…As Youths Charge Political Leadership On Insecurity
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), has pledged its commitment to sustain the demands for Ogoni rights until they are fully attained.
President of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke, made this declaration on Saturday, June 29, while addressing the Central Committee meeting, also nown as the Steering Committee, of MOSOP at the secretariat of the movement in Bori, Ogoniland.
Nsuke said the primary purpose of MOSOP is to promote respect for the rights of Ogoni citizens He explained that the advancement of citizens rights as the mandate of MOSOP is expressly spelt out in the Ogoni Bill of Rights (OBR).
Nsuke said MOSOP will therefore not renege on its mandate to advocate for true freedom for the Ogoni people in Nigeria.
Nsuke further said what Nigeria and the Shell Petroleum Development Company have done to the Ogoni people were regrettable and a national shame.
He described as scandalous, the remediation undertaken by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) noting that remediation without a plan to handle contaminated soil and compensation for livelihood losses only refect our society’s depreciated values for human lives and the environment.
Nsuke described HYPREP as a reward system serving only the interests of it’s compromised governing council members.
He said the corruption in HYPREP especially the institution’s inability to account for the Ogoni cleanup funds and the contract scam rocking the organization were a dent on President Muhammad Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign and the way to restore the confidence of the Ogoni people in the cleanup exercise is to sack the corrupt HYPREP officials and reconstitute the governing council.
The Central Committee which met on Saturday, June 29 at the MOSOP Secretariat in Bori also approved the creation of the committee that will plan and organize the 2019 Ken Saro-Wiwa memorial and the next Ogoni day on January 4, 2020.
The planning committee is headed by HRH Omere George Osaro, and comprises all affiliate heads and kingdom coordinators.
Saro-Wiwa’s memorial will hold on November 10, 2019 and the Ogoni day activities will culminate on January 4, 2020.
Meanwhile, The National Youth Council of Ogoni People (NYCOP) has called on the political leadership in Ogoni to take responsibility for the insecurity in the land and work to address the menace.
President of NYCOP, Theo Mbagha, made the call in Bori while answering questions from newsmen on the security situation in Ogoni.
Mbagha said the problem of insecurity in Ogoni is basically a creation of the political class and therefore the political leadership is expected to lead in the fight against bandits.
Mbagha admitted that Ogoni faces some challenges at the moment, however, he said the situation was not out of control as widely reported by those who want to take advantage of it as cover for the militarization of the area and achieve their goal to force oil resumption in Ogoni without the consent of the people.
“Have we asked ourselves why gangsterism and banditry is always on the rise during every general elections?”. Mbagha asked.
He said following the trend in the last five general elections, social vices and gangsterism rose during the elections as a result political patronage of gangsters by the political class to win elections.
The NYCOP President said the political class can save us and restore peace in our communities by changing their attitude towards elections, withdrawing their patronage for gangsters and embracing peaceful methods to win elections.
The NYCOP president further blamed the security agencies in Ogoni for the deteriorating security situation accusing them of compromise especially in dealing with illegal oil refining and pipeline vandals.
The solution, he said, is to overhaul the entire security architecture in Ogoniland, boost the capacity of the Police to provide security and integrate local community youths into the intelligence system of the Police.
“Community involvement in the security of our villages will help crime detection and prevention. Fortunately, their exit a pool of youths under the federal government amnesty program who are paid monthly and can be harnessed into a functional intelligence network in all Ogoni communities” Mbagha said.
He urged the Ogoni political class not to be hypocritical about the security problems but rather should courageously take full responsibility for the problem and address them most appropriately
