Nov 10, 2009

Ogoni: Statement on the 13th Anniversary of the Execution of Ken Saro Wiwa and Others


Ledum Mitee, Mosop President, has released a statement On The Ocassion Of The 14th Anniversay Of The Remembrance Of Ogoni Heroes

 

Following the murder of the Ogoni 13, and the attendant repression that enveloped Ogoni at the time the United Nations sent a fact- finding team to Ogoni in 1996. To suppress evidence of its brutal repression, the military authorities forced the people of Giokoo village out of their homes and replaced them with imposters. One 70 year old woman, Madam Nsaa Korsi, defied the guns and intimidation of the military and came out to speak the truth of the situation to the UN team. Despite her old age and frail state she was tortured to death by the soldiers of the Internal Security Task Force that occupied Ogoni at the time.

Madam Korsi represents the fate that befell many people in the course of our struggle that many are wont to forgetting. It is for this reason that this year’s memorial is being dedicated not just to the heroic sacrifices of Ken Saro-Wiwa, Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Albert Badey, John Kpuinen, Chief Theophilus Orage, Chief S.N.Orage, Dr. Barinem Kiobel, Paul Levura, Nordu Eawo, Baribor Bera, Saturday Dobee, Daniel Gbokoo, and Felix Nuate but also the especial, not less important but sometimes forgotten contributions made by the Korsis of our struggle-all those who sacrificed their lives, properties, inconveniences; the many who lost all they had, the women and children who were beaten, tortured, detained; all the old  and weak unable to flee to the forests for safety  who died in consequence, and those who died from cold and infections as they ran into the bush in the face of the armed assault on their communities by soldiers maintained and armed from the resources of our land. These all, are the heroes of our struggle that we are remembering today.

This remembrance is coming at a time that our struggle is increasingly being recognized as a symbol, a metaphor and model for peaceful struggle for justice in the Niger delta region and beyond. Just last Friday I was accosted by a group of Niger delta youths demanding a change of MOSOP from Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People to Movement for the Survival of the Ordinary People! The universality of the message of our struggle and its centrality to the national question makes us to use this period to also remember great allies and patriots in the struggle for justice in the country who had also passed on, the most notable of whom is the national icon, Chief Gani Fawehinmi.

As we remember these great patriots of the struggle for justice on this particular occasion, I would urge us all to reflect on the fact that the underlying issue of the struggle for which they gave their lives is our natural and social environment.  At the inception of the struggle we, led by our heroes, found that not only the devastation of our physical  environment by the activities of Shell was threatening our very existence, but the social and political environment of the Niger delta were such that, unless reversed, would poison and undermine the stability of the country. It is for this reason that over the years we have mustered our courage and resources to see to the improvement of our environment and it is a tribute to our dogged determination, steadfastness and vision that today we have changed the course of national debate to how the physical, social and political environment of the Niger delta can be positively changed by non violent means.

On our physical environment, we have after several years of advocacy forced the realization that an environmental audit of Ogoni is not only essential but it is imperative that it be followed by a credible clean up. It is for this reason that as we have repeatedly explained, MOSOP, is not opposed to, and indeed supports the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) initiative in Ogoni, originally designed to do a study of the Ogoni environment and what remediation measures would be adequate.

However, to ensure that we derive the maximum benefits from the programme we have continued, with other stakeholders, to robustly engage the initiative. In this respect, convinced that the Ogoni environment required much more than studies, it was gratifying that President Ya’Adua agreed with our suggestion for a process that links such UNEP studies with actual clean up and remediation.  We are concerned, however, that the Presidential directive since April this year for a revised work plan to include the cleanup has not been done till date. We have equally raised concern about questions about recruitment of our people on the UNEP project, community consultations and sensitization and the fact that even those of us who were appointed members of the Presidential Implementation Committee are not being consulted. Many people who heard of a $10million(N1.5billion) UNEP project in Ogoni have been confronting us with their thinking that a significant part of that amount is being spent in or by Ogoni people but the reality would appear to be to the contrary. Be that as it may, I can assure that as we plan to be engaged in the days ahead on these issues, we hope to be in a position to give an update of the situation in the near future.

