A non-governmental organisation, the Ogoni Truth and Enlightenment Forum (OTEF), has lauded President Mohammadu Buhari for keeping to his promise to implement the UNEP Report on the remediation of Ogoni environment.
The president of the group, Comrade Sobarilukaka Barisua, gave the commendation while speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt, on Tuesday, saying it was a right step in the right direction.
Barisua recounted the sufferings of the people of Ogoniland, adding that they had lost many of their leaders in the course of the struggle for a better society, free from the hazardous effects of oil exploration and exploitation.
He specifically listed some of the prominent Ogoni leaders who had died in the struggle to include Theophilus Oroge, Samuel Orage, Albert Badey, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Edward Kobani and Barinen Kiobel, among several others.
He said OTEF was commending the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) for finally recognising the inputs of the slain ‘Ogoni 4’ to the struggle, 22 years after their death.
He said the group regretted that MOSOP had, in the past 22 years; either deliberately or inadvertently played down the memory of the ‘Ogoni 4’ or advised its leadership to refrain from making divisive statements.
For true reconciliation to be achieved, Barisua said a day should be set aside for the remembrance of the ‘Ogoni 4’, adding that the “mistakes of the past, which led to the gruesome murder of the ‘Ogoni 4’ and subsequent trial and hanging of the ‘Ogoni 9’ be avoided.”
