THE movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has condemned some Ogoni chiefs that met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the State House in Abuja, claiming that they were not representatives of the Ogoni people.
MOSOP added that the visit to the Presidency was a slight on the Ogoni people in particular and a denigration of the struggles of the Niger Delta region in general, condemning what it called the misrepresentation, and dissociating itself from the meeting.
The Movement’s President, Fegalo Nsuke, in a press statement, said the meeting was facilitated by key players in the oil and gas industry, in collaboration with some government-paid chiefs of Ogoni communities, adding that the parley was motivated by greed aimed at misrepresenting the situation on ground to the President, who has shown remarkable commitment in finding a lasting solution to critical Ogoni issues.
“We want to emphatically state that these are people without any knowledge about how Shell left Ogoni or what drives our struggle. They are completely ignorant of the efforts made by the group to sensitise the people on the need to revisit the oil production issue.
“As a critical interest group, our position should be taken into consideration on issues of Ogoni oil to achieve a mutually beneficial agreement in the interest of all parties. Misrepresenting facts on an issue, like oil resumption in Ogoni, is an act of economic sabotage.”
Nsuke urged the Federal Government not to allow a few business people to flagrantly jettison the Ogoni people’s collective gains, but to initiate a broad-based negotiation to facilitate a peaceful settlement and reach an acceptable compromise.
“Our main objective is to resolve the protracted conflict and to bring Ogoni on the path of growth and development. But we insist on a transparent give and take process that will consider the interest of all parties for a mutually beneficial compromise.”