Perhaps another touchy environmental issue that requires explanation is the current initiative to cap oil wells abandoned by Shell. We have in the recent past subjected current initiatives to cap Ogoni oil wells to intense debate, analysis and discussions. Balanced against our resolve to see Shell out of our land, which has received the blessings of the Federal Government of Nigeria, and the risk posed by the exposure of these wells, the steering Committee of MOSOP have decided to support the capping of the oil  wells.  We have been convinced that the initiative have nothing to do with resumption of oil exploitation by Shell on our land.   We however would insist and call for proper environmental and social impact studies of the attendant operations to be undertaken in accordance with extant laws whilst MOSOP would continue to monitor the operations to ensure that nothing more than necessary is undertaken in the regard. We however, would warn against the repeat of events of the past days where Shell without consultations with local communities and even the local government moved with troops into communities ostensibly to cap wells. We condemn such actions as needless, provocative and insensitive attempts to precipitate a crisis reminiscent of the tactics that were used to exterminate the heroes we are remembering today.

 I have stated above, the environment which our leaders fought and died for was not restricted to the physical environment. Our struggle, encapsulated in the Ogoni Bill of Rights, was also to ensure that the political environment ensured our participation as of right and guarantees our autonomy within the Nigerian federation. To give vent to this I can state here that our quest for an Ogoni state, now renamed Bori state to accommodate some of our willing neighbours has progressed to the level where, as I speak, arrangements are being concluded for the formal submission of the demand for the State to the National Assembly within the next few days.

Whilst that is being pursued with vigour, we have not lost sight of the fact that our heroes did not die for an unaccountable political leadership. In this respect, we have embarked on a series of town hall meetings where elected representatives meet and exchange views with the electorate. The maiden edition of the project which commenced with the Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly in the last 2 weeks was a singular success. It will continue with the appearance of our distinguished senator and thereafter other elected and appointed leaders. We would have to appeal to our people to embrace the initiative as we make even hesitant steps in improving how those in political office take into account the voices of our people.

As we continue in this process of engagement of our political leaders, we must caution against tendencies to suggest that government or those in government alone knows everything, including the needs of the people. We must not allow our positions to stagger us to the false belief that political leadership imbues us with the superior knowledge of what is best for our people without consultations. In this respect, we need to remind those in office  not to be tempted to insist on ‘projects’ like army barracks or other constructions  if there are   obvious attendant long term problems and  discernible real benefits are hard to find. In Ogoni we have stood by the principle  that there is hardly ever any reason to deprive our  people of their ancestral lands unwillingly, and that genuine development is one where the benefits to those residing in the area is obvious and sustainable beyond the immediate gains to the developer.

Progress without taking into account the concerns and needs of the people with the least resources is not progress at all. We have seen much talk of mega-projects for the Niger Delta and it is true that some large scale development is both necessary and potentially very positive. However, it distresses us when ‘mega-projects’ trample on the rights of indigenes and residents while smaller vital needs are neglected. It is for this reason that we join the call on the Rivers state government for a reconsideration of the fate of the over 200,000 people in Port Harcourt waterfronts. Many of these are undoubtedly Ogonis who may not necessarily be the compensated landlords, but residents all the same, whose children will be thrown out of school by any displacement that does not include some alternative provisions for them.

Our struggle was also for the improvement in our socio-economic environment and I think that the federal government is finally beginning to admit that it cannot continue to exploit oil in communities without granting them a stake in them. The recent  government’s decision to concede 10% equity to oil producing communities, a welcome initiative that if well implemented together with other needed interventions would help in bringing about the desired result, is a fitting testament to the success of the ideas championed by us and for which our heroes died. We must, after all, be consoled that our heroes did not and must not die in vain.