial issue of restarting of oil production in Ogoniland by the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), at a time the Ogoni people, and indeed, the entire global community is expecting the Federal Government to move with some deliberate speed on the implementation of the monumental remediation and restoration of the already over-polluted Ogoni environment.”
They “observed that many sensitive issues in the entire Shell’s asset divestment and acquisition plans are shrouded in much secrecy and needed to be thoroughly examined.
“Congress alerted that the present attempt may be a ploy by Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited (SPDC) and the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) both of whom are joint venture partners, to cause division amongst Ogoni people and derail the Ogoni environmental remediation and restoration process,” the communiqué indicated.
They, therefore, called on “Ogoni sons and daughters to refrain from or be wary of any engagement relating to reopening of oil exploration and production in Ogoniland until the issues of Ogoni environmental rejuvenation have been properly addressed.”
They also condemned “the deplorable state of insecurity in Ogoniland occasioned by kidnapping, violence and robbery and the latest invasion of some Ogoni communities particularly Kporghor, Kira and Borobara by her Okrika neighbours”, and lamented “the seeming inability of security agencies to deal with the increasing scale of insecurity in the area.”
Source: TheTide