Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, has announced that the push for oil resumption and development in Ogoni remain critical to the future of the Ogoni people, hence there will be no going back on its actualization.
To this end, MOSOP has said that it was important to tackle the issue in a way that guarantees a better future for the Ogoni people.
President of MOSOP, Mr. Fegalo Nsuke, while addressing the Central Committee of MOSOP in Bori, at the weekend, urged the people of Ogoni not to be distracted by those who were exploiting their conditions for personal gains.
Nsuke assured that MOSOP will not falter on the push for the operationalization of its proposed Ogoni Development Authority, which he said was an acceptable pathway that guarantees a win-win for all parties including the Ogoni people, the government and the oil industry.
He told the MOSOP Central Committee that the good life which the Ogoni people seek will not be realizable, until Ogoni resources are deployed for its own development, urging them to promote the message in all communities and kingdoms of Ogoni.
He said, “Nobody should deceive you, the good life we seek can only be achievable when our resources are properly deployed into building our infrastructure, creating jobs, providing security and transforming the entire Ogoni.
“But we must also be vigilant to protect our people from the exploitation and lies flying around. We must protect our people from saboteurs whose only interest is to keep the people in perpetual poverty after three decades of struggling for a good life.”
The MOSOP leader urged the people to support the development process and not give room to those he described as “enemies of the people who are currently benefiting from the conflicts and would wish to truncate the development initiatives.”
Noting that distractions and manipulations were not unexpected, Nsuke called on the people to stand strong for development, take up the challenge and opportunity to free themselves, while denouncing the lies of detractors and also urged them to focus on achieving a new Ogoni.
He also urged the people of Ogoni to maintain peace in their communities and continue the work of sensitizing the people on the need for development through the operationalization of the Ogoni Development Authority.
“We are the ones to free ourselves. We have swallowed too many lies and people have taken too much advantage of us. Now it is time to get it right and permanently address the problem in a way that it will never re-occur.
“I tell you the truth, we must embrace the development initiatives proposed by MOSOP which called for the operationalization of the Ogoni development Authority. The ODA is an idea and vision that secures our future, the future of our children and those of our children’s children. We must embrace it.
“Wherever you are, you must disabuse the people’s minds from trouble, tell them that development will only come when Ogoni resources are made to work for the Ogoni people. That is our collective goal,” MOSOP said.
