– Call for exoneration of Ogoni 9
Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Civil society organizations, CSOs, have called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently begin the decommissioning of outdated and environmentally damaging oil infrastructure in Ogoniland, as part of a broader commitment to address the long-standing ecological and social justice issues faced by the people of the Niger Delta.
The CSOs, which include the Health of Mother Earth Foundation, HOMEF, We the People, Peoples Advancement Centre, and others, also urged the government to halt plans to resume oil extraction activities in Ogoni territory until full environmental remediation, as recommended by the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, is completed.
The call comes in response to President Tinubu’s statement commemorating the Ogoni 9, including the late environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, who were executed in 1995 for their leadership in the struggle against the harmful effects of oil extraction in the region.
While the President’s acknowledgment of the historical injustice was welcomed, the groups emphasized that more concrete steps are needed to ensure justice for the Ogoni people and to prevent further ecological degradation.
The CSOs, in a statement by the Executive Director of HOMEF, Rev Nnimmo Bassey, argued that the government’s recent efforts to revive oil production in Ogoniland are premature and undermine the long-overdue environmental restoration efforts.
They pointed out that Ogoni communities continue to suffer from the environmental devastation caused by decades of unregulated oil exploration, including oil spills, gas flaring, and widespread pollution of land and water resources.
“The government’s focus should be on decommissioning the obsolete oil infrastructure, cleaning up the toxic land, and restoring the livelihoods of the people of Ogoni. Resuming oil extraction without first addressing the devastating environmental damage would only deepen the suffering of Ogoni communities.”
In addition to the environmental concerns, the groups called for the complete exoneration of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the eight other Ogoni leaders, who were wrongfully convicted and executed by the military government of General Sani Abacha in 1995.
They reiterated their demand for justice, including the return of the Ken Saro-Wiwa Memorial Bus, which has been detained by the Nigerian Customs Service since 2015 despite a court order for its release.
As part of the call to action, the CSOs urged the Nigerian government to prioritize the cleanup and rehabilitation of Ogoniland, address the deep-rooted issues of ecological and social injustice, and engage in genuine dialogue with affected communities.
The organizations warned that without meaningful progress on these fronts, the legacy of the Ogoni 9 and their fight for environmental justice, which President Bola Tinubu recently honoured, would remain unfulfilled.
