Jan 06, 2016

Ogoni: MOSOP Issues Ultimatum to the Government


Following government inaction, the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People has issued a 30-day ultimatum to the Federal Government of Nigeria, regarding the implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme’s Report on the clean-up of polluted sites in Ogoniland. The president of MOSOP, Mr Legborsi Pyagbara, has stated that if no actions are taken by the government to implement the UNEP report, after the ultimatum expires his people will conduct peaceful protests.

 

Below is an article published by Punch:

The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People has given the Federal Government a 30-day ultimatum to implement the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme on the clean-up of Ogoniland.

MOSOP President, Mr. Legborsi Pyagbara, said the people of the area were already tired over the continued delay in implementing the UNEP report on Ogoni.

Pyagbara, who spoke on Monday at the 23rd anniversary of Ogoni Day, in Bori, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, explained that Ogoni people would not relent in embarking on protests if the Federal Government failed to begin fully the implementation of UNEP recommendations.

He described as pathetic a situation where the FG had refused to carry out the instructions of UNEP on the clean-up of Ogoniland more than four years after the recommendation was made.

The MOSOP president warned that his people would take to the streets in peaceful protests after the expiration of the 30-day ultimatum until the UNEP report was visited.

He said, “As part of Ogoni Project 2015, we launched a multifaceted campaign involving protest, letter writing campaigns, media advocacy and international advocacy for the implementation of the UNEP report.

“We commend the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government for the renewed interest in the UNEP report and his approval of the fast-track actions for the implementation of the report.

“However, we are seizing this opportunity to remind the government that the unusual delay for the take-off of the project is becoming unbearable and indeed taxing our patience.

“We urge the Federal Government to without further delay bring into being the announced structures and the roadmap for the implementation of the report that respects the sensibilities of the communities.

“The ongoing delay on the part of the government will continue to be seen as an act of genocide being committed against the Ogoni people. We are giving the Federal Government a 30-day ultimatum to commence the implementation of the report or we will take up series of non-violent measures to press down our message.”

Pyagbara, however, called on the Rivers State Government to commence the dualisation of Saakpenwa road as it promised during a campaign in the area.

He said the road would boost the economic well-being of the people of the area if it was dualised.

The MOSOP president also called on the youths of the area to desist from attitudes that could sabotage the struggle of the ancestors of the land.

Earlier, Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Ben Naanen, called on the people of the area to form a united front in order to achieve the struggle of the implementation of the UNEP report.

Naanen vowed that the struggle for the actualisation of the freedom of the Ogonis would not stop until their demands were met.

Responding, the Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, promised that the government would soon commence the construction of Saakpenwa road.

Wike, who was represented at the event by his Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Emma Okah, disclosed that the dualisation project would start before the third week of January.

Photo courtesy of Punch