Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, MOSOP, has threatened to boycott the forthcoming general elections if an Ogoni failed to clinch the governorship ticket of the dominant political parties in River State.
MOSOP President, Mr. Legborsi Pyagbara, who made the threat in Port Harcourt, the state capital on Monday, noted that Ogoni land could no longer play a second fiddle in the political life of the state.
Pyagbara said that, “Ogoni is making a bold statement that we are no longer prepared to play second fiddle in the political life of Rivers State after 47 years. To this end, we are calling on political parties to choose Ogoni candidates as their flagbearers. The failure to do so automatically means that Ogoni people will not participate in the 2015 general elections.”
At a lecture to mark the 19th anniversary of the murder of renowned environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Ogonis by the late Gen. Sani Abacha Junta, with the theme: “Minorities at Crossroads: Confronting Political Inequality in Nigeria,” MOSOP warned prospective investors to keep off from Ogoniland.
Pyagbara said: “We want to declare here that Shell and Ogoni is in dispute and the issues surrounding those disputes have not been settled. It is on record that in 2008, President Musa Yar’Adua had announced the removal of license over Ogoni from Shell.
“MOSOP vehemently condemns the present attempt to divest Ogoni oil blocks without clear and focused discussions with the Ogoni people. We are also seizing this opportunity to warn all would-be investors to stay clear of Ogoni until matters around this divestment had been properly discussed with Ogoni people. Ogoni is not prepared to follow the fate of the Amazon communities in Ecuador,” Pyagbara warned.
The MOSOP President continued: “We are also warning members of Ogoni communities not to allow themselves to be deceived by any investor. It is our duty to learn from our past and find a united platform which will protect our interests collectively.
“Our past sadly reminds us that when it is sought to divide us, it is almost always easy to exploit our strong resentment against Shell and its allies to pitch us along lines of those perceived to be oppose or support Shell, support or oppose government or oppose government or even so-called development. What should be clear is that any divestment or development or responsible oil exploitation that is people-centred and people-driven will attract the overwhelming support of the Ogoni people,” he said.
MOSOP demanded that Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Ogoni Nine should be clear of the allegations they were falsely accused of.
According to Pyagbara, a fact-finding team from the United Nations, which examine the process of their trial according to both applicable local and international standards and the team returned a verdict which clearly showed that the trial of the Ogoni Nine did not follow any known local and international standard. Yet the greatest disservice to the memory of these men of valour continues as successive Nigerian administrations have failed to do the needful by clearing the names of these men who were unjustly tried, condemned and then murdered.
“On this remembrance day, we are sending a strong note of request to the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan-led administration to immediately set in motion the process for clearing the names of the Ogoni Nine. Jonathan has gone to sleep for too long on this issue and is now the time to act,” Pyagbara demanded
A former Secretary-General of MOSOP and Professor of History, Ben Naane, observed that the current political situation is the world as a clash of civilisation. Naane pointed out that what took place in Ogoniland was a revolution as the community was not the same after the struggle.
He explained that though the structural transformation had not taken place the intellectual transformation had taken place and that is why the Ogoni struggle can be described as a revolution.
