The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) has stated that plans by the Federal Government (FG) to build a mega petrol station in Ogoni land rather than giving the people potable drinking water was laughable.
Speaking to The Tide yesterday, The MOSOP Publicity Secretary, Feegaloo Nsuke stated that Ogonis had made their demand clear that one of their critical needs at the moment was the provision of potable drinking water for the people and the release of funds for cleanup of Ogoniland.
Nsuke added that the building of a mega filling station in Ogoniland was not one of the critical needs of the Ogonis at the moment.
“At this very moment Ogoni people were dying by the day because of the pollution of the air, if there is anything we expect the government to do first is to restore the land and to go ahead with the provision of water to the people because we cannot have a situation where people are dying and you are talking about building a petrol station. We need to set our priorities and for now the priority of the Ogoni people is to have the land restored”, he said.
The MOSOP Publicity Secretary noted that recent comments by some stakeholders in Ogoni that the Federal Government had released fund for the Ogoni cleanup was not true.
“It’s not the first time we would be hearing of fund being released for the Ogoni cleanup. You will recall Amina Mohammed did tell us that N1bn for the Ogoni cleanup is intact, those are official lies and we are not concerned about that.
“What we are saying is that we want to see the fund in the Ogoni Trust Fund and we want to see the fund deployed to restore Ogoniland,” Nsuke added.
In its reactions, another Ogoni group, popularly known as the Ken Saro Wiwa Associate (KSWA) has described the move by the Federal Government to build a mega petrol station in Bori, the headquarters of Ogoniland as a welcome development.
The National Coordinator, KSWA, Chief Gani Topba has stated that the building of the mega station in Bori could not stop the Federal Government from providing potable water, adding that Ogonis should embrace and accept the noble gesture as well as insisting on their other demands.
“Everybody knows that the provision of potable water was very important in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report and as a result, the KSWA has been insisting on the provision of this potable water for the Ogoni people. I am surprised that the leadership of MOSOP is kicking against the building of a mega station that would impact positively on the people of the area. The same masters have connived with the Ministry of Environment and have looted Ogoni people money.
“This mega filling station would create employment and you know there is bunkering going on which the leadership of MOSOP benefits from that bunkering activities and because they are benefiting from that, they are as well destroying our land. They know that the mega filling station would discourage illegal bunkering as well as people from buying illegal bunkering products. This is why they are against it”, Topba added.
The national coordinator, KSWA hinted that his group was also working with the Federal Government to build a semi-loading point in Ogoniland as a way of creating employment and wealth for the people of Ogoni.
“We have proposed to the Minister of States for Petroleum Resources to put a semi loading point in any of these areas; Bodo Water Front, Kaa, Opuo-oko or Kono Water side. Any of these areasthat the Federal Government thinks will be best, can serve as a loading point, by so doing it would create wealth and opportunities for the people of Ogoni , but the leadership of MOSOP has failed to understand as well as failed the people of Ogoni, thus should know that their days in office are numbered.”
Source: TheTide
