The re-entry into Ogoniland marks a historic turning point for Nigeria, not just in terms of oil production, but more broadly, this milestone reflects the spirit of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which commits to building a stronger country, attracting responsible investment, and ensuring that community development is at the heart of national progress.
Speaking during the presentation of the Ogoni Consultations Report at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday, President Tinubu acknowledged that the Ogoni people have endured long years of pain, and that this re-entry reflects the government’s recognition of their sacrifices.
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and the Ogoni Liberation Initiative have criticized the federal government over recent remarks made by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, concerning the resumption of oil production in Ogoni noting that the statement was insensitive and damaging to a healing process undertaken by MOSOP over the past five years.
The groups further noted that the Ogoni people were yet to recover from the pains of the past and do not need to be reminded of the evils done to them by previous Nigerian regimes neither do they need to be subjected to renewed state repression.
The President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Fegalo Nsuke, has assured the Ogoni people that despite efforts by some private interests to forcefully resume oil production in Ogoni, he is confident that Nigeria's President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not trigger an oil related crises in Ogoni just to satisfy them.
A statement signed by Alex Akori, Secretary-General, MOSOP noted that MOSOP President, Fegalo Nsuke, who spoke at the MOSOP secretariat in Bori, the traditional headquarters of the Ogoni people on Sunday where he met some critical stakeholders including kingdom coordinators of the movement expressed hope that as the nation prepares for the 2027 elections, the Nigerian Government will not risk a crises in Ogoni or any other parts of the Niger Delta region.
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) says its attention has been drawn to media reports of a State House meeting held on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 between Mr. President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and some persons claiming to represent the Ogoni people.
A press statement made available to ITREALMS by Fegalo Nsuke, President of MOSOP, said it was “facilitated by a key player in the oil and gas industry in collaboration with some government-paid chiefs of Ogoni extraction is a slight on the Ogoni people in particular, and a denigration of the struggles of the entire Niger Delta people.
The struggles of people all over the world to protect their rights and dignity have been the subject of conflicts especially when few individuals privileged to control the powers and authority of state turn these privileges into an instrument of repression and will want to suppress agitations that favour greater social freedom.
Quite often, state repression arises from the failure or inability of state actors to articulately defend their actions. The fear of a more superior idea and the desperation to cover their emptiness, many times, turn them repressive.
Ogoni is one of the world's most celebrated cases of state-sponsored repression. Against all odds, the people have persevered in the search for justice, equity and basic freedoms deserving of all humanity. Indeed, it has been a painful account that in our own country, our government ordered a military crackdown that left some 4,000 people dead, thousands of others went through torture, rape, brutal detentions which were supervised by Major Paul Okuntimo, the commander of the military task force at the time.
Trouble started in 1958 when the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria's subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, commenced commercial crude oil exploration in the area. By the 1990s, the situation in Ogoni had become unbearable as the consequences had become far devastating on the environment and the people.
A court in the United Kingdom has given reasons for rejection of the application by some leaders of
Ejamah Ebubu community in Ogoniland to register the judgement of a Nigerian
Federal High Court in the country for enforcement, reports ITREALMS.
Claimants had applied to register the judgement
to enforce a N183 billion judgment sum, which was the judgement sum and the
interest over the spill incident in the community in or about 1969, a spill
Shell Petroleum Development Company said arose from third party activities
during the Nigerian civil war. The company also said the spill site had since
been remediated. The claimants recalculated the High Court
judgement of N17 billion plus interest to be N183 billion as at January 2019,
but admitted to the UK court that the sum was overstated. The claimants also obtained an order of a
Nigerian court to seize and sell the assets of SPDC to satisfy the said
judgment, while the matter is still the subject of several proceedings,
including pending appeals at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of
Nigeria. In the judgement, on Thursday, a copy of which
was obtained by ITREALMS,
the UK court declined the request for registration of the Nigerian court
judgment after finding that SPDC suffered a serious breach of natural justice
“through being prevented from presenting its defence to the claim” in Nigeria. The court also the claimants overstated the
judgement sum. Reacting to the ruling, spokesperson for Shell
Nigeria, Bamidele Odugbesan, said: “This spill was caused by third parties
during the Nigerian Civil War, a challenging period which resulted in
significant damage to oil and gas infrastructure in the region. While SPDC does
not accept responsibility for these spills, the affected sites in the Ebubu
community were fully remediated. “We are pleased that the English court has
rejected the registration of this judgement for enforcement in the UK. This
matter is still the subject of several proceedings in the Nigerian Courts,
including pending appeals at the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and it remains our position
that no payment is due. It is regrettable that the legal process in this case
has focused for so long on procedural issues and not the merits of the case
when we have always maintained that we are ready to defend this case based on
the available facts.” Nenye Dom/Editor
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