Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, MOSOP, says the extreme unemployment opportunities, dearth of infrastructure including standard schools, roads, healthcare, electricity, etc, are the reason they are willing to allow resumption of oil exploration in Ogoniland.
President of MOSOP, Mr. Fegalo Nsuke, said it was regrettable that despite the proven daily oil production capacity of 500,000 barrels per day, the people of Ogoni walk the same ground in abject poverty, yet with abundant resources to create value and wealth trapped under their feet.
Ogoni has six oilfields namely Bodo West, Bomu, Yorla, Ebubu, Afam-lekuma and Korokoro; while five of these fields have been inoperative since 1993, Afam-lekuma is producing and was operated by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, until the company lost the right to renew its OML11 license which expired in 2021.
Nsuke explained that MOSOP was not concerned over which oil operator gets the licence to operate in Ogoni, however, their concern was that 25percent of net profit from oil produced in Ogoniland, must be committed to the development of Ogoni.
The Ogoni leader lamented that Ogoniland has remained confined to the ground, stranded and undeveloped, hence addressing the underdevelopment in Ogoni will require a massive injection of funds into Ogoni
He said, “Many of you are fully aware of the present state of affairs in Ogoni and the difficult conditions in which our people live – the extreme unemployment and lack of opportunities, the dearth of infrastructure including schools, roads, healthcare, electricity and so on.
“These very threatening conditions are not different from the situation that prompted the agitation led by MOSOP in 1990 and have been further aggravated by a lack of hope and some seeming failure of leadership to provide a path to a permanent solution.
“Since1993 (some 30 years ago), an estimated proven daily oil production capacity of 500,000 barrels per day has remained confined to the ground, stranded, redundant and undeveloped, while the people of the Ogoni walk that same ground in abject poverty, yet with abundant resources to create tremendous value and wealth trapped under their feet.
“However, the present leadership of MOSOP believes that leadership is about solving problems and not escalating them. Against this backdrop, we commenced constructive engagement, dialogue, and conversations with relevant stakeholders, as we promote a new orientation geared towards dispute resolution and progressive development of Ogoni.”
Nsuke further disclosed that MOSOP has made material progress in reshaping the psyche and orientation of Ogoni people to be resolution focused, hinged on the sustainable development of the Ogoni Communities.
“If you have had the time to study the Ogoni demands as outlined in the Ogoni Bill of Rights, you will agree with me that they are essentially issues of underdevelopment – no electricity, no water, no roads, schools, healthcare system, unemployment etc.
“You will also agree that addressing these demands will require a massive injection of funds into Ogoni. These funds cannot be expected to come from outside Nigeria or from other parts of the country when our Ogoni lands have capacity to generate the funds needed for its development.
“It is on this basis that we have proposed a win-win situation through the operationalization of our proposed development plan to drive the economic transformation in Ogoni. This will generate massive revenue for the government, restore peace in Ogoni and the investors will equally be protected.
“On our part, we will continue to educate our people to appreciate the reality that all of the issues we face require a sustainable and consistent flow of funds into Ogoni development and we cannot continue to reject the idea of oil production resuming in Ogoni when the right conditions are met because Ogoni equally needs the revenue from its natural endowments to achieve its desired development goals.
MOSOP further said its proposition for oil resumption in Ogoniland aligns with the thinking of founding fathers of Ogoni and resonated in the words of Ken Saro-Wiwa, when he said: “I do not expect the Ogoni people to allow oil production in the land until it is properly negotiated”.
“The terms “properly negotiated” has formed the central demands of MOSOP right from inception and our development proposals as approved by the Central Committee of MOSOP adequately captures this interest.
“We want to assure the Nigerian government and the Ogoni people that we are strongly committed to the goal of achieving a permanent resolution of the Ogoni problem and we will strongly defend our positions.”
